NECC Pulpit Committee Guide
INTRODUCTION:
As it has become obvious that we need to search for a new senior pastor, a number of things need to take place – some concurrently and some in sequence. This Guideline outlines the tasks that a pulpit committee needs to address, more-or-less in sequence. A copy of this document is being provided to anyone considering serving on this committee so that committee volunteers can be better informed up front as to the requirements of this activity.
PULPIT COMMITTEE:
We need to identify members of the church that collectively will represent a fair and balanced quorum of the church. This body, known as the Pulpit Committee, will be charged with a number of duties over many months. It will be important to the group as a whole that representatives commit to these tasks and do their utmost best to participate and engage in all the committee’s tasks. Our initial goal is for this committee is to identify a candidate for a new senior minister, God willing, by June 2012.
The Pulpit Committee reports directly to the Elders. All discussions are held in confidence concerning applicant evaluations and status until a candidate is selected and introduced as a candidate to the congregation. The Elders have the responsibility for over-site of this activity to assure progress is being made. The Elders are charged to evaluate any candidate selected by the Pulpit Committee prior to congregation involvement.
a. Committee Membership
Membership on the committee is largely volunteer, but it is seen by the congregation as a whole to be very important that their groups are adequately represented. Further, the members of the committee will be restricted to only one representative from any one family group. Therefore, husbands and wives will not both be on the committee.
We need a representative from each available age group:
1. One 18-29 year old
2. One 30-39 year old
3. One 40-49 year old
4. One 50-59 year old
5. One 60-69 year old
6. One 70 years old or older
7. 1 elder
8. 1 trustee
9. 1 minister
We recognize that this committee may require, at times substantial time commitments. Volunteers need to understand that this is potentially a long-term commitment and once started we need you to stay – to provide continuity throughout the process.
b. Committee Chair: Initially the search committee shall be chaired by the Chairperson of the Elders, and will be delegated once things get going. The Chair of the committee will not have a vote except to vote to break a tie.
c. Secretary – The committee shall select from its members a secretary who will record decisions made and report status to the elders on a weekly basis. A complete roster of the committee shall be made and published to each member and to the elders of name, phone number, and email (if available).
d. Frequency of meetings: Highly recommended that this group meet weekly, and then once the initial hard work is finished, to meet as resumes present themselves for evaluation.
e. Communication: The committee needs to determine how to keep each other informed. It is recommended that a private email address specifically for the use of candidate for resume submittal – the elders will set this up.
PROCESS:
Each meeting / session of the pulpit committee shall open and close in prayer.
First Meeting: The process that is recommended by the elders is outlined below. The first step, forming the committee is already described above, as is the commitment of each volunteer, and secretary and chair selection. It is during the group’s first meeting that the secretary and chairperson are selected.
After these two roles are identified, the committee needs to define some basic guidelines regarding what the group will consider to be a ‘consensus’. This can be 51%, 75%, or 100% for example). This needs to be determined by the group and recorded by the secretary. The elder attending the group’s meetings will be responsible for keeping the other elders informed.
Subsequent Meetings
TASK 1 – The committee needs to brainstorm a list of things that, in the committee’s opinion, should be expected tasking of this new senior pastor, obtaining a consensus. For instance this list might contain things like:
· Senior pastor will perform 3 in house member visits per week,
· Senior pastor will hold routine daily hours of 8-noon and provide supervisory guidance to office staff,
· Senior pastor shall be available 24-7 (even on day’s off) or have someone designated to serve in that capacity when not available for emergency member care;
· Provide spiritual leadership for the church and assisting the Elders as needed.
· Senior Pastor will maintain a log of activities for weekly submission to the elders.
This list will then be “morphed” into a job description that we will use in our advertisements.
TASK 2 – The committee needs to brainstorm and obtain consensus as to what are the major positives about NECC (i.e. our mission, our location, our opportunities). It is also acceptable that this activity – if obtained by consensus might need to be deferred to one of the Tasks assigned to the new pastor. The secretary will publish this list, once finished, to the elders before beginning Task 3.
TASK 3 – The committee needs to brainstorm and obtain consensus as to what kind of credentials our candidates must have to be able to be hired. Things to consider here:
· Age (30-40 OR 40-50);
· Do we want to hire local candidates only or is current location an issue?
