What to do when your pastor resigns
If your pastor is leaving, please contact your Regional Conference Minister as soon as possible. Their contact information is available on the About us page of the website. They will want to meet with the consistory to discuss next steps, ideally within a month of your pastor’s resignation being received.
Throughout the Search and Call process, Conference staff will send the church leadership resources to support the transition. The first set will include:
- an overview of your next steps
- a detailed explanation of how the Conference staff, Association, church Consistory, Transitions Team, and Search Committee will support one another throughout the transition
- steps for a pastor to follow when leaving a church
- requirements for clergy leaving a congregation according to the UCC Ministerial Code
- checklist of materials a church should collect from a pastor before they leave
- suggested format and questions for an exit interview
- departure guidelines for a pastor to follow
- liturgy of farewell to use during the pastor’s final Sunday
- bulletin inserts to share with your congregation on “An Introduction to Search and Call” and “Boundaries between a church and former pastor”
- suggested text for your website or newsletter to update the congregation on the next steps
Contact your Regional Conference Minister to get started.
Some additional materials are available on the Keystone Conference webpage’s Search and Call resources library.
You’ll want to begin scheduling Sunday Supply Pastors as soon as possible to provide coverage until an Interim Pastor or Supply Pastor can be secured. The Sunday Supply list is available here.
