What to Say...When You've Said It All...Continued from page 2

A more positive approach to those last sermons, however, may go a long way in leaving a better taste in the mouth of the preacher and leave the church with better memories of the pastor whose tenure is ending. Positive messages may even help bring healing. In every ministry some positive takes place. Focus on those positive events and ministries. As one old hymn put it, “Count your many blessings” and “it may surprise you what the Lord has done.”

It is important to be pastoral.

A church needs encouragement when it is faced with a transition; more often than not it is grieving at the loss of its pastor. I heard statements like: “What are we going to do now?” and, “Why is the Lord taking you away from us?” Even in the healthiest churches, there may be doubts in the minds of some about the future and concern about the overall ministry of the church.

Those final sermons should be encouraging and supportive, helping to ease people’s minds about the future. God’s people often need reminding that they are in his hands, and nothing that has happened has taken him by surprise. When a pastor leaves, the church needs to focus on the God who always provides and who is never taken off-guard. He has always taken care of His people and will continue to do so.

It is important to be professional.

A resignation announcement does not mean the work in that church is over. Do not get “short-timer’s disease.” Work just as hard on those last few sermons as you did on the first ones and all the others between.

Last sermons are daunting, but the preacher needs to remember that ending a ministry on a high note is just as important as beginning a ministry on one. God would have the preacher end well, and the sermon is a primary vehicle through which the pastor makes that ending successful.

Preaching can help alleviate tensions or anxieties, heal wounds, remind the church of its eternal mission, and help prepare the people of God for the challenges ahead. Done well, the final sermons should ultimately help prepare a church for the next person whom God has chosen to step into that pulpit to proclaim, “Thus says the Lord.”

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D. Patton is Associate Professor of New Testament and Preaching at North Greenville University in Tigerville, SC.