​Should I stay or should I go? Why Joe Biden reminds me of some pastors

As I see Joe Biden once again doing his ‘shuffle run’ to prove his youth and vitality, while at the same time confusing Zelenskyy with Putin, I feel like I want to rush in, put my arm around him and take him home for cocoa and bed.

In spite of all those calling him to step down, his sense of duty and commitment has meant that he has most likely written off his party and opened the door for four more years of the Trumpster.

I actually think Joe Biden is not dissimilar to many in Christian leadership. Our sense of duty and commitment to those we lead can distort our perspective, and we can end up hanging onto our roles and responsibilities for too long, potentially limiting the release of leaders and mission for the future.

I am currently in a leadership transition myself. I’m not as old as Biden (only a sprightly 56). My family and I moved to Southampton in 2007 to plant Life Church, so as the founding pastor, I have, with the help of many others, built every aspect of church life and mission over the last 17 years. I am deeply invested. I also serve trans-locally with the Commission Family of churches, serving and supporting people in many other contexts.

Over the last few years I’ve been aware that it is hard to do everything well, it’s a challenge to bring vision and pastoral care to a community and at the same time be engaged in international mission.

Because of that, I initiated a five year plan to continue to raise up a strong, healthy eldership team, one of whom the team will recognise as the team leader. He will take the team and the church forward in a way that I can’t, and it’s been a beautiful, life giving and joyful process.

Before embarking on this course of action, I did some research. I wanted to know - where was succession successful, and where was it painful? Were there any principles I could learn? I discovered that 85 per cent of senior leadership changes are unplanned and occur as a result of a change of circumstances, moral fall, sickness or death. That shocked me.

All leadership is stewardship, so ultimately succession is inevitable, but I wanted it to be natural, not forced.

I realised that as the outgoing leader, the success or otherwise of the process was mostly down to me, so I took the initiative and began the conversation very early.

It turns out there aren’t many patterns that help or hinder successful transition. The best advice is to simply do it early and think ahead. 

When succession fails, it’s typically due to misunderstandings about three things. People, time and money. So it’s important to be clear about who is and who isn’t involved in the process of transition. It’s also important to think through timings carefully, and to stick to them, and it’s important to bring up the taboo of money.

The aim is to have a clear process which honours the outgoing leader and prepares the church and the team well for the incoming leader. Not so fast that shock and change unsettle, but not so slow that vision is hindered, and leaders not released. Think smooth transition and the benefits of a well worked passing of the baton in a relay race where there is a period where runners run together – that’s the feel of a successful transition.

When I look back on the past 25 years of leadership life, the thing that has brought me greatest joy is to observe spiritual sons becoming spiritual fathers, who will continue to bring loving, godly, servant leadership to our churches, and further the Kingdom of God way beyond anything I could achieve. That brings a smile to my face.

I’m not quite ready for cocoa and bed, but I am released to fully play my part in God’s mission, knowing that our churches are in great hands for the future. My encouragement is to raise and release, enjoy your part in the journey, and celebrate as others run further for the glory of God.