
How do most churches go about selecting pastors? In the vast majority of cases the church forms some sort of search committee which manages the effort to find and screen pastor candidates. At a high level, the process differs little from a business’s Human Resources department which attempts to attract talented individuals who can contribute positively to the organization.
In most instances, the pastor search team evaluates the ministry resumes of complete strangers. They may get a good lead through a mutual contact who has given the candidate a good reference, but for the most part the church and the pastor candidate have no familiarity with each other. Like interviewing for a secular job in the business world, it is very difficult to gauge a person’s fitness for the role based on a few brief face to face meetings.
In essence, the church ends up hiring a stranger who interviewed well. Everyone prays that the new pastor will end up being a good fit who will help the church to grow spiritually. How does this method of selecting pastors align with the way the New Testament says we should do it?
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