Pastoral Search Team Blog #1

I do not really enjoy meetings.  I’m the type of person that likes to be active and do things.  Let me loose on a task list, or better yet, give me a computer project, and I’ll be happy and productive.  I think it is my background as a former seventh grade teacher.  Staff meetings were a chore, but alone in my classroom with my kids, I came alive.  My husband, Phil, on the other hand, loves meetings and is excellent at working with others to accomplish various tasks.  He sometimes has 5 or more meetings a day and thrives under those conditions.  I love how God gives each of us special gifts.

However, serving on the pastoral search team has been a blessing.  In a way, I feel like I joined a Sanctuary Community Group when I became part of the pastoral search process.  We meet monthly, have a devotional together, work on accomplishing certain tasks, and pray for one another.  Our search team is comprised of the following members: Neeraj Mehta (chair), Wiley Scott (Elder Board), Calvin Allen (Elder Board), Amy Long (Elder Board), Michelle Perkins (Secretary), Jocelyn Broyles, and Gary Shackleford.  I serve as the communications person.

The search team is acutely aware of the trust and responsibility that the congregation has poured into us.  We have been working hard at getting congregational input through avenues such as our online survey, the demographic census, our two open, informal gatherings at Brookdale Covenant, and our pre-service gym prayer times.  This blog and our information board in the Fellowship Café are two more ways we are trying to connect with the congregation during this process.  We have our own email address too: searchteam@sanctuarycov.org. 

During our last meeting, the devotional centered around how we can worship God through our service to Him, how serving on the pastoral search team is not just a task but a form of worship.  Usually, we think that only praise, prayer, Sunday service, or our quiet times qualify as worship, but even the act of using our gifts in ministry can be another way for us to show God how much we love Him.  Service can be a part of our worship.

Much like a community group, the search team has a covenant of how we will walk through the pastoral search process.  We have six covenants: Trust (Proverbs 3:5-6), Commitment (Romans 12:10), Communication (Ephesians 4:15), Confidentiality (I Corinthians 4:2), Diligence (Hebrews 10:25), and Unity (Ephesians 4:3).  Walking out one’s purpose and using one’s gifts together in unison with others is a source of spiritual renewal for me.  It is easy to get burned out by being over-involved, but finding a calling, and narrowing your service to fit His kingdom purpose refreshes rather than exhausts.

It’s hard to imagine that, on average, the search process will take a year to 18 months.  There are seven steps to the pastoral search process: organize as a committee, gather information in order to post the position and screen applicants, contact potential candidates for phone/skype/in-person interviews, introduce the final candidate and his family to our church, hold a congregational meeting and vote on the candidate, help the new senior pastor prepare for his or her move and installation, and finally, assist in the new pastor’s transition to ministry at Sanctuary.  Currently, we are in phase 2, the information gathering stage.  The Elder Board is refining the job posting, church profile, and pastoral profile.  After the Elder Board approves these items, the search team will open the position to applicants.  The road ahead seems long, but I can only pray that Sanctuary grows deeper roots during this time of transition.  As Pastor Cecilia said during her 5/2/10 sermon, “Change happens, but transitions are made.”

There are many ways congregation members can be a part of the pastoral search process.  There are pre-service Sunday weekly prayer gatherings in the gym at 8:25 and 10:25 that will lift up the senior pastor search.  A prayer meeting is held every Wednesday night at 7 pm at the church office.  Staying informed by reading our blog or visiting our info board in the Fellowship Café will help members better understand the process of finding a new senior pastor.  We have a list of search team FAQs on the website: http://sanctuarycov.org/about/senior-pastor-search-faqs but if you have further questions, ask!  We want to hear from you: searchteam@sanctuarycov.org