John Piper's successor is chosen

I saw a similar thing happen in a church. The pastor asked to hire his replacement. He worked with the young man and helped him to grow. The pastor was anticipating the time when he would retire and wanted the church to do well. He had been there about 40 years. He came when the church was near death and broken down. The pastor allowed the young man to take on greater and greater responsibility in leading and preaching. Then one Sunday the pastor introduced the young man as their new pastor. The new pastors attributes much of his success to the pastor who brought him on and blessed him. At the time the church was running about 200. Today the church runs about 2200. About two years after the young man was hired he became the pastor and a few months later the retired pastor died. God has blessed everyone as a result. The old pastor's family continues to serve in the church.

 

Ministry transition when done right is an amazing display of Gods grace through individual humility...when done badly gives Satan a foothold.

I'm thankful John Piper is a wise and humble man.

 

If you really love the Church and have a good understanding of ecclesiology and if you love Christ with all your heart, it would break your heart to watch a local assembly splinter/shatter/disintegrate and you would do all that you could to make sure she's in good hands for when you leave.

It's all part of being a good steward of His possessions, yea, His bride.

I hope their pastoral transition goes well and God gets the glory and credit.

 

I continue to see Dr. Piper as a pastoral model of mine. This latest adds to the whole.