search committee questions...

Jensen,

Since you are in the SBC and I am a SBC pastor for 20+ years I will share my experience. The most usual way for a search committee to receive a pastor's resume is either to be given by someone else (Dir of Missions) or to request it from the pastor personally. It does not come across well, IMO, for a pastor to send an unsolicited resume. I have pastored 3 churches and had committees come to me each time. I have been in the present church for 12 years and have been request resumes be sent to several churches over the years. Some I sent, some I did not. In each case that I sent the resume, I stop the process feeling that the Lord was not leading.

As to what committees are looking for. All that you mentioned. Reputation and longevity are also things they look at. Some are very organized and exact. Others have no idea what they want or are looking for. It can be a strange experience.

My advice is to stay where the Lord has put you until it is clear He wants you to leave. I believe when that time comes He will prepare a place for you. You don't have to shop yourself around. Get the help of a trusted friend, ie. an older pastor or maybe your DOM.

Hope this helps some. God bless you as you serve.

Bro Tony

 

Tony,

You've got mail.

In Christ,
Trotter

 

in the SBC it is common for a Church to get resumes from associational directors or from the state convention offices.

Also some Churches will seek resumes from popular colleges and seminaries. I know that new orleans theological baptist seminary keeps resumes on file for their alumni and offers them freely to any committee that asks.

some even go as far as posting an opening of position on the internet. I am against this though because this tends to flood the mailbox with people not even called (by their own admittance) to preach.

 

BTW anyone want my resume lol

 

God raised up men to pastor churches from within the very congregations Paul and Barnabas planted. The idea of getting a person to pastor a church from a special 'pastor school' is foreign to the New Testament.

Something to keep in mind-- there are actually lists of Biblical qualifications for being an overseer of the church. The temptation is to evaluate someone on how well he can speak, where he went to school, and possibly on minute points of doctrine. Doctrine is important, but Paul also emphasizes a lot of life-style issues. Why not interview the man's wife and see if he ever slaps her around or treat her harshly. Ask her if her husband rules his house well, has taught his children the word of God, and is a good rolemodel for other men. Her answers, or hesitation before answering can speak volumes. Find out how well his children know the word of God and ask them questions to see how well they live up to it. How does/did the man teach his children and deal with them when they misbehave? If he can't rule his own house, he isn't going to rule well in the household of faith. If he can be trusted with little, he can be trusted with much. So if he does/did a good job as a father towards his children, you can expect these things to carry over in the church.

 

Trotter,

Check your email.

Bro Tony

 

IN addition to some of the things already listed, I like to know about his community involvement. Is he involved in Rotary etc. In my experience a man that is involved in the community is likely to be a people person, and also looks for ministy opportunites outside of his "job"

 

Actually, all are accepted ways of sharing a resume. The stigma about a pastor directly sending a church his resume is going away, so long as the pastor isn't haughty about it. I'd utilize the DOM and state folks if they work with you. Many don't do it anymore and leave it up to the pastor to send it to the churches directly in my experience. I can only think of a few associations I know of now where the DOM keeps resumes. All many of them do anymore is just send the pastor a list of churches needing a pastor and an address or fax number to send a resume.

 

I was the chairman of a pastor search committee for a church of about 100 people. I received 122 resumes by just putting word out through the SBC and writing letters to semiaries.
BTW - our former pastor went to Russia as a missionary, something he told the church in advance he would do when the Lord called him to do it.
The resumes went from very qualifies (and called) to "I want to be a preacher."

 

Jensen there is another way... You can find a preacher in or around the area and ask them about any Churches looking or searching for a new pastor. One thing preachers know is of the needs and problems of other Churches lol.

 

You are so right about that! Many DOMs have their eyes so focused on their next mission trip or church fellowship that they just can't be bothered by such mundane things like a man seeking to fill an empty pulpit...

In Christ,
Trotter

 

Our church is looking for a pastor at this very moment and have not had many resumes. I really don't know how they have advertised but I feel that someone needs to do more to get our church out there so more Ministers will hear about our search.
I need some advise as to what can be done online to help our search committee.
We are a Southern Baptist Church in Jackson, TN. We usually have around 200-250 in Sunday School. I would classify us a larger country church as we are just on the outskirts of town. We have a fairly large group of children and youth and are also looking for Children and Youth Ministers.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

Delly,

An address from the church along with the distinctive of the church. Maybe the constitution and the requirements of the pastor they are seeking might be of help. There are some good pastors out there who are seeking God's place for them. One would need to know where to send the resumes and what the commitee/church is looking for in a pastor.

Bro Tony