Reflection on Ecumenical Transitional Leadership Training

Excerpt from "Gospel Change" sermon on June 7, 2026, written by Rev. Clark DeSarro-Raynal, Pastor of Hilton Presbyterian Church in Newport News, VA

Ecumenical Transitional Leadership Training was a collaborative program between Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Leadership Institute and Eastern Mennonite University in May 2026. This hybrid program equipped pastoral leaders with practical frameworks and skills for guiding congregations through seasons of change.

It is for things we can do right now, good things, important things, new things, because all ministry is transitional.

"...Seasons of change. Back in March, I got an email from Union [Presbyterian] Seminary in Richmond inviting me to a continuing education opportunity: an online course on transitional ministry, one week of twenty hours working through 11 different online modules with lectures, written responses, and discussion boards; followed by a second week of live Q&A Zoom conversations. I said, “Mmm, I don’t think so. Click.” But then I got to thinking…transitional ministry. This is the training you need if you want to be one of those ministers who are with congregations in times of transition, usually for churches that are between pastors, bridge times of one to three years. Well, y’all. I brought this up with the session a few weeks ago. I’m 62. I could retire in a few years. Or keep going, here or somewhere. If you will have me – and I wouldn’t want to stay just to mark time – If you’ll have me, I could stay. Or I’ll go when I really should go. Maybe when I’m 65 I’ll be ready for a part-time call. I could be a transitional minister somewhere for a year and then somewhere else for another year. Now Donna, she will work more years than me. But we have talked about retiring to Scotland where we could live by the sea and be mussel harvesters. 

I decided to go ahead and take the course, because it may be the very thing for me. Well, I'll tell you what. I learned a lot. It was good, and the first thing I learned was this: All ministry is transitional. Right? I realized this course is not just about interim ministry, something I might do eventually. It is for things we can do right now, good things, important things, new things, because all ministry is transitional. Oh, let’s think about our heritage, our mission, our leadership, our connections, and our future. 

So hang on to your prayer books. I have some ideas. And session? Ruling elders? Reel me in if I get to going too hog wild. But here’s a fair question. Are we as a church these days sufficiently transitional? Are we about change in good ways, especially with me maybe getting a little too comfortable in this pulpit after almost twelve years, especially as we do settle, as many churches do settle, into ways of being who we are. Are there ways we even stagnate? Do we care to change? You know, it’s what the gospel commands. Jesus doesn’t change—yesterday, today, tomorrow, he’s always totally himself (Hebrews 13:8) But as we live in a world of tremendous change… come on… Jesus still calls us to be his love in ways that roundly and truly connect. Oh Hilton Presbyterian, do you think when we ring our bell, the world can even hear it?..."