One cynic declared, “All pastoral search committees lie.” I prefer to think a search committee puts make-up on their church to present it as attractively as possible to pastoral beaux. That’s the nature of courtship, but it causes some surprise when you see her on that first morning without her face on.
While none of us can learn everything about a church’s history or avoid every surprise in a new ministry, we can minimize the surprises by asking some key questions before we venture “I do” to a call. The relationship of pastor and church needs to be built on the solid reality of what both the church and pastor are getting, as well as on the call of God.
Questions for Early Courtship
One of the initial questions I’ve asked search committees is: “How familiar are you with my resume?” I’ve found I may need to familiarize them with specific items in my resume.
I learned this the hard way once, several stages into the interview process. They knew much about me by this point. My wife and I were convinced this was the church, for everything seemed so right. I flew in on a Monday to interview and see the church. Wednesday I was to fly home so I could return on Friday with my wife and preach Sunday for a call.
During the final interview, they returned to an item on my resume about my wife’s pursuit of an MBA degree. “This,” they informed me, “is unsuitable for a pastor’s wife. We’d want you to ask her to find her fulfillment in the church.”
Horror stricken, I asked why they had waited so long to bring up something so clear in my resume. “Oh,” they replied, “we hadn’t noticed it.” I made sure every other search committee did.
Second, I ask, “What in my resume sparked your interest in me?” This spotlights those particular aspects of my ministry they think can help them. Knowing these hot spots, I can balance this information with what I’m looking for in a call.
Another question helpful in discerning the nature of the potential marriage partner is “If your church were a woman, what would she be like?” This often draws blank stares, so I elaborate: “That is, how old would she be? What kind of car would she drive? What would she do for a living? Is she outgoing or reserved? What is she concerned about most in life?” A good follow-up is “What if your church were a man? Describe him to me.”
They typically struggle with this off-beat question, so I clarify my intent by explaining that every church has a personality reflected in the kind of people who attend and the atmosphere of the services. I want them to identify the corporate characteristics of their church.
I asked this of the staff of my present church, and later of the small-group leaders. Their answers coincided. I learned that my church is a 35-year-old, slightly balding accountant who has two children and drives a station wagon. He dresses conservatively and is cautious but open about change. He is cerebral, moved more by information than emotion. He is friendly to those with whom he wants to be friendly but can appear standoffish. He is a spectator in sports, not a participant. He has no hobbies because he is too busy. He feels frustration and guilt over what he fails to accomplish.
This picture gave me a great deal to work with in contemplating my potential ministry among these people: Is my personality compatible with that kind of person? Can I live with the kind of leadership style necessary to guide such a person? Do I influence more by emotion or by information? Having been in my present church two years, I can affirm the accurate analysis I received from this question.
Also, those candidates who haven’t yet been burned might not understand the importance of asking, “How much debt is the church carrying, and what is the present state of the budget?” Many of the surprises come in the area of finances. The pressure of debt can make boards, treasurers, and ultimately pastors act rashly. Often an unspoken expectation says a new pastor will bring in new revenue in some mystical way. We’re wise to gain some idea of the nature of this pressure beforehand.
Questions about Previous Husbands
One of the most fruitful lines of inquiry I’ve found is to have the committee talk about their previous pastors. Many search committees react to the previous administration, thinking they want to swing the ministry in a new direction. If the former pastor was weak in the pulpit but strong in administration, the committee often looks for a powerful preacher whose administrative skills need not be so virile.
The importance of asking questions about the previous minister increases in proportion to the problems the church had with him. Therefore, I ask the committee and others from the church, “Would you describe for me the strengths and weaknesses of the previous pastor and his ministry?”
It’s not uncommon to have to sort through some extreme answers on both ends of the scale. But if most answers fall far toward the positive or the negative, it sends up a red flag worth investigating. Either situation presents major difficulties for an incoming minister.
Negative responses invite investigation. I’m not interested in digging up dirt; I’m doing marriage counseling to find out why the couple had such a hard time getting along. Since I’m thinking about marrying the same spouse, I want to know if she is bringing unresolved problems into our relationship.
In candidating for my first pastorate, I learned the previous pastor had been fired. The board had told him after a morning service that they didn’t want him back in the church, period. I discovered the previous pastor’s style had been authoritarian and abrasive. The infamous Sunday he’d been fired, he’d preached on how that church was a disgrace to the community.
Knowing I had a different style of leadership, I didn’t anticipate the same problems. Ten fruitful years in that ministry justified my conclusions.
In contrast, a friend was called to a beautiful church with some wonderful people but perennial problems. An element chewed up every pastor they called. My friend failed to ask about attitudes toward the previous administrations, and I watched that church tear up him and his family, just as it had the others.
I also see a caution flag when I hear overwhelmingly positive comments about a previous minister. If a church remains enamored with the previous husband, ministry is difficult to impossible. Working in someone’s large shadow invites continual negative comparisons and congregational dissatisfaction.
One pastor, who followed a man who’d retired after forty years of prominent ministry at the church, told me during his first stormy year there, “You know, I feel I’m the sacrificial lamb for this church. They need me in order to get over Pastor ____.” He left in his second year.
