3 Ways Worship Can Help You Through a Transition Season

A few weeks ago, I shared with my church leadership that I was stepping down to accept the call of another church. At that moment, the arch of transition set forth before me. Through a range of mixed but prayerful emotions, the church and pastoral relationship changed instantly. Where once the two worked in collaboration for the local church’s vision, now they are diverging. 

As the pace of change increases with each moving box, or week that goes by, there are three transitions takeaways that have spoken to my heart through the heart of worship in this season of transition. 

Worship what has transpired.

Like me, right now, maybe you have found yourself pausing and reflecting on the season that has ended. I want you to worship what God has done through your ministry. Think back to the good things God brought about within the relationships that you are leaving. See the positive, even sometimes through the negative emotions. Capture in the light of day the brightness of your ministry experience on the people and community you have been a part of. In this place you are leaving, you saw God in the faces and people he brought to the church. You’ve laughed and cried, but through it all, you were faithful. Faithful to the call. Devoted to the people. Loyal to serving where God had planted you. 

Celebrate what God has done through your ministry. These last year’s you’ve spent in your local assignment were derived from God’s will over your life. You have sowed well into the local church and deserve to worship. Celebrate the saved and the lost ones who came home, baptisms, baby dedications, and new members. Celebrate the places where God used you to help the church transition from the past to the present with an eye toward the future.

Worship what has transpired. The time you have devoted yourself to is not lost on those who have seen your love for others and your heart for Jesus. What has occurred during your service has not been lost on those you impacted with the gospel. They have heard the gospel messages. They have seen them mirrored through your actions. And they will carry forth your example into the future with them. 

Worship God in the season you find yourself in.

Change is never easy. If you have served in the church briefly, you have realized that. When change comes to the pastoral front door in the mark of a relocation, it fills the pastor with such emotion it’s almost hard to breathe. Through various emotions, the pastoral family has to say goodbye to one congregation and hello to the next. While it might seem easy, friendships will be altered, community connections will be severed, and lives forever changed because of your ministry. While numbed by the excitement of the new church ahead, the pain still pierces the spiritual heart as God closes one chapter to open another. 

Let me challenge you to worship God like never before in this season of in-between congregations. God has seen you through many challenges and cared for you like no one else. He has protected you and fulfilled his promises through your ministry. God is faithful and just. He loves you even now when you might feel numb to his touch. Allow God to guide your steps, trust and rely on him as you prepare to move forward. Worship God in the season you are in with the same thanksgiving you felt when he called you and watch how he uses you in the days ahead.

Worship overcoming the challenges.

As you look back before you begin to look forward, can you see the challenges that you faced? Many pastors, and maybe you included, have been hurt by people they were called to walk alongside. Like a herder with his sheep, you have felt the bite of the one you were called to guide and protect. You have lost sleep praying and worrying about conversations spoken; words exchanged, or lack thereof. You have fought the fight and come out the other side wiser for it. Serving God is more than just preaching on Sunday mornings. It is visiting the sick, addressing sin, preaching the gospel, and staying faithful to your life’s calling. 

In this hour of uncertainty beyond the move, worship God for helping you overcome the obstacles that you have been through. Celebrate how you have grown as a pastor and, more importantly, as a faithful follower of Christ. Spend some time reflecting not on the battles themselves but on the victories that came through sincere prayer, encouragement from the saints, and love from your spouse. See the hand of God as he guided you through this past season. With that openness to obeying God, you have stayed faithful and now move forward into uncharted territory stronger because of your devotion. 

While you do not know when you will enter a season of transition, when you do, you can view it as an opportunity to worship God for what he has, what he is, and what he will do in the future.

Desmond Barrett is an author and lead pastor at Summit Church of the Nazarene in Ashland, Kentucky.

Desmond Barrett
Desmond Barrett
Desmond Barrett is the lead pastor at Winter Haven First Church of the Nazarene in Winter Haven, Florida. He is the author of several books and most recently the co-author with Charlotte P. Holter of Missional Reset: Capturing the Heart for Local Missions in the Established Church (Resource Publications) and has done extensive research in the area of church revitalization and serves as church revitalizer, consultant, coach, podcast host and mentor to revitalizing pastors and churches.

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