c. 2007 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) A newly arrived pastor recently asked me for advice.

“How,” he asked, “do I do an initial assessment to determine where I need to start working with a congregation?”

He is asking the right question. It touches all who care about congregations. The single most vulnerable time in the life of a congregation is the “start-up” period of a new pastorate, when lasting impressions are formed, mistakes are made, and a pastor’s tenure can be launched successfully or declared “dead on arrival.”

Since the average tenure of a pastor is around three years _ thanks, in part, to poor start-up periods _ this vulnerable moment happens frequently. In fact, many veteran clergy refuse to move, because the start-up time can be so dangerous.

In mulling my response, I thought of my own experiences as a newly arrived pastor. In part, the following advice expresses what I wish I had done better.

As an incoming pastor, I wrote him, your initial tasks are to present yourself to the people, to help them to know you and your vision for ministry, and to discern their yearnings and expectations.

That means a variety of initiatives, including pastoral calling, both on opinion-shapers (let the word get out, “He cares”) and the less prominent (“He plays no favorites”); small-group conversations where you mainly listen and gather intuitive data; e-mail dialogue; and greeting-and-listening on Sunday morning.

I suggest starting a member-tracking system, in which you keep notes on what people tell you. Don’t trust your memory; it’s too selective.

Draw tentative conclusions and run them by key lay leaders for feedback. You will learn a lot by listening to lay leaders as they listen to your data from listening to the people. You will discern stories they haven’t heard, outcomes they haven’t wanted to see, as well as your own blind spots in gathering data.

You will identify two key areas of focus. One is “low-hanging fruit”: responses you can make immediately to address obvious needs. For example, if your predecessor lost the people’s trust by never making calls, you can start a well-publicized process of making calls.

The second focus will be primary needs: those frustrations, failures and opportunities that require immediate action. You need to know what will make the biggest difference. Thus, an improved Sunday school for children will make a bigger difference than reshaping the liturgy. Reducing anxiety about finances will make a bigger difference than composing a mission statement.

The challenge is to verify that primary needs are real and not just the unresolved noise of a few. To verify validity of need, you will want to make sure you are listening to many, not just a few; that your door is always open; that you won’t get anxious and defensive when people talk; and that you are wise and in charge, not easily swayed.

As you can see, this isn’t a scientific process of needs assessment. As a new pastor, you aren’t a consultant who is preparing charts and documenting hard truths; you are establishing yourself as a good listener, a caring pastor, and someone who is developing a vision.

Through it all, I would recommend maximum “transparency.” Tell the people what you are doing and why, what you are learning and think it means, and where you recommend going next.

In next week’s column, I will give comparable advice to congregations. We all have a huge stake in getting this right.

(Tom Ehrich is a writer, church consultant and Episcopal priest based in New York. He is the author of “Just Wondering, Jesus,” and the founder of the Church Wellness Project, http://www.churchwellness.com. His Web site is http://www.morningwalkmedia.com.)

KRE/PH END EHRICH625 words

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