By The Rev. Dr. Carl Grosse

Many presbyteries, including ours in East Tennessee, are adopting standards for interim ministry and creating tools for accountability to those standards. I love the direction and look forward to participating in efforts that improve transparency between presbytery, congregations and their Sessions, and interim pastors. One tool is a form interim pastors will submit quarterly to tell the presbytery where the congregation is in the transition process and what work the interim pastor has done. 

Historically, interim pastors simply kept the regular operations going while the congregation searched for their next called pastor. During the past 15-20 years, church leaders have recognized that this transition window creates opportunity for important work repositioning congregations for the next step in their journey. The short-term, disruptive nature of this work requires certain skills and personal attributes not usually found in called pastors. Training specialists for interim ministry and holding them accountable is a welcome development in my humble opinion.

I also report regularly to the Personnel Committee and the Session, allowing them to see my work, ask questions, make suggestions, and determine if they’re getting your money’s worth. What I report to Presbytery should align with what I report to Personnel and Session, and to you. Similarly, what Presbytery, Personnel and Session hear about me from each other and from you should not be too different from what I report. 

How are we held accountable as followers of Jesus? Should we be? Tracing what the Bible tells us about Peter reveals some fascinating possibilities regarding accountability. Moving from the gospel portraits through Acts to Peter’s first epistle (not so much the second one) shows a remarkable progression, in part shaped by Peter’s own reflection on his journey with Jesus, but also by the feedback from Jesus and others. As we go through Palm Sunday and Holy Week, reflect on your own journey with Jesus. But also pay attention to feedback from others about where they see you doing well in faith and maybe struggling. We all have specific areas to improve, and we all need to encourage and support each other.