Legal Question in Business Law in California

If you are just wanting to make the new Pastor the agent for service of process for the corporation, then you would need to file a Statement of Information with the Secretary of State. If the Articles or By-Laws have any other procedure specified, then you would need to follow the by-laws. Also, anyone can be designated as the agent for service of process for the corporation, not just the pastor.

When the church was initially formed as a nonprofit corporation, you were required to designate an initial agent for service. After that, the church reports changes in the information using this form: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/corp/pdf/so/corp_so100.pdf.

The process for electing officers and designation the agent for service are probably listed in the Bylaws. If not and your church is part of a major denomination, there is likely something in other church governing documents that tells you how to select a new agent.