Pastoral Search Process In Place

Posted by Brandon on June 14, 2010 under Bethel News |

Last night in Bethel’s quarterly family meeting, an official process was adopted by the church and assigned to the Deacons, who were elected to serve as the Pastor Search Committee. All of the decisions made were unanimous. Bethel has begun the process of seeking God’s leader on firm footing! What follows is the process that was adopted…

Electing a Pulpit Fill Committee

The pulpit fill committee will be responsible for the filling of the pulpit during worship services. This committee may collect names of potential speakers and schedule them. They are authorized to compensate supply preachers at $100 per service and to pay any travel expenses incurred. This committee may also decide to recommend a man as Interim Pastor, which would be voted on by the congregation with one week’s notice.

It should be noted that the role of an Interim Pastor is not merely to preach, but to minister to the congregation, assume the roll of the pulpit fill committee in filling the puplit during services, and assisting the Pastor Search Committee in an advisory role.

How Candidates Are Processed

1. The Search Committee may solicit recommendations of potential Pastors from within and outside of the congregation, and they may also solicit resumes via the church website, BMAA papers, and other news outlets.

2. Resumes may be evaluated and acted upon immediately. Sometimes quality candidates may have only a short period of availability. Resumes will be screened by the committee in absolute confidence.

3. If the Search Committee feels led together to contact a particular candidate, they should appoint one member of the committee to contact that candidate to arrange a meeting. If they are already highly and unanimously confident in the candidate, he may be invited for a weekend that would include a committee interview, informal meetings (not interviews) with the staff, and preaching to the congregation during a worship service.

4. At no point should the staff officially interview the man who may be their next Pastor, and at no point should the entire congregation interview a Pastor. All screening is the responsibility of the pulpit committee.

5. Before a candidate may be presented to the congregation for a vote, the following criteria must be met:
i. A resume must be in the possession of the committee.
ii. Verification of the candidate’s ordination or lack thereof must be satisfied.
iii. The committee must feel unanimously that this candidate could very well be the next Pastor God has in mind for the church.
iv. References should be contacted.
v. A salary package should be discussed by the Pulpit Committee (discussed later) and agreed upon with the candidate.

6. When all of this screening process has been completed and the Search Committee is in full agreement to present the candidate to the church, the candidate should be invited to preach “in view of a call.” One week before the candidate arrives for his appointment, the congregation should receive a written report (one page or so) from the pulpit committee about their findings, a copy of the candidate’s resume, and the detailed salary package and agreement.

7. Unless the church decides otherwise, they will vote on a candidate the very Sunday evening he preaches. At this point, the candidate most likely feels it is God’s will to come, and the Search Committee feels it is God’s man for the position. An 80% “yes” vote is required to call a candidate as Pastor.

*** NO CANDIDATE SHOULD EVER BE INVITED TO PREACH IN VIEW OF A CALL WHOM THE SEARCH COMMITTEE CANNOT WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMEND AS PASTOR.

*** THE COMMITTEE WILL NEVER PRESENT MORE THAN ONE CANDIDATE AT A TIME AS THE POTENTIAL NEXT PASTOR TO BE HEARD IN VIEW OF A CALL.

More updates will follow as the Search Committee reports regularly with the congregation. Please pray for the Deacons as they carry out this enormous task under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.