Candidate Wisely and Honestly

by Branton Burleson

Branton Burleson is the lead pastor of Grace Baptist West Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina.

June 10, 2024

A pastoral resident of ours recently spoke to another local church’s search committee. This congregation is struggling and in dire need of faithful leadership. Surprisingly, this committee member told my friend, “We’ll call you back when the weather gets warmer!”

Clearly, this church had lost all sense of urgency in seeking permanent leadership.

Needless to say, candidating can be frustrating and nerve-wracking. If you’re wondering what to expect, be encouraged that no single approach exists. Nevertheless, some principles apply to most settings, and the aim of this article is to help aspiring pastors consider how to candidate wisely and honestly with a shepherd-less congregation.

One caveat before I begin: many candidating processes will involve interacting with largely unhealthy churches who have entrusted ill-equipped search teams to recommend the next pastor. That’s primarily the context to which I will speak.

1. Research the Church

An aspiring candidate should seek to learn as much as he can about the congregation. Scour the church’s website. Talk to the local association and state convention. Ask them what they know about the history of the church. Contact pastors you may be connected to in the area. If it makes sense, ask key people in the community about the church’s reputation.

In the initial interview with the search committee, come prepared with thoughtful questions.11 . Here are two good sources of questions: Jeff Robinson, “10 Questions Pastoral Candidates Should Ask a Search Team.” The Gospel Coalition. January 28, 2020. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/10-questions-pastoral-candidates-should-ask-search-team/. David Prince, “14 Questions to Ask a Pastor Search Committee.” Southern Equip. https://equip.sbts.edu/article/14-questions-to-ask-a-pastor-search-committee/. Seek to understand the congregation’s expectations of a pastor. Much like dating, not everything that can be known will be revealed before accepting the call to shepherd a congregation. But the goal prior to accepting the call is to learn the essentials.

2. Know Your Family

The decision to accept a church’s call is not the candidate’s alone. He should consider the willingness and readiness of his family.

Your wife and children are embarking on this journey with you. What does your wife think? How will this change affect your children? Depending on the demographic of the congregation, your family may be leaving behind many friends. Such changes do not necessarily mean you shouldn’t move forward, but it’s wise to know how to shepherd your family through these disruptions (1 Tim. 3:4).

It’s also important to consider whether the church can meet your family’s needs. Be realistic about what your family needs to live in that community. Is this a full-time, bi-vocational, or co-vocational situation? If it isn’t full-time, how will this affect the dynamics of your family life, and do you and your wife agree on what that will mean (1 Tim. 5:8)?

3. Know Yourself

When I came to my current congregation, it had been in steep decline for many years. At best, the church had two years of life left. Challenges inside the church and outside in the community were daunting. Ten or fifteen years earlier, I would not have been prepared to lead. So be honest with yourself about your own limitations and readiness. Are you prepared to enter at this point in your congregation’s life and lead them to where they need to go?

Additionally, be honest about your own eagerness to serve this particular congregation. Do you genuinely want to pastor there or are you going out of desperation? The qualifications for an elder clearly indicate that overseeing a congregation must be done willingly (1 Tim. 3:1, 1 Pet. 5:2).

4. Don’t Mislead, but Don’t Sabotage Either

The likelihood of some difficult or complicated questions arising in the process is high. Be prepared to speak to your non-negotiable doctrines. Can you identify them? Can you winsomely articulate your theological distinctives and ministry philosophy? What hills will you die on, and what can you tolerate going in?

Remember, some congregations have so deteriorated in health that they barely can be called churches. But someone must go and lead them back to health again. Expecting too much of the congregation going in will allow discouragement to quickly set in.

Being candid with the search committee early is important to avoid misleading anyone. Be prepared to answer direct questions with honest responses (see 2 Cor. 4:2).

At the same time, don’t sabotage yourself either. For instance, if a search committee is uninformed about a controversial issue, you’ll need to navigate the matter carefully. You want to both be transparent while also not creating fear or controversy where none exists. Some congregations have settled opposition to particular matters, and others don’t know that some controversies exist. Assure the search team of your devotion to the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), and that means you will preach everything that God reveals in his Word, even the complicated and controversial parts.

I recommend requesting a “town hall” style meeting with the congregation before making any final decisions. Before the church I now pastor voted to call me, I met with the whole congregation and fielded their questions. This time allowed me to know what they cared about most and what issues were of greatest concern for them from the start.

5. Lean on Your Sending Church

I’m operating on the assumption that most guys reading this article will be sent from another congregation. If you’re not, then I strongly recommend that you consider spending at least a year under the oversight of qualified elders in a healthy congregation.

If this is your situation, then you have the incredible blessing of seeking wisdom in a multitude of godly counselors (Prov. 11:14). Request that your elders assess the prospective congregation with you. Ask them to make you aware of your blind spots, to ask you hard questions, and to tell you hard truths that you need to hear (Prov. 27:6). This is one of the safety nets that Christ has given us in the fellowship of the local church.

6. Trust the Lord

God calls us to walk wisely. Throughout the candidating process, trust him. Remember that God is sovereign and will be with us wherever we go (Heb. 13:5). Settle it in your mind that you won’t know everything that you want to know beforehand. And that’s okay. You didn’t know everything about your wife before you married her. But you knew what you needed to know, and you trusted the Lord with the rest.

When Paul and Barnabas were sent from Antioch, only God knew the challenges they would face. The Holy Spirit told the church to set these men apart, so they fasted and prayed and sent them off (Acts 13:1–2). We have something more certain than exhaustive knowledge about a prospective congregation. We have a sovereign and faithful God who is already there (Matt. 28:20).