"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Tomorrow is our pastor's last Sunday at church. He has answered a call from another church in another state. It saddens me; I've gained a lot from his Biblically sound preaching.
It's interesting that this has caused me a good amount of cognitive dissonance. A month or so ago my father in law mentioned that there had been someone sitting on the front row at church, taking notes. "I'll bet he's from a church that's going to call [our pastor's first name]."
I remember thinking that that was kind of crass. I wanted to give that guy (I hadn't noticed him during the service) a piece of my mind. Who did he think he was, sneaking around, taking notes on our pastor?
It's pretty funny that I thought that, because I did the exact same thing six years ago. I was on the pastor search team that called our pastor to our church. I remember flying to another state, and attending a service at his then-church. I took notes. After the service I surreptitiously found him - we had already talked and he knew I was coming - and arranged a place for him and his family to meet me for lunch.
I remember having a really good lunch conversation. A month or so later we called him as our pastor. Keep in mind that we only approached pastoral candidates that had sent us their resumes and expressed interest. I think this is the common practice, and to do anything else would be unethical.
This happens all the time. Most experienced pastors in evangelical churches have been called away from other churches by pastor search teams.
So why does it bother me that it just happened to us?
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Comments on "Pointing Back at Me":
2. Bill
- 09/04/2011 4:32 pm CDT
Well, it was kind of rhetorical. I know it's dumb to be irritated at either. I did the same thing.
I never claimed to be rational.
3. KenLeonard
- 09/04/2011 5:22 pm CDT
Well, it would be natural to be upset that THIS is how you find out that your pastor is looking to move on. It's also only human to direct hurt, frustration, and the like in a direction that doesn't make that much sense.
It might make sense to be irritated with the pastor if you are close to him, but you don't want to be upset with him. So, the searcher bothers you.
It's not exactly the same, but think of women who get mad at mistresses instead of their cheating husbands. That doesn't really make sense, either. But it happens a lot.
6. Shrode
- 09/05/2011 9:29 pm CDT
Whole process bugs me... :-) I don't know that I can write it all here, but this post was quite thought provoking for me. I need to figure out how to write it all down.
8. Bill
- 09/06/2011 7:05 am CDT
The Truth - yes, That's where my lack of comfort lies. We're supposed to do unto others what we want them to do to us. I feel like a hypocrite for having been part of a search team, and then feeling frustration toward another church's search team that just was doing what I was doing.
Shrode, please, please, please write your thoughts. I want to hear them. What alternatives are there to the current process?
9. Doyle Gaines
- 09/06/2011 8:57 am CDT
I've been observing this "pastor search" process you described with some amusement for years now. I wonder why God chooses to rely on trained professionals now, instead of just supernaturally equipping certain individuals (in that specific congregation) to pastor and preach? Do these pastor exchanges usually involve a pay raise and a move to a bigger church? Why does God change His mind so often? It seems He calls a pastor to a church and then moves him to another church 7 or 8 years later. Perhaps I'm too simple-minded, but I believe we have developed a system that often ignores the will of God in exchange for a well-educated, and well-trained speaker. What do the Scriptures say or teach about choosing any pastor, teacher, deacon, etc.?
Leave a Comment:
"So why does it bother me that it just happened to us?"
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "it." If you're referring to the entire event of the pastor leaving, I think that it would be quite natural to be bothered at the loss of a shepherd.
If you're speaking specifically about the man taking notes in the pew, then I would argue that he wouldn't have been there if your pastor hadn't decided that he was prepared to leave. Are you more bothered by the note-taking or the person who invited the note-taker?