Searching for a pastor can be difficult

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The typical time to fill a lead role is nine months.

Most of the time, it’s like playing Tetris. You’re trying to fit unique shapes into equally unique spaces. If one thing is off, it’s all off.

After a while, committees sometimes will get impatient and hire a candidate who isn’t a great fit, but they will try to figure out how to make it work. Remember you’re hiring THE key man for your church. The church usually rises or falls on this man’s actions and skills. That is why you have to get it right.

Hiring the wrong guy could set your ministry back years and cost you $100,000’s in the process. Read about what happens  When A Church Hires The Wrong Guy here.

So, what are the keys to finding the right fit?

THE FIVE KEYS TO FINDING YOUR NEXT PASTOR

1. PRAY

God hears us. He delights in hearing from us. He is attentive when we speak and merciful when he delivers. Praying brings glory and honor to him. It brings us into alignment with his will. It cultivates wisdom and discernment to rightly make decisions.

So, what is prayer? A prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #98

One of the disciplines of a healthy church is Preemptive Prayer, a prayer that is offered as a first resort. It’s what you do before you “do” anything. It’s asking, listening, and contemplating. It’s the key that turns the ministry engine.

PRINCIPLE: Prayer preempts every endeavor of the church. It lays the spiritual foundation that anticipates God’s working His will through all the ministries of the church.

Establishing a prayer team who will join your search team in prayer is a non-negotiable.

So, what do you pray?

  • For God to work in the heart of your future pastor to awaken him to your call.
  • For your church to do the work so your future pastor will join you in what God is doing through you.
  • For God to help you discern the right character, knowledge, skills, gift mix, passions, and personality in your next pastor for this place and time in the life of your church.

2. IDENTIFY

Create a candidate profile (here’s a sample) based of the following six criteria while using the passages in 1 Timothy and Titus as the foundation.

  • Character
  • Knowledge
  • Skill
  • Gift Mix
  • Passion
  • Personality

As you work through the criteria, think in terms of what you want to supplement or emphasize out of 1 Timothy and Titus. Keep in mind that you are defining the type of pastor you need in this season of your church life.

For example, if your church is in the season of rebuilding, you will need a pastor who is steadfast and has acquired the knowledge and developed to the skill to rebuild. His gift mix might include vision, leading, and shepherding while loving challenges and getting stuff done.

The profile of the right type of candidate will emerge after doing the hard work.

PRINCIPLE: Clarity is the goal. The more time you spend identifying who you are looking for, the easier it will be to assess candidates.

3. LOCATE

Post your call on your website, denomination sites, seminaries, and job boards. Know that you will be limited to candidates who are actively looking. They represent about 20% of the candidate pool. They are either in between calls or have one foot out the door.

Network like crazy. This is the way most people find jobs regardless of industry. The larger the network, the greater the chance you will find someone. Networks take time to build and are limited to the time your search committee has to develop it.

This is where most searches bog down.

PRINCIPLE: The more people know about your opening, the greater the chance it will be filled.

4. ASSESS

Use the Candidate Profile as your compass. You will never find a candidate who will check all the boxes, so prioritize the elements of the profile. When interviewing, use the STAR process for your questions.

Say you were interested in learning more about the discipleship materials he developed.

  • What was the situation that caused him to develop them?
  • What was the task and what was his part?
  • What actions did he take to complete the project? What were some of the road blocks and how did he solve them?
  • What was the result of his work?

Your goal is to assess whether he can do what you need him to do. If he comes up short in an area or two, it may not be a deal breaker. He just may need to be trained.

If that is the case, assess his humility and willingness to learn. If that is there, then the odds are in your favor that he will receive the necessary training to get him up to speed.

PRINCIPLE: Dial in and get specific with questions that get beneath the surface to your most pressing issues.

5. SECURE

Throughout the process you should ask the candidate the right questions about his thoughts and feelings about your call. This includes compensation. This will help head off any surprises at the end.

PRINCIPLE: A search properly conducted will lead to securing the candidate with no suprises.

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