Succession Sherpa - Shepherd Staff

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IMPLEMENT A HEALTHY & EFFECTIVE SUCCESSION PLAN

The Planning Succession Workshop

Orient / Design / Evaluate / Gather / Implement

The Planning Succession Workshop will result in a successful succession strategy, designed by your team, led by a Succession Sherpa.

Pastoral leadership transitions require more than filling a role—they call for intentional planning that protects vision, legacy, and mission. Shepherd Staff’s SuccessionSherpa® workshop offers churches a relational, customized approach to church succession planning. Guided by experienced facilitators like Will Heath, a national voice in pastoral succession, the process begins by understanding your church’s culture, leadership heritage, and future goals.

Through an immersive, on-site experience, we help your team design a custom church succession program that fits your context. The 45-point assessment provides clarity on culture, organizational health, and team effectiveness. Together we build a clear succession pathway with milestones, roles, and communication planning to guide the transition.

With ongoing leadership transition support, your Succession Guide offers coaching and accountability as you move from planning to implementation. Churches gain clarity, unity, and confidence—emerging ready to steward leadership changes with integrity and forward momentum. If your church is preparing for a handoff or future transition, SuccessionSherpa® helps you plan with confidence and care.

Will Heath Joins Forces with Shepherd Staff to Guide Churches Through Impactful Succession

We’re honored to welcome Will Heath back to Shepherd Staff. Over the past several years, Will has become one of the nation’s foremost voices on pastoral succession – equipping churches across the country with the tools and strategies needed for healthy leadership transitions.

As the creator of the widely respected “Planning Succession Workshop,” Will helps churches build a clear, actionable Succession Process Pathway tailored to their unique context and mission.

Through our new partnership, Shepherd Staff now offers a proven succession framework that goes beyond planning – it helps your leadership team move forward with clarity, confidence, and unity.

If your church is approaching a leadership transition, schedule a conversation with Will Heath to take the first step toward a smooth and successful handoff.

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Intentional. Customized. Guided Every Step of the Way.

Senior Leadership Succession Planning

Pastoral succession is one of the most pivotal seasons in the life of a church—and navigating it well requires more than a workbook or a generic roadmap. That’s why our comprehensive Succession Planning Program, offers a personalized, discovery-driven process designed specifically for your church’s culture, timeline, and mission.

What You Can Expect

Our approach is grounded in listening, tailored assessment, and hands-on collaboration. Every plan begins with a robust on-site Planning Succession Workshop, conducted with your senior leadership and guided by one of our full time and fully experienced Succession Guides.

Your team will not be handed a templated plan or an AI-generated framework. Instead, we’ll build your church’s unique succession blueprint from the ground up, based on:

Your church’s vision, values, and structure
The personality and legacy of your current leadership
The opportunities and risks associated with transition
Your timeline and readiness for change

The outcome? A fully customized, actionable Succession Strategy—complete with clearly defined milestones, team roles, dates, and next steps. And we won’t just hand it off and walk away. Your Succession Guide will continue providing coaching, clarity, and accountability throughout the entire process.

WHAT THE WORKSHOP WILL DO FOR YOUR TEAM

Establish The Right Mindset

We will challenge and reset broken, unhelpful paradigms that undermine planning and implementation.

Unlock Your Collaborative Genius

Discernment is a communal discipline. The process facilitates group discussion so the team can make the most informed decision.

Manage Attention

The process establishes an order of operations that focuses attention and establishes momentum in planning and implementation.

Inspire Confidence and Continued Investment

Demonstrate credibility by providing proactive and thoughtful answers to the eight (8) most commonly asked succession questions.

WHAT THE WORKSHOP INCLUDES

Charting Your Organizational Life Map

The starting point of planning for the future will be to pause and reflect on where you have been.

Conducting A 45-point Assessment

The guided assessment looks at 10 aspects of Cultural Clarity, 20 aspects of Organizational Stability, and 15 areas related to overall Team Effect Effectiveness.

Identifying Your Process Pathway

Evaluate different possibilities for navigating transition and select the option that best fits your situation.

Accounting for The Essential Signposts

Effective implementation depends on your team’s ability to appropriately manage five essential signposts. Each signpost serves as a marker, ensuring you stay on path.

Designing Your Communication Plan

Define your audiences. Establish your talking points. Stage communication updates.

Director of Succession Planning

Will Heath

When the topic of succession planning first caught my attention back in early 2007, there simply wasn’t a sense of urgency surrounding the issue. Today, however, succession planning has become one of the biggest challenges ministries face.

At Shepherd Staff, we recognize the complexities and unique needs associated with succession planning in ministry contexts. Our comprehensive approach to planning will guide your team through every step of the journey, ensuring a seamless transition that honors your ministry’s legacy while preparing for a vibrant future.

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SCHEDULE A CALL

We want to understand your questions and specific challenges to ensure we are the right fit.

DETERMINE YOUR PATH

We offer different coaching options. We’ll work together to find the best pathway forward.

START PLANNING

There’s no way around it – planning succession is hard work. You don’t need to go it alone.

“When our team first started talking about my transition it felt like this slippery amoeba-shaped thing that would constantly slip through our fingers and pop up somewhere else in a different form. Will’s planning process helped immensely as it turned succession into something our team could actually grab onto.” – James R. – Retired Sr. Pastor

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