Month: July 2026

We don’t have a pastoral succession crisis. We have a leadership structure problem.

Let me explain.

There are all sorts of stats bounding around about how pastors are getting older. And as they’re coming up to retirement age, there aren’t enough emerging leaders to replace them. This is all true.

The average age of a pastor is 56 in 2020 (44 in 1992) and 2 in 3 pastors can’t find anyone to mentor into ministry. Added to that, 42% of pastors considered quitting in 2022. (US specific stats. Read more here.)

Succession and transition is becoming a hot topic in leadership circles. Podcasts and articles dig deep into how to do a successful leadership transition. All well and valid.

But I wonder if we are missing something way more basic. Firstly, an honest understanding of why younger leaders may not want to take on a senior leadership role of a church. And secondly, how the structure itself sets itself up to fail. The two are linked.

Why don’t the next generation want to lead churches?

Younger leaders look at the older generation and think to themselves, no thanks. And despite the malignment of the next generation, perhaps they’re simply smart enough to realise that it’s not a great deal. Why take a low to medium salary to take on the pressures of running a church and pastoral ministry? Why put your family under so much pressure and public spotlight? Why work so hard to build the church for so little gain? Why spend so much time crafting a message when you know your congregation is receiving 100 different perspectives from YouTube, TikTok and Instagram during the week.

When we’ve seen so many examples of prominent leaders succumb to financial or sexual temptation and their world come crashing around them, is it any wonder that the next generation are reluctant to step up?

The “snowflake” generation

At which point the older generation may be tempted to talk about the cost of the gospel, the importance of sacrificing your life for Jesus and how this is the real mark of a true believer.

I understand the heart behind such an encouragement but I think it wildly misses the mark theologically for various reasons. Firstly, the church is only one aspect of God’s wider plan to fill and renew creation. God’s plan has always been for human beings to fill the earth, not just fill the church. When we limit (or overemphasise) the purpose of believers to be only about the organisation and gathering of the church, we do the gospel a great disservice.

Secondly, whilst there is a real cost in pioneering and starting something, isn’t the point of pioneering it so that the next generation can stand upon your shoulders? That is of course if we have truly pioneered something successfully. I think the reality is that many pioneering ministries have successfully started something but ultimately failed to sustain it. If it dies when the leader moves on, this reveals a great deal of weakness in the structure.

Which leads me to my articulation of a better way. Thankfully you’ll find it in the scripture too. And that is to move away from a single senior leader and instead lead churches in plurality as a team of pastors. So much could be said about the biblical case for plurality (you might like my podcast episode on leading as a team here) but church leaders (pastors/elders/overseers) are always described in plurality throughout Acts. Jesus himself leaves behind 12 apostles (not just one) and Paul instructs Titus to establish elders in each city in Crete. The original Greek makes it clear that this is a team of elders in each city, not one elder per city.

The deficit of younger leaders is a sign not a crisis

The astute reader will see that a team of pastors immediately solves the problem around succession. As the church evolves and grows, the team that leads it will also evolve. When the typical visionary leader ends their season, it has little effect on the church because it is already used to functioning with multiple leaders. Plurality allows for a natural environment for younger leaders to be empowered and share the burden of leadership without overwhelm. It also tackles the overemphasis of a single leader which actually creates less pressure and makes leadership more enjoyable and sustainable all round.

As a typical visionary leader who has moved into leading as a team of 5 over the last 5-6 years, I have seen the benefits of plurality of leadership. Although I’m nowhere near retirement age, I can already see that succession will not be a problem we have to deal with.

The pastoral succession crisis is a sign for us to re-evaluate the way we do leadership. We must hold up our traditions around structure and culture against the Bible. I see a great opportunity for younger leaders to spearhead a different way to lead.

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