CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS TRANSITIONAL MINISTRY?

Molly Dale Smith

From the earliest days of my experience in transitional ministry, there havealways been those who have asked, "Don't you want to be a real priest?" Thishurtful question, not easy to hear, was always asked by good, well-meaningpeople—often the very people who really seemed to respond to my ministry. Theythought they were taking my side and encouraging me to advance in myprofessional life. The truth is that transitional ministry is real ministry thatmeets real needs. As I moved from place to place, I always discovered the samelack of understanding of this ministry. This book is an attempt to clear upmisunderstanding and to answer questions about transitional ministry. If youhave ever encountered a major change in the life of your congregation, this isfor you. And if you or your congregation have never experienced change, it isonly a matter of time. As Bob Dylan reminds us, times are a-changin'.

Recently I had to fill out a form that required me to list my addresses for thepast ten years. I knew I had moved frequently but had never counted the numberof moves. I was surprised to discover that I had lived at eight different placesin those ten years. No wonder attending to change and its consequences isimportant to me! But the fact is that even those who have lived in the samehouse, driven the same streets, and gone to the same church for years areimpacted by change. It creeps into every nook and cranny of twenty-first centurylife. With cell phones and the Internet, indispensable to daily life for most ofus, we discover that we don't have to move to encounter a new environment. Whilechange has always has been part of life, the fast pace of life today makesattending to change unavoidable. And the church is no different from any otheraspect of life. Many wish their church to be a stable harbor in a sea of change,but this is not the reality. The question is not will we encounter change, buthow will we respond?

What do we mean when we use this word "change"? The Stanford Dictionary ofPhilosophy begins an article on the subject with this caution: "Change is sopervasive in our lives that it almost defeats description and analysis."Nevertheless, any church member can tell you exactly what change is: Somethingis different. The pastor is called to a new position; the resulting feelings ofhelplessness heighten anxiety. Rapid growth is another kind of change. Ourfamiliar church is filled with strange faces and we cannot find a place to park.The comfortable haven of memory has become a place of strange and oftenunsettling ways.

A change may impact not just the local congregation but the entire community.When Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast, Americans wanted to dosomething, to make it better in some way. We sent cases of water and boxes offood. A similar response followed 9/11. These horrific changes struck a deepchord in our hearts. We did what we could to help. My daughter, Andrea, wasliving in Manhattan on 9/11. I wanted to take away the pain of the disaster, butI couldn't. Andrea and her New York friends had to learn together what thiscatastrophe meant to them. During the days following, there were decisions tomake about the safety of life in the city. Some of her friends left; she quither job and moved closer to downtown to start a business.

About fifteen years ago, I went to a seminar about grief hosted by a localfuneral home. The speaker made the point that any change results in grief. Thisconcept intrigued me. Change, a difference in circumstance, whether good, bad,or indifferent, always results in some grief. The example given in the seminarcame from an episode of the old TV show All in the Family, Archie Bunker hadbeen given a promotion at work but the promotion meant that he could no longerbe a member of his bowling team. The promotion was great—more money, morestatus—but Archie lost his place in the community.

In spite of many challenges to this hypothesis, I have yet to find an example ofa change which did not result in some kind of loss and, hence, ensuing grief.This may seem to be a strong statement; however, a quick review of the griefcycle described by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross can help us to understand the variedresponses elicited by change. In this theory, grief can be shown in thefollowing behaviors: shock, denial, anger, bargaining, depression, testing, andacceptance. While Kübler-Ross's work is best known for its application to deathand dying, Wikipedia points out that

Kübler-Ross originally applied these stages to any form of catastrophic personalloss. Others have noticed that any significant personal change can elicit thesechanges.... Additionally the change in circumstances does not always have tobe a negative one, just significant enough to cause a grief response to the loss(Scire, 2007). Accepting a new work position, for example, causes one to losetheir routine, workplace friendships, familiar drive to work, or even customarylunch sources.

The reality is that change has varied and often unexpected impacts on bothindividuals and groups.

William Bridges, in Managing Transitions, describes change as situational (newminister, new building) and external. Because change is external, we often haveno control over it. The real source of our anxiety is transition, "thepsychological process people go through to come to terms with the newsituation." Because Bridges' definitions provide...