You have been selected to be one of the finalists to be considered as the pastor of a church. Perhaps you are the lone finalist. You have answered a plethora of questions. The church has done a legal background check on you, a credit check, and a social media check. They have listened to your podcast sermons. A few members attended your current church and listened to you preach in person. They have checked numerous references on you.
Now it’s your turn.
While it’s common for candidates for a pastorate to ask questions, the nature of the questions often does not lend itself to a complete answer. For example, if you ask some of the church members if they are ready and willing to reach their community with the gospel, they will likely respond with a resounding “yes.” But after you become their pastor, your realize they meant that they are willing for you to do the work, and they aren’t really comfortable reaching beyond their own groups. They didn’t lie. They just didn’t tell you the whole story.
So I have devised seven questions that are more likely to get to the heart of the matter. I encourage you to ask these questions and listen carefully to their responses. It could save you a lot of heartache in the future.
- If a big decision needs to be made in the church, to whom do the members look for the blessing or approval? This question is a more subtle approach than asking who the power group is. They may respond with one name or they may point to a group of people. You may hear stories how the power brokers operate. And if you decide to accept the call to the church, you have good insights on how to lead and move forward. Or there could be sufficient horror stories to keep you away.
- What is your dream for how the church might look ten years from now? Once you hear the responses to this question, you will likely have a good idea of what the change tolerance is in the church. Any organization should look significantly different in a decade. If their decadal view involves only cosmetic changes, you may have a leadership challenge.
- What was the topic of your last contentious business meeting? You will learn a lot by hearing when that meeting took place. If it was just a few weeks ago, the church may be a fighting lot. If it was several years ago, it is likely that the church is a relatively civil group. You will also be able to hear the issue and find out if that issue is still a point of contention today.
- What is your fondest memory of the church? It’s always good to find out when the “good old days” were, and if they are still the focus of longing today. On the other hand, the good old days may be a point where the church experienced a period of great spiritual and numerical growth. Their desire to return to those days could be healthy.
- What is the number one recommendation you have received in your search for a pastor? Often the congregation will have been surveyed on this issue, and you can hear the direct results of that survey. At the very least, they have had informal conversations on the topic. They should be able to share many insights with you. In some ways, they will be giving you the church’s expectations of you.
- What is something I might say from the pulpit that would cause a number of members to cringe? This question gets to heart of “hot button” issues. Some of those issues may be theological. Some of them may be something foolish one or more former pastors said from the pulpit. At the very least you have been forewarned before you accept the call to the church.
- What is the biggest mistake made by any of your previous pastors? Because you open up the discussion to the entire history of the church, you don’t have to pick on any one previous pastor. But you can learn a lot by hearing the not-so-positive tales of those who came before you.
What do you think of these seven questions? What would you add to the list?
Pastor to Pastor is the Saturday blog series at ThomRainer.com. Pastors and staff, if we can help in any way, contact Steve Drake, our director of pastoral relations, at [email protected]. We also welcome contacts from laypersons in churches asking questions about pastors, churches, or the pastor search process.
Posted on March 2, 2013
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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79 Comments
As a HR professional I always encouarge those interviewing at churchs to ask
about the undeclared culture in the church.
I also poss a list of church behavioral questions, tell me about a time the church leaders handled a conflict issue, a financial issue, a staff problem issue. How they implemented a successful ministry initiative.
I would ask about his personal prayer habits.
Ask if you could get a copy of the church business meeting minutes for the past five years especially if it is a rural church that has monthly meetings. Shows priorities, divisions & who the power brokers are. Also shows feelings of members towards committees.
Thom,
Great stuff!
One question I think would be helpful is: How does the church go about establishing and administering salary, benefits, expense reimbursement and other compensation matters for its staff members?
Certainly, the candidate ought to have a working knowledge of church compensation planning for his own benefit, for the well being of his family and for leading his people. But, it is a huge help to know just how educated and proactive the congregation is when it comes to the dollars and cents that go along with hiring and keeping a pastor or other staff member. While very few guys take a pastorate “for the money,” if Mama can’t buy groceries and keep shoes on the kids, it’s going to be either a long road or a short pastorate.
There are still quite a few churches, particularly among smaller congregations but also in some larger ones, that allocate a block of money in the budget and leave it to the pastor to divide this among salary, housing, insurance, retirement, one-half of self-employment taxes, ministry expenses and other things. The church may think it is paying its pastor a certain amount based on the line item in the budget, but the reality is, the “real” pay is much less when you strip out all the things that are usually paid for by the employer in other settings.
A search committee or other group might bristle at a pastor asking this type of question but dealing with it up front will save a lot of angst down the road…and may also be an indicator of how the church relates to its pastor and staff.
Thank you. Extremely helpful (and simple)! And most likely very timely.
Excellent questions! Have any other suggestions for someone aged 35 candidating for a church of 40 aged 60-70?
RUN! Ask how they would serve thier community? are they willing to do after school reading. Are they willing to be adopt grandparent. What do they want to share. If they want to remain the same and feel they have nothing to offer….RUN to another direction you and wife CANNOT bear the whole load. Been there
I’d ask about the current debt load and attitudes of the body towards going into debt.
Good one!
I always ask, “when people in the community talk about your church, what do they say?”
This question helps reveal how missional a church really is.
That’s good, David, particularly if the members know how to answer the question.
How about a follow-up post on the questions a congregation should ask prospective pastors?
Good idea Rusty. Let me think about it.
I always ask about their openness to racial diversity. I had a friend just last year that was asked to leave because he preached that the gospel is for all people. Secondly, I always ask what someone from the community who isn’t a member of the church would say about the church. Their answers seem to be much less guarded about the “friendliness” of the church.
I like that Jason.
What question did you all discuss how you would answer? Is there something I should know about the church/congregation you’d prefer I not ask about?