William Vanderbloemen - Next: Pastoral Succession That Works

Good succession is when your successor succeeds. Reading this book so helped me prepare for my own succession that I not only got all our leaders to read and process it but even went as far as inviting the authors to visit and coach us on how to do it right. Every leader needs to read this book.

Oscar Muriu , bishop, Nairobi Chapel (nairobichapel.net), Nairobi, Kenya

I pray this book sells a million copies! My dad used to tell me this too: All pastors are interim pastors. Were stewards, not owners. Were only here for a blip in time, but the church goes on forever.

Rick Warren , founding pastor of Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California

Succession is the next issue that pastors will be grappling with over the next decade, and this excellent book explains how to navigate succession throughout the life of an organization.

Carey Nieuwhof , author, podcaster, founding pastor of Connexus Church, Barrie, Ontario

Wisdom around pastoral succession is one of the great needs of the church today, so its about time this book showed up. I have already sent a copy to several of the elders at my church.

from the foreword by John Ortberg , author and pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Menlo Park, California

Someone said that the moment you succeed, you need to prepare for your successor to succeed. The church has too often failed in this critical mission. I believe this book to be one of the most timely and important of our day. If I could state it more urgently or enthusiastically, I would!

Jim Henry , former president of the Southern Baptist Convention; pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church, Orlando, Florida

This book is incredibly rich with good advice. Even a simple pastoral hand-off like I experienced, from my father-in-law to me, could benefit from the wise insights and great stories my friends William Vanderbloemen and Warren Bird have inked.

Wilfredo Choco de Jesus , lead pastor of New Life Covenant Church, Chicago, Illinois

Vanderbloemen and Bird are giving leaders permission to ask formerly forbidden questions now so that churches can thrive rather than limp through inevitable pastoral transitions.

Marnie Crumpler , senior pastor, Grace Church Bethlehem, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

In the kingdom of God, success equals successionlooking for a successor all the time. Next shows pastors how to do that for themselves and how to model succession for their staff and volunteer leaders.

Mark Batterson , founding pastor of National Community Church, Washington, DC

This is a great book. It should have been written years ago.

Elmer Towns , cofounder of Liberty University; leading historian of great churches of recent centuries

Senior pastor succession is the big elephant in the church boardroom, and it is at last coming out of the closet. We will see more senior pastors coming from campus pastors and through church mergers in the next decade. This book describes every imaginable type of succession and encourages everyone to start preparing now .

Jim Tomberlin , founder of MultiSite Solutions; consultant with The Unstuck Group; coauthor of Better Together

Just a few sunrises ago, the church was in someone elses hands. In just a few sunsets, another generation will lead. May we be gracious, skillful, and intentional toward a very good hand-off. This outstanding book will help you do just that.

John Stumbo , former pastor; president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance

Too many churches are in crisisor headed toward itbecause we have not learned to think long range. The need is nothing short of a paradigm shift in leadership development. This excellent book rightly helps move these discussions to the front burner.

Edmund Chan , leading Singapore pastor and ministry coach

This book is an absolute necessity. Far too little has been written on the process of pastoral transitions.

Scott Thumma , professor, Hartford Seminary; lead researcher, Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford, Connecticut

Change is always hard, especially when you are at the center of it. Thats probably one of the reasons that so few pastors think about how they will transition the leadership of their church to the next generation. Next will kick-start your thinking and give you some practical steps on how to transition well.

Greg Surratt , founding pastor of Seacoast Church, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; author of Ir-Rev-Rend

Every church leader needs to read Next. It is a must-readwhether pastor or board memberbecause every church will need to face this pressing issue. This tremendous work is a Whos Who of the church world, full of real-life facts and lessons learned.

David Fletcher , founder of XPastor.org, Austin, Texas