How to Leave Your Ministry – Part II
Leaving any ministry position will have unfinished and unresolved loose ends. Here is one goal you must accomplish as you leave.
Pastor, protect the unity of your church.
Consider this your last act of shepherding your congregation. In your process of leaving, don’t do anything that will cause divisions.
Here’s three divisive traps to avoid.
1. Don’t make people choose a side on something. The time for winning battles has passed.
2. Don’t give words to all that you’ve been unhappy about. If there is an opportunity for an exit interview with an outside resource, make it constructive and pour on all the kindness that’s possible within bounds of truthfulness. No one really listens if they are on the defensive. And the sweet taste of Christian charity is much better to leave in people’s mouths than bitterness and resentment.
3. Don’t try to force resolution on past conflicts. In every ministry stuff is going to happen. People will do things that hurt the ministry. And people will do things that hurt the pastor and their family. If these have gone unresolved to this point the likelihood of resolving them now, in a short window, is low. It’s normal, even biblical, to pine for resolution of unsettled conflicts. It’s also biblical – Christlike even – to extend forgiveness to the most undeserving. If it helps, remind yourself you are the servant who has been forgiven 10,000, demanding to be repaid 100.
At the end of the day, Christ died to make his church one. Do all you can to leave your church with this gift of unity.