How to Deal with Search Committees

Here are a few pointers when dealing with search committees.

1. Don’t indiscriminately send out your resume- doing so will come back to bite you in the long run.

2. Guard your present location like a dog with a bone until the committee is ready to commit.  Don’t give out references until the committee says they are ready to call you.  Don’t tell anyone in your church what you are about or allow anyone from the search committee to talk to anyone in your church.  Search committees are notorious for changing their minds.

3. If a search committee wants to visit your church on Sunday establish some guidelines like them attending in twos, and not announced, and not in a church vehicle. Ask them not to alert anyone to what they are about.

4. When a church approaches you ask them for as much written information as they have- bulletins, newsletters, mission statements, goals, dreams, pictorial directory.  Even check on the church through the website and denominational headquarters.

5. Make sure the Search committee is really the official search committee. Never talk to an adhoc group or individuals who don’t represent the church.

6. Never take a call that has more than a handful of no votes.  If you don’t have unity going in the odds are you will never have it.

7. Make the committee pay for your travel expenses up front and do not put it on your credit card and expect to be paid later.

8. Ask for attendance records on worship.  Don’t take a guess.

9. Avoid horse races.  If the committee wants to bring in several candidates, make sure that they give you a time line and hold them to it.  Remove your name from the process after your visit if the committee continues searching past the deadline given you.

10. Don’t put too much stock in the personal comments of individuals on the search committee, even if it is the chairperson.

11. Don’t take rejection personal.  Someone has to lose in every Search process.  If you have established a good relationship with the chairperson during the process, you might ask if the person could tell you where your weak spots are.

12. Ask them to share with you the DNA of the church. Do they have any agreed upon Mission, Vision and values.  What about current goals. What do they hope their church is like in twenty years.

13. Ask them how serious they are about carrying out the great commission. Perhaps give them a scenario like- if it was necessary to begin a new style of worship service to reach the people in the community would you support it? More importantly, do you think the congregation would?

14. Most importantly, let them hear your passion, whatever it is.  Let them know what your heartburst is and see if their eyes light up or if they glaze over.