An exciting part of being a rostered church worker is when a Director of Christian Education (DCE) or pastor answers God’s call to serve another congregation. Though it’s an exciting time, it can leave their present congregation with a vacancy and no one to serve in that role. I experienced this twice at the same congregation, and I learned some valuable lessons.
Build a strong core of volunteers.
Our first two DCEs were wonderful servants of Christ. Each accepted calls elsewhere, leaving us with a vacancy each time. Our youth endured a trying adjustment after saying farewell to two beloved church workers. They managed it well because the members of our Youth Committee was still present in their lives.
Having the same team of supportive adults around to guide and walk alongside youth during difficult transitions is essential. It offers them a constant reminder of God’s love and presence that will not leave them.
Keep meeting together.
Hebrews 10:25 tells us to continue meeting to encourage one another. This especially applies when a church faces any sort of vacancy. You may not have a pastor or DCE to lead Bible study, but there are studies and resources that faithful elders or leaders within the church can lead. This is important because the congregation must continue instructing people of all ages, building one another up, and serving as Christ’s hands and feet in the community.
Our Youth Committee kept hosting events and Bible study. I wouldn’t want to think of where our Youth Ministry would be now if we had stopped meeting and planning until another DCE arrived. Part of the reason our ministry continued was because of the relationship I had established with our DCEs.
If you’re a volunteer, work closely with your current church staff.
If you lead a board or committee, don’t wait until your pastor or DCE announces they have accepted a call to start picking their brain on the fundamentals of planning or how to lead a Bible study. God’s timing is impeccable, and we rarely see a significant change coming. We must use the time we’re given to work closely with our church leaders as partners in ministry. This helps us grow as a volunteer and keeps us prepared should our church workers accept a call to the next plan God has for them.
When I served as the Youth Committee Chairman, I worked closely with our second DCE on how she planned events, promoted them (social media and a texting app), and her reasoning behind why we did what we did. I offered to lead devotions during youth night, so it was one less thing she had to plan. We even worked together to create a philosophy of youth ministry. I enjoyed the process and learned from her, but the biggest payoff was I knew where the ship was going even after she moved on to her next ministry position.
If you’re a church worker, have a “things to know” document for your successor.
One of the best things a pastor or DCE can do once they’ve accepted a call is to leave some helpful resources for the next person entering the role that they are vacating.
When both DCEs left our congregation, they had documents that included their monthly to do list, spreadsheets with fundraising events and how they tracked information, all the logins and passwords for different accounts, and more. This became invaluable when volunteers like myself had to step up to ensure the ministries they were responsible for continued. Not only did they continue, but they thrived thanks to the forethought and consideration given by our DCEs.
Pray continuously.
Prayer is a wonderful gift from God giving us access to the Father. We will never have a shortage of things to pray for, and asking God to send our church a pastor or DCE to relieve the burden of a vacancy is appropriate. How often should we pray for a church worker to fill a vacancy? We can “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) that God would provide a church worker, until the vacancy is fulfilled, another way is found to cover the work, or Christ returns. We can also pray for God to continue raising future church leaders. Jesus addressed this in Matthew 9:35-38 when He said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.”
Think of members in your congregation who would make a good DCE or pastor and encourage them. Consider ways to increase your volunteer time to help support the church until God provides a shepherd or other servant to lead the church.
Vacancies are difficult for churches, but we must never forget that God is still with us. Jesus is with us when we gather in His name (Matthew 18:20), He promises to be with us always (Matthew 28:20), and He gives us His peace (John 14:27). The Holy Spirit will continue to work in and through His Church that it may be a light to the world even during a vacancy.
Always remember that we belong to the church triumphant thanks to the saving and redeeming work of Jesus. We look forward to the day we will be united in heaven, where Christ will fill every vacancy and shepherd His people.
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