· Level of education (BA in Theology or similar area of study vs MDIV);
· Which School (Johnson, Ozark, CTS etc);
· Years of experience as a senior pastor (0-5 OR 6-10);
· Do we want someone with experience as an associate pastor or someone right out of school?
· Experience in running a church from an administrative perspective?
· Experience in serving a church from the WORD perspective?
· How much can we afford?
· How conservative of a pastor do we want; etc.
Committee members may elect to make informal inquiries of friends and contacts from within the church in preparation for this discussion. The secretary will keep notes on the conversations and the final list of required credentials shall be approved by the elders before being published as part of a job notice.
TASK 4 – Once Tasks 1, 2, and 3 are finished, a complete job description will be assembled, that describes our church, the position and duties we are trying to fill, and a list of credentials that are either “musts” or “nice-to-haves”.
TASK 5 – Advertise the position
The committee is responsible for getting the word out. Some things to consider are:
· Utilizing our own membership, apprising them of the progress and status and providing them with a copy of the job description.
· Will we want to inform other churches?
· Will we utilize free web sites specific to pastor searches?
· Will we post the job description in the paper?
· Will we post the job description at each of the major seminaries (approved in advance as to which ones by the committee)?
· Will we utilize FACE BOOK for a posting of the job description?
TASK 6 – While we wait for resumes the committee is not dormant. A checklist needs to be created that will allow each committee member to evaluate the resumes based on the job description criteria. Also, the committee needs to prepare a Senior Pastor Candidate Questionnaire that will be sent by the committee chair to candidates passing the resume review. Again – that ‘passage’ criteria needs to be defined by the committee – in advance and written down and published for all team members to have as reference. Third, a list of standard interview questions needs to be prepared in advance before any phone interviews take place or face-to-face interviews.
NOTE From this point on- each candidate will move down through our process at different rates. So accurate notes for each applicant need to be maintained.
TASK 7 – Once Resumes start arriving; the committee will meet as needed. The Group may want to allow at least 20 minutes per resume (may vary) for scheduling purposes. Resume checklists are filled out, discussed and the secretary assembles a consensus for future reference and comparisons. If any resume’ meets the “next-step” thresholds established by the committee, then that needs to be noted. The next step would be for a candidate questionnaire to be sent out.
TASK 8 – Evaluate returned questionnaires. Those that meet the criteria will be allowed to go to the next step, which would be a phone interview/clearance call event. The committee will inform the elders when these begin taking place so they may attend. The elders are there to listen – not to decide. Candidates going through the phone interview process will be evaluated and discussed by the committee in an effort to compare and select – ultimately – the best selections. Those being selected for a potential visit or face-to-face interview need to be passed to the elders for a discussion about the committee’s evaluation and thoughts.
TASK 9 – Face-to-face discussions. Before a candidate’s formal interview can be established/scheduled – the finance committee (aka treasurer) must be consulted concerning funding of travel. Candidates selected by the committee to have a group interview by the committee need to have travel paid for by the church along with any hotel accommodations covered. To make one trip do it for both the committee and the Elder’s, two events will be scheduled on the same day or same two days – to limit travel expenses. The search committee will have ‘first-shot’ – and then have time to deliberate to determine if a recommendation to the Elder’s is warranted. If the committee elects to not recommend – then the interview process is ended. Otherwise the elders will convene and meet independently with the candidate – reporting back to the committee.
TASK 10 – At some point it is hoped and prayed for that a candidate becomes identified as our best choice. – Both by committee confirmation and Elder concurrence. At that time – we will ask the candidate to come to church on what is called “Visit Sunday”. This will serve as an opportunity for the candidate to come and see and worship with us.
The following week we will call “Sermon Sunday” where the candidate will have an opportunity to lead the worship service and preach.
TASK 11 – The Elders will meet briefly with the search committee and get an evaluation to go- or no go. If a no-go – then the Chair of the Elders will issue a decline statement to the candidate.
TASK 12 – If a go – the Elders in conjunction with the finance committee will prepare a letter of offer that will include the job description and expectations along with the financial portion of the offer. At the same time, a congregational meeting will be established (with proper 2 weeks notice) that we will be voting on a candidate. If we get the required affirmative count (75%), then the candidate – on that Sunday would be extended that letter of offer