Pastoral Advice for the Pastoral Search Committee

Pastoral Advice for the Pastoral Search Committee

Rev. James M. Leonard, PhD

Ministry Is Hard Work

Members of the search committee have been entrusted with a task that is huge, time-consuming, and often frustrating. They usually work very quietly; the congregation generally does not know the many hours of labor their committee members must sacrifice to complete the task. Members can often feel underappreciated, and these feelings can be exacerbated when the congregation starts getting impatient about the pace of the committee work.

For this reason, as an interim minister, I want to encourage committee members. I understand a little about how hard the task is. I pray for you, and at nearly every church meeting, we encourage the whole church to keep you in prayer. There will come a time when all your hard work comes to fruition. Be faithful, then, and do not be downcast. Your reward is great.

Close Contact Leads to Closer Personal Relationships

As you spend hours each week with your fellow committee members, and as the weeks turn into months, and even years, you will get to know each other incredibly well. You will discover that each member has different abilities, gifts, perspectives, and urgencies. I ask you to appreciate these diverse gifts and these diverse perspectives. Rely on God’s gifting, so that the members carry the burdens equally. Don’t let any one individual carry too heavy a load.

Recognize that discernment is actually a charism—a spiritual gift. All of us have some measure of discernment, largely determined by the wisdom that we’ve developed over the years. Yet God gives to the church a Spirit-anointed discernment through individual church members. This is a supernatural gifting that goes well beyond natural wisdom. After working so closely together as a group, you may perceive that God has gifted one or more people with this Spirit-empowered gift. The members of the committee should recognize this over time, and judiciously lean on such individuals as God leads.

The crucible of the search committee has a way of yielding contention, arguments, and impatience. It has a way of bringing out idiosyncrasies and untamed character traits. For this reason, we must remember that love covers a multitude of sins. Or, in the case of church members, love covers a multitude of idiosyncrasies. You must deeply love one another, or else you will get on each others’ nerves! But if love covers a multitude of idiosyncrasies, then you just have to smile when any unseemly characteristics rear their ugly heads. Everyone is normal until you get to know them!

Your Ideal Pastor Profile Is important

You should review your list of characteristics you want in a new pastor, mostly as a reminder. Have confidence in that profile. It was created with great care by the collective wisdom of your entire committee. Keep it in focus. Every once in a while it might need to be modified, but mostly it should serve you well.

There are many characteristics that might be emphasized in any pastoral search, but among those that you should not overlook are high energy and creativity. Donald Trump sand bagged Jeb Bush with the moniker “Low Energy Jeb.” A low energy pastor might not sink a church, but a church is hardly capable of changing directions without a high energy pastor.

A Prophetic Minister Is Key

By prophetic, I mean that your installed minister should be cut from the same cloth as the biblical prophets who did not do so much foretelling. Rather, the biblical prophets preached the Mosaic covenant with great persuasion, and in ways that were relevant to their contemporaries.

The corollary to this point is that you should not seek the preacher whose sermons are easily “amen-able.” There is a whole crop of preachers whose preaching elicits quick and easy amens. It is not enough for your preacher to say, “Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor.” The preacher needs to be more specific, and some of those specifics should involve some stepping on your toes from time to time. The faithful minister will preach the truth, and the truth should hurt—at least every once in a while. The best sermon compliment is to tell the preacher that his sermon hurt, but that you needed it.

Finally,

Be strong in the Lord, confident of his presence and guidance. Do not faint or grow weary, but press on toward the conclusion. There is such a thing as following the Lord’s leading.

A National Prayer for the Fourth of July

A National Prayer for the Fourth of July

for Three Choral Readers

by

Rev. James M. Leonard, PhD

Preamble (Unison)
Our Father who holds the destiny of nations in your hands, we thank you for the way you have guided our pilgrim forebearers and founding fathers in establishing our country. We recognize that we have not always been faithful followers, and we confess our national sins and failures. We ask that you renew our commitment to the Christian principles behind our nation’s founding so that our society would be free to pursue your calling, so that we may be a blessing to all the neighboring countries of the world.

#1 Our Land

Father, we praise you for our beautiful country, that it is blessed beyond measure in resources and natural wealth. We confess that there have been times that we’ve taken our land for granted, that we have sometimes abused it and harmed our environment. We thank you that much has been done in recent years so that we usually have plenty of clean air to breath and clean water to drink. We pray that you would help us be good stewards of our land.

#2 Our Freedom

Father, we praise you that we live in a country that cherishes freedom, that our forefathers recognized that you endowed all people with the unalienable rights to life, liberty, and to pursue the life to which you call us. We thank you for those who have served to defend these freedoms, and we pray that we would live lives worthy of their sacrifice. We confess that we ourselves have often abused these freedoms and have sometimes denied them to others. Forgive us of such sins. We pray that you would preserve these freedoms for our children, and for our children’s children, so that they too may pursue the life to which you call them.

#3 Our International Relationships

Father, we thank you for granting to us an auspicious status in world affairs. We tremble at such a weighty status, knowing that we will be judged according to the way that our nation conducts its international policies. We thank you for our past international accomplishments that have paved the way for a more peaceful world. We ask forgiveness for our nation’s self-serving meddling that has led to hardships in other countries. In our efforts to preserve the interests and security of our fellow American citizens, we pray that you would teach us how to be good to our world-wide neighbors. Make us a channel of blessing, a beacon of light, and a city set on a hill for all the nations of the earth to emulate.

Conclusion (underscored by organ playing the hymn)

 

#1 God of our fathers, whose almighty hand

Leads forth in beauty all the starry band

Of shining worlds in splendor through the skies,

Our grateful songs before Thy throne arise.

#2 Thy love divine hath led us in the past,

In this free land by Thee our lot is cast;

Be Thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay,

Thy Word our law, Thy paths our chosen way.

#3 From war’s alarms, from deadly pestilence,

Be Thy strong arm our ever sure defense;

Thy true religion in our hearts increase,

Thy bounteous goodness nourish us in peace.

Unison: Refresh Thy people on their toilsome way,

Lead us from night to never-ending day;

Fill all our lives with love and grace divine,

And glory, laud, and praise be ever Thine.