16. Check references. It’s a pain and often complicated. If the preacher has a job, he will be reluctant for you to talk to his current elders.
However, we’ve sometimes had preachers offer to let us call a particular elder — usually the chairman or an elder charged with working especially closely with the minister. The preacher lets the elder know he’ll be called, and then the search committee or elders can call for a recommendation.
Sometimes those who make recommendations lie. In fact, church people routinely lie to help a beloved former employee get a job. Evidently, it’s the Christian thing to do.
Yep, in the Churches of Christ, elders and fellow ministers routinely bear false witness to help a beloved friend or former member get a job.
Therefore, you’ll want to talk to people not on the reference list. You have to be careful not to embarrass him with his home church, but be as careful and thorough as possible without violating a confidence.
17. Let those you’ve eliminated know quickly. Elders are often very relational people. They hate to give bad news, and so they procrastinate in telling a candidate that they aren’t going to hire him. Don’t. Swallow hard and let him know just as soon as you’ve decided. It’s kinder that way.
Letting him hang on, hoping for a call, is cruel.
18. Consider hiring an interim minister. There are two kinds —
* You can put a guy on staff to be the preacher temporarily. He’ll visit the sick, plan worship, and do most of the things preachers do.
* You can hire a guy just to preach, and let volunteers pick up the slack in other areas.
Obviously, the second choice is both less expensive and more attractive to more potential interims. After all, since you don’t have any idea how long the search will last, no one will want to move to your town to fill in. But plenty of capable men may be within driving distance for a once-a-week sermon.
* You may already have someone on payroll who is a great speaker. Maybe your youth minister is very gifted this way. If he’s going to fill in regularly, he’s an interim preacher, just one who happens to already be there. The same rules apply.
The interim minister should not be a candidate for the job, and you should get a commitment from him to that effect. The church should be told that he’s not a candidate and that he won’t take the job if offered.
Otherwise, the interim has a conflict of interest. His job is to make straight the path for the next guy. He needs to quietly step aside during the try out weekend and support the new guy. He’ll be interviewed by candidates, and he needs to honestly say good and true things about the church and encourage the candidate to keep an open mind. He can’t be competing for the same job.
We are a people who have an assembly-centered Christianity, and our assemblies are sermon-centered. That may or may not be good, but it’s reality. For a while, the church will be pleased to hear the elders and other members speak, but it’ll get old quickly. Amateurs are amateurs. And the elders will be very, very busy with the preacher search and filling in within areas that were once handled by the preacher. It’s just too much for volunteer, part-time elders to preach and do all that.
Hire an interim about 4 to 6 months after the former minister leaves. (We waited too long.) Don’t let your optimism that the next candidate will work out cause you to procrastinate. Make a firm commitment and do it, even if he’s an interim only for two weeks.
You see, church members fill ill at ease when there’s no preacher. Having a regular preacher in the pulpit is a huge part of the lives of many of our members. When the pulpit is empty — filled with amateurs — the members feel disconnected from the church, they worry whether the pulpit will ever be filled, and they become impatient. Some will leave to attend other churches just for the feelings of stability and comfort that having a familiar face in the pulpit brings.
Hire an interim.
19. Conduct an interim search. While hiring the permanent guy is like getting married, the interim is a fun date. You aren’t looking for the ideal. You just want someone you enjoy being with for an hour or two a week.
He won’t set the church’s vision. He won’t introduce new theology or practices. His job is to provide stability and spiritually uplifting messages but without trying to take the church anywhere new.
By the way, don’t hire a retired minister who is a legend. Some men are just hard to follow — even if they’re only temporary.
Then again, don’t hire someone who’s no good. You want to enjoy and benefit from your time together. You want to look forward to Sunday mornings. You don’t want to starve the congregation of spiritual substance.
The places to look for an interim are the same as for a permanent preacher. In fact, there are many preachers who prefer an interim position to a permanent one. Some may be retired. Others may be working on an advanced degree and not have time for a fulltime job. Ask around.
If the candidate tells you that he/she is conducting a quiet search, please respect that. For those not accustomed to this, it can mean that if word gets out that the person is even considering leaving, he/she could be fired immediately. This can ruin a good human being for life.
Jay wrote: “Therefore, you’ll want to talk to people not on the reference list. You have to be careful not to embarrass him with his home church, but be as careful and thorough as possible without violating a confidence.”
