Faith Works 8-12-06
Jeff Gill

What’s a Supply Preacher?

I still get the question "what’s a supply preacher" often enough, both from people who’ve known me for years and complete strangers, that it seems worth discussing again.
Some of the confusion is from a category that is nowadays pretty common, if misunderstood. An "interim minister" is now a category of clergy who are often, but by no means always, near or past retirement, who have been trained for intentional interim ministry.
As the label implies, not that long ago interims were sort of accidental: church officials looked around for someone not doing anything else who could serve a church for a short period while they were looking for a new full-time pastoral leader. The nearest recently retired person would usually do.
More recently folks have seen that there is a special skill set for diving into a congregation, setting a new tone after the departure of a parish pastor, or pulpit minister, or whatever you call the settled clergy of your tradition. This skill set can, to a degree, be taught, and intentional interim programs for training are common now all across the US.
All of this, of course, means nothing in traditions like Catholicism or Methodism, where the old pastor leaves and the new one is sent, usually without a gap a’tall. But even there, certain clergy with special gifts are often identified and even trained to be those sent in after a period of major change or disruption.
So we’re talking mainly about churches that largely or in part hire their own clergy, which is the common practice for Licking County churches. Some of the denominations represented here actually recommend or even require a certain period of interim leadership after a long pastorate. The idea is to prevent another kind of "unintentional interim," the poor pastor who moves to a town following a long-standing predecessor, and lasts but a few years (or less) as the church sorts through the transitional issues from a long settled style to another.
This can be up to a two year contract for an interim, and often calls for the interim to move to an apartment in the area for part of each week. Anyhow, I don’t plan to do that! God bless those who chose to take on such a challenge.
Some folks actually prefer the short-term nature of interim work, and like regularly moving and seeing many new communities. That still suits more retirees than younger clergy, but there are an increasing number of people who actually start out as intentional interims and stay in that calling, though there is nowhere near enough of them nationwide.
That’s what a supply preacher isn’t, but what then are they? Well, think substitute teacher. They are credentialled and able to step in on short notice to do all that a teacher does for a day or a week, and turn it right back over to the same person.
What I knew going into this, was that there was a need for someone to do spot coverage during a vacation or a conference or even sudden family issues, and that’s what I’ve gotten to do. What I didn’t realize, as our family situation made this a good choice for all of us right now, is what a fulfilling ministry it would be, giving clergy a big thing not to worry about when they try to take a week off. Nothing discourages future leave time than a truly awful worship service for the home crowd when you’re away.
Add to that the opportunity to step in and help focus prayerful thought on subjects you then walk away from at service’s end, making it not be about you, but what you said, and supply preaching is quite uniquely rewarding.
Plus, I’ve gotten to see some sacred spaces in nine congregations, five counties, Sundays and weekdays, among multiple denominations, that I would never have seen let alone led worship in otherwise.
That’s what supply preaching is, and now that school starts in a few weeks, my busy season is ending. Let me know if the increased attention to this column helps or hurts!

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and supply preacher around central Ohio; share a story with him through knapsack77@gmail.com.