I have come to a conclusion: Anyone who volunteers to be on a pulpit search committee "just ain't right in the head". Besides being on the committee, I agreed to handle the correspondence. Having applied for jobs in the past I decided some basic common courtesy was required. Everyone who submits a resume gets an acknowledgment within 24 hours. Same for any email sent to us.
It amazes me the response that gets. This one floored me:
Thanks so much. You probably don't have any idea, but many (well, most really) churches looking for a minister NEVER respond. That you emailed me the same day -- oh my, I am deeply indebted.
I've spent several evenings writing letters. OK, email, but it is the same thing in my head. I've sent questions, answered questions, gotten to know some of these guys I think as well as you can without meeting them. And we have met with 3 so far before getting down to the final group.
These are the hardest to write. I haven't counted but all totaled I have written over 30 saying:
One of my frustrations going into this is I knew at some point I would be writing to all but one applicant expressing regret but saying no. And knowing I will have to say that to some very good men. We have been working to narrow down our list of candidates. We have had nearly 45 express interest or send a resume. We have narrowed our list down to five guys.
It really hurts me to say you are not one of them.
Some much more than others. There are a couple preachers I have known for years, both over 5 years, that applied. We had a guy who, when I wrote and asked why now replied the church he was at couldn't afford to pay his salary and his girls had to eat. I also found out his wife decided she didn't want to be married to a preacher and left him and the girls.
Most everyone says "You need to run background checks"
"OK, how?"
" I don't know, but you really need to do it."
I found a couple places that will do it. One has a 13 page contract for services we have to sign. The applicant has to fill out and sign a 4 page release form.
The other looks more user friendly.
Group Publishing (they do a lot of Sunday School and VBS material) has a
division doing that. It looks more like what a church needs.
We're making important decisions based on limited information. You think deciding to borrow a half million dollars to buy farm ground keeps you up at night? Try this. Speaking of which, I think I'll try and get some sleep. I'll schedule this to post in the morning and maybe I'll add or change it before than.
Later Y'all
