Where to Find a New Ministry

In my last couple of postings I talked about what I call "spreading the net wide" when it comes to looking for a new ministry. But where do you find out information on what churches out there are looking for pastors. This is where the Internet becomes a great tool. There are many websites out there that list churches looking for pastors with contact information for Search Committees of those churches. In most cases there are links to these church websites so that you can get an even better feel for their ministry. This is how I ended up first coming in contact with the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church in Gaylord, Michigan where I am now the new pastor (yesterday was my first Sunday!).

On most of these websites you can also list your information about you as a pastor looking for a new ministry. Some of the websites that I found most helpful were the following:

www.churchstaffing.com

www.pastorfinder.com

www.pastorsearch.net

www.churchjobs.net

www.ministrysearch.com

www.ministrylist.com

I also discovered that many larger churches today are hiring outside agencies to do their initial search for them and then bring them a list of what might be called "semi-finalists." I was in communication with one such group in regards to two different churches during my search. This agency was The Vanderbloemen Search Agency and they are a top-notch, out-standing group. Though I did not end up at either of these churches I very much enjoyed and was encouraged by my conversations with William, Ben and Jay at Vanderbloemen. There website is below:

www.vanderbloemensearch.com

Be sure to read my other blog at www.folkslisten.blogspot.com. You can leave a comment at either blog or email me directly at skdistler@gmail.com.