The SHINE Blog

Selecting An Interim Pastor

This is part two in a series of posts following the search for a new pastor at Glenwood Presbyterian Church. You can find the table of contents here.

Well, the first step of this journey is done – we have hired an interim pastor. Reverend Charles Howell will officially become our interim pastor this coming Palm Sunday. Pastor Charles actually grew up in the Glenwood neighborhood, a couple of blocks from our church, and I will provide a little more background information on him when I get an opportunity. Suffice it to say that he is a dynamic preacher and he really has a heart for our church and this community.

For obvious reasons, I didn’t post about the search while it was ongoing – I had serious doubts about whether I could make it anonymous enough without making it so anonymous that no one would understand what I was talking about anyway. I figured it was better that I wait until this step was complete before I went back and filled in the gaps, which is why I haven’t posted on this topic since December 11th of last year.

When our team first met with Presbytery representatives, they gave us three or four names to start us out on our search for an interim. Interestingly enough, Pastor Charles was the first name they gave us. Our team decided that we wanted to hear the candidates preach before interviewing them, and so we either asked the ones that could to come preach at Glenwood or members of our team went to hear them at their church, if they were currently serving as an interim somewhere.

Once we had heard all of the potential candidates, when we met to decide who we were interested in, we were all unanimous on our first choice. So we set up a meeting with Pastor Charles. One of the difficult things in planning for the hiring of an interim was to determine exactly what we wanted our interim pastor to DO. In the Presbyterian church, pastors are not viewed as the sole person in charge of the church. Rather, the pastor used to be called the “teaching elder” and the members of the Session were called the “ruling elders.” The idea is that all of the members are ministers. So it was interesting to think about what the pastor’s role should be even in small details like what committee meetings he would be expected to attend, or what church events, and so forth.

When we met with Pastor Charles, we gave him a list of our expected responsibilities and had a very nice talk with him about the position. We worked out the salary details and again, everyone was unanimous that he was the person that God had selected for this position. We signed the official contract last Sunday and his first official day as interim will be next Sunday.

The most exciting thing about this whole process is the very obvious way that God has been at work in this process and our circumstances to bring about this result. Here’s just a couple of things that I’ve noticed, I’m sure that there are a lot of things that I’m not even aware of:

• The timing was right: Pastor Charles just recently retired from his last church and our pastor just recently resigned.
• Pastor Charles grew up in the neighborhood and comes to us at a time when I believe God is moving powerfully in the Glenwood neighborhood and our church needs to be a part of that.
• Pastor Charles really wanted this position because of these connections. So his desire matched our need – God had something to do with that.
• Pastor Charles had actually visited our church on several occasions after he had retired, so he knew some of us before we had an opening, and knew a little of our circumstances and past.
• Pastor Charles seems to have the attributes that we were looking for when we started this search.
• Finally, I remember having a conversation with my wife on the Sunday morning that Charles was going to preach at our church for the first time. While getting ready for church, we talked about our desire to have a great preacher for an interim. I specifically remember saying to her, “I don’t think there are any Presbyterian ministers that preach like Baptists.” Then we came to church and heard Charles preach and I stood corrected.

More about Pastor Charles in my next post on the search for a pastor….for now, I pray for a good relationship between the church and our new interim pastor. We have a major milestone behind us, but a lot of work to do in the near future.

March 11th, 2008 Posted by Brian Beasley | Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Pastor Search | no comments

The Search Begins . . .

This is part one in what will become a series of posts following the search for a new pastor at Glenwood Presbyterian Church. You can find the table of contents here.

 As most of you know, our minister of 10 years recently resigned to take a job with the Servant Center here in Greensboro.  As a Presbyterian church, it falls to the local church with assistance from the Presbytery office, to call a new pastor when there is a vacancy.  I am an elder on the governing board of our church which is called the Session, and while we make decisions that enable the church’s day-to-day “business” to continue, two special committees will handle the hiring of an Interim Pastor and the search for and call of a new permanent Pastor.

 In the ten years since Glenwood Presbyterian last had to go through this process, there have been quite a few changes made.  The most striking is a greater emphasis on the period of time where a church has an interim pastor and what should happen during that period.  In the past, a preacher left, a pulpit nominating committee was elected, and the search was on.  The interim pastor was hired more to bridge the gap between full-time pastors than anything else.

Now, however, the first step in the process is the creation of a transition committee (or team, for those that don’t like the negative bereaucratic connotations of the “c” word).  This team of about 5 people are tasked with the duty of finding and hiring an interim and then working with that interim pastor in completing a series of five developmental tasks for the congregation.  These tasks focus on the church’s history and vision, helping the church discover who it has been, who it is, and where Christ is calling it in the future.  Normally, this type of “moshy” stuff doesn’t appeal to me at all - but the idea here is to get everyone in the church on the same page with what our goals are for our church.  The idea is that we as a congregation take stock of who we are and who we are called to be so that then we can search for and find a pastor who fits in with and shares those same goals and visions.  It is only after that process is complete that Presbytery gives permission to elect a Pastor Nominating Committee (or PNC).

Here’s the rub:  persons on the transition team will not be considered (generally) for the PNC.  So taking a position on the transition team means that you will not be involved with the search for and calling of the new pastor.

I was very unsure of which committee God was calling me to serve on or whether He was calling me to be a part of the process at all.  But if you are patient, God will usually let you know where you need to be.  So at our Session meeting last Sunday night, I had one of those moments where God hits you over the head and lets you know pretty clearly what His will is.  We were discussing who we might ask to be on the transition team as opposed to the PNC and we asked our moderator for a little guidance.  (Our moderator is assigned by Presbytery to preside over our Session meetings until we get an interim.)  He described the type of person that should be on the transition team and one of the things he stated was “someone who likes setting goals.”  At that point, I could feel the eyes in the room look at me, because I had been the one who pushed our church to set goals for the last two years.  So, I agreed to serve on the transition team.

And you know what?  I’m pumped!  Immediately after Randy resigned, I was dreading this process a lot.  But I believe that this transition process, if done correctly, could lay a great foundation for the future of this church.  And I have the added comfort of knowing that this is the job that God wanted me to do - and His Word tells me that He will provide the strength and wisdom to enable me to complete it…

So let’s get to it!

December 11th, 2007 Posted by Brian Beasley | Glenwood Presbyterian Church, Pastor Search | one comment