• Download our Guide for pastor transitions
• Interim Pastor Ministries to help your church thrive during transition and help Pastor Next succeed
• Embracing Succession: Helping Ministry Leaders Confront the Personal Side of Transition by Will Heath. Pastors should read this up to three years before transitioning out.
• "A (Healthy) Changing of the Guard", from the EFCA Blog
• Help We Just Lost Our Pastor: A Step-by-Step Guide for Pastoral Transitions - 3rd Edition, by Ken Moberg
• Leading Turnaround Churches. Instead of leaving the church you're serving, consider leading them through change
• North Central District’s guide to transitions
• Restructuring Playbook by ChurchStaffing.com
• Soaring Between Pastors, by Tom Harris with IPM - how churches can become stronger during a pastor transition
• Next: Pastoral Succession that Works by Vanderbloemen and Bird, Foreword by John Ortberg.
• Training IPM to become an interim pastor
• Transition Resource Ministry - an entire website of resources! See especially their toolbox
• Transitions Playbook by ChurchStaffing.com

Resources from around the EFCA

• Where We Stand: Denials and Affirmations: Where the EFCA stands on several issues that are relevant and controversial in our culture. This can serve as a great tool to tell a candidate where we stand to see if they are a good fit for the EFCA.
• Lead Pastor Transitions
• NCD Partner Ministries
• Great Lakes District

• Candidate Affirmation Form - an optional tool to survey candidates on various EFCA-specific concerns (the candidate completes the form and we send the results to the search team)
• "21 Common Mistakes a Pastor Nominating Committee Makes" by IPM
• "5 Common Pastor Search Mistakes" from Lifeway Research
• "7 C's of Calling a Pastor" by Noah Palmer
• Setting a church employee’s salary: Contact Colby and he can run a report specific to your context. 
• Ask Seek Knock Ministry Resources - Step by step help for your pastoral search - fantastic resource for any search team!!!
• Church Growth: How Fundamental Benchmarks Impact Compensation
• Interviewing Playbook by ChurchStaffing.com
• Onboarding Playbook by ChurchStaffing.com
• Pastor Search Checklist: A Five-Stage Process for Finding and Calling the Next Pastor of Your Church, by long-time friend of the MWD, Charles Worley
• Principles of Hiring by Craig Groeschel: Part 1; Part 2
• Resume Screening Playbook by ChurchStaffing.com
• "Rurban" training, how pastors can understand the dynamics of urban and rural ministry mindsets, and especially how to pastor when both exist in the same congregation - contact the district office
• Salary guide from the North Central District
• Shepherd Search: Biblical Insights for Your Pastoral Search, by the Great Lakes District
• Small Town and Rural Churches - make sure your pastor is equipped to minister in your context. The district office has training and resources to help a pastor flourish in your church. Just contact us, even before Pastor Next begins.
• "Who Should Be On Your Pastor Search Committee?" by Vanderbloemen

Job sites, recruiters

• PastorSearch, the EFCA placement tool for churches and candidates
• Chemistry Staffing
• Church Staffing
• Handshake - platform for recruiting students
• Lancaster Search - a no-fee pastor search firm (recommended by at least one MWD church)
• Jobs for Pastors
• Ministry Search
• FaithSearch Partners
• Fruit Group - they help small, midsize, and megachurches find the right candidates to make their best hire
• Gospel Coalition job site
• Slingshot (especially for NextGen)
• The Shepherd Staff (especially good for small- to medium-sized churches; recommended by at least one MWD church)
• Vanderbloemen Church Staffing
• ZipRecruiter - not church-specific, but used by some candidates
• Deploy your congregation - give them a very short list of characteristics and a link to the role description and ask them to talk with people in their networks for leads
• Consider other Free churches for suggestions - perhaps your next staff member is a current member of another church; leaders often know who God might be setting apart for ministry
• Contact parachurch ministries on college campuses - perhaps some of their leaders are ready to step into church leadership
• Don't forget MAP - the MWD's MAP program (http://efcamidwest.org/map) can help someone grow into their church role "on-the-job"

See IPMs 3 helpful manuals specifically about church boards while the church is in transition:

Manual #1: Church Board Training Manual covers the Ten Core Essentials needed in a board member, among them: Christlikeness, Honesty and Integrity, Humility, Unity of the Spirit, Self-Awareness, Kingdom Vision People, Shepherd Leaders, and Communication/Communication/Communication. 

Manual #2: Unhealthy Church Boards addresses how to deal with Twelve Types of Unhealthy Boards, including: The Board without Biblical Standards, The Dominating Pastor Board, the No Term Limits Board, The passive and Ineffective Board, The Dominant Voice(s) Board and The Post Conflict Board. 

Manual #3: Transforming Church Boards provides strategies for Transforming a Church Board including: Learning the Value of Listening, Evaluating Pastor Board Training, A Biblical Model of Church Leadership, Moving Boards Toward Missional Thinking, Developing Board Recruitment, and Training to Show the Difference in the Size of Congregations. 

These Board Manuals are one example of how IPM provides its interim pastors with practical resources for helping the churches they serve get healthier and stronger during their pastoral transition.  

These manuals are available from IPM at: https://interimpastors.com/training-materials/. If you would like a free sample copy of one of the volumes, let the church office know and they might be able to acquire one for you.