Pilots never want to crash a plane. Similarly, pastors never want to crash a church. But many in ministry do just that when they retire (or die) without having a succession plan or a successor.

In The Leadership Runway: A Strategy for Ministry Succession, Leadership, Transition, and Post-Founder Sustainability, Steve Murrell, cofounder of Every Nation Churches & Ministries, presents proven principles to help ministry organizations and their leaders survive and thrive long after a leadership transition. Using the metaphor of an airplane runway, Steve describes the various challenges experienced leaders face as they prepare to land the plane of their current ministry assignment while at the same time preparing their up-and-coming leaders to take off and soar.

From identifying emerging leaders to preparing the heart of the experienced leader to land their plane and leave their current position, Steve draws on his over thirty years of experience as a pastor, leader, and mentor to detail how leaders can finish well.

When he was 57, and after more than thirty years of ministry, Steve returned to school to study post-founder sustainability in the context of global ministry. His research quickly led to the topics of succession planning and leadership succession. He found himself thinking about the 66-year-old founding pastor of a 35-year-old church who feels it is time to "pass the leadership baton" but doesn't know if the designated successor is ready. Or the successor who feels ready but is unsure of what parts of the church structure can be changed and what parts cannot. Or the faithful cross-cultural missionary couple who spent a lifetime developing indigenous leaders who are ready to lead, and it's now time for the couple to move on to the next phase in their ministry assignment. Or the campus ministry regional director who now feels called to plant a church.

No one leads forever, which is a universal truth that cannot be ignored. Steve's three years of dissertation research revealed a three-part pattern in successful leadership transitions. These three requirements are non-negotiable for the ministry leader who wants her ministry to thrive long after her tenure.

Prepare emerging leaders to lead the organization.
Prepare the organization to be led by emerging leaders.
Prepare experienced leaders to finish well.

Steve breaks down these three non-negotiable requirements as he looks at the emerging leader's heart for God and his people, his skills, and his spiritual life. He explores how an experienced leader cultivates a healthy ministry culture and creates simple systems that can continue without her while at the same time putting in place flexibility that can bend and not break as new leaders take the reigns. Finally, Steve speaks to the experienced leader who senses that God is leading him to land his plane and leave his current leadership position while assuring him that his time of purposeful ministry is not over.

Whether you are the experienced leader looking to finish well or the emerging leader looking to step into a new level of leadership, The Leadership Runway will identify steps you can take to help ensure success.

Steve Murrell is the cofounder and president of Every Nation Churches & Ministries, the founding pastor of Victory Church Manila, and a professor of Pastoral Theology at Every Nation Seminary. He earned a Doctor of Ministry from Asbury Theological Seminary and has authored six books. Steve and his wife Deborah have three sons, three daughters-in-law, and nine grandchildren. He loves two-wheel therapy on his Indian Chief Vintage motorcycle and whatever sports or arts his grandkids are doing.