|
|
Finding a New Pastor Step 1: Gathering Information In a word, gathering information is about defining our "community." Any prospective candidate will want the basic information about our church like the size of the church, location ,facilities, etc. But many will want much more detailed information. Therefore, the Pastor Search Committee will collect information that includes: * A brief history of the church The Pastor Search Committee has more to consider when gathering information that the prospective candidate. They must also consider their need to become a community and the necessary tools for a successful search. Spending time in prayer and talking about each committee members spiritual journey and history with the church are only two of the ways the committee can build a strong trust level which is extremely important. They may choose to visit other churches to observe other styles of proclamation as they clarify in their minds the attributes they seek in a minister. A bit more tangible are items such as salary studies provided by the Convention. Some of the above information, such as the adopted church goal, results of any self-studies, and developing attributes as the seek in a minister, result from efforts which we will speak to in the coming weeks as we step through the process of Finding A New Pastor. Step 2: Conducting Congregational Self Studies Churches with a strong sense of mission and vision generally make the most progress. An important question for a church to ask is, "Who will own the church's vision?" The church's vision will be owned by either the pastor of the congregation. The new pastor will come to the church with training, experience, and sense of call to ministry. However, what worked in another congregation may not work at all in our situation. For the pastor and the congregation to have a shared vision for ministry is ideal. This often happens when the pastor's gifts in ministry match the recognized needs of the congregation as it remains true to its vision. How then will we identify the vision of our church? Several steps are involved in this process. First is a self study of the church membership. This will include doing a demographic self-study by family units; a pastor selection study by individual members; and a third study within the Search Committee. In practice this will take the form of questionnaires. The more the participation the better the results. The second step is to clarify expectations. Congregational Bible Study is an appropriate method. These can be led by the interim pastor, a gifted lay person, or an outside presenter. The areas of study might include a study of Baptist history, the role an purpose of the church, and the responsibility of clergy, church leaders and laity. The third step is to encourage the congregation to go through a process seeking to verbalize what they believe to be Gods will for the church in the future. It should provide the members the opportunity to explore where the church is in terms of worship, discipleship development, outreach, personal evangelism, mission and ministry. (Initial plans are to begin the self-studies in September and complete the visioning process by late November.) Step 3: Gathering names of Prospects Step 3 is the gathering of names of prospective pastors from available resource people. They may include our local associational director of missions, the office of Minister Support in the Baptist State Convention of NC, accredited seminaries and divinity schools, other pastors, congregational members, or from potential candidates themselves. Once a resume is accepted under the appropriate conditions, the committee will contact the candidate to determine if the individual is indeed a candidate for the position. The minister may be currently talking with another committee, just relocated, or be unwilling to relocate. The step of gathering names may occur over several months and overlap several other steps. Since the Transition Committee and church staff will be handling the majority of steps 1 and 2, the Search Committee can begin to receive resumes as soon as the committee feels comfortable that the time is right. At such a time it will be made clear to the congregation that the gathering of resumes as begun and for a period of several weeks resumes are welcome. Step 4: Prioritizing Contacts Step 4 is establishing a priority order in which ministers will be considered. Priority order is a way to receive the resumes and sort through them. The goal is for everyone to have a sense of involvement in the process. To this end the Search Committee members should prayerfully seek and be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Suggested methods for how to sort and
prioritize are: It should be noted that the committee will
likely work with only one person at a time. Why is it important to work
with only one candidate at a time?
