Clayton King has been preaching since he was 14. When he went to college at Gardner-Webb University, he preached throughout South Carolina and into North Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana. By the time he graduated in 1995, he had formed a non-profit ministry—Clayton King Ministries— and a summer camp ministry—Crossroads Summer Camps.
In the late 1990s, Clayton’s friend Perry Noble launched NewSpring Church—now one of the largest congregations in America, with 17 campuses across South Carolina—out of a Bible study held on Anderson University’s campus. From those early days, Clayton was involved with NewSpring and would occasionally preach. He kept close ties to the church, and about a decade ago, he began serving NewSpring as one of its teaching pastors.
When NewSpring Church’s leadership decided to remove senior pastor Perry Noble for issues related to alcohol abuse, they knew their congregation needed stability. They turned to someone the congregation knew, Clayton King, who stepped in as interim senior pastor.
Georgia pastor Maina Mwaura sat down with Clayton at NewSpring’s main campus in Anderson, South Carolina—not far from the small textile and farming community of Fountain Inn where Clayton grew up—to discuss his new role and the difficulties of ministering to a congregation during a season of traumatic transition.
What was it like getting the call from NewSpring’s leadership after Perry Noble’s departure: “Clayton, we need you to take over”?
It was unexpected. It was during the busiest season of my life. I was working 12- to 14-hour days with our camp ministry, and I was preaching on the weekends. I was traveling a good bit because I’m an evangelist.
I had planned to take some time off this fall. I’ve never really had any form of sabbatical in my life after 29 years of ministry, so on August 1, I was going to start a diminished travel schedule to rest and recuperate. I thought I was planning a six-month sabbatical to rest, but the Lord was clearing my schedule so I could step in and help our team here at the church.
My wife and I love NewSpring, and our goal has always been to serve the local church with our non-profit. When everything happened this summer and the leadership said, “We would love to invite you in as interim; would you be willing?” it was an automatic yes.
My challenge has never been waiting too long. My challenge has been jumping too fast. So I prayed about it, and I wanted to make sure my wife felt peace in her heart. I don’t make any big decision without running it by my wife because of her spiritual gift of discernment. And she felt at peace about it too.
What benefits come from having an interim pastor in this position instead of trying to bring in a new, long-term pastor immediately?
I believe there's great wisdom, not to mention common sense, in taking time during a season of transition to pray, seek the Lord, and ask for his discernment. This time period allows our leadership to hear from the people and move into the next season of ministry without feeling the urgency to bring in someone immediately.
Additionally, having an interim helps our people remember that the church belongs to Jesus and is built on the Word of God. Because of my history with NewSpring, I happen to be an interim senior pastor that most people are already familiar with. They’ve heard me preach for many years as teaching pastor.
Describe your first Sunday as interim senior pastor. You’ve preached here many times before, but how was it different in this new role?
It was a special day because so many people were praying. Paul writes in Philippians, “the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” I felt that peace the first Sunday I preached as interim pastor.
But I also felt unqualified. I never thought I would be a senior pastor. But back in 1994, I said I’d never have email. I’m not a forward thinker. I said I would never have a cell phone. I said I would never have an indoor dog, but we got one six days ago. I said I would never watch Downton Abbey, and I watched the first three episodes last night. And I also said I would never be a senior pastor. It’s futile to predict the future because God has his own plans for us.
I never thought I would be a senior pastor. It’s futile to predict the future because God has his own plans for us.
I feel out of my league. I have lots of ministry experience and lots of people experience, but no experience in this role.
But the systems and structures at NewSpring Church are set up so that every single staff member—whether it’s the guy turning knobs on the sound board on Sunday morning or the greeter in the parking lot welcoming people as they drive in—can win in their role. This church, this movement of God is so much bigger than anything one man or one woman can control. It takes a team, and I get to be part of that team.
When a new pastor steps into leadership after a long-term, well-loved pastor leaves, what difficulties should they expect to face?
It can be intimidating to learn an old culture while simultaneously trying to create a new culture. It can be daunting to step into systems and processes and procedures that were in place before you arrived. Pastors have to remember their identity as beloved children of God in order to fight the fear of always being compared to the previous pastor.
