{"id":30758,"date":"2022-09-10T15:03:25","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-common-pastor-search-mistakes-to-avoid\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:03:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:03:25","slug":"5-common-pastor-search-mistakes-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-common-pastor-search-mistakes-to-avoid\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Common Pastor Search Mistakes to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"> Matt Howard photo &#8211; Unsplash <\/p>\n<p><strong>Many search team mistakes are inevitable, yet most are avoidable. Here are five common mistakes pastor search teams can avoid.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>By Mark Dance<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Everyone in ministry will eventually be on both sides of a pastor or ministry leader search process and will need to know best (and worst) practices. Many search team mistakes are inevitable, yet most are avoidable. I\u2019ve learned these lessons the hard way. These anecdotal observations come from 35 years of pastoring churches and pastors. Here are five common mistakes pastor search teams can avoid:<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>1.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Communicating inconsistently<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>From the moment candidates submit their names or resumes for consideration, that church takes a prolific part of both their and their spouses\u2019 attention. Not a day will go by that each candidate is not prayerfully considering God\u2019s will for their ministries and families. Why then would a pastor search team allow weeks to go by without connecting with each candidate?<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re on a pastor search team, your answer may have something to do with how busy everyone on the team is. Holidays and \u201cunexpected surprises\u201d are other typical excuses.<\/p>\n<p>These are all lame excuses I\u2019ve heard before. The solution is very simple if you have a chairperson who will implement it:<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>Send everyone who\u2019s not being considered a respectful rejection email immediately. Don\u2019t make exceptions for unsolicited resumes, because you won\u2019t remember everyone\u2019s point of origin.<\/li>\n<li>Have the same person on the committee send email updates every other week. Even if you have nothing new to share, let them know they\u2019re still being considered and prayed over.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>2.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Waiting to talk about money<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is usually the most awkward part of the process for both the candidate and the committee. Perhaps that\u2019s why it is often avoided until the last possible minute. Here are a few reasons to consider talking about money immediately after you\u2019ve identified your primary candidate.<\/p>\n<p> If the potential pastor&#039;s family budget doesn\u2019t match your church family budget, you save everyone time, energy, and embarrassment by fully disclosing the salary package early in the process. \u2014 @markdance Click To Tweet <\/p>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>Your church may not be able to afford that candidate. It\u2019s not uncommon for a church to think of itself through the rose-colored lenses of its heyday. Instead of guessing what you can afford, let us do the homework for you. The latest Compensation Study from Guidestone and Lifeway helps churches benchmark salaries and benefits based on current giving, attendance, and respective ministry positions.<\/li>\n<li>Your candidate may not be able to afford your church.<strong> <\/strong>If their family budget doesn\u2019t match your church family budget, you save everyone time, energy, and embarrassment by fully disclosing the salary package early in the process. If you\u2019re of the opinion that money shouldn\u2019t matter \u2026 how can I say this delicately \u2026 you\u2019re wrong.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>3.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Forcing candidates to compete<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This practice (or malpractice) isn\u2019t as common as it used to be, but the temptation to have a \u201cpreach off\u201d may surface at some point. Admittedly, there\u2019s a fine line between comparing and competing. So how do you know when you\u2019ve crossed it? You\u2019ve crossed that line when&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul class=\"has-normal-font-size\">\n<li>Multiple candidates are asked to preach live sermons for the committee&nbsp;<\/li>\n<li>Multiple candidates make site visits to your campus&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"udfd3085cbb3ea61f7a587d445318b3ce-content\">See also&nbsp; What Churches Must Do to Reach Gen Z<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Although every candidate assumes they\u2019re not the only one being considered, they become much more emotionally committed when they\u2019re invited to visit your church and community. I would suggest saving the church visit for when you narrow your search to one primary candidate.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>4.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Avoiding hard, personal questions<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It\u2019s not uncommon for pastoral candidates to oversell (or lie about) their ministries, marriages, or anything else that makes them look better than they really are. That sounds cynical, but pride is a universal struggle that goes back to the garden of Eden. And pastors aren\u2019t immune to it.<\/p>\n<p> Pride is a universal struggle that goes back to the garden of Eden. And pastors aren\u2019t immune to it. \u2014 @markdance Click To Tweet <\/p>\n<p>This is a common mistake because lay leaders are understandably reluctant to delve into the personal life of their future pastor. But you must dive in. Politely wading into the shallows is not only a waste of time, but it\u2019s also a dangerous injustice to the congregation who asked you to represent them.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve narrowed your search to three to five candidates, a casual search through their social media feeds is sufficient. But once you\u2019ve identified a primary candidate, jump into the deep end by searching both their social media feeds and their spouse\u2019s, going back at least a year. I guarantee some of your church members will do this shortly after you make their names public.<\/p>\n<p>Practice the same due diligence with your criminal and credit history background checks. Don\u2019t hesitate to openly share this process with your candidates early on. If anyone balks, push the eject button.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>5.<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>Misrepresenting the vision of the church<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Pastor search teams may also inadvertently bait candidates by overselling their churches. Shoot straight with them about both your challenges and opportunities. Pastors commonly complain that their search team didn\u2019t give them an accurate description of who the church really was or who they hoped to be.<\/p>\n<p>The search for a pastor is a high-stakes process. Avoiding these common mistakes will prayerfully make it less painful and more enjoyable for everyone.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Mark Dance<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\"><strong>@markdance<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>After serving as a pastor for 28 years, Mark is now the director of pastoral wellness for Guidestone Financial Resources. He frequently speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats\u2014often with his wife Janet. Read more from him at\u00a0MarkDance.net.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  2021 Continued to Drive More Readers to Scripture  More Pastors Endorsing Candidates Apart From Church Role  Half of U.S. Protestant Pastors Back Trump  Most Evangelicals Choose Trump Over Biden, But Clear Divides Exist <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matt Howard photo &#8211; Unsplash Many search team mistakes are inevitable, yet most are avoidable. Here are five common mistakes pastor search teams can avoid. By Mark Dance&nbsp; Everyone in ministry will eventually be on both sides of a pastor or ministry leader search process and will need to know best (and worst) practices. Many &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-common-pastor-search-mistakes-to-avoid\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;5 Common Pastor Search Mistakes to Avoid&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}