If you choose to do this, make sure whomever you talk to can keep quiet. Gossip can spread through a cofC faster than fire through a cotton mill.
“Yep, in the Churches of Christ, elders and fellow ministers routinely bear false witness to help a beloved friend or former member get a job.” (I really don’t believe this is routine, but anyway)
None of this preacher search itinerary, has bolstered my confidence in the “New Age, CoC”.
The bible said the father of the liar, is Satan/devil. Paul said a lie for good is still a lie, and God forbid we should do so. When elders of a congregation knowingly participate in such deception , as accepting lies as recommendations, secret negotiations to hide the truth, in my opinion, and I believe in the judgment of God is the same as a baldfaced lie. If hiding the truth from a congregation that hired him as trustworthy and honest, is not being lied to, I don’t know what a lie is.
What is to keep that same liar, from lying to his new congregation six months from now, with the help of another elder-ship trying to steal him away again.
I have never seen the “church of Christ” in such shambles , yes we have “progressive CoC’s ” in Texas, I have never attended one and don’t plan to anytime soon. I don’t believe a church will be judged on whether they are the biggest, or richest, well, they might well be but not in a favorable way, the grace of God extends only so far.
Jhn 8:44 Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
I must confess that the more I read about preachers– and I think Jay has done a great job explaining the dynamics of the job– the more I realize that the job is part cruise director and part headliner for the Sunday morning show. Any smart board knows what the “essential” duties of a job are, and what they also hope to get as part of the package. And without question, the essential duty of a preacher is to get people to come back for next Sunday’s show. We make every effort to hire a religious “Dr. Oz”, and we hope we are not getting an irascible “Chef Ramsey”.
This dynamic fosters the shallow nature of spirituality and relationship we see in the local group by setting up a religious infotainer as a spiritual leader. Elders won’t try very hard to break this superficial cycle of “listen up, pay up, and see you next week” because their mission, at core, is to give the customer what he wants so he won’t leave. In a diverse religious marketplace, this is the usual way you retain market share. We may use the word “rule” to describe what elders do, but the direction of the average local religion club is still largely determined by people who vote with their checkbooks… or their feet.
Yes , I know of the past scrapes and cuts the Church has endured and still they remained one in their belief in God and his son Jesus, and even who they were. They knew and acknowledged right from wrong. Most of the squabbles were over such nonsense as instruments in worship, kitchen in the church bldg, donating to certain schools, appropriate clothing , when and how to take communion, yes even what songs to sing. But they were never as separated as they are today, when one congregation feels they have to hide their actions from another in order to gain advantage in hiring, that is about as divided as it gets. stealing from your brothers. I just don’t see how one can condone that action, then complain if a church picks off a few of their members.
There has recently been some serious thought given to the sustainability of some of these large facilities with a high fixed cost structure. As the economy in the US gets tougher, you may start seeing some strange new sights, like 2 or 3 churches sharing a building. Your statement about “vote with their checkbooks” is correct. Also, it sometimes takes a lot of new members to replace what the elderly Mrs. Y gave every year. Some congregations have started figuring out other ways to obtain revenue from investments from renting out part of the facility to renting parking spaces to installing coffee houses. The Methodists could always pick up some money renting their sanctuary to cofC members for weddings since they already had the organ in place and no ban on instrumental music.
Charles, I don’t know how you became so proficient at reading my mind, in such a short time. 🙂
Oh, I almost forgot the powers you possess.
I’ve heard Paul Coffman, a retired Church of Christ minister now in Oklahoma, tell how when he was the minister in York, Pennsylvania, the entire search committee of another congregation came to York to hear him preach. They arrived late, however, and had to walk to the front where the only available seats were. The entire congregation knew that they were a search committee coming to try to get their preacher! Not very subtle! He accepted the call to the University Park Church of Christ just outside Washington, D.C. and had an outstanding ministry there for a generation.
Jim, the building of new and expensive church buildings is fraught with danger for both the church and minister. Building programs have effectively ended many a ministry and prompted a move to a new church. “If you build it they will come” has been disproven time and again. Sometimes the new mortgage payments pretty much kill the spirit of a church by elevating the necessity of paying the mortgage above all else. On the other hand, some congregations are genuinely prevented from moving forward by an inadequate facility. It seems to be a roll of the dice for every church trying to decide whether to build bigger or stay put.
