What should a preacher do

[Salty]

Came across an interesting situation -
would like some views on it.


A preacher spoke at a church recently - a church without a pastor. He is not a member, nor even a regular attender. Should he attend - even as other potential pastors are speaking?

From what I understand - the church has not requested any resumes - they are in a transition period - as the former pastor left about 2 months ago.

Has anyone had a situation like this before - Just not sure about the ratifications...

Thoughts appreciated -.....

 

[Revmitchell]

Should who attend?

 

[Zaac]

Came across an interesting situation -
would like some views on it.


A preacher spoke at a church recently - a church without a pastor. He is not a member, nor even a regular attender. Should he attend - even as other potential pastors are speaking?

From what I understand - the church has not requested any resumes - they are in a transition period - as the former pastor left about 2 months ago.

Has anyone had a situation like this before - Just not sure about the ratifications...

Thoughts appreciated -.....

Does this pastor not have a regular home church that he attends?

 

[Salty]

Does this pastor not have a regular home church that he attends?

My understanding, yes - but not sure if he is a member there

 

[aadebayo]

Difficult one to be sure, but apart from the church he attends, the pertinent question to ask is does this man subscribe to the doctrines of grace as laid out in the church's confession of faith document?

 

[HAMel]

Why not attend?

If the church has not requested any resumes per se perhaps this man shows up just in case there isn't a speaker available on any given Lord's Day.

 

[Tom Bryant]

Why does he want to attend there? Is it because he wants to be their pastor or because he wants to worship there?

If he is coming to the church to position himself to become their next pastor, then he has some wrong motives. He is just like the church member who chooses which church to go to because they are "the next big thing".

Was he thinking about attending there before the church lost their previous pastor? Who invited him to go to the church, was it the guys who pushed out the previous pastor if he was pushed out?

The question for me is his motivations in coming to this new church and leaving the church he was attending.

 

[Don]

As we've been working through hiring a pastor, I've seen this at least twice. The first one started showing up every service; it was interesting to watch him "work the room." Then, when it became clear we weren't going to hire him, he stopped showing up.

The second one is currently a member at another church. When it initially looked like we were seriously considering him, he even talked about changing his membership to our church. Then, as things "dragged on," he basically quit coming. Saw him at lunch a few weeks back with members of his current church. Haven't seen him since.

Have to go with Tom Bryant on this one.

 

[Zaac]

Why does he want to attend there? Is it because he wants to be their pastor or because he wants to worship there?

If he is coming to the church to position himself to become their next pastor, then he has some wrong motives. He is just like the church member who chooses which church to go to because they are "the next big thing".

Exactly what I was thinking and that's why I asked the other question. Don't come around trying to brown-nose us just because you think it's gonna help you get a pastorship. Making it look like you're trying to influence people to make a certain decision as opposed to God leading them to make such a decision is always a bad sign in my book, especially when you're looking for pastoral leadership.

I see situations like this and I immediately think manipulative and opportunistic, and the type of person who will leave as soon as he sees a "bigger" , higher profile position.

Was he thinking about attending there before the church lost their previous pastor? Who invited him to go to the church, was it the guys who pushed out the previous pastor if he was pushed out?

The question for me is his motivations in coming to this new church and leaving the church he was attending.

AMEN. Even if he's preaching somewhere every week, he and his family should still have a church HOME so that they can be fed. And someone who just starts attending a church so that they can get a job is just kinda yucky.

 

[Salty]

I attend the local Association of Evangelicals pastors. Our next meeting is on Wednesday.
We meet at a Chinese buffet! - So I don't want to miss it!

Will let you know what I find out.