“It’s a ministry of service,” he says. “It’s walking people through a stage of life.”
He helped the 23 members of Crown Valley Covenant Church in Laguna Niguel, California, make the painful transition to close the church in 2007. Earlier this year, he helped the congregation of Bethesda Covenant Church as well as pastors Adam and Amy Rohler also close that ministry.
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) plans to train other pastors to serve as transition coaches for churches that are closing.
“This support will help the church celebrate and conclude their ministry in a redemptive, Christ-honoring way,” says John Wenrich, ECC director of congregational vitality. “Even before the vote is taken to close, the technical coach and the transitions coach can aid in the discernment process.”
“God comforts us to comfort others . . . No experience is wasted.”
Rob Hall, vice president of real estate services for National Covenant Properties, will serve as a technical coach, helping guide churches through legal and real estate issues. “Laws vary from state to state regarding the closure of non-profits,” Wenrich says. “It is critically important to follow proper procedures.”
The transitions coach will work with the pastors in the last eight to 10 weeks of the church’s life, Wenrich says. “Effective leadership during this final season of life is so crucial to a hopeful ending.”
The Rohlers, who will go through training to be transition coaches, say they benefited from Gammelgard’s ministry. “He functioned as our pastor and advisor, listened to our stories, and generally cared for us in the process – an important component, since we were caring for so many people in the church as well as responsible for a lot of administrative tasks,” says Amy.
“He also shared a lot of practical advice, including some liturgical resources, a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document that we adapted to our circumstances, and some retreat connections that we later utilized,” adds Amy.
“It was a kind of holistic approach, to have a coach in the spiritual and emotional aspects of the process and then also in the technical and legal aspects,” Adam says. “It was a way the denomination could care for the entire church and its leadership, including us.”
Gammelgard says he was impressed with how the Rohlers helped the church transition.
The church held a final dinner that included a time of worship and sharing of stories that included how the church had benefited the entire denomination.
The Rohlers assembled a memory book filled with recent and historical pictures as well as testimonials. They also produced a DVD documentary on the history of the church. The DVD and book were given as gifts from the pastors to those who remained with Bethesda to the end and was made available for purchase to those who wanted one.
The Rohlers’ experience of helping a church close well will be of great assistance to other pastors, notes Wenrich.
The process for becoming a transitions coach is four-fold, says Wenrich. The ministers must receive recommendations from a conference superintendent, the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, and the Department of the Ordered Ministry; have pastored a church that closed well; train as a third-party listener for eight to 10 weeks with feedback after each call; and ultimately serve as a transition coach.
Serving as a transitions coach also will be a reminder of God’s redemptive power. “God comforts us to comfort others,” Gammelgard says. “No experience is wasted.”
