FINDING A PASTOR CAN BE TOUGH AND TAKES TIME
Here Are Four Key Questions to Ask If You Are Searching For a Pastor
- How deep is your candidate pool with highly qualified candidates by doing what you are doing?
- By not having the right pastor in place, what impact is it having on the staff and people of the church?
- Are you willing to settle for possibly missing out on candidates because of the way you are currently doing it?
- Do you have a process to onboard your new pastor so that he, the Elders, and the congregation are just not excited, but aligned?
Here are Five Challenges of Calling the Right Pastor
LENGTH OF SEARCH
1. The average pastoral search takes about nine months — a long and often uncertain process.
LIMITATIONS OF PASTORS AND SEARCH COMMITTEES
2. Many pastors, though deeply trained in theology, haven’t developed or refined many of 70 practical skills needed to shepherd and lead a church. When search committees do not properly assess those skills, the pastor will usually leave within five years due to a “bad fit.”
3. With small networks, search committees often rely heavily on advertising and wait for active candidates to respond. This passive approach can prolong the search and limit the pool of qualified leaders.
THE HIGH STAKES NATURE OF THE HIRE
4. Hiring a pastor is not just another staffing decision — it’s the most critical hire a church will make. The pastor will shepherd the congregation into its next chapter. Getting it right means carefully assessing every dimension of the candidate: character, knowledge, skill, gift-mix, personality, passion, and family. Each factor plays a vital role in ensuring the right fit for both the pastor and the church’s future.
THERE IS A PASTOR SHORTAGE
5. This shortage is real and not going away anytime soon. See the pipeline below. It took years to reach this point, and it will take years to work our way out of it. Some of the smaller churches we work with receive only one or two applicants a month—sometimes none for several months. The larger churches we speak with have also seen a slowdown. Our suggestion is to get your house in order so you are not viewed as a “project.” The most effective pastors are not interested in simply filling a slot with one.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO SEARCH
THE TRADITIONAL WAY
Posting a job description, and then hoping and wishing the right candidate applies is tricky.
Hope is not a strategy.
Here’s why: Pastors who apply to your listing are actively looking. They are either between calls or they have one foot out the door. They represent about 20% of pastoral candidates.
What about the other 80%? Gainfully employed and “not looking”, these pastors would listen and be willing to move if the situation was right.
How will you reach them?
You need to have the relationships, networks, and tools to do so.
Do you?
THE STRATEGIC WAY
Creating a Candidate Profile will produce clarity so you know who you are looking and praying for.
Targeting is the strategy.
Here’s why: Once you have identified the type of pastor for the next season, you can pursue the other 80% of candidates. Odds are in your favor that you will locate a match in less time than the traditional way as long as you have access to them.
And that is the problem.
Most search committees are limited to small networks and limited tools.
They can’t find them, so they do things the traditional way.
YOUR OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT THE RIGHT PASTOR. DON’T CONVINCE HIM.
FINDING THE RIGHT FIT
There are eight areas of compatibility to be considered when identifying and assessing pastoral candidates. Great hires occur when the compatiblity is the highest across all eight.
INTRODUCING YOUR PARTNERS FOR YOUR SEARCH
Our staff has a combined 60+ years of pastoral experience. We have witnessed well-run and poorly-run searches by committees and other search firms. Rev. David Zook, our lead for pastoral search, served as an executive-level recruiter in corporate search prior to being called into ministry and pursuing his Master’s of Divinity. He was the top recruiter in his firm of 31 people.
He took the lessons from corporate search and combined them with what he has learned during his 20+ years of being an ordained pastor to create a precisely-targeted search process.
PASTORS WHO MIGHT BE LOOKING
If you are a pastor who:
- is between calls
- has one foot out the door
- would like to be kept in the loop
then let’s get to know one another. We might be able to help. Our goal is to align you with your next call to give you the best chance to have a faithful and fruitful ministry. Click below to get started.
CHURCHES LOOKING FOR A PASTOR
If you would like to learn more about how we could possibly help your committee’s work, let’s talk.
When we do, we just need to discover if we can help you fulfill the work before you. You may have all the bases covered and not need any help. However, if we discover some gaps in the way you are currently doing it, there are several ways we possibly could help. But only if it makes sense.
Here is the next step: schedule a time to talk to David.
Click below for his calendar. Pick a time that works for you.