Finding a pastor involves letting the Association and Seminaries know you are looking. They then send you resumes which meet whatever requirements you have listed...age/education/speciliaty/etc....we then go through these as a group and individually, meet and discuss pros and cons, cull some, save some, then as we narrow the list down we begin to contact them to be sure they are not dealing with another church, their resume is current and they are interested..ie: not in school full time.
We now have 3 meetings tentatively set up between now and January with 3 different pastors seeking a new church field. We will meet with them at a resturant and interview them and their wives. Then we go from there. This is my first time on a search committee so I am learning as I go.
Some pastors are in churches but seeking a new church for various reasons--some for the location, some feel they have done all they can do where they are, some are having difficulties with the people in the congregation, others simply want more money--sad but very true. Some church members are hard to deal with. I know, we have some of them at our church. You can never satisfy them.
Some of the specialties I have noticed have been with an emphasis on youth ministry or counseling or one resume I remember stated that the pastor's main focus was on teaching the flock, some list soul winning as their focus.
I will try to remember to share what we do as we do it.
One thing so far that has been really intriguing to me because it allows me to observe the main character in our search committee...she is an older woman, been involved in church all her life, has run the nursery for years, if you want to know something just ask her.
Being without a pastor, it's the deacon's job to find a pastor to fill the pulpit on Sunday and Wednesday night. One Wednesday nights we've had this 30 year old pastor from a church south of town, with a wife and 2 young daughters leading us. He is no longer at the church he pastored, choosing to leave in the midst of controversy. He is quite impressive with the way he teaches the Bible and expresses himself as well as his insight into human nature. He has a wonderful delivery and and a great sense of humor.
We had his resume, but shechose to not include it in the ones we copied for each of us to have one. We asked about it and begrudgingly she had copies made of his resume. We were setting up a time we could meet with him, much against her preferences obviously and the main reason she didn't want to even consider was because a couple members whom she dislikes really liked him. Now she didn't say that--but she kept bringing up their comments. She also was concerned about why he left his previous church and all we can find out is that some of the little old ladies at the church thought his wife was too fat and didn't fit their ideal for a pastor's wife.
I don't know.
However, the problem was solved when he and his wife decided they were not interested in serving in our county or even in a county nearby due to the close proximity of all our churches. They prefer to move out of state if possible.
Church politics are funny.
She even led a mutual friend of ours to believe that I didn't want this pastor considered even though I had stated several times how much I enjoyed his teaching. She's a handful!
It is my experience that most any time you put more than 2 people on a committee, there will be tension at some point in time. We are all human, we none think alike and we all want something different.
It isn't an easy job because, right or wrong, the congregation blames the search committee if something goes wrong. There are 2 on this committee that served on the last search committee. One, a younger man thought the sun rose and set in the pastor while Lyndora didn't after she got to know him. She says there was a lot that wasn't evident when they interviewed Bro. Stacy. I say the church was desperate and voted on him just to say they had a pastor.
At this point in our church life I feel we need teachers and youth oriented leaders in our church. When I say youth I am not just thinking of 13-18 either, I am thinking of the younger marrieds, ages 20-30 also. We need some serious leadership in that area in our church as older members are stepping down and there are no young ones willing to step up.
The pastor's wife does play a huge part in how the church relates to the pastor. The last one we had, his wife ruled the roost and she had mental problems. The one before him had a wife who was reclusive, seldom spoke, wouldn't teach, never really participated in anything and was a horrid housekeeper..OMG. I took something to the parsonage one evening and there was no place to put a matchstick on the counter it was so filled with stuff.
We don't care if the pastor's wife is musically inclined or where her speciality lies as much as we want her personality to be friendly. It helps if she teaches, plays an instrument or enjoys working with the youth, but we don't not call a pastor based on his wife.
Who would play Her? I don't watch enough movies to answer that, Pam.
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Character is what we are, not what others think we are.
