Listening When You're New in Town

Spiritual Listening Practices for New Pastoral Appointments

The story goes that a pastor moved to a small town to start a new appointment. She knocked on every door in town and introduced herself. It was going great until she got to the last house and knocked. The lights were on, the car was in the driveway—it was obvious someone was home, but no one came to the door. So she tucked her business card in the door and wrote, “Revelation 3:20” on the back (“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”) The next day she went to the house again. She saw her card hanging on the door with something else written on it. She grabbed it and read “Genesis 3:10” (“He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”)

In my United Methodist corner of the world it’s the week of pastoral appointment changes. It’s a time of grief and excitement for churches and pastors alike as one pastor leaves and a new pastor arrives. In my tradition it happens often. My friends keep moving boxes and packaging tape in their attics, knowing that it won’t be too long until they need them again.

An Opportunity to Listen

Starting at a new church is an opportunity to engage in a season of intentional spiritual listening. Spiritual listening is all about asking good questions and opening up your mind to receive the answers. In my work with churches across North Carolina and beyond, I have identified three areas of spiritual listening and I am confident they will help you get started on the right track:

1. Listening to God: As you embark on a season of listening, think of it as a spiritual practice. It’s tempting to view listening as a pathway to success or growth. It makes a difference when you think about listening as spiritual discernment. What is God telling you about this new congregation and community? How might the Spirit already be moving? What direction might God be inviting you to lead this group of people? Let this be a season of deep prayer and reflection.

2. Listening to Your Congregation: Most pastors I know already have a few go-to practices for listening to their congregants at a new church. The key here is to listen to as many voices as you can in as short a time period as you can. Depending on the size of your church you might want to try relational 1 on 1’s, listening sessions with various groups within the church, executive onboarding, storytelling gatherings, or simple surveys. Try to listen to the quieter voices in the congregation as well. The squeaky wheels will get their thoughts and opinions to you quickly, but they might not be representative.

3. Listening to Your Neighbors: Being new in town is also a great opportunity to get to know the surrounding community as well. This is your only time to say, “I’m new in town, tell me about…” Relational 1 on 1’s are key here as well, demographic studies are helpful too. Seek to answer the question, “What are our neighbors looking for in a spiritual community?”

The Spiritual Listening Plan

Two years ago, I developed the Spiritual Listening Plan as a series of activities that a church can engage in to discern next steps in ministry. Since then, it’s been downloaded over 1,000 times by church leaders across the world from countless denominations and church traditions. I’ve heard from several pastors who used the listening plan to get to know their new contexts after appointment changes. Within the plan are simple activities to listen to God, your congregation, and your neighbors. Simply click the links within the PDF to download the various activities.

If you are starting a new chapter in pastoral ministry, I encourage you to view this as time of spiritual discernment. With curiosity look for the Holy Spirit’s nudges of direction in this new place and with this new people. If you are continuing ministry in the same place, I encourage you to renew your commitment to spiritual listening. For listening doesn’t end after we’ve been somewhere for one year or ten—the Spirit is always speaking to us afresh, always inviting us to something new. Let us have ears to hear!