I was not even talking about building a new facility. I was talking about the already existing facility. Previous generations loved to donate to a capital campaign and were willing to give money for new facilities. I am thinking about the next generation who will be taking over (managing and donating) and will have to deal with a high fixed cost structure.
Jim, sorry I misunderstood you.
Jim wrote,
Amen. I would only change “a cofC” to “the Churches of Christ.”
Our church just hired a new preacher who starts this Sun. During the 9 month search, they had 3 interim preachers and a couple of other guest preachers. If the preacher was well received, he was invited to come back the next month. It has given our church good exposure to thoughts they might not have gotten otherwise and these preachers have been in a unique position to challenge the church in ways a full time preacher might not have done so easily.
Laymond,
It’s an interesting question — the ethics of hiring ministers from other congregations. In the college football world, a school won’t talk to a coach without first obtaining the “permission” of the school that employs him. However, it’s a fiction. Permission is always granted. The real intent it to make the old school aware of the negotiation before it begins. The result is often a bidding war. That’s one approach.
Not always, but most of the time the preacher initiates the contact. That is, most search committees focus their efforts on ministers who’ve let it be known that they are looking to leave. There are, of course, exceptions, but 80 to 90% of the time, the minister was looking to leave before the search committee talks to him. (And nearly every time, when a committee approaches a minister who has not put the word out, he declines to talk to them.)
The fact is that some preachers tell their elders that they think it’s time to move on. They ask to be allowed to continue on for a few months. And they put the word out that their looking.
In other cases, the preacher puts the word out but doesn’t tell his elders until the church he’s talking to makes a firm offer, for fear of being told to clean out his desk and being left without a job. Which happens. If elders had a better track record of treating ministers with integrity, the ministers would be more willing to be open about their search efforts.
We don’t have a good culture of treating ministers well when they tell us they are looking to leave.
Now, I’ve been on the other side of this. I’ve had a preacher meet with the elders to tell us he was considering taking a job elsewhere. It was truly a horrifying time of my life. We could do nothing to keep him. It wasn’t about money. We could just wait — and it took weeks — agonizing weeks. At that time, and now several years later, I can say with certainty that I’d have rather not known.
Thanks, Adam. It’s true. An interim doesn’t have to worry much about being fired. It can make for some powerful preaching.
Where I grew up, Lewisburg Church of Christ, the preacher was hired for two years. That was the rule for over 50 years. Everyone knew it, even other churches so for any to contact him and him them was normal. No hiding, embarrassing contacts or any of the bad thinking. With most preachers, you hear his best in two years anyway.
Positive was we got to know many preachers and practically anywhere you went, you would know one very well, close by, and all was friendly.
Tryouts to be the next one lasted all day, one hour designated for each prospect and this went on for several weeks. Dinner on the ground was practiced, women brought their best, but, all that activity was held outside on a long 50 ft. wooden table totally not attached to, and of course none of this allowed in the building.
I can tell you the one candidate who did not get hired was the one who preached way too long on Mother’s Day when most of the congregation were ready to go to the big brunch at country club when he had just gotten started. It caused many to wind up in the line behind everyone else. This was in the south when church did not even start till 11 am. It would not have mattered if the candidate were St. Paul himself.
Jay,
I am very sure that these attitudes you are explaining are true about not only the church but of many churches. But, I wonder what is Biblical about an assembly containing these attitudes? When you as an Elder and I am sure that other Elders also see the body of Christ so heavily dependent upon a single human called the preacher that they respond as you have stated.
“You see, church members fill ill at ease when there’s no preacher. Having a regular preacher in the pulpit is a huge part of the lives of many of our members. When the pulpit is empty — filled with amateurs — the members feel disconnected from the church, they worry whether the pulpit will ever be filled, and they become impatient. Some will leave to attend other churches just for the feelings of stability and comfort that having a familiar face in the pulpit brings.”
If I was a leader of God’s people I would very concerned about the (individuals attending the assembly) commitment to God, and Christ. The same concern could be visualized for their commitment to each other as Christians, you know their Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and even extending a commitment to those that are visiting the assemblies that are not committed to service to Christ yet. The assembling together was never stated in scripture to be about being entertained or wooed into serving Christ, by someone else. The concept presented was to edify (an action done by you an individual Christian) and build up the church (your service to others).
