The Black Church Needs to Reimagine The Pastoral Search Process

The pastoral search process in the Black Baptist Church can be BRUTAL. I’ve heard so many horror stories. Here’s a tidbit of SOME of the REAL LIFE stories I’ve heard…

The search process stretches out so long, the chairman of the search committee dies, and all the remaining candidates are left languishing as the committee scrambles to figure out the next steps.

A candidate is ensured privately by a prominent member of the search committee that they will definitely be the choice, only to discover that particular committee member misread the pulse of the church. The candidate is devastated when another minister is called.

Candidates are funneled through a search process where unbeknownst to them, ONE candidate is already a forgone conclusion. Time, energy and passion is spent engaging in a process that was rigged from the beginning.

A set of employment promises are made to the leading candidate during the search process, only for those employment promises to be rescinded after the candidate is “called”.

The search committee doesn’t do a good job of ensuring certain candidates don’t make inappropriate overtures (attending Bible study to ingratiate themselves with the congregation, sending members “campaign” emails, giving gifts to certain members etc…) to the congregation during the process. Therefore, the candidate that makes these gestures receives the popular vote, rather than the most qualified candidate. I literally can go on and on.

Check out my podcast on this topic here.