A (Healthy) Changing of the Guard

Randy Scheil wanted a healthy transition away from pastoral ministry—he just wasn’t sure how.  

It was 2014, and he just turned 61. Succession planning was heavy on his mind. During his long time in ministry, he had been the incoming pastor twice. The first time didn’t go well; the second time was a blessing, thanks to the graciousness of the outgoing pastor. 

He wanted to do the same for whoever would succeed him as senior pastor of Stonebridge Church (EFCA) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  

That same year, he took a sabbatical and spent his time researching pastoral successions. He told his elder board he wasn’t planning to retire anytime soon, but when the time came, he wanted to find a healthy path forward. 

Pastoral leadership transitions are a sensitive time for pastors, church staff and congregations. According to Barna, planned pastoral transitions—where the pastor and elders create a plan for succession—are the best route for the overall health of the church. All other routes, like when a pastor leaves without notice or when a pastor is released from ministry, often have harmful ramifications on the church. 

Randy wanted Stonebridge to thrive long after he retired. In his research, he learned the process of planning for transition can be challenging and painful, but he still wanted to get it right. 

In 2017, he sensed it was time to start the process. He met with a consulting firm, and they shared three different avenues pastors and churches typically take when making a succession plan: first, the pastor leaves and a new one comes in; second, the pastor leaves and the church has an intentional interim period; third, the outgoing pastor and incoming pastor have an overlap period.  

In the middle of their conversation, the consultant asked Randy, “What’s the timeline?” Randy wasn’t prepared for that question and wanted to leave his estimated date for retiring ambiguous, but the consultant pressed him.  

“Maybe two or three years,” Randy said. 

“The process can take nine months to a year after the announcement and preparation for retirement can take six months,” the consultant said, helping clarify how pastoral transitions typically work. 

A staff member said to Randy, “You could work for another five to six years.” 

“Yeah, I could,” Randy said, “but is that what is best for the church?” 

Randy and the elders unanimously agreed that moving forward with the overlap plan was the best option. But before they could start a search committee, they had to decide if they wanted to hire a worship pastor before the new senior pastor. This specific hurdle put a renewed energy into starting the process even faster than they considered. 

They formed the search committee, and Randy stepped away from the process.  

“As the outgoing guy, I felt like the elders needed to be freed up to appoint a search committee. They asked me to submit names of people I thought might be possible candidates,” Randy said. 

He only recommended one name: Brandon Levering. 

"We had no intention of moving on” 

Brandon met Randy in 2013 at a Charles Simeon Trust workshop, an organization that trains pastors and ministry leaders in biblical exposition. Brandon taught a workshop, and Randy was a small group leader. They reconnected at another workshop in 2015. These connections helped to establish a sense of trust and common values.  

“The reason I wanted Brandon was because I knew he loved Scripture and loved God,” Randy said. “He knew how to work with staff and had a Navigators background, where I was early discipled. And I know this might sound a little silly, but I knew in college he was an accounting major, and I thought, ‘Boy, a pastor with business sense is a great value to a church!’” 

At the time, Brandon pastored Westgate Church (EFCA) in Weston, Massachusetts. He’d been there almost eight years and had no intention of leaving. Even though the cost of living in Massachusetts was high and put a strain on his family’s single income, he enjoyed ministering to the church and the community.  

Then, in 2018, Brandon's dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He and his wife wanted to be more available to see him, but he lived in Nebraska and the long distance made frequent travel difficult. He also wondered if they’d eventually need to move closer to take care of his dad. They weren’t ready to give up ministry in New England, but they resolved to at least have the conversation if God opened a door. 

Three weeks later, he received an email from Stonebridge.  

The candidacy 

Unconvinced and not ready to respond, Brandon left the email in his inbox for almost a month. It took the nudging of a few pastor friends to convince him to start the conversation.  

“It was huge knowing Randy ahead of time, knowing some of his values and commitments,” Brandon said.  

Meanwhile, Brandon didn’t want to keep his associate pastor and elder board in the dark. When he told them the news, he acknowledged how much he appreciated the church’s established culture of trust.  

“There was grief in the possibility of parting,” Brandon said, “but they’re just godly men. I was able to be transparent with them on why we were thinking about it. [And I asked them], ‘Would you join me in discerning this together?’” 

Eventually, members of the Stonebridge search committee came to Westgate and interviewed Brandon. They also had dinner with one of Westgate's elders and his wife. When it was time for Brandon’s candidacy, Brandon and the elders told the Westgate congregation.  

When the elders presented Brandon as the pastoral candidate at Stonebridge, they livestreamed the congregational meeting to vote, which allowed members of Westgate to tune-in and watch the results. Many at Westgate knew about the results before he did. 

“I got a congratulations text from one of my elders before someone walked down the hall to tell me what they voted on,” Brandon said. 

The overlap 

As they entered the transition process, Randy acknowledged that while the Stonebridge elders and congregation supported it, some of the church staff were shaken; they had questions and uneasy feelings about the impact this would have on their place of ministry. 

“I think I missed the boat in understanding how they were feeling,” Randy said. “If I could go back and do anything differently, I would have leaned into that and helped them process it.” 

Brandon made several trips and worked with Randy to connect with staff before he officially started in May 2019. Years before, Brandon had gone through a pastoral transition of his own and understood the tension felt by the church staff. His first priority was to spend time building relationships and establishing trust. 

“The staff, at times, felt out of the loop,” Brandon said, “I wanted to bring clarity to staff structure and staff culture. [And just say], ‘You guys are part of the team.” 

According to Randy, Brandon did just that, empathizing with the staff through the transition and putting their fears at ease. Meanwhile, Randy wanted to develop a transition covenant between him, Brandon and the elders.  

In the covenant, Randy agreed to act in a supporting role to Brandon and not speak negatively about him or the elders. He moved down the hall to another office and continued to preach on Sundays while Brandon established relationships with key leaders in the congregation.  

“Like nothing changed” 

When the three-month overlap ended, Randy gave his last message on August 17, 2019. 

“I think one of the major factors to the health of the transition was Randy’s humility,” Brandon said. “He did not leave a list of things that I couldn't touch. He wanted what was best for the church. He supported me and was my cheerleader.” 

After retirement, Randy attended other churches for a year, leaving Brandon space to lead the church. During that time, Brandon continued to build on the foundation left by Randy, expanding a disciplemaking culture and championing biblical exposition, while also taking next steps toward helping people in the church become more connected. 

“We added a [Sunday school] class in-between the two services, which many churches got rid of several decades ago,” Brandon said. “We just felt like it was a good space for equipping the flock. But it's also a good space for them to linger with people for an hour. Even if you're not interested in the class, go be with people. The Lord really used that to make connections and build relationships.” 

As for Randy, he’s active at Stonebridge again, this time as a church member; he teaches Sunday school classes and attends Brandon’s small group. Sometimes they have lunch and coffee together as friends.  

“A good friend told me about a year after the transition, ‘You know, Randy, it's like, a transition didn't even happen. It just went so smoothly. It's like nothing changed.’ To me, that was music to my ears.”