After 6 decades of ministry, I consider myself a veteran of pastor search committees.\u00a0 In many cases, while I did not relocate to their church, I would have loved to have those committee members in my present church.\u00a0 At in other cases, I’m glad the Lord did not choose to unite me with those folks and I have prayed for whoever did become their minister.<\/p>\n
My friend Josh, who grew up in my last pastorate, is presently a medical student, following in his father’s footsteps. Josh is also a veteran of several game shows and quiz programs. At the age of 11, he was a contestant on Jeopardy<\/em>.\u00a0 Later, as a student at the University of Southern California, he hosted his own quiz program on the campus station.\u00a0 He has been a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?<\/em> as well as the Wheel<\/em> and a number of other shows.<\/p>\n Josh and I were discussing the question that tripped him up on Millionaire.\u00a0 <\/em>It went something like this: \u201cAt 7\u20197\u2033, So-and-so is the tallest player in the NBA.\u00a0 But he is slightly shorter than what portion of the Statue of Liberty?\u201d\u00a0 The choices were her right arm, her eye, the tablet she is holding, and her finger.\u00a0\u00a0Using his final lifeline, Josh asked a buddy to help him, and they missed it.<\/p>\n Josh said veteran contestants (like himself) have a name for that kind of question, but perhaps he shouldn\u2019t\u00a0tell his pastor.\u00a0 I said, \u201cCome on.\u00a0Give.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe call that a go to hell<\/em> question.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA go to hell<\/em> question,\u201d he explained, \u201crelies on such fine detail that no reasonable person should be expected to know it.\u201d<\/p>\n The idea, it seems, is to get those contestants out of the game.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And yes, pastor search committees have been known to pose GTH questions to their candidates.<\/p>\n Questions no one can answer\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Candidates for pastor will sometimes encounter questions designed to cull you from the herd, to stop this business in its tracks, to send the contestant home.<\/p>\n I asked a group of ministers to share the weirdest questions they had ever received from Pastor Search Committees.\u00a0 Here is their response–<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhy do you have no children?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cIf someone dies, does the funeral time depend on your class schedule at seminary?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cIf someone gives you tickets to a Saints game, do you expect us to pay your supply preacher?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cYou aren\u2019t gay, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cHow much does your wife weigh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cCan you drive a tractor?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhat do you believe about election?\u201d (The young man answered, \u201cI believe everyone should have the right to vote.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDo you believe in open communion?\u201d (He answered, \u201cSure. We could\u00a0go outside in the fresh air.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cAlabama or Auburn?\u201d\u00a0 (The candidate answered, \u201cLSU.\u201d Apparently, it was acceptable.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cBoxers or briefs?\u201d\u00a0 (That was asked in front of the choir,\u00a0evidently\u00a0for laughs. Whether it\u00a0got\u00a0one\u00a0or not is beside the point.\u00a0 Crude is crude, and the question\u00a0betrays a great disrespect.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cAre you gonna do what we want you to do?\u201d\u00a0 (The pastor did not say how he answered, but I\u00a0could hope\u00a0he said something like\u00a0\u201cIs this a joke?\u201d or maybe \u201cFriend, you do not want a pastor who would take orders from the membership!\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhat do you think about women serving in ministry?\u201d (The pastor wisely answered, \u201cMost of our churches would have closed had it not been for faithful women serving.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDo you eat turnip greens?\u201d (He answered, \u201cWith corn bread.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDoes your wife play the piano?\u201d (I cannot tell you how many pastors have been asked that. After one pastor\u2019s wife replied \u201cno,\u201d the next question was whether she sang. When she said \u201cno\u201d to that, the questioner said, \u201cWell, don\u2019t you do anything?\u201d Another pastor’s wife said after she replied “no” to whether she played the piano, the questioner said, “Are you sure?”)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cIs your wife a big woman? She sounds like a big woman.\u201d\u00a0 (This was a phone conversation with the chairman of the search committee.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDoes your wife work?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cShould a church be deacon-led or pastor-led?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDo you suck heads?\u201d (This is a little inside joke about eating crawfish.\u00a0 However, crude is crude and there is no way to excuse it.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhich is more important\u2013evangelism or discipleship?\u201d (That\u2019s like: Which part of the plane is more necessary, the nose or the tail.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWho in the Bible are you most like?