Though such a church may appear to offer a solid, stable marriage, it may need time without a pastor-a time to grieve its loss-to prepare it to open its arms to a new spouse without making unhealthy comparisons.
Questions for Previous Husbands
When I’m getting serious about a new church, one of my first requests is how I can reach the previous pastor, or, as with one church that had gone through several pastors in rapid succession, two or three of the previous pastors. I should never be so naive as to think my experience will be different.
I’ve gained a wealth of information by questioning these former husbands who have given a portion of their lives to that spouse. Whether positive or negative, their perspective on the ministry matches no other.
I ask, “What kind of problems did you encounter? What did you seek to do and why? Why did you leave? What kind of pastor do you feel the church needs now, and why?” I conclude with my most important question: “If I were to take this church, what three pieces of advice would you offer?”
When I asked the former pastor of my present church this last question, he said, “First, don’t promise anything silly, such as visiting everyone the first year.” He knew the time it takes to get around Toronto. Visiting the congregation would have left me with little time for anything else. “One hospital call can take all afternoon,” he told me, helping me budget my time more effectively from the beginning.
“Second,” he said, “don’t be afraid to trust your board members. I probably should have entrusted to them more of the ministry than I did.” He’d hit one of the few criticisms I’d heard about his ministry, something I could learn from.
“Third, don’t even rearrange the flowers on the platform the first year. As an American, you may not know that Canadians are suspicious of rapid change. Let them get to know you and trust you first, and then they’ll be willing to listen and take direction from you. There is tremendous potential, but you can destroy it by moving too fast.”
His perspective on the ministry was invaluable, and I followed it. He has since become a good friend. It’s healthy for the congregation to see that I respect and care about the man who previously embraced them.
Questions for Church References
Most efficient search committees check a candidate’s references, realizing a sharp resume and personal charm may cover flaws known only after long association. The candidate expects this. But a candidate who wants to minimize surprises also asks the church for references concerning its ministry.
In the final stages of courtship, a pastor can ask for a list of addresses and phone numbers of several people knowledgeable about the church. These references can be contacted to obtain basic information about the church, its history, its reputation, and what they feel about the church and why. And why not pose the question I ask the former pastor: “What three pieces of advice would you give me if I were to become the pastor of this church?”
This is one of those “if I had it to do over again” lessons for me. I didn’t seek such information from churches I’ve pastored, but it would have helped immeasurably to call the following:
1. A neighbor near the church who does not attend, whether a Christian or not. The aim here is to find out the church’s reputation in the community. This information can help pastors know what they may be up against. It also makes a positive contact in the neighborhood. Most neighbors would be glad that a new pastor cares what they think.
The family that lived next to my first church had received little attention from the church, though they’d lived there eight years. “Your people keep pretty much to themselves,” the man told me one day, confirming my frustration over some family cliques within the church. Even as the pastor, I had had trouble breaking into the family circles. The neighbor felt that, too.
The family across the street could have told a story. They had attended the church for years but had left over trouble with the first pastor, which would have been helpful information for me.
2. A nearby minister within the same denomination. Other pastors are often aware of the problems in sister churches, either through picking up stray sheep or from fellowship with the former minister. In addition, such contact gives the candidate a feel for the church’s reputation within the local district of the denomination.
My eyes were opened to a major problem in my first ministry by talking to the pastor of a sister church. I was amazed to find out how much he knew about our church. He clued me in on several families with problems.
Garrison Keillor, in his Lake Wobegon monologues, describes how members of one congregation often will go to the minister of another congregation for a “second opinion.” This neighboring pastor undoubtedly was the second opinion for some of my members struggling to digest the counsel of previous pastors.
In addition, he said, “Ken, do you know your church’s sport teams have a terrible reputation?” No, I didn’t. I hadn’t actually centered on church sports in the candidating process. But I’ve since learned that teams reflect the spiritual maturity of the men and women in the church. That unpleasant surprise could have been anticipated had I phoned this pastor while I was candidating.
3. Two individuals who have left the church recently, one happy with the ministry and one unhappy. People not presently in the church can speak from a different perspective.
For my first hospital call in ministry, I visited an irascible woman in the hospital for gallbladder surgery. She hadn’t attended the church for two years, due to a falling out with the previous pastor, but her relatives alerted me to her need.
She gave me an earful on subjects the search committee never broached. Some of what she said certainly was jaundiced (“Every pastor they’ve had was weird”), but other stories alerted me to areas of corporate sensitivity, which, I later would discover, were on target.
While candidating for my present ministry, I had the opportunity to talk to people who had left the church to plant a daughter church. They told me their views of the mother congregation, both positive and negative-its helpfulness, its vision (or lack of it), its ministry orientation. That valuable information helped me see I had something to contribute to that church, even though it was different from my first church.
A Conference with God
I have to realize that people to whom I talk may have axes to grind. No one piece of information ought to scare me away without careful cross-checking. And no church is perfect, just as no candidate is. But all this research helps me define the task before me, outline its boundaries in comparison to my abilities, and eliminate unpleasant surprises.
I need most of all to bring this information before God and talk it over with him. I’ll not anticipate everything, but I know the One who holds all knowledge, and he has some opinions about my candidacy.
Copyright © 1990 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
