Andy Stanley Announcement Regarding Joel Thomas
As someone who makes his living helping churches hire pastors, you might expect me to see an internal succession announcement as a missed business opportunity.
Actually, it brings me great joy.
North Point Ministries recently announced that Joel Thomas has been recommended to succeed Andy Stanley as Senior Pastor, with congregational voting results scheduled to be announced November 1. If approved, Thomas will begin leading the overall ministry organization on January 1, 2027. In May, he will also assume Stanley’s separate role as Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church.
Thomas first joined North Point as an intern in 1998. His journey has included multiple leadership roles, seven years leading a church in Arizona, and a return to North Point, where he became executive director in 2023. Stanley shared that conversations about his own transition began approximately four and a half years ago.
Congratulations to Andy, Joel, and North Point’s leadership for investing in a thoughtful transition and recognizing the leadership already within their organization.
Their announcement illustrates a conviction we hold deeply at Shepherd Staff: when the right leader is already on your team, internal succession often makes the most sense.
That possibility deserves attention long before a senior pastor announces a departure.
A church’s next senior pastor might initially arrive as a student pastor, executive pastor, or campus pastor. The first assignment matters. So does the capacity to grow into responsibilities the church may not need someone to assume for years.
That changes the hiring conversation.
Alongside “Can this person lead this ministry today?” we should ask, “What might this person contribute to the future of our church? Do they have the character, judgment, humility, and leadership capacity to grow with us?”
Hiring with that perspective creates possibilities. Developing people intentionally helps those possibilities become real.
It requires meaningful responsibility, honest feedback, mentoring, and opportunities to demonstrate readiness. An internal candidate should receive careful evaluation; familiarity alone is never enough. But a leader whose character and effectiveness have been observed over time offers a church something valuable as it considers its future.
This is the kind of work we love.
Yes, Shepherd Staff helps churches fill vacant positions. We also take great satisfaction in helping a church make a strategic hire today who could become a trusted leader for its next chapter.
That work calls for an enduring partnership. A succession strategy may span years, multiple hires, and changing circumstances. Churches benefit from a team with shared experience, organizational memory, and the capacity to sustain that relationship beyond any one consultant.
We want to understand where a church has been, what makes it distinctive, and where its leaders believe God is leading. Those relationships help us serve the church through today’s decisions and tomorrow’s transitions.
Sometimes an external search is the wisest next step. Sometimes the strongest candidate is already serving faithfully down the hall.
Either outcome can be a success.
To North Point: congratulations on the preparation behind this moment. May your next chapter be marked by wisdom, unity, and fruitful ministry.
And to church leaders considering their own future: the best time to begin preparing for your next pastoral transition may be with the hire you make today.
