Former Leaders and Their Former Flocks

Pope Benedict XVI flew off into the sunset of Rome a few days ago to begin his life as "former pope."
       For many leaders, being "former" is foreign territory and scares the hieby-giebies out of many of us (that's a technical term!).
       The news media has asked whether Benedict will stay out of church business, or if he might meddle. That is a very good question.
       I am the "former" of three situations - former Europe Director of Christian Associates, former senior pastor of Crossroads Amsterdam, and former executive pastor of Lookout Mountain Church in Denver.
       My self-assessment is that I did two out of the three of these well, the other one not so great. The poor transition was when I left the role of Europe Director in 2000. I handed off the role to a very gifted person who I had mentored for three years.
       But there was at least two problems: I did not move off the scene. I became pastor of the flagship church of the ministry, in the same city where he was. That made things messy. The other issue was that he was a bit of a junior leader and I did not prepare the way for him well enough.
       The other two (church) situations went well - in part because of me and in part despite me! I have learned a few key things from those transitions, and from leaders (especially pastors) who do not become "former" very well.
   * You have to leave and get out of the way entirely. When we left Amsterdam in 2005 I was determined to "disappear" from things at Crossroads for at least a year. I did that, by God's grace. We leaders can so easily meddle in the affairs of our former groups.
   * Never question or second guess the new leader, especially in public! (by the way, it's a very good idea for the new leader not to take swipes at the previous leader as well)
   * Don't fund-raise in your previous ministry context, at least for quite a while. This is difficult for people like me, who raises his financial support. When I was leaving Crossroads the elders asked that I not speak with people about supporting our ministry. Quite honestly, I was ticked off (and those elders were and are some of my closest friends). But their judgement was right. It is simply too difficult for people for whom I have been their pastor to sift through the complexity of the relationship with me.
       It has been challenging for me to live with the title "former." It's humbling. I remember when I returned for a visit to Amsterdam 2 or 3 years after I had left. Someone who was in the church when I pastored saw me on a Sunday morning before the worship service. She was surprised to see me. The first thing she said to me was, "Hi Brian. Crossroads is doing so GREAT without you!"
     I just had to laugh at the comment! It made me feel so ... human.