If your church is without a pastor:
1. Determine to personally spend more time reading your Bible and praying than you did when you had a pastor. You need to draw close to the Lord, so He can guide you and your church’s search.
2. Determine to stay faithful to your church for as long as you are able. Let petty squabbles go. A unified church is more attractive to a pastor who is seeking a church to lead.
3. Meet regularly with other church members for prayer. Great things happen when even two or three are gathered together in Jesus’ name.
4. Support the men in your church who fill the pulpit in the pastor’s absence. It takes a lot of work to study to preach. It takes even more work when you don’t do it regularly.
5. If you are a man, volunteer to preach or teach a class. If you are not permitted to do so by those who are leading, ask why - and humbly consider their reasons as being from the Lord. Pray for them and encourage them. They are in a tough spot.
6. When a pastoral candidate comes to preach and meet with your church, look for reasons to support him rather than reasons to reject him. He is also seeking the Lord’s will for His family. If God wants your church to call this man and his family, He will make it evident both to the majority of your members and to the future pastor.
7. Expect to see flaws in other church members that you did not see before. Pastors are like a cushion between church members, helping them to get along together. When the shepherd is not present, sheep tend to bite each other. Don’t bite back. Run to the Chief Shepherd.
8. When your church does decide to call a pastor, and the pastor accepts that call, rally behind the new pastor even if you did not vote for him. Give God time to draw your church together before you bolt to another church.
9. If you really cannot follow the direction a new pastor is taking the church, be courageous enough to meet with the new pastor to explain your reasons. Perhaps he can explain his purposes for what he is doing. If you cannot agree, then let him know you are leaving, and do so quietly. Don’t gather others to start a revolt.
10. Remember, this church ultimately belongs to Jesus Christ. When He leads the process the church will not only survive - it will thrive!
Matthew 16:18
…I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
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The church will need to select a pulpit committee to lead the church through the search process. This is usually made up primarily of deacons, but it would be wise to include men of all ages and one or two godly ladies.
A. The pulpit committee should meet privately, and keep the information they gather confidentially.
B. They should listen graciously to the rest of the church members and bring those concerns (without naming names) to pulpit committee meetings for consideration.
C. Only one candidate should be considered at a time.
D. Determine to learn the history of a pastoral candidate, not just to “taste” his sermons to see if you like his style. Know his character and track record.
E. Consider his wife in particular (if he has one). If she is not “on board,” the church and the pastor will have problems.
F. Pastors kids do not usually have a “say” in any of this. Be kind to them. Understand that they’re “along for the ride” and that they are feeling quite out of place and “under the microscope.”