Quick answer
What Does an Interim Pastor Do? (And What Your Church Should Do Between Pastors)
An interim pastor serves a church for a defined season between permanent pastors, covering preaching and pastoral care. An intentional interim also helps restore stability and health and prepares the way for your next senior pastor, commonly over 12 to 18 months. Chemistry Staffing doesn’t place interims, but a free consult can point you toward a great one.
When your pastor has just left, or has announced a last Sunday, a pastoral vacancy raises questions fast. Who preaches this weekend? Who visits the hospital? Do we need an interim before we start a search, or can we go straight to finding our next pastor?
We've sat on your side of the table, and we know how heavy this season can feel. The good news is that an interim season, used well, can set up a healthy permanent search.
What an intentional interim pastor does
Your polity shapes the details, but the day-to-day work of an interim pastor usually looks like this:
- Worship and preaching. Leading Sunday services and preaching regularly, so the pulpit stays steady.
- Pastoral care. Visiting the sick, walking with grieving families, and being available for counsel.
- Ordinances or sacraments. Baptism, communion, weddings, and funerals, as your polity allows.
- Presence with staff and board. Attending meetings, supporting the remaining staff, and giving the board a steady partner.
An intentional interim pastor does all of that and more. The word "intentional" matters. This person comes in with transition goals, not just a calendar to fill. That often includes:
- Listening well while the congregation grieves the pastor who left, whether the goodbye was warm or hard.
- Naming conflict carefully, so old tension isn't handed to the next pastor.
- Helping the church clarify who it is and what matters most right now.
- Providing stability and a structured on-ramp for the next permanent senior pastor.
That last point is the heart of it. A good intentional interim lays the groundwork so your next senior pastor can succeed long term. We’ve written more about how an interim season supports church health and why the interim season can be a strategic opportunity. Before you call the next one, estimate what a bad church staff hire really costs.
When an intentional interim is especially wise
Not every vacancy needs an intentional interim, but two situations stand out:
Those two situations line up with public guidance. The ELCA roster manual, for example, lists fitting interim situations that include “following a long pastorate” and “significant discord or upheaval” (ELCA Manual of Policies and Procedures for Management of the Rosters).
Where to find an interim. Start with your denominational office—presbytery, synod bishop, diocese, district superintendent, or state Baptist convention. Chemistry Staffing does not place interim pastors, but a free consult can help you think through timing and point you toward a great intentional interim.
Your denomination or association may also have its own rules about interim ministry. Check those early, before anyone signs an agreement.
Supply, bridge, and intentional interim (simple definitions)
You'll hear several terms for temporary pastoral help.
Supply pastor
Someone who fills the pulpit, often week to week. The focus is Sunday preaching.
Bridge pastor
Someone who provides short coverage to keep things steady for a while.
Intentional interim pastor
Temporary leadership with transition goals. Those goals are stability, health, and an on-ramp for the next permanent pastor. Some churches call this a transitional pastor.
Each can help. But if your church is coming out of a long tenure or a hard season, an intentional interim pastor is usually the better fit.
Interim pastor vs permanent pastor
An interim pastor prepares the way. A permanent pastor builds on it.
| Interim pastor | Permanent pastor | |
|---|---|---|
| Time frame | A defined season, with start and end dates | An ongoing call, with no planned end date |
| Main job | Stabilize, help the church heal, prepare the way | Lead, shepherd, and build for the long haul |
| Vision | Helps clarify identity and priorities | Casts and carries long-term vision |
| Success looks like | The next pastor is set up to thrive | A healthy long-term fit |
When a church blurs these two roles, both suffer. The interim gets asked to make long-term decisions they won't be around to carry out. The permanent search loses urgency. Keeping the roles distinct protects everyone, including the interim.
For the permanent role, the goal is a healthy long-term fit. Here's more on long-term fit for senior pastors.
Should an intentional interim become the long-term pastor?
Can an interim pastor become the permanent pastor? Sometimes. Should they? Usually, no. That’s our view at Chemistry Staffing, and a lot of public guidance agrees.
An intentional interim is there to do temporary work. That means bringing stability, helping the church get healthy, and preparing the way for the next senior pastor. If everyone knows the interim might become the permanent pastor, that work gets harder. Hard conversations can get avoided. People can start lining up for or against the interim. And the church may skip the careful search it actually needs.
Several traditions restrict or forbid the interim from becoming the next settled pastor. Check your polity first:
- PC(USA). A temporary pastor “is ordinarily not eligible to serve as the next installed pastor, co-pastor, or associate pastor” (Book of Order 2025–2027, G-2.0504b). An exception needs a three-fourths vote of the presbytery (G-2.0504c).
- ELCA. “Unless previously agreed to by the Synod Council, an interim pastor is not available for a regular call to the congregation served” (Manual of Policies and Procedures for Management of the Rosters).
- Episcopal. Diocesan manuals commonly state the interim may not be called as rector. Example: Diocese of Southwest Florida 2026 Search Process Manual; also Diocese of Northern California glossary.
- Ecumenical standard. The Interim Ministry Network’s standards call for a “specific agreement that the Interim Leader will not be a candidate and will not be considered for the settled position” (Standards for the Practice of Transitional Ministry).
