November 8, 2025
I pastored a military church for 11 years and witnessed regular leadership turnover like I had never seen. While the average church may have an annual attrition rate of 10%, this church saw roughly 25% of its members leave each year — mostly by transfer to other military installations.
That high turnover prompted us to adjust our policies for how quickly members could take on leadership positions. But it also prompted something else. Our leaders were encouraged to think about who could replace them in their roles.
One person who took that effort seriously was our church treasurer. She recruited a very talented young lady, invested in her personally and helped her be ready to serve the church when called on to do so.
Who is your replacement? If you are a pastor, elder, lay leader in your church or organizational ministry leader, have you given thought to who the church or organization would call on in your absence? While you may not be able to choose your successor, you can invest in one or more potential leaders to help them be prepared when they are called upon.
How can you raise up a possible replacement for yourself?
1. Pray and ask God for guidance: When it came to selecting His disciples, Jesus prayed all night before making His decision. Luke 6:12-13 reads, “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:” One thing we can do is pray and ask God to provide a replacement for us and then pay attention to the person or persons God sends our way.
2. Spend time with future leaders: From Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy, and beyond, we know that the biblical model of leadership development is life on life, spending time together, as more is often caught than taught. To raise up a successor, one must invest in them personally. Have meals together, talk on the phone, drink coffee, and spend time with those who demonstrate potential to lead in your place.
3. Invest in their professional development: Dr. Justin Irving, in his book “Healthy Leadership for Thriving Organizations,” writes, “Train people well enough so they can leave; treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” It is the job of those in leadership to invest in team members who will in turn serve the church or organization. Spend enough time with potential leaders so you can help them discover the areas where they need to grow and continually improve.
4. Give them books to read: Our nation’s 33rd president, Harry Truman, was known for saying, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” One way to develop a potential replacement is to share books, articles, or journals with them that have been helpful to you. Buy the book and give them a copy. Print the article and pass it along to them. Share what you found helpful in the book or article, and welcome the feedback they have after reading it.
5. Promote them when possible: Sometimes a promotion could include an open position in your church or ministry that a leader-in-training can step into, but at other times it will be letting them lead a project or plan an event that allows them to take on more responsibility. One of the best things we can do for those we hope to see advance in ministry leadership is to entrust them with an occasional “stretch assignment” which lets them experience leadership at a higher level without all the pressure of leading there regularly.
6. Move out of the way at the right time: This is a tough one for many. Determining when to step away from a church or organization requires prayer, discernment, faith, and humility. Knowing when to leave, and then leaving well, opens the door for new leaders to step into roles that will stretch them and make them better leaders.
7. Be a cheerleader on the sidelines: One of the best things a leader can do for a successor is to cheer them on in their role, encourage them when they need it, and offer wise counsel when requested. Someone has said, “There is no success without a successor,” and each of us will want to root for the success of others.
All of us are interims in our leadership roles. If the churches or organizations we lead continue, then someone will replace us. We must each do our part to make sure that we invest in those who will take on these roles when the time comes. The work of advancing the gospel is too important for us to fail to pay attention to healthy leadership transitions.
___
Todd Gray is executive director-treasurer of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. This commentary first appeared in Kentucky Today.
Share with others
