{"id":772356,"date":"2022-03-14T05:00:26","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T10:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=772356"},"modified":"2022-03-11T16:05:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T22:05:58","slug":"25-unbelievable-things-search-committees-said-to-pastoral-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/25-unbelievable-things-search-committees-said-to-pastoral-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"25 Unbelievable Things Search Committees Said to Pastoral Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"

It began as a conversation at Church Answers where we have 2,000 church leaders interacting almost 24 hours a day. They can ask questions about their churches, or they can just interact with one another about the hopes and travails of ministry.<\/span><\/p>\n

I read as many of the comments as possible. This one caused me to pause. A pastor was interviewing with a search committee when one of the committee members asked him if he would be on 24\/7 call 365 days a week. Taken aback, the pastor then asked the search committee member how many hours a week he was expected to work. The response? Up to 120 hours a week!<\/span><\/p>\n

Seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

As other pastors and staff members interacted with this pastor, I decided to take the question to social media. I wanted to ask the question specifically to lead pastors, but I included church staff as well. Here was my question: \u201cPastors and church staff: What is a question you\u2019ve been asked by a search committee (or its equivalent) that told you the church is not a good fit for you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We got dozens of the expected responses like, \u201cDoes your wife play piano?\u201d But we got many more that shocked us. By this point, you would think that I couldn\u2019t be shocked how some churches treat a pastor or staff member.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are 25 of the shocking questions or comments in no particular order:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Our last pastor preached for 18 minutes. Can you keep it under 20 minutes?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. The salary is low, but we will pay you a commission for each new tithing family that joins the church.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. What is your political party affiliation?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          \n
        1. What is the least amount we can pay you to come?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
            \n
          1. We do monthly cleaning inspections of the parsonage. You will need to make sure your wife keeps it clean.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
              \n
            1. Do you mind if we have a Christmas tree in the pulpit?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                \n
              1. Your wife can\u2019t take a job outside the home because she will be too busy at the church.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                  \n
                1. Are you a Calvinist? (several times)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                    \n
                  1. Will you preach out of the King James Version? (several times)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                      \n
                    1. What do you think about coloreds in the church? (Sadly, several racist questions were asked, including one church that used extremely inappropriate racial language.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                        \n
                      1. Will you play at least two hymns a week? The old hymns?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                          \n
                        1. Would you be okay if we parked another single wide by the existing one as a parsonage for your whole family?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                            \n
                          1. Do you own a weapon?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                              \n
                            1. We want you to preach for a month and see how it works out. (The candidate lived out of state.)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                \n
                              1. What is your position on interracial marriages?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                  \n
                                1. If you came here, we would want you to fire the youth minister. Would you be willing to do that?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                    \n
                                  1. Do you let the singers hold the microphones themselves?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                      \n
                                    1. Have you ever held a rattlesnake?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                        \n
                                      1. Would you be willing to shave your facial hair?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                          \n
                                        1. You have to mow the parsonage lawn at the same time they mow the church yard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                            \n
                                          1. The pastor\u2019s office hours are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                              \n
                                            1. When discovering the pastoral candidate had a physical disability, the search committee person said, \u201cOh, we don\u2019t want a pastor that\u2019s disabled. You have to stand while you are preaching.\u201d<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                \n
                                              1. What are your views on mixed bathing?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                  \n
                                                1. Boxers or briefs?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
                                                    \n
                                                  1. How\u2019s your sex life?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                                                    Unbelievable. So unbelievable. Feel free to add your own.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It began as a conversation at Church Answers where we have 2,000 church leaders interacting almost 24 hours a day. They can ask questions about their churches, or they can just interact with one another about the hopes and travails of ministry. I read as many of the comments as possible. This one caused me…","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,177,14796,176,187,196],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-772356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-lead","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-revitalize","category-smaller-churches-and-communities","category-staff-and-organizational-issues"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n25 Unbelievable Things Search Committees Said to Pastoral Candidates | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""What is a question you\u2019ve been asked by a search committee (or its equivalent) that told you the church is not a good fit for you?\u201d By this point, you would think that I couldn\u2019t be shocked how some churches treat a pastor or staff member. 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