Transition Apparitions: Why Much of What We Know about Pastoral Transitions Is Wrong;

This latest book from Holy Cow! Consulting studies the data from nearly a thousand churches and makes some startling discoveries regarding what happens to churches during a pastoral transition. In a relatively brief number of pages, Russ Crabtree provides answers to questions like • What happens to the morale of a typical church as it moves through a pastoral transition? • Why do conflict levels in a typical church tend to intensify during a pastoral transition rather than improve? • Why does the trajectory of a church through a pastoral transition not track what we might expect with a grief reaction? • What are the typical losses in attendance and giving during a pastoral transition and what are the impacts of those upon the congregation? • Do interim pastors typically help congregations become more flexible as they prepare to welcome a new pastor or not? The book ends by proposing an entirely new way of thinking about pastoral transitions and suggests a transformation in the way we train interim pastors.