Succession
The end of an era
This summer, our founding Pastors Henry and Debra Cross, shared with our church that they believed Jesus was calling them to move south to lead a smaller coastal Vineyard Church in Bognor. Leaving R+R and the friendships they had built over the past decade was a difficult and emotional decision for them, but they chose to bravely respond to this new call, trusting God to guide them.
Miraculously, after choosing to uproot their lives and move their young family, they sold their house within a month, secured excellent school places for their three children, and were provided with rented accommodation ready to start a new academic year this September! How amazing is this? We are extremely grateful for the swiftness of God's provision for the Cross family, and it also gives us great faith in believing God will likewise provide our R+R church family with exactly what we need.
A time to breathe
Part of R+R’s regular rhythm is to take a sabbatical in August and use this time to reset and recharge for another year. However, this year, the R+R leadership team has used this time to undertake a lot of ‘behind the scenes’ preparatory work for the season of transition ahead. In our conversations with the broader Vineyard Churches UK & Ireland movement, we’ve learned a lot about healthy succession. They recommend a 3-5 year planning and recruitment process. Given that our timeline was considerably shorter (!), R+R leadership and trustee teams have been praying and working hard to find the best way forward.
The leadership and trustees concluded the wisest course of action was to use the strong leadership foundation Henry and Debra had built to form an interim team who would facilitate ‘church as normal’ for this interim period. This means we wouldn’t have to rush into hiring a new Senior Pastor quickly to fill the gap, but it would afford us a bit more time, allowing us to take a more deliberate approach to our search and adopt a more robust recruitment and discernment process.
We are aware that for some, experiences with church leadership and structures may have been a source of hurt and pain. Our primary goal and prayer as a leadership team is to find the ‘right’ person for the job.
Expected timeline
A dedicated succession panel has created a comprehensive recruitment pack for the Senior Pastor, ensuring it captures the heart, vision, and values of our R+R community for potential candidates. This will be published on our website in the next few days and advertised through Vineyard Churches and beyond. Please share with your networks and be praying with us for the pack to land in the right inbox!
We will be advertising the Senior Pastor role until the end of October, from when - God willing - we will be in the position to invite a selection of candidates to begin a comprehensive interview and discernment process. Any potential candidate will have the chance to meet the congregation and answer your questions before a final offer is made. Our hope is to be in a position to appoint a new Senior Pastor by early 2026.
In the meantime, the leadership team has been prayerfully building a plan for our Sunday services across this autumn and winter. They also continue to work hard to ensure every R+R ministry continues to flourish and serve our community well.
Your prayers + support
Needless to say, the support and prayers of our congregation is very much needed at this time! We want this to be a prayerful process where we are keen to discern and articulate what we believe God is calling from us and in our next Senior Pastor. With that in mind, we will be holding an evening of prayer in October where we’d like to invite everyone who calls R+R their home church, to join us and do just that!
Please continue to love and serve one another as you have been doing - whether that’s through serving on an R+R team, giving financially to keep the doors open, or inviting someone over for Sunday lunch.