- Baptist conventions (examples). Texas Baptists Pastorless Churches FAQ: “Can our interim pastor become our permanent pastor? Generally, no.” Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware notes transitional interims often serve 12–18 months. The Alabama Baptist describes covenants that the transitional pastor will not be considered for the pastor’s job.
Many church-health voices advise against it even when polity allows. Always check your own polity before you make promises either way.
Two practical steps help:
- Decide up front. Put “open” or “closed” to permanent consideration in the written interim agreement at the start, so no one is guessing later.
- If you do want to consider your interim, end the interim relationship first. Then run a formal search.
And always check your polity before you make promises either way.
How long should an intentional interim season last?
So how long should an interim pastor stay? An intentional interim pastor commonly serves 12 to 18 months. Some seasons are shorter (one Episcopal diocese describes a typical interim stay of 3–12 months, renewable), and very hard transitions can run 18–24 months. Denominational terms also differ (for example, PC(USA) temporary pastoral relationships are ordinarily not to exceed thirty-six months and may be renewable). The right length depends on your church’s story, how much healing is needed, and how long your permanent search takes.
What matters most is that the season has clear edges:
Without those, "temporary" tends to drift. An interim season with no end in sight can stall a church and wear out the people carrying it.
If you're wondering about the permanent search itself, see how long it takes to find your next church staff member.
How the interim period should support the permanent search
Interim time isn't a pause button. Used well, it's when you lay the groundwork for your next senior pastor to succeed long term.
A pastor search during the interim season often runs side by side with the interim's work. The intentional interim focuses on health and stability in the congregation. Your search team or board focuses on finding the right permanent pastor. The two should talk, but the interim shouldn't run or steer the search in ways your polity forbids.
That rhythm helps your search team, too. As the church gets healthier, it gets easier to describe who you are and what you need in your next pastor.
We do many searches for churches that already have an intentional interim in place. That setup can give a search team room to be thorough instead of rushed.
If your pastor hasn't left yet, it's wise to think about this before the vacancy starts. These four church staff succession planning questions can help.
When "interim" becomes a trap for staff
The word "interim" doesn't only apply to senior pastors. Churches often ask a staff member to step into a role on an interim basis while they search. For a few months, that can be a gift. But it can also become a trap.
Picture someone introduced as "the interim" a year and a half ago. They still do the whole job. They carry the same responsibilities as the person who left. But they keep the temporary title, and they still aren't invited to the planning retreat where the job gets aimed. That's a decision the church keeps putting off.
If that sounds familiar, it's time to make the role permanent, end the arrangement kindly, or set a date. Our post on when "interim" becomes a trap walks through it.
How we help
How Chemistry Staffing helps (permanent search + intentional interim recommendations)
We don't place interim pastors. We often recommend that a church bring in an intentional interim pastor, and we can point you to where you can find a great one. Then, when you're ready, we help with the permanent search.
Here's how we approach that search:
Assessments first
At the very front end, we assess candidates on theology, church culture and DNA, personality, and skills and abilities.
125 data points
We filter on 125 data points, which screens out 90 to 95% of candidates before your church interviews anyone.
A deep network
We have 25,000+ candidates (as of November 2026) and more than 80 active searches (as of November 2026), and we've served churches since 2017.
Virtual by default
About 95% of churches choose a fully virtual search (as of November 2026). On-site visits are available, with travel and expenses added.
Flat-rate fee
Our fee is based on the role and your church's size, not a percentage of salary, and it covers onboarding through hire.
One-year good-faith guarantee
If your church does its best and the hire doesn't work out in the first year, we'll run another search at no cost. Some exceptions apply.
Our goal is a healthy long-term fit of at least five years. That's a goal, not a promise, and it's why we put so much weight on fit up front. You can read more about identifying a healthy long-term fit and how we help churches hire new staff.
One more thing: we never hire. We present candidates, and your church makes the call.
Ready to plan your permanent search?
We'll talk timing, interim recommendations, and next steps for your church.
Frequently asked questions
An interim pastor serves a church for a defined season between permanent pastors, usually preaching, leading worship, giving pastoral care, and handling other duties the church and its polity assign. An intentional interim also builds stability, health, and a structured on-ramp so the next permanent senior pastor can succeed long term. It isn’t a permanent placeholder.
Usually no, in Chemistry Staffing’s view. An intentional interim’s job is temporary stability, health, and preparing for the next permanent senior pastor. Several denominations restrict or forbid the interim from candidating. To consider your interim, end that relationship, then run a formal search. Decide “open” or “closed” in the written interim agreement at the start, and check your polity.
An intentional interim commonly serves 12 to 18 months. Some seasons are shorter, and very hard transitions can run longer. It’s especially wise after a long tenure (such as 20 to 30 years) or a very difficult transition. Chemistry Staffing doesn’t place interims, but often recommends one, can point you to a great one, and runs many permanent searches for churches that already have one. Book a free 30-minute Zoom consult.
Next step
If your church is between pastors, you don't have to figure it out alone. When you're ready, book a free 30-minute Zoom consult. It isn't a sales call. We'd love to hear your story and see if it makes sense for us to help. We can talk through planning your permanent search, point you toward a great intentional interim pastor, or both.
Book your free 30-minute consult