Article
Succession in Church Plants
Plan for the inevitable end from the beginning.
Church planting is inherently future-focused. Planters begin with a bold vision, prayerful dependence on God, and a strong desire to see gospel fruit. Yet ironically, few planters give serious thought to a future without themselves in the picture.
We pour our lives into planting, but rarely plan for the day we will need to hand the work over.
Whether through calling, crisis, burnout, or retirement, every church plant will face a leadership transition. The question is not if but how. Will the church be ready? Or will the departure of the founding pastor unravel the work? Succession isn’t simply a later-stage leadership issue. It’s part of planting wisely from day one.
Why We Avoid It
Most church plants begin with a small team and a passionate leader. The planter casts the vision, shapes the culture, and makes many of the key decisions, often out of necessity. Over time, the church may grow numerically and structurally, but often the leader remains central. The ministry orbits the personality of the founder.
There are good reasons for this dynamic—urgency, limited resources, and deep personal investment. But there are also dangers. When the church becomes overly dependent on one person (aside from Jesus!), it becomes fragile. It’s not built for the long-term.
We may tell ourselves (and others) there’s time to think about succession later, or when things quiet down a bit, but that assumption often masks deeper issues: fear of letting go, an unspoken belief that we are indispensable, or even an unhealthy element of our identity and worth being tied up with the planting project.
What the Bible Shows Us
Scripture gives us a different pattern. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:5,
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed.”
He planted, Apollos watered, but it was God who gave the growth. Paul didn’t see himself as the center of the church’s identity or continuity. Instead, we see in his ministry pattern a deliberate, intentional investment in leaders from the next generation—Timothy, Titus, Silas, and others. He didn’t just multiply churches; he multiplied leadership. This wasn’t accidental. It was a conviction shaped by the gospel itself: Christ is the head of the church, and every leader is a steward, not a savior.
Succession, then, is not a threat to our legacy but a fruit of faithful planting.
The Cost of Avoiding the Conversation
When succession is left too late—or avoided altogether—churches suffer. Transitions become painful, damaging, or divisive. Congregations are caught off guard. In some cases, promising plants don’t end up surviving the founder’s departure.
More often, the cost is more subtle: young leaders are never really developed. Congregations are never taught to follow shared leadership. The culture remains centred on the original pastor, rather than rooted in transferable convictions and culture.
The problem is not a lack of giftedness, but a lack of intentionality. Healthy handovers don’t happen by accident!
Starting Succession Early
How can church planters think about succession from the start, without sounding defeatist or planning their own exit? What convictions and practices should we be putting in place from day one?
- It begins with the knowledge that the church does not belong to us. We are simply under-shepherds serving under the Chief Shepherd, Christ, who called us to work in such a way that the work continues long after we’re gone. Have that posture from day one.
- Multiply responsibility early. Don’t just recruit volunteers—develop leaders. Give people meaningful roles that stretch and mature them, and that they can develop and shape.
- Share the vision (again and again and again!). If the vision only lives in the planter’s head, it can’t be passed on. Articulate it. Embed it. Make it part of the culture.
- Practice shared leadership. Bring others into decisions. Let the church see that leadership is a team effort, not a one-person show.
- Don’t always get your way. Show them that it is genuine shared leadership as you encourage and develop others who will go on, lead alongside you, and surpass you.
- Mentor intentionally. Identify and invest in future elders or planters. Give them space to grow, fail, and lead. Make time in your weekly patterns for this.
- Normalize the conversation. Succession talk shouldn’t feel like a crisis moment. Model a mindset that sees leadership change as normal in gospel work. Don’t spring it on your church at the eleventh hour.
- As uncomfortable as it might be to plan for succession in year one, doing so is not a lack of faith—it’s a sign of faithfulness. It’s a way of demonstrating that the church belongs to Jesus, not to us.
A Better Legacy
The ultimate goal of church planting isn’t to build a platform or preserve a personality, but to see Christ’s church grow in maturity and mission. That means planning for what comes after us, not as an afterthought, but as an act of stewardship from the start.
Succession is not the end of our ministry. It can be one of its most lasting fruits.
Let’s plant churches that don’t just start well but finish well, too.
