HIRING THE WRONG PASTOR CASE STUDY

TELL ME MORE.

This situation is common. Here is a case that happened a few years back. Because of the sensitivity of it, we will refrain from identifying the church and pastor involved.

The church was about seven years out from some very turbulent waters. During that time they lost over 50% of their people. Now they were on to their next pastoral search. There was a split between the search committee members on what type of pastor they should hire. One group thought a good leader with an outward focus would be the perfect fit. The other group thought a pastor who would love people and preach well would be a better fit.

HERE IS WHAT THEY WERE FACING.

Trying to discern which direction to go proved to be really tough on the committee. The church needed to rebuild. They lost 450 people over the years with no end in sight. Yet, there were three wounds to be healed from a three year period that happened seven to ten years prior to this search. They were:

• The trauma of pastoral moral failure.
• The loss of two church properties through poor decision making.
• The tragic death of one of their high school students.

HERE IS WHAT THEY WANTED TO ACHIEVE.

One group wanted to look through the windshield to the future in order to create a new chapter while the other group wanted to look through the rear view mirror to heal from the past.

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENED.

They hired the guy who loved people and preached well. He had the gifts and demeanor of a terrific chaplain. He was not well-suited to be a visionary leader who could rebuild a church. To close the skill gap, the church invested in materials to grow the church. He read the materials and implemented a few of the ideas with limited success. It proved to be trouble to no fault of his own. DIYing a project like this usually leads to such trouble.

As a result, more people left the church during his time there. Since their turbulence, 540 left the church. After six years of trying to rebuild, he resigned. Defeated and emotionally exhausted, he couldn’t do it any longer. No wonder.

HERE IS THE LESSON.

This church needed outside expertise. DIYing the initial search set them back eight years and about $360,000. A person from the outside would have brought clarity to their situation in ways people from the inside couldn’t. He could have also challenged them in ways internal people couldn’t.

When the pastor resigned, they wised up and hired an interim pastor with the skills to get the church back on the right track after 15 years in the wilderness. He did, and they finally hired the right permanent guy.

For years, this church was a penny wise and a pound foolish. They thought they could do it themselves and it nearly forced them to close. They lost at least eight years of progress and about $360,000. That mistake cost them far more than engaging with outside help eight years earlier.