Then there's the strange "honeymoon phase," when a pastor is fresh and new, and he wonders, Do I start slow and listen and learn and watch? Or do I leverage the honeymoon phase and tackle some of the bigger issues the church needs to address right off the bat?
No pastor wants to be a hireling or a coward who's afraid to lead, just as no pastor wants to be a bull in a china shop who shows up and starts breaking things that many people are attached to. That's where ministry gets hard, and there's no Bible verse to tell a pastor exactly what to do.
Do you think it’s possible to maintain a church’s vision and style while bringing your own voice and leadership style to the table? How would you do that?
We have to pray for wisdom, discernment, and the courage to do what God leads us to do. The church does not belong solely to the pastor (any more than it belongs to the elders or the deacons or the big givers). The church belongs to Jesus.
With that said, every pastor brings a unique form of leadership to the congregation, and it’s imperative that a pastor lead. Often, this means telling people no or steering the church in a new direction for a new season of ministry.
But a good pastor always listens to God first and the people second. It's challenging to harmonize those two voices at times, especially when they conflict.
I bring my own experience with me to NewSpring as an evangelist, founder and president of a non-profit ministry, and former campus pastor at the world's largest Christian university. But I also know the DNA of our church. I love our people. I listen to them and care about their lives and their spiritual formation. I hope, by God's grace, to lead with humility, clarity, and consistency.
How would you encourage pastors struggling to lead their congregations through periods of crisis and transition?
I’m glad you used the word encourage. The first thing I’d say is, fight discouragement with all you have. Pray for the Lord to renew to you the joy of your salvation. The greatest way to fight discouragement is to let the Word of God be the primary source of your emotions.
I’ve struggled with depression. I’ve struggled with anxiety. I lost nine family members over a 12-year period. So I know what it feels like to be discouraged.
Do not isolate yourself. If the enemy can isolate us, he can assassinate us.
You start to think you’re worse than you are because you listen to all the criticism that’s thrown at you. Or you start to think you’re better than you are because you listen to all the praise people give you. We have to shut both of those voices out. Don’t let the praise go to your head. Don’t let the criticism go to your heart. Keep it about Jesus.
The second thing I would say to a pastor is this: do not isolate yourself. If the enemy can isolate us, he can assassinate us. We are so vulnerable when we are alone. The pastorate is a scary and lonely place because you get into your own headspace.
Invite friends into your life. I invite men into my life to watch football games, to eat, to go hunting, to go fishing. We hang out for a couple hours and confess our weaknesses. We pastors fall into the trap of feeling like we can’t be honest with brothers because they may look at us differently. But it’s up to us to have people in our lives we can confess our weakness to. James 5:16 says, “Confess your faults to each other and pray for each other so that you might be healed.” If we don’t have those people in our lives for accountability, confession, and friendship, we’re going to end up isolated. We’re going to end up out of ministry. Or we’re going to end up depressed and sick and unhealthy, and that affects our wives, our children, and our congregations.
What has God taught you so far during this transition?
I’ve learned that the Word of God is sufficient. I’m still new in this role. I’m still learning a lot of what it means to shepherd people on a regular basis. I’ve always had a pastor’s heart, but I’ve never had the title.
I’ve never worked with a team of other pastors, so everybody on our team is learning from the Holy Spirit what it means to pastor each other. Jesus is the chief shepherd—the Greek word is poimѐn—and we’re his under-shepherds. We get to join in with the work.
I’m also learning what Jesus meant when he said, “Come to me all you weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me because my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” I’ve slept better in the six weeks since I stepped into this role than I’ve slept since high school. I’ve had a peace; I really have.
The task was so big that there was absolutely no misunderstanding on my part: I could not do this in the power of my personality or experience. It was so big and so unexpected that I just had to laugh and say, “Okay, Lord, if this is my assignment, then you are going to have to do this through me.” And when you’re working with a great team and everybody is on the same page, it sure is easier than trying to do it in the power of your own flesh.
