#healthypastor - Who is Coming After You?

     One of the things I love about my denomination is that we are itinerant - we move. We move with the bishop and the cabinet discern that our gifts and graces are needed in a particular place, a particular church. Now to be clear, I don't like moving. It's stressful. And I don't particularly like starting over. However, one of the things that the itinerant system forces you to do is to think about the  pastor who is coming after you, because there will always be someone coming after you.
   We may not know the name of the person to follow us. But they need to always be in our hearts and minds. When  I suggest a change or a ministry goal, I find myself thinking about that person and if this change will make the church stronger for them to lead in the future. When I ask for a change in the parsonage, I analyze if it will make their life better when the time comes for them to move. When I pick my battles, I think about whether it will be something that needs to be changed before they get here or if it can slide. Thinking about the pastor to follow is vital to this type of ministry.
    But it also forces me to adapt patterns that don't set the next person up for failure. Should I expect the next person to work 12+ hour days? No? Then is that reasonable for me to be doing now? Such questions help me to make healthy choices for myself while setting the next pastor up for the best possible appointment, even if it is years down the line. The itinerant system, at its best, holds us accountable to be great, well-balanced, whole pastors now so the next pastor can be great in their own way in the future.