Another quote, “We are a people who have an assembly-centered Christianity, and our assemblies are sermon-centered.”
I believe that there have been lessons on this blog that have discussed this attitude in the life of a Christian. This is the same concept that promotes that worship is in the assembly, (which is never promoted in The New Testament), The Jews were to go to Jerusalem to worship, but we are never told to go anywhere to worship. Worship is to be a way of life for us.
It is so easy for some men to be elevated to the status that the previous quotes display but I cannot visualize any of the Apostles or Elders of the early church allowing their converts to idolize them in this fashion.
Can the world (I have reference to those outside the church) also see this attitude among the churches? Is that what the Roman Government saw so powerfully strong in Christians that it desired to unite with men that had these convictions? Do you think that any of the members of the church described would have been willing to make a commitment like Stephen? Have we really allowed the whims of men that don’t care about God’s word unless it is delivered by very educated, very eloquent men that have great persuasive abilities?
Can the assembly become the worshiped rather than Christ?
First, let me say that I think a congregation would be understanding if the elders were honest with them about how slow the preacher search was coming along.
Larry wrote: “Have we really allowed the whims of men that don’t care about God’s word unless it is delivered by very educated, very eloquent men that have great persuasive abilities?”
I want to respond to this by saying that you need/have to know your audience. Basically, it is why you have 3 gospels written to 3 different groups of people. If your congregation is mainly professional people with advanced degrees they need a different type of approach to the Bible than the uneducated. The lawyers in the pews likely want to hear a rational argument and the scientists want some proof. It is not that people don’t want to hear about G-d. but that they would like to hear something useful and/or beneficial. Most preachers will not get near the topics that working professionals want to be discussed today.
Jim,
I believe that you stated this very well when you said, “but that they would like to hear something useful and/or beneficial.” The (hear) is what I am referencing, I understand that the scriptures were written to those that accepted the teachings and they were the common non-highly educated in the world, each of those individuals that you mentioned should be very capable to read the Master Teacher’s inspired words and understand, but they would rather hear the message from a teacher that has been paid to study it to portray it because they would not devote time for reading and study. Just give us a summary! As you state most preachers will not get near topics that professionals want to hear, sounds like a problem with the professionals rather than the preacher. Either they already know and want the preacher to tell others so they won’t have to and then the preacher could be the scape goat just in case others won’t accept the message. Has anyone noticed the volume of professional people in the Bible that accepted Christ and his teachings?
I don’t think it is a problem with the professionals. Some are looking for answers on situational ethics. Others might like to hear about The ethics of human cloning. Why are those problems with the professionals?
Most want to hear the Bible explained because they just don’t see how some things are relevant to them today. This is what a good minister should be able to do.
Larry,
Without a doubt, we sometimes worship worship more than God. I mean, sometimes we’re more concerned about the experience than the object of the experience. Sometimes we worship more for our own sake than God’s sake — or the sake of the others there.
Does our devotion to the preacher sometimes border on idolatry? Absolutely. It can and does happen.
Is there an escape? Well, I don’t think the house church or “organic church” has proven effective in this culture. They can be as ineffective as the traditional congregational model, but never are as effective as the most effective institutional churches.
Can an institutional church be built and thrive without being sermon centered? I think so. But I think it’s the rare exception, because our culture has been sermon centered going back to Luther. It’s hard to break a 500-year habit!
One of the most effective habit breakers is the small group ministry, because small groups create vital congregational life independent of the assembly and the preacher.
Another effective habit breaker is involvement is real ministry to others through the church. For me, the Sunday morning assembly is not the center of my Christian walk. I’m much more focused on other work I do as an elder or teacher. Therefore, the sermon and the assembly doesn’t really define my experience as a church member.
But for those whose primary contact with the congregation is the assembly, of course the sermon and the preacher dominate their experience. The solution, therefore, is not to hire a sorry preacher or minimize the assembly but to get the members involved in ministry, so that the assembly is a time of equipping and renewal but not the core of their congregational lives. Rather, the assembly becomes part of lives that also experience hands on service, small groups, and other parts of church life.
And if we can encourage our members to be involved in personal spiritual disciplines — prayer, Bible study — in addition, then the assembly ceases to be the end-all, be-all of their religion.
Something like that …