Pastor search questionnaire

If it has "bizarre" questions or gets too long and drawn out, it's going in the trash. One committee sent me a quesionnaire with over thirty questions. Good grief and no thanks.

 

Boxers or briefs??? :tongue3:

 

Any answer but "depends."

 

what about Spiderman Underoos?

 

For me, it depends on how many questions they ask. If, as with Sag38, they ask 30 questions, I doubt whether they will even read them. It also depends on the kinds of questions. If they are doctrinal, philosophy of ministry or about my own spiritual habits such as devotions or evangelism, I will answer them.

I won't answer questions about my adult children. I got a question once from a church that asked if I was a tree what kind would i be. I left it blank. I also didn't go there.

I think the kind of questions shows me more of what the church is about. If they ask 3 questions about Calvinism, I know that it is an issue with them in one direction or another. Or, if there are lots of questions about relationships with deacons and other leaders, there was probably a problem with their last pastor.

I am thinking about developing my own 8 page set of questions to send to the church. Maybe we can start a thread about that.

 

You, sir, are a good man!

 

I am thinking about developing my own 8 page set of questions to send to the church. Maybe we can start a thread about that.

Good luck on getting a response back from them.:tongue3:

 

true, but any info they give will help.

 

The best piece of information that I want to know is whether or not the committee and the church are on the same page. Sometime what the committee says the church needs and wants does not reflect reality. What are some questions or methods that a candidate can use to get a feel for the real pulse of the church and not some fantasy concocted or agenda created by the committee?

 

How about this question to prospective pastors: "How much money do you have to have to get by on?" :BangHead:

 

Not arguing, or anything...just curious:

What brings that question up?

 

I had a church give me a questionnaire and they also had their doctrinal statement posted. At the end of the questions they asked me if I had any reservations about their statement of faith. In an interview it would be very easy to ask the same questions and it would be easy to find out the same information. My time is valuable and I meet with men weekly. I am not going to spend several hours filling out questionnaires from churches.

 

Sometimes some of the committee have a personal agenda that is not the same as the leadership nor the church. I find most church committees to be quite poor. They are not in any kind of leadership in a workplace but they might be in a church. That is telling. I had my own business and before that I ran a large business. So I see through the smoke when they talk often times.

 

I agree about how important this is. The best way is to make certain you speak with former pastors/staff about the church. Also, a prospective pastor ought to talk with as many non-search team members as possible.

Regardless, it comes back to the Lord's will. Sometimes God leads us to church's that have not been correct in their assessment of the church. It is not intentional dishonesty (although it is sometimes), but they are looking at their church thru rose colored glasses.

Prospective pastors also have to look at the hard numbers concerning offering vs expenses; salvation growth vs tranfer growth; even noting that large amounts of designated giving that may show there is a lack of trust in church leadership. You can't be afraid of asking alot of questions. If they won't give you answers, there ought to be alarms going off in your head. :smilewinkgrin: