{"id":23774,"date":"2022-11-11T20:25:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-12T01:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/?p=23774"},"modified":"2022-11-11T20:25:54","modified_gmt":"2022-11-12T01:25:54","slug":"pastors-what-not-to-do-regarding-search-committees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/pastors-what-not-to-do-regarding-search-committees\/","title":{"rendered":"Pastors: What not to do regarding search committees"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve written on this website regarding pastor search committees and how they should be approached by alert pastors.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s time to say a word on what\u00a0not\u00a0<\/strong>to do regarding these church leaders determined to find a new leader for their congregation no matter how many bruised and bleeding ministers they have to leave in their wake.<\/p>\n

Just to be safe, you may wish to go ahead and plant your tongue firmly in your cheek.\u00a0 While the subject is serious, my treatment of it will be only partially so.<\/p>\n

Okay. Pastor, you\u2019ve been invited to meet with the search committee from the First Church of Butterfly City, and you\u2019re plenty excited.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been at your present church a number of years now and have about run out of ideas, patience, and life-savings.\u00a0 A change would\u00a0not only be\u00a0good, it might save your life, your ministry, your marriage or all three.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, your wife might start believing in God once more if you told her\u00a0He was transferring you\u00a0to a new church.<\/p>\n

Now, pastor, simmer down.\u00a0 Do not let yourself become too excited\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, pastor,\u00a0you must\u00a0not assume anything.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013Do not assume the Butterfly\u00a0committee has\u00a0done\u00a0its background checks.\u00a0 It\u2019s completely possible they may begin tonight\u2019s meeting with, \u201cAnd who are you again? And where are you serving?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Assume they know very little about you.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2013Do not assume that you are the only candidate the\u00a0Butterflyians are\u00a0interviewing.\u00a0 Committees have been known to\u00a0invite a series of preachers for interviews, after which they will decide which ones are worth the trouble of traveling to hear them preach.\u00a0\u00a0Assume\u2013until they say otherwise\u2013you are one of several they are looking at.<\/p>\n

\u2013Do not assume you are their number one choice and start dreaming of moving to that wonderful church in Butterfly City. This is no time to be calling the chamber of commerce for information on the nearest schools.\u00a0 This is not yet the time to start doing background checks on the church.\u00a0 In fact, you should assume this is just for your encouragement and their education until the Lord (and events) say otherwise.<\/p>\n

\u2013Do not assume they owe you anything or you\u00a0may be disappointed.\u00a0 In the minds of most PSC committee members, they are walking through a garden in search of the prize-winning rose.\u00a0 The idea that they owe you a call-back is foreign to most.\u00a0Assume you will not hear from them again.\u00a0The surest way to disappointment is to\u00a0wait by the phone for a call that in all likelihood will never come.<\/p>\n

\u2013Do not assume they know what they are doing or are well organized. If they do or are, be pleasantly surprised.<\/p>\n

You may assume each committee you meet with will be different from all the others.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, here are some no-no’s…<\/em><\/p>\n

–Do not go into the meeting when you are angry at your wife, at the deacons, or at the Lord.\u00a0 If you are, pull aside for a half hour and spend the time on your knees.<\/p>\n

–Do not go into the committee meeting with a long list of your questions. This is their meeting.\u00a0 If things go well, at a subsequent meeting you will be able to ask yours. If toward the end of the meeting they should ask, \u201cAnd pastor, do you have any questions for us,\u201d the\u00a0perfect answer is, \u201cNot at the present.\u00a0 If the Lord should lead us further, I\u2019m sure some will occur to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

–Do not try to impress them.\u00a0 Be yourself. If you have a doctorate, try not to mention it. They\u2019ll find it out in good time, if they don\u2019t already know.\u00a0 If you have won awards, do everyone who knows you a favor and forget them.\u00a0 Be the humble man of God the Lord is fashioning.\u00a0 Do not promote yourself.\u00a0 Let others do that.<\/p>\n

–Do not try to anticipate the kind of pastor they are searching for and fill that role. Again, be yourself.\u00a0 As Dr Seuss said, \u201cThere is no one alive who is Youer than You.\u201d So be you.<\/p>\n

–Do not try to be cute or clever or funny. Even if your natural self is cute or clever or funny, try to rein it in. The way to do that is to spend time in prayer in which you give yourself anew to the Father for His purposes, whatever they are.<\/p>\n

–Do not forget that the Holy Spirit who called you into this work is in charge of where you go next, how long you stay there, and what you accomplish.<\/p>\n

Trust Him.\u00a0 And not man.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve written on this website regarding pastor search committees and how they should be approached by alert pastors.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s time to say a word on what\u00a0not\u00a0to do regarding these church leaders determined to find a new leader for their … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastor-search","category-pastors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23774"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23795,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23774\/revisions\/23795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joemckeever.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}