2016 Wesleyan Discipline: 3261

3261. Interim Pastors. A district conference (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:503; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1180:26b), or, in the interim of its sessions, the district superintendent and the district board of administration (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1233:32, 39; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1310:22–23) shall have the power to appoint an interim pastor, who shall serve subject to the following regulations:

(1) A pastoral charge receiving an interim pastor must participate in an assessment process led by the district superintendent or a representative designated by the district superintendent to evaluate local church health and pastoral leadership needs.

(2) An interim pastor shall be appointed for a specific period mutually agreed upon by the pastor, the local board of administration, and the district superintendent (usually not more than 24 months). This period may be modified based upon the recommendation of the district superintendent and the approval of the district board of administration. An interim pastor may be removed or replaced at any time by a majority vote of the district board of administration (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1233:40; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1310:22–23; cf. 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5200:5; 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:5215:1).

(3) An interim pastor may be fully empowered to exercise administrative authority in the local church, if a Wesleyan ordained, commissioned or licensed minister, and shall fulfill all the functions of the pastor or senior pastor of a pastoral charge or circuit (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:725), which may include presiding as chair of the local church conference and the local board of administration (except as provided in 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:635 and 2016 Wesleyan Discipline:770–773).

(4) An interim pastor’s local church membership and district ministerial membership shall not be automatically transferred to the church of service, given the temporary nature of the appointment. However, an interim pastor may personally request transfer of local church membership and district ministerial membership if desired.

(5) An interim pastor may be a nonvoting member of the district conference if ministerial membership is maintained in another district (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1090), or unless qualifying as a voting member by some other right (2016 Wesleyan Discipline:1083).