2003
Welcome Page
About Us
The Bible
Board Minutes
Calendar/Events
Homosexuality & the Bible
L.I.F.E.Groups
Mission/Vision
Other Sites
Pastoral Search
Picture Gallery
Sermons Online
What's New
Manifest,
Communicate and
Celebrate
God's
Surpassing
Love
If you would like to contact the Pastoral Search Team directly, email mccgslpst@aol.com.
Pastoral Search Team Guidelines
P S T Minutes September 17, 2003
2. The search team will conduct a search process that is to result in a prioritized list of pastors to be considered for a call to Metropolitan Community Church of Greater St Louis. The candidate will be submitted to the congregation, and upon a vote of approval by the congregation, a call will be extended to the selected pastor.
3. The search team will submit regular progress reports (minutes, announcements,letters.etc.), and encourage open communication and dialog with the congregation.
4. Routine expenses will require team approval, and invoices will be submitted to the Director of Ministry Operations for payment from the church funding plan.
5. As part of the search process, the team may prepare the following material including:
· congregational questionnaire
· church information packet
· advertising
· pastoral search funding (approved by the Board of Directors)
· pastoral questionnaire
· procedures for interviews
· procedures for checking references
· procedures for personality and relationship testing
· compensation package
· pastoral job description or a definition of roles, responsibilities, and relationships
· search flow chart
Pastoral Search Team Ground Rules
· Our search is founded on prayer.
· Members commit to pray daily for team members, their work & the church.
· We will meet in a member’s home.
· Meetings will start at the scheduled time.
· Members are responsible for completing the tasks assigned to them.
· Decisions will be made by consensus.
· Team members will act with trust, integrity, and honesty.
· Decisions on which pastor to call will not me made until all the information is received on all the pastors being considered at that stage of the process.
· The team will incorporate our church’s culture of love, appreciation and trust.
Our Mission: To manifest, communicate and celebrate God’s Surpassing love.
Kathy Allen, Bettye Babb, Mike Henley, Ron Jagels,
Bob Leetham, Jan McGah, Dale Schotte, Toni Smith,
Mary Lou Suter, Keith Thompson
· Formation of Pastoral Search Team (Define confidentiality, Determine team leader &, recorder, determine meeting schedule, contact UFMCC, Develop Pastoral Search Team Guidelines / Set Ground Rules, Funding Plan requirements)
· Stage I: Sharing and Gathering Information
Any member or the Search Team would be happy to provide answers to your questions about the search process, time frames, and the call process. Just ask one of us.
Keith Thompson - Team Leader
You may also ask any questions to the entire team by e mailing us at mccgslpst@aol.com.
MCC-GSL seeks new pastor. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? I mean after all, if God has already called someone to serve as our next pastor we could just sit back and wait! Right?
Well let’s think for a moment about the times God has called you! Have you ever felt that tugging to join a ministry team, or speak to a stranger, or alter your course of thinking or acting for some unknown reason? God calls us in many ways, however sometimes we may not get it, or hear it, or will pop a Tum’s to relieve that weird tugging sensation! That’s when God may work on someone else or a team of some ones on your behalf to encourage you and help open your eyes and ears to God’s calling!
That I believe is the purpose of the Pastoral Search Team. The job of the PST is to seek information from the congregation about who and what we are and what we need to be in the future. The pastor called will be the person who shares our values and feels the spirit calling while learning of our current needs and future dreams.
Your PST is a team of ten congregation members. Six you chose through elections to represent you on the Board of Directors . Four others were prayerfully considered by the Board to assist in the many tasks, to bring new and different views and perspectives, and to offer the Holy Spirit a more diverse group to hear Gods calling for our church.
The basic steps to pastoral search are: > pray > survey congregation >prepare brochure describing our church and the position > prepare multiple letters for mailing to keep applicants informed through the process > prepare a packet of information about our church, community, and city > prepare applications. Many of these steps are currently in process, some are completed. We will share with you these items as they are completed. The important thing to remember is this is a process not to be rushed! The importance of good information and good communication with the congregation could take 3 to 4 months.
Upon completion of the basic knowledge and materials needed the PST will begin:
> seeking recommendations > contacting potential applicants > receiving applications > narrowing search to top 2 – 3 applicants > conduct interviews & screenings. Once the top candidate is prayerfully chosen, that person will come to the church to candidate (meet the congregation & give the congregation a chance to meet them), negotiate compensation and package, then call a congregational meeting to present the candidate to the congregation for vote. If yes, we call the candidate to the pulpit. If no, we return to the top applicants and make another selection.
If our job is done well, when the pastor is selected and people get to know her or him, they will say “Of course. This is the kind of pastor who fits us where we are today and shares our vision of tomorrow.” It will seem obvious.
For some of us, looking at a year or more to complete this task may bring feelings of fear, anger, or panic. But I can assure you, having gone through this process five years ago and seeing the growth of our congregation (during and after the search) in spirit and numbers, in commitment to prayer, service, and giving, and in acquiring the skills for excellence in worship and growth in leadership, we will be entering a time together in which we will re-think and re-evaluate who we are, what we are supposed to be up to and , what we value and care about. We have the opportunity to re-commit ourselves to growing the ministry of MCC Greater St Louis and continue during this time to Change Lives.
Please keep the pastoral search team in your prayers. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or recommendations, please feel free to contact the team at mccgslpst@aol.com.
· Determine communication with congregation. (minutes, announcements, e mail)
· Study vision, mission, and core values.
· Write Congregational Survey, Distribute, Tabulate, Post Results.
· Prepare Church Information Packet (contains everything an interested pastor needs to know about our church. It must help him or her identify with our church and want to explore further the possibility of becoming our next pastor), including survey results, church information, local area information.
· Finding Candidates. (Fellowship list of available clergy, denominational publications, recommendations from other pastors, referrals).
· Stage II: Pastoral Profile and Questionnaire
· Stage III: Sermon Tapes, Reference Checks, and Testing
· Stage IV: Interviews
· Stage V: Determining Whom to Recommend
· Presenting our best side ( Plan agenda for visiting pastor including time with search team, staff, team leaders, teams members, congregation as a whole, worship time together).
· Congregational Meeting (vote)
· Celebrating the call
· Procedures when the answer is yes / when the answer is no
· Final financial report, letters to any pastors still involved in any stage of the search process, informing them of the acceptance, return audio/video tapes, photographs or other material received from these pastors.
· Retain Information for the next search team.
Bettye Babb - Recorder
Kathy Allen - Team Member
Ron Jagels - Team Member
Bob Leetham - Team Member
Jan McGah - Team Member
Dale Schotte - Team Member
Toni Smith - Team Member
Mary Lou Suter - Team Member
By: Keith Thompson
Pastoral Search Team LeaderMCC St. Louis - Check Us Out!