Step 5: Setting Up Files Only a small minority of ministers behave unethically or inappropriately in ministry. However, the search committee is responsible for protecting the church and the integrity of the committee. This is best done through adequate background checks and by documenting the committees actions. This will protect the committee, the church, and the minister. Step 5 is setting up a personnel file on each serious candidate considered by your committee. This file should include copies of all written correspondence, signed authorization forms, evaluations and personal reference forms. Also included should be any written findings that result from your information search. Files on candidates who are considered, but not called should be destroyed. The files on the minister called should be retained indefinitely in order to document the committee followed a fair but through process in determining the suitability of the person to serve as pastor. Step 6: Contacting the Prospective Pastor Meeting and getting to know a prospective minister is more like a date than a typical interview to hire. The first contact with the minister and spouse should be for a friendly, get-acquainted session. This should be in neutral territory - perhaps at a restaurant for a meal with the church picking up the tab and reimbursing the candidate for travel expenses. It would be appropriate at this meeting to gain permission from the candidate to check references. Subsequent contacts might include visits to the church community. The time would be used to acquaint the prospective minister with the church facilities, the community, the school system, the price of homes, etc. Again this should be viewed as an opportunity to build relationships. Attention should be given to personality traits, personal demeanor, and behavioral tendencies. Both congregations and ministers have personality distinctives. Consideration should be given as to how well these mesh. Each time after the potential pastor and the committee meet adequate time should be given for both to pray and consider the question, "Are we willing to continue the process?" Background checks should be well in progress as third and fourth contacts are taking place. As mentioned earlier, most ministers are trustworthy and committed to their call. At the same time no minister is perfect. The goal of the committee is to make an informed decision based on all the information available. Of course, the intent of the background checks may be tempered by the direct knowledge of the candidate's history. As the relationship develops, the committee will seek to ask appropriate questions in order to increase understanding of one another. There are a wide range of possible subjects varying from a description of the candidate's conversion experience to their definition of pastoral authority? At some point a covenant may begin to is to clarify expectations in the relationship between the minister and the congregation. It is common today for this to be in writing. The goal is clear, appropriate, and concise communication that inspires the development of trust for a long-term relationship.
Step 7: Visiting the Pastor's Church Field With several contacts and meetings behind them, assuming the committee and the candidate are still in agreement, the committee may arrange a visit to the candidate's church to observe a worship service. The committee must remember that the pastor is still the pastor of that congregation. They should not do anything to hurt the continuing ministry there. After the visit the committee will reflect on questions such as:
It should be understood that ministers and churches have individual personalities. Recognizable behavioral tendencies will assist in matching the right church to the right minister. There is not a preferred style of minister or church that is better than another. The important concern is that the tendencies of each match. For example: Type D - Pastor is assertive and leads by telling the people what they should do. This would be called a "strong" leadership by some. The matching church may be aggressive and respond to goals and challenges. Type I - Pastor is people oriented and inspires people to follow leadership. The matching church may prefer services that express feelings and emotions; place emphasis on fellowship. Type S - Pastor is reserved, leads by example, and is an excellent listener. The matching church may emphasis care giving, compassion, sensitivity. Type C - Pastor emphasizes quality and proper organizational structure; is reserved. The matching church may focus on maintaining excellent organizational structure with emphasis on doing what is right. It is also during this step that final agreements should be reached on matters relative to employment such as salary package, vacation, sick leave, and moving and housing arrangements. Step 8: Calling the Pastor With the Pastor-Church Covenant complete and all in agreement, a weekend will be decided upon when the minister will come and lead the church in worship. Prior to the weekend a brochure developed on the pastor, including highlights from the resume should be distributed to the congregation. A copy of the covenant should be distributed as well. This should occur at least two weeks ahead of the day of worship. The church will be responsible for all expenses incurred during that weekend, including travel. If the pastoral family includes small children, child care should be planned. Considering a time for the pastor to meet with appropriate groups is a most important aspect. This would include the full-time and part-time staff, the deacons, Church Council, and possibly others. The vote to extend the call follows the completed visit. In this the congregation should seek to follow fully the requirements for calling a minister as spelled out in the church's constitution/bylaws or as understood by the church's tradition. The recommendation that the pastor be called should be based on the terms spelled out in the newly written covenant agreement. Consideration will be given to voting by secret ballot unless bylaws or tradition suggest differently.
|
|
Site Maintained by |
