Over the past year and prior to my current Transitional Pastorate, I have been a candidate for a couple of congregational pastoral positions. While I may still entertain particular full-time, permanent situations*, I am pretty sure that I am done with full-time congregational ministry. Even so, I suspect that in my ongoing life as a Bridge, Transitional, and Interim Pastor, there are many more interviews ahead.
Before I go much further, three things are important to name.
- Denominational Context: I realize that every denomination has its own call process. I come out of a Presbyterian governance system where ordained ministers of word and sacrament are basically free agents. If in good standing, we can apply for any pastoral position, congregational or otherwise. If we see an opening that we are interested in, we submit our PDP (Person Discernment Profile, AKA a resume) and hope to advance to the interview stage of the process. Unlike some traditions, there is no appointment process or guaranteed placement. Every process has its pros and cons, but the Presbyterian one is the one I know.
- Theology & Ideology: Defining theological or ideological perspectives can be tricky, but I consider myself part of the Christian "left" – think More Light Presbyterians, Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, Interfaith Movement for Human Integrity, and Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center left. Needing to know about a congregation's theological and ideological perspective is driven by a congregation's willingness to explore the edges of faith and by my willingness to serve in opposition to a community's beliefs.
- Privilege & Access: Finally, because I am a man with 30+ years of pastoral experience as well as my age, gender, and public exposure, I may get eyeballs that may not be directed at other folks. That said, I am also a person of color, which creates some privilege dissonance, but that's for another post.
Okay, back to the interviews.
In these interviews, there is often time at the end to ask the interviewers questions. The type of question one asks should depend greatly on the stage of the process, but I have always found that time to be less than adequate or fulfilling. As much as I may want the position, this process is ultimately about discerning a mutual call. This process can be stressful for anyone being interviewed, but we must not allow our anxieties or desperation to shortchange our inquiry process. Churches and pastoral candidates have different life circumstances, but leaving important questions unanswered can lead to bad matches, unclear expectations, and harm to both the pastor and the congregation. Pastors, we are interviewing the congregation as much as they are interviewing us. These processes are meant to land in a place where we can offer our energy, care, imagination, love, and service to one another, so the privilege and burden of doing so must be held with genuine mutuality. Ministry is shared, so we must do everything we can to land in places where this reality has the greatest opportunity to be realized.
As I have been thinking more about a couple of future opportunities, I revisited a post that I wrote 14 years ago *yikes* when I was blogging for Patheos, 25 Questions to Ask a Pastor Search Committee (Day1.org 2025 update). Looking at it through 2026 eyes, it is not a bad list, but it's long. And since there is rarely enough time to get to everything during the search process, I narrowed it down to the 10 questions I will be asking any future search committee.
I will ask these questions not as a litmus test but to measure the degree of alignment and/or disconnect. Of course, I have ideal responses, but I will need to be careful not to confuse "ideal" with "absolute." After all, almost every question's response could begin with the caveat, "Well, it depends . . ." What I will be listening for is how they describe their current situation, how the congregation has thought about these things (or not), and how they have responded. I will also be attuned to whether responses are aspiration or actual. For instance, it is great to hope one day to be publicly and unapologetically LGBTQIA+ affirming, but quite another thing to not be that now. The current state of play should help determine the level of mutuality in the call. Lastly, I will remember to listen for creative responses that could help me grow in my own thinking and theology.
In order to give the call the best chance for success, these are questions I plan to ask at some point during any future process, temporary or permanent:
Dear Search Committee,
Thank you for the opportunity contiue our coversation about Awesome Presbyterian Church. As we are both discerning if there is a mutual call here, at some point I would hear the committee's response to any or all of these questions.
Please let me know if there is anything you would likeme to think about or prepare before our time. If not, see you all on Friday.
Peace,
Bruce
How a search committee even responds to this type of ask could reveal much in itself. And on to the questions.
10 Questions I'll Be Asking the Pastor Search Committee
- How do people experience belonging here? Listening for all of the ways the community may express and experience community.
- What did the COVID-19 Pandemic reveal about the congregation, and how has it responded to those revelations? Listening for what a community determined was important to hold on to, how they adapted during the pandemic, and what they did upon their return to "normalcy."
