In almost every training session that involves congregational change, someone will ask a question like this that has to do with removing at least one influencer who is blocking progress. As soon as this gets asked, other participants passionately affirm this as one of their most pressing issues. But no one seems to be able to agree on the right answer.

It's no surprise. It is not only a complex issue, it is one that requires a particular set of competencies in order to be resolved in a healthy manner: clarity of purpose, courageous conversations and loving people well. It also is an issue at the heart of leadership development. We know that everything rises and falls on leadership. We also know that one of the critical areas we must pay attention to if we want to go from good to great is whether we have the right people on the right seats of the bus (the "who" before the "what"). These leadership principles from the secular world are placed in context Biblically by the fact that as the church we know that we are Christ's body (the "why" before the "who" before the "what" or "how").

In several of Paul’s letters the metaphor of the body of Christ is used to help us understand that we are different and are to play different roles while honoring the uniquely different roles of other parts of the body--all led by Christ and permeated with the Oneness of God. Ephesians 4:1-16 paints a picture of what the body looks like when it is operating as mature Christ followers:

In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. While I’m locked up here, a prisoner for the Master, I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness....

...He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christ’s followers in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ.

No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.

1 Corinthians 12 goes into more detail around spiritual gifts and the notion that, like body parts, we don't have meaning or value unless we are play our part humbly and equally within the body; including a lesson in understanding that no single gift or part of the body is greater than another.

The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything.

Hopefully it is clear that before discussing how to transition leaders, we have to have a shared vision of what it looks like to lead together as Christ followers.

7 Steps to Transition Leaders

Whether the need for transition is because a person doesn't share the vision of being a part of the body of Christ and/or isn't positioned correctly to play their part and/or is currently stuck in unhelpful patterns, there are some basic steps to transition leaders in love:

1. Pray. Ask God to show you whether the first step needs to involve mending a relationship or resolving a particular conflict. Pray until you feel that your interactions with the person will be coming from a place of extending God's love rather than frustration.
2. Gather leaders together. Study Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12 and any other scriptural texts that speak to where your congregation is currently. Discuss what it would take for leaders at your church to live into these biblical truths.
3. Clarify expectations for leaders. Expectations generally (behaviors & attitudes) and specifically (tasks & outcomes). It is helpful to put this in writing so all leaders can be reading off the same script. >Learn more
4. Create a culture of accountability. Without accountability, clarifying expectations will likely not get lived out. One of the most revolutionary aspects of John Wesley's movement was the accountability present in small groups.
5. Help leaders find their place. Be a partner in discerning where their gifts and passions might be best utilized within the body of Christ; where God might be calling him/her to serve next. There are many ways this discernment can happen but none of them can happen outside of a strong relationship rooted in love and forgiveness.
6. Check that the balance of power is correct. The role of most leaders in the church is to equip, encourage and organize the saints for making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world; to bless and then to take care of one another. It isn't to be power brokers. It isn't to make members happy. It isn't to micromanage people or, God forbid, the Holy Spirit.
7. Don't confuse titles with leadership. Lift up those who are leading and doing ministry closest to the ground. Ensure that all people are valued and encouraged regardless of title.