As fewer congregations are able to afford a full-time trained Interim Minister, working with an Interim Consultant on a part-time basis is proving to be an effective way that congregations in transition can have access to the change leadership skills and knowledge so valuable during such times. In this second of two podcasts about the emerging role of the Interim Consultant, Rev. Dr. Ruth Shaver shares from her direct experience serving in this role in this episode titled, “What Does An Interim Consultant Do, and How Do They Go About It?”

For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

How an Interim Consultant (IC) does their work;

How might an IC work with the leadership of the congregation?

When & how does an IC typically begin working with a congregation? With its Transition Team and/or Pastor Search Team?

Some of the tools the IC may use to guide their work with the congregation: Church Profile, History exercises, Appreciative Inquiry, etc.

Increasingly, congregations find themselves in a transition period – often when a pastor has left – and struggling to find someone with the change leadership skills and knowledge who can help them move forward. This is particularly true for congregations with diminishing resources. Trained Interim Ministers are in short supply and are often already working elsewhere. To this need, a new role is emerging, that of the Interim Consultant. An Interim Consultant has the necessary change leadership skills and can often serve several congregations at once on a part-time basis, therefore making this resource more available and affordable.

In this episode, titled, “What Is an Interim Consultant and How Might One Help Us?,” experienced Interim Consultant, Rev. Dr. Ruth Shaver, shares valuable insight from her direct experience.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.

The work of congregational leadership has several components:

• the transitional work itself,
• the pastoral leadership,
• the administrative leadership.

Lay leadership must be involved with the transitional work for there to be ownership of outcomes.

3 basic models for a congregation to work with an Interim Consultant –

• can’t afford a full-time trained (Intentional) Interim Minister;
• Supplement the work of the existing IM who doesn’t have the needed transitional leadership skills;
• Current pastor is retiring and cong. wants to get started with the transitional work before current pastor leaves;

Talented pastors know that a vision is essential to the congregation’s vitality. They also know that ownership of the vision by the people in the congregation is necessary for it to be effective. And yet, it’s not always clear whether the people own the vision, or if it’s really the pastor’s vision and the people are accepting it because they want to make the pastor happy. In this episode titled, “A Vision-Is It the Congregation’s or the Pastor’s? (and Why It Matters),” gifted pastor, Rev. Liz Miller, shares her experience with this challenge, and what she does in those instances when she sees that, in fact, there’s too much of herself in a vision and not enough of the congregation.

For a transcript of this episode, please visit the Coachingforinterims.com website. In addition, subscribe to this podcast series if you want to be notified when additional podcasts are available.