The Elephant in the Boardroom

Carolyn Weese and J. Russell Crabtree—experts in the field of church leadership—have written a nuts-and-bolts guide to developing a succession plan for smoothing pastoral transitions. Filled with strategies and solid advice, this handy resource is based in solid research and the authors’ many years of experience working with churches in a wide variety of denominations. Weese and Crabtree clearly show that leadership succession should be part of every church’s planning process.

List of Exhibits xiii Preface xv Acknowledgments xvii Introduction 1 Part One: The Principles, Cost, and Players in Health-Based Transition 11 1 Principles of Transition, Jesus Style 13 2 Counting the Cost 29 3 The Five Key Players in a Healthy Transition 41 Part Two: The Four Church Cultures: Family, Icon, Archival, and Replication 55 4 One Church, Four Variations 57 5 Transition Strategies for Leaders in a Family Culture 69 6 Transition Strategies for Leaders in an Icon Culture 85 7 Transition Strategies for Leaders in an Archival Culture 99 8 Transition Strategies for Leaders in a Replication Culture 115 Part Three: Components of a Transition Plan 127 9 Strategic Planning and the Search Process 129 10 The Asset-Preserving Ministry 145 11 A Capability-and-Maturity Model for Churches 159 12 Pastoral Transitions in Low-Performing Churches 177 13 A Plan for Responding to the Crisis of Sudden Transitions 187 14 Getting Started on a Plan for Your Church 195 Appendix: The Church Planning Questionnaire 201 The Authors 209 About Leadership Network 211 Index 213