The time ‘between vicars’ can be one of the most testing — but also the most exciting — times in the life of a church. These are some thoughts on the process (based on my own experience) which I shared with the congregation at St Paul’s Stalybridge on June 14th 2009.

Bible Reading: Acts chapter 1

Interregnum or vacancy?
It’s quite normal in the Church of England to have a space of a few months between one vicar leaving and the next one being appointed. But what do we call this in-between state? Traditionally it was called an interregnum, which means an interval between two reigns — which isn’t quite the language we want to use about the clergy in today’s church. So these days we’re encouraged to call it a vacancy — but that doesn’t sound right to me either. A vacancy sounds like an emptiness, a hole waiting to be filled — and that certainly isn’t true of the life of our church.

There’s a whole team of people committed to ensuring that the worshipping life of our church continues as normally as possible in the interval between vicars. Our two church-wardens are working hard behind the scenes to keep the whole church running smoothly and to provide a first point of contact for any queries about regular services or “occasional offices” (baptisms, weddings, and funerals). The ministry team is working to keep our Sunday and weekday services running, with the able assistance of our choir and organist, children and young people’s leaders, servers and sidespeople, intercessors and readers, and a whole host of willing volunteers who arrange the flowers, make the coffee, and keep the church looking clean and welcoming — and not forgetting the verger who keeps everything shipshape.  And our Pastoral Care visitors will continue to provide the pastoral care that is such an important part of the day-to-day life of the church (if you’re not sure who to contact, just ask!). No — vacancy doesn’t seem at all the right word!

An in-between state
But whatever we call it, we are clearly in an “in-between” state, and it’s worth reflecting on what that means for our life as a church. There’s a nice parallel in the first chapter of the book of Acts, when the disciples returned to Jerusalem after Jesus’ ascension into heaven to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit that would launch the next phase in the life of the church (Acts ch.1 v.12). They went back to the upper room to “wait”, Luke tells us (Acts 1:12), just as Jesus had told them to do (Luke 24.49). And if you ask yourself what they must have been feeling — I would guess they were in a state of shock, a kind of frozen, in-between state, with one life ending and the future all unclear. And in that in-between state, three important things have to happen.

Saying good-bye
There’s a sadness in the process of saying goodbye that is inevitable and right (you’re allowed to feel sad!). But saying good-bye also means letting go into new life. Why do you stand gazing up into heaven? the angels asked the disciples (Acts 1:11). You can’t stay on top of the mountain, you can’t spend the rest of your life looking back. God’s future is out there, down the mountain, on a road that leads into the unknown — a road on which the only thing we know (and we do know that!) is that God is in it with us, and that our God is faithful. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, Jesus promised (Acts 1:8), and it’s because of that promise that I believe we can step forward into the unknown future with the confidence of knowing that we are never alone.

Making a new appointment
The second thing that has to happen is the process of making a new appointment. If you read carefully, you will see that there are only eleven disciples named in Acts 1:13. The defection of Judas left a running sore that had to be attended to (and it’s interesting in this first chapter of Acts to see Peter slowly and tentatively stepping into the leadership role that God has assigned to him). Note the details of the process that Luke gives us in verses 21-26. First, the job description for an apostle: it’s all about being with Jesus, seeing what he does, knowing what he’s like, and knowing that he’s alive NOW, in the present tense (vv.21-22). But more: to be a witness you have to be prepared to speak out, to take the stand and testify to what you’ve seen (not a bad job description for a minister of Christ!). Then there’s the process of selection, finding two candidates (v.23). And then they pray about it (v.24-26), asking God to help them chose the right one. But if you look carefully you’ll see that God was in the process all along (v.24). Prayer is not telling God what to do, but making explicit our trust in him, and asking him to make his decision clear to us. And having done our job, of drawing up a job description (as the PCC has done) and leaving it to our patrons and representatives to interview candidates and make the right selection, let’s all remember to keep the whole process in our prayers. We don’t know who our next vicar will be, and neither do they: but God knows — and I find that a very comforting thought!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Meanwhile, what do we do, in this in-between time? The disciples were waiting, Luke tells us (v.12): not passive resignation but active waiting on God, waiting with expectation — staying put, staying in God’s presence. They were waiting together (v.14), with one accord — a simple word that conceals all manner of hidden tensions and rivalries. We know that there were tensions between the male disciples and the women, and between the disciples and Jesus’ family. Waiting together is important, not because it’s easy but because it’s difficult. Jesus’ followers could easily have torn themselves apart after his ascension, but they didn’t. Why? Because they were waiting on God, “devoting themselves to prayer”. The same word comes again in 2:42, and it means perseverance, dedication, “stickability.” Too often, we treat prayer as a last resort (“if all else fails”). Prayer should be our first resort in the life of the church, and I’m convinced it’s our basic and most important task as a church in this “interim” period. I believe praying together is important: so if you can, make time to pray with others for the ongoing life of this church.

Yours in Christ’s service,
Loveday

The Revd Canon Professor Loveday Alexander is Professor of Biblical Studies at Sheffield University and Canon-Theologian at Chester Cathedral. She has extensive experience of teaching and preaching the Bible in both academic and church contexts, and has recently published Acts: A Bible commentary for every day in the People's Bible Commentary (BRF,2006) and Acts in its Ancient Literary Context (Continuum, 2006).