Colorado Pastor Calvin Wittman writes an article Help! The Pastor Search Committee Lied to Me! In it, he offers suggestions on how a minister going to a new congregation can avoid the uncomfortable inevitability of discovering that its PSC's presentation of the church's identity doesn't match up with reality.
This has happened to me, but not at my present church. I don't know if its because at this church, I'm not the senior pastor, but I don't think that's the case. I think I received a genuine picture of the church here because the church was much healthier and was willing and able to assess itself. The things that it considered its weaknesses were among the reasons why they were inviting me to consider coming here. It was refreshing and transparent; it has made a huge difference in my experience of ministering.
In the church where this did happen, I am not comfortable saying that the church "lied to me." I don't think that's the right attitude to take with a church, particularly if a person is going there to serve as a minister. Rather, what I think is the case is that often, a church confuses who it is versus who it strives to be. That's no different than how most people operate - this is the same psychology that explains how people buy magazines based upon who they want to be rather than who they really are. It doesn't take a genius to understand that Cosmopolitan will sell a bunch more copies than Domesticated Woman, or Sports Illustrated will be exponentially more successful than Remote Control Illustrated. And the same people who project images for themselves make up the PSC and make up the church, so why should corporate or congregational projection be any different?
Every congregation wants to consider itself a "Philadelphia church" or a "Smyrna church," when in fact some churches are more typical of its forerunners from Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, or Laodicea.
Stated another (less theological, more practical) way, I think that many churches suffering an identity crisis do so because they just are not willing to do what it takes to move from who they are to who they want to be. The healthy congregations are the ones that can say, "we want to be 'X,' but really we are 'Y.' However, we are asking God to send us a leader to help us to move from 'X' to 'Y.'"
This transparency requires brokenness, though. Too many congregations are not willing to ask God to reveal who they truly are and how they truly are, so they possess little hope and even less realistic expectation that they will ever be who they believe God wants them to be.
All this being said, Wittman's suggestions are practical and useful, even if the paradigm under which they are established are slightly off-target (imo).
One last thing...let us in all humility also remember that pastoral and ministerial candidates are just as given to offering an inaccurate presentation of "who they are." Not many ministers would confess that they don't love people, or that they are not evangelistic, or that they don't believe the inerrancy of the word of God, or that they are not leaders, or that they are not administrative, or that they fear conflict, or that they are insecure, or that they have secret addictions, or that they have marital conflicts, or that their children are out of control, or that they cannot balance a budget, or that they don't like to pray, or that they plagiarize, or that they ...you get the picture.
I am thankful for where God has placed me in ministry because I felt like the church was honest about where they were, where they understood God wanted them to go, and that they wanted me to help get them there. I also was not looking to leave where I was, and that allowed me to be completely transparent about who I am and what I offer as a minister.
Two years later, I still feel the same way. "The honeymoon" has been over for a while, and every day continues to be a joy. The challenges are same, yet they evolve. The people are awesome, and God is good...as always and in all ways. Every person (layperson or minister alike) should be so blessed to serve in such a situation.
July 9, 2007 8:46 AM | TrackBack