The process of searching for a pastor is extremely difficult at best. Having been on both ends of this process I can speak with some authority on the subject. First of all, I have been a pastor for over forty years and have met with several search committees. In addition, I served on the search committee for a church that ran over one thousand in worship. I have had the opportunity to learn some things that help and hinder the process. This is one of the reasons we developed http://ministrytogether.com. This is a website that uses a 54 point matching system to bring prospective pastors and churches together. I recently read an article by Dr. L. Roy Taylor of the PCA called “I Wish We Had (Or Hadn't)…"Ten Common Search Committee Mistakes”
Dr. Taylor addresses items such as Failing to check out a candidate's track record, Requiring a unanimous recommendation from the committee. Making a decision based on a first impression. Choosing a candidate that the church wants rather than the candidate the church needs. Choosing a candidate who cannot adapt to the local culture of the community and church. Failing to evaluate the church's true condition Choosing a candidate because he is either exactly like or exactly opposite the former pastor. Evaluating the candidate's sermons upon ones he has chosen, not the committee. Having too large a committee. Failing to be discreet and to maintain total secrecy during the search process.
Sometiems first impressions of the candidate or the chruch can be decieving. Failure to check out the candidate’s track record can be a very serious issue for a committee. We see many factors that will cause spikes in any given year. When a candidate gives stats for only one or two years when he has served for several can be an indication that those were his best years. Usually we find the first year after the pastor comes on the field is one of his best. The people who left during the time there was no pastor will sometimes come back to check out the new guy. Also, his excitement as the new pastor will be infectious. As a result, the entire church will be more inviting and the numbers will grow. I suggest a committee look at the entire tenure as an umbrella. There will be spikes and there will be low years. What did the candidate do overall. You should request stats for the entire time he served at his last church. Gather as much info as possible from previous churches. See if he finished on a high or were the numbers sliding when he left. If so, ask the probing questions. Find out why. This is your time to ask the hard questions. After you call a candidate it is too late to discover that he was not upfront with his info….The same holds true for the prospective pastor. Before the call is time to find out about the church. Look at history. Look at the health of the church before the last pastor left and the time since. Are there issues that need to be addressed. In our think tank meetings to develop our 54 point matching mattrix we looked at the questions pastors wished they had asked the committee before saying yes. Such questions as "Why did the last guy leave?" "Do you want a leader or a follower?" "What are your real expectations for your pastor". Sometimes we find that churches will say they want to grow and reach people when in reality they are saying we want a pastor who will reach people. That is an impossible task when he is expected to do it all by himself. We should be able to expect church search committees to be honest with a candidate just as they expect the candidate to be honest with them. That, after all, is the Christlike model spelled out in scripture where our yes should be yes and our no should be no. But, I just wonder, how many times that really does not happen......I will write about the other issues in a later post………Preacherman
