This was a great article on vacancies. But one area missed is the Transitional Interim Ministry that many District Presidents use. This Ministry is trained LCMS pastors who go in for a year or more to take a congregation through a process to look at the past, present and future to get them ready for their next full time pastor. Some of these Transitional Interim Pastors travel all over the USA. They go in and preform all pastoral duties plus the Transitional Interim process. They have a website LCMSTIM.org