The Impact of the Itineracy
By Willie Eugene Marshall
Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser, in their book, Managing the Congregation, wrote the following about unresolved conflicts: “Unmanaged conflict frays nerves and wears down persons’ patience until finally, all ministries of the church grind to a halt. Some persons fight to the finish; others break their ties with the congregation and go elsewhere.”
Moving affects the pastor and the family moving from one church to another church. Often times the moving or itinerant process is only focused on the hurt and pain of the congregation and not on the hurt and pain of the pastor and the pastor’s family. When they move to another church, this shifting causes pain and hurt for them as well because of the relationships established with others. We often fail to admit that this congregation has also become a part of the pastor and their family. This phase of ministry must be handled with extreme care so that there will be a healthy move for the pastor and their leaving and the new pastor and family who is coming in to serve the church.
When a pastor and their family move to another church, especially if there is a good personality matching rapport between the both of them, it can be a really hurtful transition. This moving process can actually affect a congregation in several ways, including not being able to accept the reality of the present pastor and family; not being able to make the adjustments in terms of accepting the new pastor and family; and wrestling with the psychological warfare of actually staying at their church because the person can’t handle the change of new leadership.
As a result, all parties are affected in one way or another. There is negative and positive in all organizations but the system of the itineracy has proven itself to still be an overall effective mode of ministry for the church.
The Rev. Willie Eugene Marshall, B.S., M.Div., D.Miv., is the pastor of Parks Chapel AME Church in Dothan, Alabama. He can reached at Juststayingpositive2@gmail.com.
