A Look Back at our Process
As we approach our 40th weekly meeting together, your Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) would like to offer some insight into our internal process for identifying Christ Presbyterian Church’s next Lead Pastor/Head of Staff.
One of the strengths of the current PNC is that we are seven people from varying backgrounds and church experiences. Some attend the contemporary service, others the traditional service. Some are life-long Presbyterians, others have attended multiple denominations. Some are young and others are…not. You get the idea. As a group we represent many aspects of CPC, and that is something we value.
When it came to a particular task, we leaned into the “divide and conquer” approach. To complete the Ministry Discernment Profile (used by the online matching program to connect us with potential candidates), we each took a different section to write about CPC, then shared our responses with the group for editing and approval.
We followed a similar process with each candidate’s profile. We formed three teams who were each assigned several applications for a preliminary review. (Our teams had fun names like “the M&M’s”, “the Dentists”, and “the BSers” based on our initials.) This review consisted of closely reading applications and also listening to sermon recordings and finding other information on the internet, such as a description of the applicant’s current church, its programs and size. If the first PNC sub-group recommended a candidate, or if they were uncertain about the compatibility of a candidate, a second group reviewed the written application. If both groups gave thumbs up, we scheduled an online interview with two PNC members and the candidate to learn more. A good interview would lead to a second conversation with two different PNC folks. After each of these steps, the review teams shared their impressions, and the group agreed on a path forward.
This discernment approach allowed each PNC member to have a voice in which candidates we would move forward.
Some have asked what we did when we disagreed. Actually, that didn’t happen very often, probably because early on we had reached consensus on what we were looking for in a pastor and held one another accountable.
Throughout the process, we have prayed together for guidance, we have shared moments when we felt the Holy Spirit was nudging us in a certain direction, and we have grown together as friends with a common goal, to identify the person whom we feel should become CPC’s next head pastor.
In the past few weeks, the PNC has significantly narrowed the candidate search. We would humbly ask for your continued prayers and patience. We hope to share our recommendation with you very soon.
Martha Nelson
PNC Co-Chair