Why Every Pastor Is An Interim Pastor

Early in ministry, I assumed longevity was the goal. Stay long enough, build enough, grow enough, and eventually you earn what people quietly call a legacy. I didn't say it out loud, but it shaped my decisions: if I worked hard enough now, someday the church itself would prove I had done something meaningful.

Then a quieter realization settled in.

I am not the permanent pastor of this church.

I never was.

Every pastor is an interim pastor. Some serve two years, some thirty, but all of us are holding a role we will eventually hand to someone else. The strange part isn't that we leave — it's that we lead as if we won't.

The Legacy Illusion

"Legacy" sounds holy. In ministry, it can quietly distort everything.

We start measuring success by what remains after us: attendance, buildings, programs, reputation. None of those things are bad, but they are unreliable measures of faithfulness. The church was here before you, and it will continue after you. The kingdom of God does not depend on the durability of your initiatives.

Yet pastors begin leading as if it does. We postpone rest. We avoid delegation. We cling to control. We attach our identity to outcomes we cannot keep.

Legacy becomes a red herring. What feels like devotion can actually be self-justification—an attempt to prove our years mattered.

Leading for a Future You Won't See

Accepting that you are an interim pastor changes your leadership.

You stop asking, "What will this look like while I'm here?"

You start asking, "What will this require from the next pastor?"

You make decisions for someone you may never meet. You invest in what endures instead of what excites. You develop leaders instead of becoming indispensable. You build systems instead of personality. And you release control.

The church does not need you to be permanent. It needs you to be faithful. Your responsibility is not the entire future of the church—only the stewardship of your season.

Paradoxically, this brings relief.

What Your Legacy Actually Is

Your legacy will not be measured by your Sunday attendance or how long your name is remembered, but by how faithfully you served while you were there.

It is whether you prayed when no one noticed. Whether you kept integrity when shortcuts were available. Whether your family received the best of you instead of the leftovers. Whether the church was healthier when you left than when you arrived—even if no one credits you.

Here is the truth many pastors discover too late: you will not pastor your church forever, but you will live with the person ministry makes you for the rest of your life.

Every pastor is an interim pastor—and that is not a limitation of your calling. It is what protects it.

About the Author

Kyle Burkholder is the lead pastor of Covenant Church in Bowling Green, OH. He shares his reflections on Substack at Smaller Slower Lesser Lower, exploring the ordinary work and rhythms of life. kylejburkholder.substack.com