Is it wise for a founding pastor to leave a young church?

[EnriqueNye]

There's a church in my area that I attended for a couple of years early in my faith. I left not over sin issues or arguments, but needing to make things right and needing accountability. I know several people who attend there still, and just recently, the founding pastor at the church, the lead pastor, came up and said that God was calling him to leave and go plant a church on the other side of the US. The church has always been intentional about church planting by bringing in prospective pastors and sending them out to plant. And it seems like common sense that you wouldn't have the lead founding pastor of the church be the one who is sent out. But that's exactly what happened. He made the announcement at their annual meeting. That God had given him a command to leave and plant elsewhere, and this would be happening very soon it seems.

Now I know there are several views on how God speaks to us. I'm more in the camp that it's solely through his word, but this church generally thinks he speaks to us through circumstances and other people as well. They made a video explaining why they were doing it, and he said "I have to choose between staying and obeying God."

For context, this church is just under 7 years old, and there's about 150 in attendance. I personally think that him leaving is unwise for a multiple reasons. First, the church is still young. Yes it's got great growth, but 7 years is not much time in the context of a church. Secondly, I would argue attendance to be unstable. And what I mean by that is, I was having a chat with one of their pastors recently. Just catching up, and he told me that the average length of time that people are there is about 3 to 6 months. If you ask me, that doesn't sound good. He thought it was a great thing because there's so many new believers to meet and all that. And thirdly, they're in a situation where they are trying to get a new building/space to meet. I'll spare you the details on that one.

It seems to me like this is a very unwise thing to do and could spell disaster for a church in the state that it's in. I'm told they'll be hiring a new guy from outside the church. In the video, he likened himself to Paul, and how he went from place to place planting churches, but I would argue that Paul was a missionary, not a pastor, and he would set up churches with the mindset of him leaving from the get go, not starting a church and then announcing his departure when he's all settled in.

I think this is unwise but I'm curious on people's thoughts on this.

 

[seeking.IAM]

Churches should not be dependent upon a pastor. Pastors come and go. The church remains. I look for more of substance in a church than a charismatic or dynamic personality leading it. The key now is to find a good pastor capable of serving the needs of your congregation as they currently exist. Who knows? Finding the right person could be an opportunity, not a risk.

 

[Richard T]

Churches should not be dependent upon a pastor. Pastors come and go. The church remains. I look for more of substance in a church than a charismatic or dynamic personality leading it. The key now is to find a good pastor capable of serving the needs of your congregation as they currently exist. Who knows? Finding the right person could be an opportunity, not a risk

There's a church in my area that I attended for a couple of years early in my faith. I left not over sin issues or arguments, but needing to make things right and needing accountability. I know several people who attend there still, and just recently, the founding pastor at the church, the lead pastor, came up and said that God was calling him to leave and go plant a church on the other side of the US. The church has always been intentional about church planting by bringing in prospective pastors and sending them out to plant. And it seems like common sense that you wouldn't have the lead founding pastor of the church be the one who is sent out. But that's exactly what happened. He made the announcement at their annual meeting. That God had given him a command to leave and plant elsewhere, and this would be happening very soon it seems.

Now I know there are several views on how God speaks to us. I'm more in the camp that it's solely through his word, but this church generally thinks he speaks to us through circumstances and other people as well. They made a video explaining why they were doing it, and he said "I have to choose between staying and obeying God."

For context, this church is just under 7 years old, and there's about 150 in attendance. I personally think that him leaving is unwise for a multiple reasons. First, the church is still young. Yes it's got great growth, but 7 years is not much time in the context of a church. Secondly, I would argue attendance to be unstable. And what I mean by that is, I was having a chat with one of their pastors recently. Just catching up, and he told me that the average length of time that people are there is about 3 to 6 months. If you ask me, that doesn't sound good. He thought it was a great thing because there's so many new believers to meet and all that. And thirdly, they're in a situation where they are trying to get a new building/space to meet. I'll spare you the details on that one.

It seems to me like this is a very unwise thing to do and could spell disaster for a church in the state that it's in. I'm told they'll be hiring a new guy from outside the church. In the video, he likened himself to Paul, and how he went from place to place planting churches, but I would argue that Paul was a missionary, not a pastor, and he would set up churches with the mindset of him leaving from the get go, not starting a church and then announcing his departure when he's all settled in.

I think this is unwise but I'm curious on people's thoughts on this.

Seven years seems like a long time to me though I love those pastors who have been with their churches for 40 years plus. The 3 to 6 months for staying in the congregation sounds weird though but maybe that is the man's calling, to pour certain things in and then much of the congregation moves along. I guess the question is are the better off after that 3 to 6 month stay? I'm not sure how big your community is but perhaps he has rotated through nearly everyone and he is off to do it again. Lots of unknowns but it certainly could be God.

 

[Paidiske]

In my context, after seven years it would be usual to be thinking about moving on. That said, I've never been the first or founding minister somewhere.

But I agree with seeking.IAM. The church shouldn't be about the pastor, and shouldn't be dependant on any one person. Leadership should be able to transition as needed, and I would worry if for some reason it couldn't.

