The Elephant in the Boardroom

THE AUTHORS CAROLYN WEESE is executive director of Multi-Staff Ministries, a consulting group based in Goodyear, Arizona, serving hundreds of churches from many denominations in thirty-six states. She has twenty years experience helping congregations with leadership development, succession planning, and other human relation issues. J. RUSSELL CRABTREE is executive director of Holy Cow! Consulting in Columbus, Ohio, a company that offers organizational development services for religious, government, and nonprofit organizations.

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