Training for the Search
Presuppositions
From chapter 33 of Between Preachers, by Jerrie Barber
I begin the training process with some presuppositions.
- I believe God loves His church. Jesus built it and died for it (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28). God is not only concerned about the church universal but each congregation individually. Several letters of the New Testament are to local groups of believers.
- Since God loves His church and wants the best for it, we should invite Him to be part of this process. Remind yourself and others that His wisdom is available to those who pray for it (James 1:5) and work for it (Proverbs 2:1-5).
- The process is as important as the product. Christians on the Search Team, including the entire eldership, are not just doing a job but are participating in an opportunity to grow spiritually. They can learn about God, about others, and about themselves.
- Each committee should become a group before seeing the first résumé or mentioning the first preacher’s name. A friend used to say, “I dream of a place and a time where Christians can get together and tell the truth.” The interview and selection process should be one of those times and places.
- If one holds back, does not speak his mind, doesn’t ask important questions, doesn’t add helpful insight, or is in any way intimidated or compromised, the group and the church are deprived of group wisdom. Becoming a group will probably require several meetings before they can ” get on with the Lord’s work” of selecting a preacher. I happen to believe that learning to get along with each other, discussing how we are going to conduct business including how we will settle conflict when it arises, and getting to know each other better in order to “stir up love and good works” is part of “the Lord’s work.”
- The training day is designed for beginning this process. It’s only the beginning. Usually, a group goes through three stages before they are ready to function:
- Forming.
- Storming.
- Norming.
Express thanks for our breakfast and pray for the workshop.
7:30 Breakfast. We start with a light meal. This begins the group process. Many things happen when we are eating to bring us together.
After breakfast, I get the group into a circle. Everyone is facing everyone else. Everyone is in the front row.
Prayer is a part of our day at many different times. We pray for wisdom. We pray for the members of the search team. We pray for the elders. We pray for the next preacher. We pray for the men who will be considered and who will want to come but will not be selected. We pray for this church and the body of Christ over the world.
8:00 Guidelines. I begin any group (counseling session, Bible class, Family Meeting, Stress Session in a monthly ministers’ workshop) with negotiating guidelines. Family (group) rules are usually unconscious, unspoken, understood, and contradictory. That makes for difficult communication. I want the rules to be spoken, conscious, and understood. These are the boundaries that improve the possibility that “Christians can get together and tell the truth.” “Can two walk together unless they are agreed” (Amos 3:3, NKJV)? The answer to that question is, “No!” Many discussions end in chaos or miscommunication because we didn’t talk about how we were going to talk. GUIDELINES FOR A GOOD DISCUSSION: how to lead a peaceful conversation about powerful things.
8:35 Mixer, introduction. The people line up according to birthdays: January – December. They get into pairs. Each person interviews the other, preparing to introduce the partner to the group. Tell something about yourself and include something that no one knows about you until today. Each person introduces his/her partner.
8:45 What do you bring to this process? It is interesting how different people contribute to the search process. Some are good at calling, recording, leading the meetings, writing letters or emails, asking interview questions, arranging for visits to the congregation, keeping spreadsheets of where each candidate is in the process, and preparing sermons on CDs or MP3s for others to hear. We learn more about that in this section of the training session.
9:15 What will you get out of this? Each person needs to examine his motives. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The search process is long and sometimes difficult and frustrating. Unless there is adequate motivation, the members will get discouraged. That can result in some people quitting and/or rushing the process to “get it over with” and end with less than excellent results.
Break
9:45 Collegeside church now—10 years from now. After the break, I bring people to tables with crayons and large drawing paper. I ask each person to draw a line vertically in the middle of the page. On the left side of the paper, each person now draws his or her impression of this congregation. On the right side of the page, each person draws his or her hopes and dreams for this church ten years from now. After everyone is finished, we come back into the circle and discuss the pictures. Everyone is learning what others see now and what they want to see in the future. These ideas will help form what they want to see in the next preacher.
10:30 Book “mustard seeds”. I gave everyone a book on the selection process a few weeks before. During this session, each person shares some ideas gained that may be helpful in selecting the next preacher for this congregation.The first book I recommend is The Search Committee Handbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to Hiring Your Next Minister, by Don Viar. I also suggest everyone read When to Leave…Before You Go: 2 Books for Pastors in Transition, by Wade Hodges (available only on Kindle). This book describes the turmoil that often accompanies a preacher considering a transition.
11:15 Search Committee Team and elders. This is where we discuss the job description of the committee and the elders. Some of this information is found here: Organizing for the Search. It is necessary to clearly understand what each group is and is not to do in the process.
Give thanks for our lunch and pray for everyone involved in the search process.
12:00 Lunch.
Prayer for the preacher and his family who will work here.
12:45 Chain Letter. After lunch, I read a chain letter about preachers I received by email: Preacher Chain Letter.
1:00 Preacher of your dreams—preacher of your nightmares. It’s back to the drawing board for this exercise. As before, I ask each person to draw a line down the middle of the paper. On the left side, please draw a representation of the “Preacher of Your Dreams.” If you could get the perfect preacher, what would he look like? What kind of preacher would you want to come to this congregation? This will certainly include something about his stand for truth but also attitudes, mannerisms, and attitudes—both in and out of the pulpit. What should be his emphasis? In what areas would you tolerate weaknesses in order to have strengths in other areas?
After everyone is finished with that, on the right side of the paper please draw the “Preacher of Your Nightmares.” What would the opposite of the “Preacher of Your Dreams” look like?
When all are finished, we get into the circle to discuss these works of art and visualizations of our expectations of the next preacher. I allow each one to tell about their picture and their preacher.
My final question in this exercise is, “What if the preacher of your dreams is someone else’s nightmare? How will you work with others who have different expectations of the next preacher? That is the challenge of the selection committee—whether it is the elders during the whole process or whether a group makes recommendations to the elders for their consideration before making the decision. Will each person listen to the other and will each person express their thoughts and feelings freely to contribute to the final selection?
1:30 Barber’s Bullets for Preacher Search is a collection of my thoughts and observations as I have experienced and watched this process. I express my best judgment. As always, the wastebasket is available for anything not worth taking home.
1:45 Evaluation. A good way to learn is to do the best I know and ask others to help me improve. In evaluating the training session, I ask two questions?
- What did you learn?
- How can this training be better next time?
Pray for the preachers who wanted to come, but were not selected, and the churches affected by your search.