That's kind of a separate question, though, to "Is this the right time?" And at the end of the day, if he feels God is telling him it's time to go, then he probably needs to go, whether it seems wise to others or not. You wouldn't want a pastor who believes God is telling him to go, but stays anyway!

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

There's a church in my area that I attended for a couple of years early in my faith. I left not over sin issues or arguments, but needing to make things right and needing accountability. I know several people who attend there still, and just recently, the founding pastor at the church, the lead pastor, came up and said that God was calling him to leave and go plant a church on the other side of the US. The church has always been intentional about church planting by bringing in prospective pastors and sending them out to plant. And it seems like common sense that you wouldn't have the lead founding pastor of the church be the one who is sent out. But that's exactly what happened. He made the announcement at their annual meeting. That God had given him a command to leave and plant elsewhere, and this would be happening very soon it seems.

Now I know there are several views on how God speaks to us. I'm more in the camp that it's solely through his word, but this church generally thinks he speaks to us through circumstances and other people as well. They made a video explaining why they were doing it, and he said "I have to choose between staying and obeying God."

For context, this church is just under 7 years old, and there's about 150 in attendance. I personally think that him leaving is unwise for a multiple reasons. First, the church is still young. Yes it's got great growth, but 7 years is not much time in the context of a church. Secondly, I would argue attendance to be unstable. And what I mean by that is, I was having a chat with one of their pastors recently. Just catching up, and he told me that the average length of time that people are there is about 3 to 6 months. If you ask me, that doesn't sound good. He thought it was a great thing because there's so many new believers to meet and all that. And thirdly, they're in a situation where they are trying to get a new building/space to meet. I'll spare you the details on that one.

It seems to me like this is a very unwise thing to do and could spell disaster for a church in the state that it's in. I'm told they'll be hiring a new guy from outside the church. In the video, he likened himself to Paul, and how he went from place to place planting churches, but I would argue that Paul was a missionary, not a pastor, and he would set up churches with the mindset of him leaving from the get go, not starting a church and then announcing his departure when he's all settled in.

I think this is unwise but I'm curious on people's thoughts on this.

Paul founded the Corinthian church and stayed with it a period of time, and then left it in the hands of Apollos. Peter might have had a part in it as well, because of what was told to Paul that some were of him, others of Apollos, and others of Peter, and still others exclusively of Christ. Apart from the divisiveness, it gives an indication of who pastored the church at different times. Paul, being an itinerate ministry may not have stayed with the Corinthian church for more than about a year before he moved on to plant other churches.

 

[Derf]

There's a church in my area that I attended for a couple of years early in my faith. I left not over sin issues or arguments, but needing to make things right and needing accountability. I know several people who attend there still, and just recently, the founding pastor at the church, the lead pastor, came up and said that God was calling him to leave and go plant a church on the other side of the US. The church has always been intentional about church planting by bringing in prospective pastors and sending them out to plant. And it seems like common sense that you wouldn't have the lead founding pastor of the church be the one who is sent out. But that's exactly what happened. He made the announcement at their annual meeting. That God had given him a command to leave and plant elsewhere, and this would be happening very soon it seems.

Now I know there are several views on how God speaks to us. I'm more in the camp that it's solely through his word, but this church generally thinks he speaks to us through circumstances and other people as well. They made a video explaining why they were doing it, and he said "I have to choose between staying and obeying God."

For context, this church is just under 7 years old, and there's about 150 in attendance. I personally think that him leaving is unwise for a multiple reasons. First, the church is still young. Yes it's got great growth, but 7 years is not much time in the context of a church. Secondly, I would argue attendance to be unstable. And what I mean by that is, I was having a chat with one of their pastors recently. Just catching up, and he told me that the average length of time that people are there is about 3 to 6 months. If you ask me, that doesn't sound good. He thought it was a great thing because there's so many new believers to meet and all that. And thirdly, they're in a situation where they are trying to get a new building/space to meet. I'll spare you the details on that one.

It seems to me like this is a very unwise thing to do and could spell disaster for a church in the state that it's in. I'm told they'll be hiring a new guy from outside the church. In the video, he likened himself to Paul, and how he went from place to place planting churches, but I would argue that Paul was a missionary, not a pastor, and he would set up churches with the mindset of him leaving from the get go, not starting a church and then announcing his departure when he's all settled in.

I think this is unwise but I'm curious on people's thoughts on this.

If you compare a founding pastor to, say, Paul in the bible, he rarely ever stayed more than 3 years anywhere, if I remember correctly. His goal seemed to be to deliver doctrine to the new church, appoint elders, and move on. Sometime he stayed only several months. There may be some differences. For instance, Paul usually taught first in the synagogues, where the attendees knew the scriptures (Old Testament), and Paul just taught them how to apply them now that Jesus Christ, whom the OT was focused on, had come, died, and rose again. The Gentile believers were less knowledgeable about God, and they probably needed more coaching (pastoring).

So, if the founding pastor considered himself more like a church planter than a permanent pastor, then I would expect him to stay for some (small?) number of years, then move on to plant the next church, hopefully having trained up elders to replace him. It sounds like he routinely did train others, from what you said, as they were sending others out to plant churches.

I would also caution against being critical of another church and their decisions when they aren't moral issues, since you aren't there anymore.