At its fall retreat Oct. 2-4 in Louisville, KY, the Council of the Association of Presbyterian Interim Ministry Specialists voted to bring to your attention its concerns regarding the Proposed Form of Government, section 2.0304.  The third sentence of the second paragraph of that section reads, “In no circumstance is a minister employed in a temporary pastoral relationship eligible to serve as the next installed pastor, co-pastor, or associate pastor except by a three-fourths vote of the presbytery.”  The Council consists of actively practicing interim pastors from a variety of circumstances, leading congregations both large and small in transitions between installed pastors.  It represents some 300 members in a pool of approximately 500 ministers reported as interim pastors by the Office of the Stated Clerk.  Our correspondence with you is a response to our annual meeting in May, 2007, where over 50 practicing and retired interim pastors gathered, and among other items of business, referred their concerns to the Council.

 It is our firm conviction that interim pastors ought never to be eligible to be called as the next installed pastor.  Our commitment to healthy congregations requires an ethical practice that we commit not to be, or to seek to be, the next installed pastor. Furthermore, we believe that congregations and their members individually can not and do not attend to their developmental needs during transitional times if they have the slightest hint it is possible to “promote” the interim pastor to installed status.  This studied position has been at the core of our ministries since interim ministry concepts were developed in the late 1970’s.

 The Council invites the FOGTF to review our denominational history in this regard.  Twice in the past 25 years it has been possible for interim practitioners to ascend to the installed position, and twice the wisdom of our fathers and mothers in the presbyteries has supported amendments to the Book of Order to provide a firm boundary in this matter.  This was accomplished in light of continuing experiences that the absence of firmness contributes to faulty calls and inadequate ministries in congregations.  At our most recent General Assembly, in Birmingham, AL, the assembly committee on church order gave scant attention to proposals to remove the prohibition.  Let’s keep it in the new Form of Government for the health of the church.

 The APIMS Council approved attaching a document by the Rev. Clark Williams, veteran interim practitioner, as an adequate statement of the rationale behind this ethical ministry practice. We hope that you will find in it the wisdom needed to inform your careful reconsideration of the sentence in question.

Sincerely,

THE COUNCIL

Alice McDowell, Interim Associate Pastor, Rochester, NY
James Roghair, Interim Pastor, Evanston, IL
Frank Fisher, Interim Pastor, Bushnell, IL
Carol Shellenberger, Interim Pastor, San Rafael, CA
Sam Marshall, Executive Presbyter-elect, Salem Presbytery, NC; former interim pastor and interim  governing  body executive
Elizabeth Steele, Interim Pastor, Santa Monica, CA
Harris Schultz, Interim Pastor and Editor of APIMS Bridge, Nashville, TN
Donald R. Ewing, Interim Pastor, Pittsburgh, PA
Jan Schultz, Member Services Coordinator and Interim Lay Practitioner, Nashville, TN