Navigating the Transition Maze You’ve heard it before or maybe you’ve even said it a few times yourself, “I’m in the middle of a transition. I resigned and I’m moving on”. To resign literally means “to give over with resistance or to give up deliberately”. It’s not a pretty word and leaves us with a sense of failure rather than one of confidence and success. For many pastors and ministry leaders, that phrase alone stirs up a multitude of thoughts and emotions. Joy, excitement, sadness, hurt, anger, frustration, anxiety all are common to the transition maze. For some reason or another all the courses in Seminary or Bible College never really prepared us to face the reality of transition in our ministry lives. Perhaps we entered ministry with the ideal of serving through the ranks until finally settling for 20 years of ministry bliss as the senior pastor in a thriving church. In our culture today, a long tenure with a steady progression in leadership is almost unheard of. The fact remains; transition touches the life of every pastor. Of the 365,000 pastors in America over 55,000 will be in transition every year. That’s a whopping 15% each year, 150 pastors a day in “transition”! Some pastors move on to other pastorates while others pursue new career paths. See our article “Leadership Under Fire”(see attached word file) for statistics about pastors in ministry. On average, pastors transition every 5-7 years. If you happen to be a pastor currently in transition, you suddenly don’t feel so alone. You might even feel normal! The million dollar question is, “why are so many pastors transitioning so often?” Although each situation is unique and complex, these often stem from things like a ministry mismatch, relational conflicts and clashing values. So, transition is more common than many are willing to admit. But what is it that makes transition difficult? Is it the exit, the goodbyes and difficult questions or is it the unknown, relational strains, relocation issues or the challenge of reengineering your career? Perhaps the difficulty comes when several of these challenges are hitting you at once. Imagine if you could define with clarity why you were thinking about leaving in the first place. What if you could understand with confidence the hand of God in the midst of your decision? What would it look like to have a clean transition into your next position? Who would carry on the spiritual legacy that you worked so diligently to establish? How would you know what to do next and what would guide your decision process? The transition maze can be extremely frustrating, overwhelming and even defeating but it doesn’t have to be that way. Most of us have found out that the lone ranger approach during a vulnerable time in your life can be dangerous. That’s why all across the country pastors like you are taking advantage of a leadership coach to make a smooth transition. A leadership coach can help you refocus your life purpose/calling, clarify the unique obstacles you face, catalyze growth in your life and help you discover the right ministry match. James hired his own Leadership Coach to help him through his transition maze and here’s what he had to say: “My coach helped me discover that in several of my ministry positions, my gifts were not in line with the role I was hired to fulfill which led to poor performance, a severe lack of personal fulfillment and eventually a transition to another position. Through coaching I was able to discern my God-given purpose and destiny and seek a role that matched God’s call on my life.” Now you can hire your own trained Leadership Coach at to help you smooth your transitions and conquer the transition maze. Coaching Corner: Tools and Tips: Values Audit: This is a priceless tool and will save you time, energy and future problems when you are trying out for a church. Download a free values assessment tool. Coaching Questions: What you value most in ministry? What principles will you “die on the mountain” for? Describe how these principles are played out in your everyday life. What’s the difference between a value and an aspiration? What are the values of your current or potential church? How do others within that local body describe the churches values? What would happen if your personal values were in conflict with the organizational values of your current or potential church? How will you know if these values are in conflict? What would it look like for your values to resonate with your church or potential church?