"Leaving"
This has been a month of lasts….I had my last deacon’s meeting at my current church…..I had my last Baptist Life Communities board meeting…..I had my last book study with my friends…..I am preparing my last sermon for New Banklick Baptist Church.
Joy and I have announced our retirement and will be moving in July to our new home in Hickory, NC where we will enjoy spoiling our grandchildren. Pastoring in areas that are far from family is one of the most difficult things to do. We have missed a lot of firsts with our grandchildren. We were not there when they lost their first tooth or came home with the first A on the report card or any number of other very important things. So God is giving us some time to make up for all of those things we have missed.
What I need some of you to help me with is how to deal properly with the lasts. I have to confess that the lasts have been much more difficult for me than the firsts. I was not nervous at all nor did I dread my first sermon at this wonderful church. I did not have any bad feelings about the first deacon’s meeting, first business meeting or anything at all surrounding our first few months here. I certainly did not dread any of the wonderful meals we were fed. But the lasts have been a different story. My heart breaks every time someone hugs me and weeps or just says “I’ll miss you”. I could become a blubbering idiot if I let myself.
This blog is about going to a new church but sometimes we just need some feedback on how to leave a good church. This is something that we have not addressed on our website http://www.ministrytogether.com. Perhaps we should………Well, during the two and a half weeks that we have left I am sure there will be many lasts…I just hope I can make it….Please share your experiences and thoughts…..Preacherman
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Pastor Search #2
As we continue the discussion of the search process we must discuss the issue of a unanimous decision. I know everyone wants everyone to be happy. If there is one dissenting vote that means one person is not happy. Let’s be honest, just because there is not a unanimous vote does not necessarily mean that the person is wrong for the church. I have seen cases where the dissenting voter later will come on board with the new pastor and be a great asset for him. So, the question is “how low do we go”. What is the magic number for an acceptable recommendation? I believe this is a two fold question. The answer will be different for the search committee than for the church vote. I believe the committee needs to be unanimous in their decision to recommend the candidate to the church. If there are members of the committee who are not in favor then every effort should be made to answer any questions they might have. This can be done with conference calls to the candidate or another visit. The entire process must be bathed in prayer. When the committee has a legitimate hesitation the entire committee must take note of this and address it. That is the reason we have more than one person on the search committee. We all see things differently. Perhaps the reason for the hesitation is nothing more than a personality issue. Let’s face it there are some folks who like us better than others. I personally do not have any hair on top of my head. For some of you, that means I am bald. For others I am just folically challenged. There might be a person on the committee who just does not want to look at a bald preacher every week. That is a personality issue. We may also have a person who has a keen gift of discernment and just is not comfortable with the candidate. When either of these issues are addressed and they remain, it is my recommendation that the committee move on. If that person is the right candidate his name will come back up later and can be looked at another time.
In terms of the church vote I believe it is next to impossible today to get a unanimous vote. It happens some but there are more times than not that it is not unanimous. Some churches have guidelines in their bylaws for this. If it is not covered in the constitution and bylaws then I believe there should be at least an 85% vote. Even with 85% that means you have 15% whom you will have to win over. This just makes the first few years a little more difficult. I believe the outcome of the vote will be dependent to a large degree in the presentation by the committee. If the committee does a great job the vote will be better. This should be a great time of celebration and the committee gives the church ample opportunity to get acquainted with the candidate. Just bringing a person in to preach and meet with the candidate and then having a vote is a disaster waiting to happen. If the committee is serious about the candidate then they should show that seriousness to the church family. There should be receptions and meals. There should be meetings with each of the people groups within the church. The prospective pastor should have a time with the students in the church. He should be able to meet with the senior adults and the median adults and all the staff and anyone who has anything to do with the everyday workings of the church. When all that is done everyone will have an opportunity to know him before they cast their vote. I believe this will eliminate some of the dissension. 100% would be great but the odds are that isn’t going to always happen. What the church must work toward is to get as high a percentage as possible.
One of the things we address at www.ministrytogether.com is the compatibility issue between the candidate and the church. Our 54 point matching system will filter out those candidates that will not be suited to the church. When the church receives a candidate from www.ministrytogether.com they can be assured that these issues have been addressed……Preacherman
In terms of the church vote I believe it is next to impossible today to get a unanimous vote. It happens some but there are more times than not that it is not unanimous. Some churches have guidelines in their bylaws for this. If it is not covered in the constitution and bylaws then I believe there should be at least an 85% vote. Even with 85% that means you have 15% whom you will have to win over. This just makes the first few years a little more difficult. I believe the outcome of the vote will be dependent to a large degree in the presentation by the committee. If the committee does a great job the vote will be better. This should be a great time of celebration and the committee gives the church ample opportunity to get acquainted with the candidate. Just bringing a person in to preach and meet with the candidate and then having a vote is a disaster waiting to happen. If the committee is serious about the candidate then they should show that seriousness to the church family. There should be receptions and meals. There should be meetings with each of the people groups within the church. The prospective pastor should have a time with the students in the church. He should be able to meet with the senior adults and the median adults and all the staff and anyone who has anything to do with the everyday workings of the church. When all that is done everyone will have an opportunity to know him before they cast their vote. I believe this will eliminate some of the dissension. 100% would be great but the odds are that isn’t going to always happen. What the church must work toward is to get as high a percentage as possible.
One of the things we address at www.ministrytogether.com is the compatibility issue between the candidate and the church. Our 54 point matching system will filter out those candidates that will not be suited to the church. When the church receives a candidate from www.ministrytogether.com they can be assured that these issues have been addressed……Preacherman
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