Eight Actions for Soaring Between Pastors
The Focus of the Interim Pastor Ministries' 2026 Summit in Chicagoland in June will be Empowering Congregations To Soar With Faith
Check out the IPM 2026 Summit—meeting this year in the Chicago area—where George Bullard will be the keynote speaker.
The theme of the Summit is Empowering Congregations to Soar with Faith
George Bullard will be speaking about his recent book Soaring with Faith: The Difference Maker for Congregations
George Bullard has a long-term relationship with Interim Pastor Ministries. He assisted Tom Harris (now retired CEO of IPM) in writing the book, Soaring Between Pastors: 8 Actions to Thrive During a Pastoral Transition, which was released in 2021.
Here are the Eight Actions for Soaring Between Pastors
(followed by the Soaring Between Pastors Framework)
Action One: Stabilize the Church by Searching for Smooth Air
What are the issues and decisions you need to address during the first 60 days without a pastor? Who will lead the process to address these? How will you use this moment to create a movement that empowers your church to soar between pastors?
Action Two: Eliminate Challenges to Soaring by Confronting the Elephants
During the interim between pastors, what are the challenges hindering your church’s ability to soar with faith? Who should confront them and how should they be addressed for the most redemptive and empowering outcome?
Action Three: Strengthen Leadership by Spending Time in the Spiritual Simulator
During the interim between pastors, what are the leadership capacity issues that need to be addressed? What actions need to be taken to improve unity and community among the leaders in the church? What is your system for identifying, training, and develop leaders on an ongoing basis?
Action Four: Ascend Through Prayer by Climbing When You Are on Your Knees
Would your church commit to pray for the interim process and the next pastor for 100 days? Who are the people passionate about the church’s God-given future who will form prayer triplets as an exemplary prayer catalyst for the whole church? If a significant prayer process is successful, what do you see as some of the outputs and impact for your church’s future?
Action Five: Become a C3 Church by Soaring into the Future
What are the Great Commission Mission, Enduring Core Values, and God’s Empowering Vision for your church? Are your leaders ignited by that vision? How well do you reflect the characteristics of the very early Christian Church?
Action Six: Soar with D3 Intentionality by Aligning Your Ministry with God’s Empowering Vision
How well do your current processes, programs, and ministries (PPMs) align with God’s Empowering Vision? How do they intentionally support disciplemaking, developing leaders, and dynamic innovative execution?
Action Seven: Call a P3 Lead Pastor to Continue to Soar Far and High
How would your church define a passionate, proactive, and personable P3 Lead Pastor for your unique situation? How does what you have learned as a C3 Soaring Church seeking to fulfill God’s Empowering Vision with D3 Intentionality inform the pastoral search process? What does an excellent P3 Lead Pastor search process look like? What are the best people in your church to serve on the Pastor Search Team? How will you know when you have found the P3 Lead Pastor for your church?
Action Eight: Engage an S3 Intentional Interim Pastor by Connecting with a “Sully”
Is an S3 Intentional Interim Pastor right for your church? What will it look like to have an S3 intentional interim Pastor serving your church? Do you have a strong enough desire to soar between pastors that you are willing to engage in the actions recommended in this book? Do you have the patience and assurance of God’s leadership to engage in the transitions and changes necessary to soar between pastors?
Soaring Between Pastors Framework
S3 Intentional Interim Pastor
(Seasoned, Skilled, Strategic)
+
C3 Soaring Church
(Great Commission, Enduring Core Values, Captured by Vision)
+
D3 Intentionality
(Disciplemaking, Developing Leaders, Dynamic Innovation)
=
P3 Lead Pastor
(Passionate, Proactive, Personable)