RICHMOND—What's in a name?
For churches seeking a new minister, the bottom line is collecting names of candidates—and lots of them. That's not always an easy task, and search committees typically discover it takes a variety of approaches to create a critical mass of potential pastors.
“You have to look at multiple ways in today's world,” said Jim Vaught, church minister matching specialist for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. “We never know how God is at work. God works in multiple avenues and channels. And the goal is always to find the right fit between a church and a minister.”
Finding the “right fit” between a church and the tools it uses in its search process is critical as well, say veterans of congregational search committees. Factors such as church size, geographical location and extent of financial resources all play a role—as does a church's perception of a method's compatibility with its spiritual undertaking.
“The trick is to find the tool that works best for the church,” said Mike Lipford, who chairs the pastoral search committee at First Baptist Church in Richmond. “God is the ultimate recruiter, but he's given us talents and abilities to discern the person that's right for the church.”
Most churches seem to be employing a combination of the five approaches:
• The Network.Word of mouth has always been an effective way of finding of potential ministerial candidates and still may be the most widely used approach. “I tell churches to talk to pastors who they like and trust in their areas and ask for recommendations,” Vaught said.
While abuses by the “good ol' boy network” have tarnished its effectiveness, networking is a familiar procedure for laypeople who generally fill church search committees. It smooths the wheels of most business operations, and it is compatible with Baptists' decentralized polity.
• Madison Avenue. Religious newspapers and magazines across the nation report that a greater number of churches is advertising to fill ministerial posts. “We took out ads in a number of publications that had wide circulation and consequently had résumés come in from all parts of the country and even outside,” Lipford said.
Advertising for a pastor hasn't always been widely accepted. Twenty years ago, the Religious Herald, routinely declined any ads to fill ministerial positions.
“I think advertising carried with it a whiff of the secular market,” said Jim White, the Herald's editor. Today such ads represent a significant percentage of its overall advertising.
Though little research has been done to track the extent to which ads generate names, the increased volume suggests satisfaction and success.
• Headhunters. Consulting firms have long been a pillar of the secular job market but are only beginning to make inroads in Baptist churches—possibly because, like earlier attitudes toward advertising, “headhunters” still retain a hint of the secular.
“We discussed that possibility (of a consulting firm) and decided not to unless we had to” to generate names, Lipford said. “And so far we haven't had to.”
Consulting firms are, of course, profit-making ventures—and that may at times conflict with a church's perceived mission.
“Someone from (a consulting firm specializing in locating church ministers) cold-called one of our staff members at our church,” a Texas pastor said. “This staff member was shocked and even asked if I had given them his name thinking that something might possibly be wrong. After assuring our staff member that I had not given them his name, I called (the firm) and spoke with its president. He said that cold-calling church staff was an acceptable practice and that he did not believe it to be unethical. I asked him and his staff to refrain from calling our staff as a courtesy, but he would not give me a guarantee.”
• Click on this. Soliciting résumés on church websites to fill staff positions is an inexpensive and, potentially, wide-reaching way of gathering names. Old Powhatan Baptist Church in Powhatan, Va., includes a “Prospective Pastor” link on its website that offers a demographic profile of the 236-year-old congregation.
“We would like to share a little information about our church and community in order to give you the opportunity to begin prayerfully considering Old Powhatan Baptist Church for your next ministry position,” the church's search committee notes in a “Dear Prospective Pastor” letter, which includes a profile of the community and its schools and cultural offerings.
• The matching game. Increasingly sophisticated computer data bases link ministers and churches with detailed information that more effectively match the two. One of those is a collaborative effort by the Baptist General Association of Virginia, the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Launched in February, the Leader Connect database can be accessed from the websites of each of the collaborators.
“I think a smaller church will find the matching service and its database of names is a good place to start,” Lipford said.
“We contacted lots of friends, and they used many sources—some of which likely were matching services.”
And what happens if a committee winds up with too many names?
“When you cast a wide net and generate a lot of resumes, you'll have a number of candidates' names to wade through that are not necessarily the person you're looking for,” Lipford said. “But on the other hand, you can generate a lot of interesting names as well.”