You need an executive pastor. The budget says you can't have one. There's a third option.
The complete guide to fractional executive leadership for growing churches: what it actually costs, what the weekly work looks like, and how to know if your church is ready.
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Sound familiar?
Your week fills with budgets and personnel files. Sermon prep gets the leftovers.
Every decision routes through you. Nothing moves until you weigh in.
The hire you need runs $150,000 or more a year. The budget won't carry it.
The problem isn't your people, and it isn't you. Ministry outpaced your systems. That's fixable.
What you will know by the last page.
The weekly rhythm of a fractional executive pastor, hour by hour.
Real pricing, side by side with a full-time hire and a typical consultant.
The first season, step by step: from Discovery Weekend to a system your team is running.
An honest readiness checklist, including who this isn't for.
Eight questions to ask any fractional provider before you sign anything, with what a good answer sounds like under each one.
Monthly retainer. No long-term contract. The guide shows you exactly how it works.
A year that moves from support to ownership.
The engagement is designed around 12 months and moves through four stages. Early on, Clearway carries more of the weight. By the end, your team does.
The Discovery Weekend and the first weeks: learning your culture, listening to your people, and identifying what matters most.
Your team builds a shared direction and the working rhythms to carry it, with Clearway leading the way at first.
The team practises the new rhythms week after week until they stop feeling new and start feeling like how you work.
Increasing ownership passes to a leader inside your church. Clearway calls this person the Catalyst: the internal leader who gradually takes the work over.
The goal is not to keep Clearway forever. It's to help your church lead itself with greater clarity, trust, and follow-through. The engagement is built for succession, not dependency.
You shouldn't have to book a call to learn the price.
The guide puts the numbers next to the alternatives most churches weigh.
The search takes 6 to 12 months, and the seat stays empty while you look.
Advice, then absence. Nobody stays to help the team carry it out.
Discovery stands on its own. Complete the weekend, then decide whether to continue. The 12-month engagement is billed monthly, and your church can end at any time.
Clearway isn't a substitute for a permanent executive pastor. It gives your church the leadership it needs now while building the capacity it will need next. Pricing current as of 2026.
Trusted by 100+ growing churches across 25+ denominations.
"Clearway brought clarity, alignment, and healthier leadership rhythms. We're stronger, multiplying, and better equipped to carry what God has entrusted to us."
Ron Baker Lead Pastor, VitalPoint Church 
Chris Vacher spent twenty years in ministry, including as an executive pastor in a large multisite church, before founding Clearway. The team is seasoned pastors who coach pastors: practitioners, not theorists.
Chris Vacher · Founder, Clearway
You need an executive pastor. There's a third option.
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