Making an Easier Transition

This month United Methodist ministers around the nation are moving to new appointments, new churches. As I preached this past Sunday, July 1st, from the pulpit of the Korean Presbyterian church where I am serving I thought of my many friends where were preaching that morning as well. While I preached to a familiar group, a number of my UM clergy friends were preaching to a congregation that they were meeting for the first time.

I am not ordained so I am not itinerant like those who are ordained Elders in The United Methodist Church. However, I have had my good-byes and hellos as I have left churches and been called to different churches. It isn't always easy to start at a new place. I always feel like the congregation expects you to hit the ground running - whether you know to where you are running or where the track is! United Methodist congregations are getting better at welcoming new pastors - they have to! - but they few tend to welcome a new youth pastor/minister/director/leader with as much finesse.

How can it be improved? First, remember whether the new youth leader is ordained or not s/he is going to become the "pastor" to the church's youth. So treat him/her as such. Second, give the new youth leader a little help. Why not provide the same level of care, welcome, and information to her/him that you do when a new pastor is appointed?

Here are some pieces of advice:

• Make a notebook for the new youth pastor with a copy of the church bulletin, newsletter, member directory, schedules for worship and other leadership teams, and a list of ongoing Bible studies, church traditions, and youth activities
• Help the new youth minister by making some appointments to meet the staff and other core people in the church
• If your church has provided housing, clean the parsonage and mow the lawn
  Be on hand to help unload the moving van - this is especially helpful to the single youth director who doesn't have a family to help.
• If the new youth leader has children, offer to babysit and introduce them to other children in the congregation
• Take food to the youth pastor until s/he has time to get the kitchen in order, or give gift certificates to local restaurants - this is especially helpful for the single youth leader who is trying to get settled all alone
• Suggest local favorites for services such as dry cleaners, grocery stores, doctors and dentists
• Provide the youth pastor with a list of youth and their families. Offer to introduce the new pastor to these families
• Introduce the new youth director to people in the community who may or may not be church members
• On the new youth minister's first Sunday, after all of the worship services, Sunday School classes, and welcome brunch are over, let them go home in peace to rest and rejuvenate their drained mental, emotional, and spiritual reserves