By Dr. Robert Crossman

Welcoming a new pastor in genuine and effective ways lays the groundwork for a healthy and vital relationship and for the development of stable, long-term ministries together. The following suggestions from 50 Ways to Welcome your New Senior or Associate Pastor will help your congregation receive a new pastor with a spirit of openness and hospitality.
Open your hearts and decide that you are going to love your new pastor.

• Pray daily for the new pastor and family, even as you continue to pray for your departing pastor and family.
• Invite church members to send cards of welcome and encouragement to the incoming pastor.
• Plan for the transition. Important welcoming gestures may be missed with everyone thinking someone else is handling these details.
• Appoint a liaison person to whom the pastor can go for help and information during the transition.
• Say goodbye to your current pastor in a healthy way. Showing love, regard, and even grief for your departing pastor is one of the best things you can do for the new pastor.
• Acknowledge the change in public ways. Especially in the case of a much-beloved pastor, this allows the congregation better to let go and receive the new pastor.
• Consider giving the outgoing pastor the last two weeks off. This helps that pastor enter a new situation rested and gives an emotional buffer between one pastor’s last Sunday and another pastor’s first Sunday.
• Welcome the new pastor on moving day. Have a small group greet the new pastor and family when they arrive and help as needed.
• Stock the parsonage refrigerator and pantry with some staples. Include kid-friendly foods and snacks if children are arriving.
• Provide a map with directions to local dry cleaners, grocery store, drug store, veterinarian, etc., and information on local options for internet and cable television providers.
• Give gift certificates to several favorite restaurants in the community.
• Wear name tags. Even if name tags are not a tradition, the congregation can wear them for a few weeks to help the pastor learn names.

Dr. Robert Crossman is a leader in  the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Download a free copy of 50 Ways to Welcome your New Senior or Associate Pastor.