Pastors without churches?

I too am one of those without a church to pastor. I have filled in and traveled preaching a good amount the last sereval years. I was a youth pastor for a little while, but I am unable to find a church.

It can be hard . I know this is what I am to do but the chance to pastor has not opened up yet. I have been told by churches that they would not even consider me because I am single. I also heard they want someone with more expeirence.
I had a man just about hang up on me when he found out I was single. Me being single seems to be a problem for several churches. I've heard alll the reasons why too. For me, I've had 1/2 to 3/4 of the church I have talked with turn me down because I am single. This is not just a few churches either. I will add I am single and never marrried.
I struggled with this for a while. Part of it was you knew these churches were not open to the will of God if they don't even talk with some one because they are single. You may not agree, but in talking with the search teams things come across very clear at times. I realize that you do not want to be at a church like that, but it is still hard to understand - at times.
For now,I am preaching as God is giving me the chance. In many ways he is taking me to a larger audience. Like preaching at a funeral service last week with a large group of unbelievers at the service. It was a great chance to share the Gospel with those hurting and needy people.
I thank God for those chances- I will seize them and do my best to glorify Him as He allows me to preach His word to a dying, hurting, and needy world.

 

Pastors without churches

I am without a church again, and this time probably permanently.

My preaching is too direct for some, though most seem to be greatly helped by it. The last time it was seven years between churches, and at age 56 I am unlikely to be considered by anyone again.

It is sad, but so--there are many in the ministry who should be working at a secular occupation, and perhaps as many working in a secular occupation that really ought to be pastoring.

 

I am presently not serving a church. I would like for that to change. I am presently working in a secular vocation to help pay the bills.

Due to my family situation, I do not feel compelled to leave the area I am in. I know the area and the people, so why would I? I feel called to this area. I have not actively been seeking a church until very recently, so I covet your prayers for God's open door.

 

I'm preaching the Word, just not in a regular pastorate. The whole pastoral search, hire thing kind of reeks to me. Instead of a church getting on their knees and praying that God would send them a man and reveal His will for their church, the first thing they do is fill out a survey and make selections on what they want. What about God? Preachers line up like they running for office or they are in a beauty contest to see who will get the nod. It's all a little to much! Sad state, about like everything else these days.

 

I understand what you are saying, but can't God speak through the congregaton? Just curious on your thoughts on this.

 

What do you mean, speak through the congregation?

 

The same way God speaks through anyone. People have spiritual insights. I see no problem is asking people of the church what they would like to see in a new pastor. Godly people, who pray and meditate on this will have good suggestions.

I am curious, how would you like your church to go about calling a new pastor?

 

If the right questions are asked.
Questions like if a man is between 35 and 50 are irrelevant.
Also, if a man has a family has no bearing on whether or not God has chosen him to be your Pastor but it is sometimes included in the survey.
The new pastor must have at least 10 years experience. What if he has only eight, but God called him to be your Pastor and he doesn't even get past the first hurdle.

How many truly Godly people that pray, mediatate, and seek God's will are in the modern day church today? Most, you can't even get to participate in the various ministries of the church or even attend all of the services. But, I guess, in your mind, when it comes time to get a preacher they all become saints, when sometimes they are the reason they are looking for a new Pastor again, in the first place.

I doubt that you are seriously curious about my thoughts in calling a new pastor.

 

You are quite cynical aren't you?

(edited due to Baptist Board violation)

 

Somebody that speaks the truth and tries to be honest can sometimes be called alot of things. Even a cynic, at times, I suppose.
The first words out of your mouth when I posted in this thread were, "I understand what you are saying..."
Yet, that wasn't enough.

(quoted BB violation)

 

Trotter, with all due respect, I disagree. I believe a church should not look at it as hiring a Pastor, but many do. Maybe you have a limited view of this because of your experience with only your church, but all across America churches have broken down the process to closely resemble hiring an employee or CEO.

 

Having gone through the search process several times, it is certainly not a without its flaws. I do however love the idea of the collective voice of a church calling a pastor. I have been in three churches and have had only one person vote no for me coming. It gives me assurance and confidence that the Lord is leading.

The flaws are usually associated with churches and candidates not being honest with one another. Finances turn out not to be what was stated, the pastor is a more conservative or liberal then stated, things like that. If totally honest with one another, then it shouldn't be all that much of a problem.

I do love it when churches go looking for a pastor 40 years old with 20 years experience, as I heard one person say, "We need to be more realistic cause Billy Graham ain't walking through that door anytime soon."

I also wander what pastors are thinking when they come in and decide to blow everything up so they can do it their way. Dictator is not the same as pastor, wish more folks would figure that out.

 

I believe the concept of a search committe is good as long as the committe starts out with a clear understanding of what a Pastor is and what the congegation needs in a Pastor. I can honestly say that in 25 years of preaching, I have never been chosen by a search committe but have been called directly by the congregation. I have sat on the search committe of a church that called me and helped them to find the right man because I did not feel God's direction in taking the position. I do feel the entire congregation needs to be actively involved in the decision, deciding not on age, looks, family size or in some cases education but in peace from our Lord to lead the local church He built.

 

Relating to those seemingly ignorant congregations, might it be pointed out that they are in the situation they are in knowledge wise due to the lackings of previous pastors that have not taught them :thumbs: I've seen most of what has been mentioned in congregations due to being an interim several times as well as a semi-permanent fill in between pastors many times. That has been my main ministry for many years.

When going to a church that had just lost a pastor I usually tried to give them pointers of what they should be looking for, not only qualifications but qualities. I might mention that most knew how to go about finding a pastor and were heavily into the process.

I have also seen some churches that were very well prepared to find their new pastor by their old pastors.

Seeking to know what the people want in a pastor is good. Not to bring about a handsome guy or a young guy, but to find one that fits the needs of the church at the time.

There are churches that need Bible teaching. There are others that have good Bible teaching but need someone that has qualifications in evangelizing etc. so that the church can go out into the community. There are some that have other specific needs that they might want to include in their thinking.

I also have observed many men that assume the congregation is a bunch of bungling idiots and treat them as such. I've seen many congregations and their leadership and have found most of them to be very knowledgeable and well founded in their thinking.

Over all I'd say as a general sweeping statement that congregations are a product of their former pastors, so condemning a congregation is often condemning former pastors not the congregations :thumbs:

As I said a sweeping statement knowing that there are some congregations that wouldn't learn if the Lord Himself were doing the teaching :laugh:

 

True words Cutter, very true words.

 

On the last search committee on which i served, we were obsessed with seeking God's will. We believed that the Holy Spirit would guide all of us, so we decided that every move we made had to be unanimous. If one person objected, we would not go in that direction. To my chagrin, that happened more than once; we passed up some good men. But in hindsight, it was simply God's doing what we asked: revealing his will to all of us.

We went through one set of resumes and all of them dropped by the wayside.

A second batch arrived and we went through them, eliminating some, with others eventually taking themselves out of the running.

We were down to one resume. There were no more.

This was God's man.

Biblically sound, a pastor's heart, the works. A perfect fit. God had taken everyone else out of the way.

Seven years later, we like to kid him, that he was our last choice and we had to take him. But we all know the truth. And we bless the name of the Lord for it.