Biblical Pastoral Succession

There is very little information in the Bible about how to place a succeeding pastor into position. There are so many different scenarios in place that the process for doing this would nearly fill a book. Let’s look at the process of choosing elders, according to the Bible, and we will see a how to handle almost any situation.

“For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:” Titus 1:5

“And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.” Acts 14:23

In Thayer’s Greek Dictionary “ordain” means:

1) to vote by stretching out the hand

2) to create or appoint by vote: one to have charge of some office or duty

3) to elect, create, appoint

Paul instructs Titus to ordain elders in every city. At face value, it appears that Paul is telling Titus to merely select elders and put them into position, without the input of the local church. If you notice, in the definition, the word “ordain” means to “create or appoint by vote.” In the book of Acts, Paul and Barnabas ordained elders consisting of the local church ministry of pastor and/or other local ministers. The apostolic leadership (i.e. church founders, could be one single pastor or a team of missionaries) should single out a group of ministers or an individual minister that the local church would then vote upon to receive as their pastor. This would then place the apostolic leadership in the position of advisor to the local pastor. The church is completely put into control of the local believers in order for the church to remain sovereign unto itself.

In the instance of a pastor retiring, it is the best practice that the pastor, in his twilight years, begin to train a new pastor that would be ready and used to doing the work of a pastor. Then a formal vote should be taken and the retiring pastor steps aside, while the new pastor takes his place, providing he is voted in. In some situations, pastors resign and leave immediately, die or are voted out by the local church, due to various reasons. In this case, if there is an associate pastor, he can begin to work as the interim pastor while the church determines who they desire to be their new pastor. Hopefully, the associate is ready to step in and will be voted in by the local church. If there is no pastor, it is best to either find an interim pastor or schedule ministers to visit while the deacons work to bring in ministers who could potentially become the pastor. This process really isn’t well spelled out in the bible or the Message. We have had some situations take place like this in the local churches we’ve planted in Turkey. We’ve had to put someone in place to visit believers and lead songs while a pastor preaches through skype to them or visits them from another city in Turkey. Then the Lord raised up another minister to come to Turkey from Iran. Whatever leadership of the church (current pastor who is retiring, associate or interim pastor or deacons) is in place should work together to bring the ministry needed from the outside and then prayerfully put forward a pastor or a group of potential pastors for a vote. There should be some kind of forum for believers to express their desires to the leadership in place at the time. Whether they have concerns or ideas, etc. and they can do so during a church meeting on a consistent basis during the process of finding a new pastor.