September 13, 2024
TALMO, Ga. — The Transitional Interim Pastor’s (TIP) Fellowship may well be the only ministry of its kind across the Southern Baptist Convention. It serves a significant role in the ministries of transitional interims in Northeast Georgia. Organized by several associational mission strategists in 2016, it is designed to build on the training provided for transitional pastors by helping them keep their skillsets sharp during and between ministry opportunities.
The TIP ministry is designed to help churches during pastoral transitions, especially churches that have had a long-tenured pastor, a traumatic transition (death, illness, or moral failure), or conflict. TIP pastors have received training to help churches deal with past issues, discover or rediscover their current purpose, and then seek a new pastor who shares that vision and purpose. To help facilitate the process and remain objective, TIP pastors do not allow themselves to be considered as candidates for the vacant pulpit.
Currently, three northeast Georgia associations share this ministry: the Appalachee with Associational Mission Strategist Chris Connor, Chattahoochee with AMS Jojo Thomas, and Sarepta with AMS Lex Bowen. Thomas and Bowen saw a need and organized this ministry to provide ongoing training for those in the TIP ministry. Thomas explained, “Because of the unique ministry, many TIP pastors may go a year or longer between churches.”
Bowen said the fellowship was created, “For those who received training to keep their tools sharpened. By taking one of the aspects of TIP training and highlighting it in each session.” He continued, “The vulnerability of the churches during that interim time and having the qualified men in there with those skills is important. Often a pastor who retires thinks they know what it is like to be an interim, but the skills are different.”
Thomas stated, “We got into this on the basic level because of a deep appreciation of how important interim ministry is. Excellent leadership during the interim phase is a key element in the church being healthy for the next pastor. And without some type of structure, you get uneven approaches and churches assumed the interim was simply a placeholder until the next pastor. A lot of opportunities were being missed to help those churches.”
The fellowship meets quarterly at Talmo Baptist Church in Talmo, Ga. The associational mission strategists, along with facilitator Steve Fenlon, develop the program for each meeting. This usually involves someone providing a case study of the church they are or have worked with. Case studies have included churches dealing with changing demographics, churches merging with other churches, churches transitioning from full-time to part-time pastors, churches dealing with theological conflict, staff conflicts, churches dealing with trauma from moral or ethical failures, and churches transitioning after a long-term pastor. “There is no model for each interim, every case study has been unique,” according to Bowen.
The second section of the meeting is designed for a review of best practices. This builds on the specific training TIP pastors have received. Best practices are drawn from a large range of resources and reading by the associational mission strategists. These are typically included in a printed format in the event, as sometimes happens, the case study goes longer than expected.
The third part of the meeting, which is optional, is lunch at a nearby grill in Talmo. The fellowship and conversations continue over lunch for those who have the time to stay. Lunch is often the icing on the cake of a TIP Fellowship meeting, where warm conversation and ideas continue to be freely exchanged.
The Northeast Georgia TIP Fellowship can serve as a model for other associations and regions. The next scheduled TIP fellowship will be held Wednesday, Sept. 11, at 10 a.m. at Talmo Baptist Church. Contact Steve Fenlon at skfenlon@bellsouth.net for more information about this ministry or attending the next fellowship.
