Shepherd Change

Description

Every church will face the inevitable reality of a pastoral transition, often multiple times. Unfortunately, many churches and pastors are caught unprepared, leading to confusion and emotional turmoil. Shepherd Change offers a comprehensive and thoughtful approach to ensure these transitions are smooth and spiritually enriching.

This invaluable guide, crafted with wisdom and experience, outlines a meticulous transition plan that prepares churches for a pastor's departure without disrupting the church's life and ministry. It also equips pastors to move confidently toward their next destination.

Key Features:

• Detailed Transition Strategies: Learn how to develop and implement a transition plan that maintains church stability and continuity.
• Practical Guidance: Gain insight into the practical steps and considerations for both outgoing and incoming pastors.
• Biblical Foundations: Understand the Scriptural basis for pastoral transitions and how to align them with God's will.
• Case Studies: Explore real-life examples of successful transitions to glean practical wisdom and avoid common pitfalls.
• Emergency Planning: Prepare for unexpected events with a robust emergency plan that ensures leadership continuity.

Planning for a pastoral transition is essential to the health of any church, and Shepherd Change provides the tools and insight needed to navigate this process effectively. Through careful preparation, churches can honor God and ensure a thriving future.

Reviews

Shepherd Change is an invaluable guide for churches navigating one of their most significant transitions: the changing of senior or lead pastor. With wisdom born from years of experience, Bill lays out traditional strategies and innovative alternatives, ensuring every church navigates the path for its unique journey. His insights are not just practical but deeply thoughtful, offering seasoned guidance that equips leaders, congregations, and successors for a smooth and spiritually grounded transition. Whether your church is preparing for change or simply planning ahead, this book is a must-read resource for ensuring a thriving future. Highly recommended!
— Jonathan McGinnis, Executive Director, Tri-M Global

I will never forget when my friend and ministry colleague, Bill Abernathy, asked if I would like to spend a weekend with his church’s leadership team to help lead them in strategic planning. The purpose was to discuss his ministry sabbatical and, at that point, the theoretical prospect of his future ministry transition. He framed the proposed weekend as an opportunity to answer the question, "What happens if our pastor gets hit by a bus?" He certainly captured my attention as well as those involved in the early stages of the formative plan that is now detailed in Shepherd Change. This book is a thorough and practical guide for pastors and ministry leadership teams as they prayerfully anticipate and prepare for the inevitable pastoral transition. Many of us have enjoyed the privilege of observing first-hand Bill’s proven and effective pastoral shepherding. His insights serve as a roadmap and provide encouragement to those who follow the wise counsel provided in this resource.
— Ken Floyd, Former Executive Ministry Director, Bridge Fellowship

Shepherd Change thoughtfully and carefully outlines procedures for churches considering a transition to a new lead pastor. There is much to learn here, but what I really appreciated from the book was reading about his own thoughts and hearing his heart for his wife, his staff, his congregation, as well as his successor as he moved through the process, wanting to honor God above all in this new phase in his life and ministry…a book well worth reading.
— Lynn Ford, served as office manager of Berean Baptist Church

Bill speaks from a personal life of godly fidelity and pastoral genuineness. His steadiness, wisdom and example in pastoring Berean Baptist Church was truly a blessing. He initiated, engaged and completed his pastoral transition with the same godly wisdom shown throughout his ministry. He is a pastor’s pastor. He shares, not from textbook learning, but from real-life experience. Reading this book on ministy transition will be time well spent gaining wisdom for choices to be made.
— Steve Nichols, served as associate pastor of Berean Baptist Church

Shepherd Change is a straightforward guide to an unwieldy topic and is a critical read for any pastor or leader as they near a transition. Moreover, this book is eye-opening for any church member who seeks to better understand how to care for their outgoing pastor. The practical wisdom gleaned from this resource will help every humble servant-leader finish well.
— Samuel R. Gilbertson, served as a deacon of Berean Baptist Church

We hired Bill while I was serving as deacon chairman of Berean Baptist in 2009. We needed an experienced and well grounded, servant of God and found Bill to be a perfect fit for our church. He is highly educated in God’s Word, a good public speaker, and experienced in church functionality. He quickly learned our culture and won the hearts of our people. He is a deliberate and practical thinker. I found Shepherd Change to be a prime example of Bill’s practical thinking style and his faith in God’s guidance.
— Timothy Morscheck, served as a deacon of Berean Baptist Church

This book not only provides churches with a wise process for a pastoral transition; it actually worked. As the candidate who worked through this transition plan, I can attest to the wisdom found in this book.
— Joshua Greiner, pastor of Berean Baptist Church and successor to the author

Author Bio