PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE (PSC)

Transcription

1 PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE (PSC) Thanks for your faithfulness in praying for our Pastoral Search Committee. The team is working hard and making progress through the early steps and being very prayerful to follow the Lord s lead with each decision. The team continues to enjoy much unity and fellowship. We want to give you an extensive update on our Pastoral Search Committee. We know many of you have been praying intensely for the committee. We are asking for your continued prayer as we move along this endeavor. We will certainly be in prayer for the Lord s continued direction in the days ahead for our church. Enclosed you will find the following summaries: Where Are We Now? What s Next General Information Tasks PSC Procedures Frequently Asked Questions WHERE ARE WE NOW? WHERE ARE WE NOW? Since our first meeting, God has given us great unity and clarity. With those two key attributes in hand, sequential next steps have been slow for many but the committee has moved ahead without feeling rushed, and we ve made considerable progress. The committee is currently meeting weekly. The job was posted on our Hill Chapel website along with several external sites on July 19 and was closed on August 26 th.

2 Subcommittees have been developed within the committee. Communications & Correspondence keep congregation updated, communicate with applicants by letter, phone, or as needed. Interview Questions Committee developing questions for first, second and third round of interviews. Researching appropriate answers and develop impartial scoring system Total Number of Applicants 90 Total Qualified 38 Total Unqualified 52 WHATS NEXT? Research background, references and history of top candidates Begin 1st round interviews Reduce candidate pool to top 10 Provide updates each 4th Sunday. GENERAL INFORMATION Your Pastoral Search Committee (PSC) wants all the members of our congregation to be informed of the general process we have put in place. Below you will find the tasks we have set for the PSC in order to accomplish our goal, beginning with those we have completed. TASKS COMPLETED: 1. Assigned Sister Janice Pilot as the PSC Recorder 2. Reviewed the current Church By-Laws 3. Reviewed the previous Job description for the Senior Pastor 4. Reviewed the current Policy and Procedure manual

3 5. Researched the traditional form of Baptist Church government 6. Assigned Sister Janice Pilot as the PSC Parliamentarian 7. Determined the needs of our Church Family by survey 8. Researched and developed a new job description and qualifications for our Senior Pastor 9. Posted job description 10. Established first two sub-committees 11. Began initial review of candidate applications 12. Develop questions for interviewing candidates 13. Identified all candidates with incomplete packages 14. Sent letters to all applicants concerning the status of their application changes (this is ongoing) 15. Began review of remaining applications to determine top interview choices FINAL TASKS 1. Research doctrinal questions and positions we desire from candidates 2. Develop an interview plan, location, costs and procedures in conjunction with the Board of Deacons and the Board of Trustees 3. Reduce applicant pool to a maximum of 25 by conducting documentation review and candidate evaluation 4. Develop a 5-person interview team in conjunction with board of Deacons and Board of Trustees 5. Interview team will consist of at least one member each from the Deacons and Trustees, and three members of the PSC. The official recorder will be present during all interviews. 6. Research all available information concerning qualified applicants 7. Conduct initial background checks on applicants 8. Schedule and conducting first round of interviews with applicants 9. Reduce applicant pool to maximum top Perform detailed background checks on applicants 11. Conduct second round interviews 12. Reduce pool to top three applicants 13. Final third round interviews 14. Select and present candidate for congregational vote

