A Recent Occurrence
A friend who interviewed for a Pastoral position recently in a local church was one of five candidates. The day that he was to hear which candidate the church had decided on came and went so he reached out to the head of the search committee and he was told that the committee and the Elders of the church had prayed extensively and that a spiritual movement unifying the entire leadership had occurred and neither he or the other final candidate were going to be invited to serve in the position. He found out a week later through a source the search committee probably never thought existed that one of the members of their committee had been laid off from their job and asked if they could have the job instead of either of the candidates. Spiritualizing their decision was not necessary….
December 5, 2019 @ 7:16 pm
That is disheartening to hear. I am sure your friend would of rather just heard the truth.
December 11, 2019 @ 12:08 pm
Those were his exact words. He also felt bad for the other candidates who participated in the search process.
December 11, 2019 @ 12:48 pm
I’m sure it was hurtful to him, as he had invested some significant time in the process and had poured himself out in the interview (judging from the amount of time involved in search committees I’ve been part of!). If the committee member had been laid off or expressed interest in the pastoral position in the middle of the process, it would have been respectful and honoring to the other candidates to let them know about the potential change in plans. If it happened at the very end, I think they at least owed the candidates an honest explanation of the issue that contributed to their change in choice. Doesn’t seem like that happened, which doesn’t reflect well on their treatment of a Christian brother (or anyone for that matter). Things can and do often change in the process. Committees can shift their thinking for many reasons. Nothing wrong with that. But there should be charitable and honest consideration and communication with the candidates as soon as something changes. For a position like Pastor, a candidate doesn’t just send in a boilerplate resume and wait for an answer. They prayerfully prepare and interact with the committee on many levels, I’m sure, so they were due the courtesy of an honest answer! On any hire, you want the candidate to be a good fit for the organization, but you also want the organization to be a good fit for the candidate. If the apparent lack of clarity and honesty are not part of the church leadership’s culture and values, I suspect the candidate dodged a bullet in the long run, even though it doesn’t feel good at the moment.
December 12, 2019 @ 1:47 pm
They had a good reason to go with their inside person – it would have been a kingdom win all around to just come clean and state that was what happened
December 11, 2019 @ 3:58 pm
Clearly, the search team could have been more transparent to the inquiry. Often times it seems like people hide behind spiritual phrases to stop the conversation or not to say what really took place. Many people are more inclined to hire a known person rather than a stranger. They could have been more transparent. He dodged a bullet.
December 12, 2019 @ 1:46 pm
Transparency is the best but rare in some circles
December 11, 2019 @ 7:56 pm
Great site. Ahhh The Occurrence. Been there actually. So many WANT to follow Christ in this kind of situation, but I believe because of living out a kind of fear in doing and living a new way, a way of trusting God, listening to the Spirit and acting out faith. As this in occurrence, it’s much easier to fall back to going the easy route or the way they most likely have always done things. Don’t rock the boat, don’t make a call, just move on like there’s nothing to see here.
December 12, 2019 @ 1:46 pm
Easy way can be scary