Considering Interviews

In the past few years I’ve had far too many interviews.  Sadly, I’m not alone.  One of the things that I heard on the radio some time ago has stuck with me.  The talk radio host (sports radio no less) was talking about the book From Good to Great.  He mentioned that there is the guy who is good at getting the job, and the guy who is great at the job.  Often they are not the same guy.  Some people are really good at interviewing, but not very good at doing the job.  Some are not so good at interviewing, but quite good at the job.  I can identify with that thought.

I’ve often thought that looking for a new pastoral position was a lot like dating.  Some guys are good at getting girls, but not so good at being a husband.  Many guys are not good at getting girls, but good at keeping them and are good husbands.  This much is clear from the movie Swingers.  Mikey was not so good at getting the girls.  But he was much better at relationships than his friend who only knew how to pick them up.

I’ve come to believe there are a number of guys who are good at getting pastoral positions.  They are witty, charming and creating the illusion of intimacy.  But they are not wired for the long haul, of building true intimacy and pastoring a church.  I fear that too many search committees are not good at telling the difference.  This would explain, in part, why so many pastors don’t stay long at their positions.

Churches can often act like insecure women, wanting the guy who will gush over them rather than making an honest, balanced assessment.  It is as if they expect every applicant to “feel called” to be their pastor.  That expectation sets men up for emotional devastation each time they are rejected.  It is hard enough to deal with the rejection, but to build such an emotional attachment is unhealthy in the long run.

When I write my book to assist search committees, I’m going to mention this as an important factor to finding a new pastor.  References from people whom they have pastored and with whom they are served are possibly more important than the interview.  They will let you know if the applicant can build meaningful relationships, the relationships necessary to being a good pastor in most churches.

I was the guy who wasn’t good at getting the girl.  CavWife will probably tell you that I’m much better at being a husband than I was wooing her.  I often feel the same way with churches.  To spend 9 years someplace you have to have made relationships for the long haul.  I wonder if some of the churches I’ve applied to have passed on guys good at the job to call a guy who is merely good at getting the job.

Am I wrong about this (big picture, not Cavman-specific)?  What have you observed in pastoral searches?  I’d like to know, and you might even end up in my book.

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Considering My Search

Year 2 of my search for a new pastoral call has begun (sigh).  I don’t think I have blogged on it much lately.  I’ve been a bit busy, and my thoughts would have been disjointed.

I hope to write 2 books flowing out of this experience.  One will be How to Survive a Pastoral Search, in which I will outline the basic process, some alternatives, and some of the common pitfalls they need to watch out for.  The second will be on How to Survive a Search for a New Call, in which I prepare pastors for what awaits them and it isn’t all good.

This Spring was very busy, and at times it looked like I was VERY close to obtaining that elusive call.  There were countless interviews and 2 site visits.  I thought that from those 2 there was a good chance one of them would end up in a call.  Nope (so much for the optimistic people).  It was a difficult time.  We were quite discouraged and disappointed.

I’m currently in a new round of interviews, which is good.  I had one last night, should have 2 more in the next few weeks and hopefully will have another shortly thereafter.  See, you can’t have too many of these since you never know how any of this stuff is going to pan out.  I’ve also been in contact with a few search committee chairmen, and look forward to additional interview opportunities.

It is my hope to have a new position lined up by the end of the year.  I had previously hoped to have something lined up by the end of the summer.  It has been a wild ride, one that stretches faith.  It hasn’t been easy, but we are hanging in there by the grace of God.

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Considering the Pastoral Search Process

A book I was reading this morning led to me to think some more of the process of searching for a new pastor, and the fact that it is a process.  If I get around to writing my book on the subject, I’m sure this will get in there.

Though the goal to find a pastor, churches should see the process as just as important as the outcome.  The process is about time, patience and love.

Some churches don’t give the search the proper time to work the process well.  They rush the process instead of seeing it as an important time to understand who they are, where they should probably be going, and how they should probably get there.  What often happens is they look for the guy who has the strengths the previous pastor lacked (if it didn’t end well), or a carbon copy of the previous pastor (if the pastor retired or left unexpectedly in a time of relative peace).  All this takes time, more than you can do in a 2-3 hour meeting once a week (if you’re lucky).  Committees need to invest larger chunks of time to work through these issues, and applicants.  I’d suggest Saturday afternoon or morning meetings- larger blocks of time to pray, think and plan.

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Considering Helping Search Committees

I’ve talked to plenty of Pastoral Search Committees and members.  They quickly weary of listening to sermons and poring over 50+ applications, resumes and data forms hoping to find the right guy.  Yes, God is in control- but that doesn’t mean He doesn’t give us over to our own foolishness at times (see Romans 1:21ff).

Short of having bishops or Presbytery moderators appointing pastors to churches, there has to be a better way.  Right?

Bing Davis founded the Auxilium Network to help out PCA and other Reformed churches search for pastors more effectively and efficiently.

How Does Auxilium Help a Church?

1.    You can substantially cut your search time, when appropriate, while at the same time accessing a wide variety of candidates.  This allows you to not lose ministry momentum, and brings the new pastor in a timely manner.

2.    Since we come to work on-site with each church and committee, you and AuxNet come to know and respect one another.  This allows for a comfortable working relationship in which you feel like you have a professional guiding you and remaining available to you during the entire process.

3.    We take on all of the technical and subjective parts of the search process on your behalf.  This allows your committee to act as representatives of your church, while AuxNet does all the day to-day work involved in completing the process.

4.    We provide you with complete reports on final candidates, so that the search committee has only to get to know each final candidate, visit them and/or invite them to the church for evaluation, and then make a recommendation and ask the congregation to vote.

What is the process?

1.    We work directly and on-site with each search committee, helping you formulate and follow a process to find the right candidate for the job. 

2.    We work directly with you in determining a candidate profile for the pastoral opening.

3.    Once the candidate profile has been completed, we will help you post your job opening in various places.  Potential candidates will then submit their profile materials directly to us.

4.    After an established posting period, we will begin to go through all submitted materials to assess which represent the right candidates for the job.  AuxNet Executive Director Bing Davis, himself a PCA Teaching Elder, will interview each candidate several times.

5.    Each potential candidate will go through a rigorous background check, including criminal history and credit check, all references will be called and standardized questions asked, others will be sought out who can attest to the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses, and each candidate will be given a Myers Briggs Type Inventory. At the end of the process, we will recommend the top 2 candidates for the job; the church can then pursue its prerogative of choosing its pastor.

 It can be tough to trust others, but right now most churches ask laypeople with limited time to spend enormous amounts of time, and little to no experience, on a very important task.  A good consultant knows what questions to ask both the committee and the applicant to discover a good fit.

About the only thing I might add to their process is Dr. Douglass’ Church Personality Diagnostic.  His book is What is Your Church’s Personality?, and a few committees I’ve talked to are using it (here are some sample pages).  I was the wrong guy for a church for 9 years.  Real and meaningful ministry took place, but my gifting and emphasis was very different from theirs which increased the resistance at key points in my ministry.  There are other ways of looking at this.  But CavWife thinks the Church Personality Diagnostic results described me very well.

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