4 PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE (PSC) PROCEDURES Research and observation of churches similar to ours have shown that the normal time frame for a pastoral search process is from months! We are making every effort to expedite our work without sacrificing the trust you have placed in us. The pastoral search committee understands that we have been given a great responsibility by the congregation and the governing board. We are humbled by the privilege and promise to continue to make every effort to carry out our duties in a way that honors God and will benefit our church. In order to protect the ministries of all applicants, their names, ministries, and personal information is kept confidential. This helps us to do our part to minimize any problems that could potentially arise within their current congregations. To reveal their interest in our Senior Pastor opening could potentially cause much harm to their ministry. In view of this we have committed to keeping the identity, personal information and location of their churches concealed. Each member of the PSC signed a confidentiality agreement to further enforce the privacy of the applicants. All applications will be kept on file until a Pastor is selected by our congregation by vote. Once that has happened all applications will be shredded and all materials (DVD, flash drives) sent to us will be destroyed within a 90-day period. All decisions within the Search Committee are determined through discussion, debate and finally a vote for majority agreement. No one person has been singlehandedly responsible for any decisions. The Board of Deacons and Board of Trustees have had minimal involvement in the duties of the PSC. This was necessary to ensure the integrity of the process and to reduce the damage that could be cause if anyone assumed that the governing board was influencing the decisions of the PSC. However, we do ensure that the Board Chairman is consistently advised of our progress, and we have made occasional updates before the Board. They also have not been given the names of the applicants. This was for the purpose of reducing the appearance of manipulation, favoritism or undue influence. The search committee found it necessary to completely rewrite the job description of the Senior Pastor. This was necessary to ensure that first and foremost the job was defined based on what is outlined in the scriptures. Additionally, we ensured that the job description reflected acceptable standards of the Baptist Church. The qualified applicants for interview will have background checks conducted for criminal and financial acceptability. The initial pool of qualified applicants will be reduced to our top 25 choices. At this point interviews will be scheduled and conducted until we can arrive at the top 10 choices. At this time a full national background check will be conducted. The top ten will go through a second round of interviews and research and we will select our top three choices. There will be a third and final round of interviews and research on the top three candidates and they will be rated by the interviewing scoring system. After prayer and fasting we will select the top candidate to present to the congregation. This candidate will spend a minimum of one week with us. The details of that week are not yet completed. Only one candidate will be presented to the congregation. To present more than one at a time will give an advantage to one candidate over the other. This is because we are most likely to remember more about the last person than the first. Therefore, depending on the order they are presented could be used to influence the vote. The congregation will also be allowed to have a question and answer period with the potential pastor. Once the vote is taken, there will need to be at least a 2/3 majority. If the candidate does not receive

5 majority vote, we will then go to the next candidate on the list, if available. If there are any changes or modifications to the procedures we have placed in this brochure, we will make every effort to inform everyone at the earliest monthly update FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Q: Are the visiting Speakers / Pastors being considered for Senior Pastor? A: Every member of the PSC has signed a confidentiality agreement that prevents us from discussing this. Additionally, we are not choosing a pastor based solely on his ability to preach. Every good preacher will not necessarily make a good pastor. A single sermon on a Sunday morning would be a poor way to choose a pastor. Q: Have any of the guest preachers applied? A: Every member of the PSC has signed a confidentiality agreement that prevents us from discussing this. Q: Why did we require a seminary education? A: It is in the best interest of our future spiritual development to look for a pastor who has been ordained by God and gifted with all the characteristics of a shepherd. Additionally, because of his love for God we believe that he would have made the necessary sacrifices to increase his understanding of scripture because he has a thirst for God. This too is in line with the biblical examples which show us how teachers of the word were always placed in a training period first. Q: Why is it taking so long? A: The screening process is quite time consuming. We received 90 applications and it was necessary for us to go through each one. Every member of the committee is involved in this process. We must seek God s guidance as well as apply His wisdom. Q: How much longer will it be before we have a pastor to vote for? A: While we cannot give a specific date, our goal is to have a qualified candidate before the congregation early in the New Year. Q: How will the pastor be voted on? A: Voting booths will be leased from the Shelby County Election Commission and brought inside the church. A representative from the Election Commission will oversee the voting procedures. A list of active members will be printed out by the front office. All those eligible to vote will have to show proof of identification and their name will be checked on the church rolls. Q: How many candidate choices will we have? A: The PSC and the Interview team will choose the top candidate and present him to the congregation for a vote. If he does not receive at least 2/3 majority of the votes, we will go to the next candidate on the list of the top three. If none of them receive enough votes, we will re-post the position and seek a new pool of applications.

6 If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact the committee. You can also your questions to and we will respond within 3 business days. Committee members are: Rev. Abraham Washington (chair), Sister Linda Self (co-chair). Other members are: Sister Katherine Anthony, Sister Barbara Bolton, Deacon Charlie Brinson, Sister Nelda Cooper, Deacon Marvin Hester, Sister Annette Mallet, Sister Dorothy Neely, Rev. Dennis Nelson, Sister Virginia Towns, Sister Brenda Tucker, Brother Stanley Wickfall.