\u201d (When the candidate\u00a0answered, \u201cJesus, of course,\u201d the questioner registered his disapproval.\u00a0 He had identified himself with Barnabas and felt any pastor worth his salt would do the same.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cHow much will your wife\u2019s tithe be?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhat do you preach about the rapture?\u201d (The candidate\u00a0found out later the previous pastor had preached\u00a0on the rapture 7 months out of the year.)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cHow long are your sermons?\u00a0 We don\u2019t like long sermons.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cCan you minister to my son without taking up too much of his time?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cHave you ever done anything you wouldn\u2019t want anyone to find out about?\u201d\u00a0 (The pastor answered, \u201cYes. Haven\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0 He found out later the previous pastor had been involved in a scandal.)<\/p>\n One pastor\u2019s wife said they were met at the church door by a psychiatrist who introduced himself and said, \u201cThe committee has requested me to do a psychological evaluation on you before they meet with you.\u201d<\/p>\n You can\u2019t make this stuff up.<\/strong><\/p>\n A minister who had just met with a committee shared with me some of the questions he fielded:<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWill you continue doing things as our beloved former pastor did?\u201d\u00a0 (He said, \u201cProbably not.\u00a0 I\u2019m not him.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cWhat are your plans to grow this church?\u201d\u00a0 (He answered, \u201cI don\u2019t have any.\u00a0 I\u2019d have to get here and learn the church and see what the Lord has in mind.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u2013\u201cDo you visit?\u201d \u201cDo you preach on hell?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAre you willing to learn?\u201d \u201cDo you receive constructive criticism well?\u201d \u201cDoes your wife\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013And when they asked, \u201cHow will you vote in the upcoming election?\u201d he answered, \u201cNone of your business.\u201d (smiling, no doubt)<\/p>\n A few quick observations about these \u201cGTH\u201d questions\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2013Such questions have a background.\u00a0 Usually, the previous pastor did something unpopular for which the committee is trying to compensate.<\/p>\n \u2013Such questions tell volumes about the committee.\u00a0 If a member asks\u00a0something out-of-left-field and no one looks concerned, you may assume he\/she speaks for all.\u00a0 If, however, they look surprised and a little embarrassed, take that as a good sign.\u00a0 Most committees have one or two people who have no business being there.<\/p>\n \u2013There is no way to prepare to answer a question you weren\u2019t expecting.\u00a0 Stay prayed up and trust the Lord to lead you when this happens. And do not beat yourself up if you think of a better answer later. Walk by faith; don\u2019t look back.<\/p>\n \u2013How a pastor answers a bizarre question tells a lot about him.\u00a0 Often, he should simply say, \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m not sure I understand what you are asking\u201d in order to let the questioner talk further. He should never hesitate to say, \u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m not sure how I feel about that.\u201d\u00a0 At times, the best response to an off-the-wall question is a smile. And silence.<\/p>\n \u2013For my money, the weirdest question above is the one asking how much money the pastor\u2019s wife makes.\u00a0 Well, that and the one asking if his wife is a large woman.\u00a0 Both are jaw-droppers.\u00a0 To the first, I would say, \u201cI\u2019ll make a deal with you.\u00a0 Everyone in here tell how much your spouse makes and I\u2019ll tell you what my wife makes.\u00a0 How\u2019s that?\u201d\u00a0 (I can promise you, they will not go for that. And, most of them will see the question for what it is, sheer foolishness.)\u00a0 As to the other\u2013whether the wife is a large woman\u2013the best response is silence and then, \u201cWas there anything else you wanted to ask?\u201d<\/p>\n I have a suggestion for pastors who are thrown an obvious \u201cGTH\u201d question:\u00a0 Since you know this is the end and you are not going to survive this\u2013nor do you want to!\u2013I suggest you look around the room and say, \u201cDoes the rest of the committee agree with this question?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0If they do, I would answer it truthfully and plainly, \u201cwith the bark off,\u201d as they say.\u00a0 Tell them in plain language how you feel about the issue they have raised. Then, at the end, say, \u201cI think we\u2019re through here.\u201d And get up\u2013do not sit there waiting for them to make nice\u2013gather your materials, and walk out.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Pastors do a disservice to an off-the-track committee by not speaking bluntly when a plain-language answer could be the best thing that ever happened to them.<\/p>\n Tough love is so hard to administer sometime.\u00a0 But so Christ-like and so life-saving.\u00a0 It’s called “shaking the dust off” (Matthew 10:14).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After 6 decades of ministry, I consider myself a veteran of pastor search committees.\u00a0 In many cases, while I did not relocate to their church, I would have loved to have those committee members in my present church.\u00a0 At in … Continue reading