Panel on Succession leadership

Pastors Jay Passavant and Scott Stevens shared their thoughts and lessons from having experienced a transition in leadership, from Jay as the founding pastor of 30-years to Scott, the new lead pastor of North Way Christian Community.

 Although I am not transitioning out of my position in CCI/LA as director of leadership development, Bob Sabean and I are releasing the responsibility to teach one specific training event into the hands of this multicultural team of professors. This annual event is the Institute for Forming Instructors (IFI) and it is held in the country that solicits it. If our National CCI Association in Peru requests it, a sub-team will be formed of those professors who have the time, funds, and availability and they will be in charge of the entire 17-day IFI.

  Our team is ad hoc (Wikipedia: Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes). They have no elite status, they are professors when teaching an IFI, but when they are back in their respective countries, they are active participants on their CCI national team of volunteers, teaching training courses and promoting Christian camping. Several of them serve as board members at the national and international level.

Team’s impressions of the panel with Pastors Jay and Scott:

·      Jay trusted Scott to be the next lead pastor

·      Scott respected Jay and his legacy and didn’t do anything to stain or undermine it in an effort to build up respect for himself.

·      They put into place a transition team who held everyone accountable to the timeline and mediate any differences. They trusted God’s hand to move the process along.

·      What surprised me was the sense of joy of passing the baton from one generation to the other.

·      This organized, well-thought manner of leadership succession is practically unheard of in our countries. A senior pastor leaves when he dies, not before. There is usually no plan in place. Usually his son takes charge or another close family member. During his tenure, other strong leaders that rise up in church may likely be considered a threat to his leadership so he may send them off to plant daughter churches since it would be dangerous to keep them too close. 

Pastor Jay has been my pastor since I was a 12-year old at Memorial Park Pres. Church and when he left there and founded North Way Christian Community, I continued to attend both churches. After 30 years, Pastor Jay has given his role as lead pastor to Scott Stevens.