Let God Close The Door

Another foundational principle that I planted my feet on during the time in which I was looking for a new ministry was to let God close all of the doors. As I said in my earlier posts, I cast the net wide as I sent dozens and dozens of resumes out to any church I found that was looking for a Senior Pastor that was at least 250 people in average attendance and whose doctrinal statement I completely agreed with. The result was moderate to serious dialogues with 13 different churches. These churches were from 11 different states ranging as far west as South Dakota, as far north as Michigan, as far south as Kentucky, and as far east as Connecticut. These churches represented 12 different denominations.

As I began communicating back and forth with the search teams from these churches, there were some that didn't appeal to me near as much as others. But I was committed to not looking at this process like I was shopping for a new car. I didn't want to "test drive" these churches and see which one I liked best. I didn't want to negate any one of them simply because I wasn't crazy about the color or because a certain feature I really desired was missing. In other words, I didn't want to pick the church that I liked the best. I wanted to end up going to the church that God had arranged in His sovereignty just for me.

As a result, I committed to not close the door on any of these churches by myself. I would let God close all of the doors. That way I would know that where I ended up at would be exactly where He wanted me and not simply the place that looked the most appealing to me. And that is exactly what God did. One by one, He closed the doors until only 3 churches remained. Then there were just 2 churches. And finally, God led me to the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church (GEFC) in Gaylord, Michigan. And because I let Him do all the closing of doors, I was fully confident and at peace that GEFC was where God had called me.

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.

The Next Steps

One you have sent out an initial resume’ to churches, you may be contacted by some of those churches. Many times you will get a letter or email thanking you for your information but kindly letting you know that you don’t fit the profile they are looking for in the position. Unfortunately, there will also be churches who simply never contact you at all. Churches who want more information will most likely send you an Application or Questionnaire that they would like you to fill out and return with links to some of your sermons. I filled out documents like this that were as short as 6 questions to those that were as long as a couple dozen pages. One thing I found helpful was to save the first two or three that I filled out as a Word document on my computer. This allowed me to save time by “cutting and pasting” answers for additional documents I was requested to complete, as many of the questions were the same or at least very similar.

For most Search Committees, there will be a lengthy period of time as they sift through all of the resumes and questionnaires they receive. If you do not get “weeded out” through this process, the most likely next step will be a phone conversation with a member of the Search Committee. I always found these calls very intriguing as you can learn a lot about a church by the first question or two that they ask you. I had one church who knew very little about me whose first question to me was, “What translation of the Bible do you preach from?” That told me a lot about this church. Another church’s initial question was, “Do you ever think it’s OK for a Christian to drink alcohol?” That question also showed me a lot about that church. I’m not saying they are not legitimate questions, but I was intrigued that in these cases they were the first questions asked of me.

If this conversation leads to a next step it will most likely be a Phone or SKYPE conversation with the entire Search Committee of the church. I had several of these types of dialogues and always enjoyed them. In most cases, after this conversation it will become fairly clear to you, that Search Committee, or perhaps both of you, as to whether the dialogue should continue or if it will come to an end. Don’t get discouraged if this leads to a closed door. One of the best things that can happen through your search process is to see God open and close doors. Both are important and both are answers to prayer. That’s what I will talk about in my next posting.

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

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.

Casting The Net Wide

In my last posting I talked about casting the net wide when it comes to looking for a new ministry position. Instead of limiting my options as to where God might be leading me, when I found myself having to look for a new ministry position, I tried to spread the net as wide as possible. For example:

Geography: The temptation was to only look for churches in the Midwest, which is where my wife and I are the most comfortable living, or within a half day’s drive of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where both of my kids were in college. Instead, I made the decision that I would not refuse to send a resume' to a church based simply on where they were located. In fact, in order to keep my sanity, I played a little game and made it a goal to send out a resume' to a church in all 50 states (I ended up with over 40).

Denomination: I had only pastored in one fellowship of churches my entire 24 years in ministry before having to look for a new position. It would have been natural to say that I would only look for a new position in that same fellowship of churches. Instead, I decided that I would not refuse to send out a resume' to a church based solely on their denominational affiliation. Instead, if I agreed with that church’s statement of faith, I decided I would send out a resume' to them.

Size: The church I had previously pastored had grown significantly and was considered a “larger” church. It would have been easy for me to say I would only send resumes out to churches that are the same size as the church I had just left. Instead, I made the decision that if a church was at least 250 in average attendance I would send them a resume' (I had to pick some parameter or else I would have sent out hundreds upon hundreds of resumes).

Worship Style: I am used to more of a contemporary and creative style of worship so it would have been easy to say that I would only send a resume' to churches with a contemporary music style. However, I believe that God can work in many different styles of churches so I made the decision not to refuse sending a resume' to a church based on a certain style of worship.

So for me, spreading the net wide meant that I would send a resume' to any church that was looking for a Senior Pastor that was at least 250 in average Sunday attendance and had a doctrinal statement I agreed with in spite of the denominational affiliation, geographical location, or worship style. I would then let God be the one to sort out the churches that got caught in my net.
But how did I find out about the churches that were looking for a pastor. I’ll talk about that in my next blog posting.

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

When It's time to LOOK

As we talked about in my last posting, Lord willing, whatever challenges you are facing in your ministry will ultimately be able to be worked out and you will continue to serve the Lord in the ministry where you are at currently. But those times do happen when the Lord makes it clear that a parting of the ways is necessary. In my last posting we talked about how to “LEAVE” when those times happen and I encouraged you to leave with grace. Beginning today I want to share a few blog postings about what I learned in regards to how to “LOOK” for a new ministry.

When I resigned from my ministry back in September of 2010, I was faced with a situation I had never faced before in 24 years of pastoral ministry. For the very first time I had to look for a new ministry position. I had made ministry changes twice before, but each time these doors opened up for me while I was currently in a ministry that was going very well. So when it came time to look for a new ministry on my own I was starting at square one, not having much of a clue where to begin. So where do you start when you are faced with the task of looking for a new ministry? Here are two preliminary boundaries I put in place as I began the process:

First, I would be patient. I don’t know about you but patience is difficult for me. Yet, I wanted to be sure that the next ministry assignment I took was the one where God wanted me. I didn’t want to take the first church that showed an interest in me nor did I want to settle for God’s permissive will. I wanted to be right smack dab in the middle of His perfect will for me and that would take patience.

Second, I would spread my net wide. I have known some guys who have found themselves suddenly looking for a new ministry and who put the parameters that they were looking for in a real small box (It had to be a church in a certain geographical location; It had to be a church of a certain size; It had to be a church of a certain denomination; It had to be a church with a certain worship style, etc). I decided to open up the boundaries as wide as I could be comfortable with and allow God to weed out the churches that got caught in the net. I will talk more about this in my next posting.

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

When It's Time To LEAVE

Tough and hurtful times come into every pastor’s ministry. Over the past 6 months that I have been writing posts here at “Hope For Hurting Pastors,” I have been sharing principles that I have learned during tough and hurtful times I have experienced as a pastor. It is always our intent in ministry to be able to work through these difficulties and continue to serve the Lord in our place of service. But those times do come when it becomes obvious that a parting of the ways is best.

This is difficult in so many ways, and our inclination is to go out with “guns blazing” by being sure that our side of the story is communicated to all and understood by all. We often feel a need to counteract every accusation made against us so people know we are innocent. But I would like to suggest and encourage you to prayerfully consider that the best way to leave a ministry when difficulties cannot be resolved is to leave with grace. To me, this means that you leave quietly rather than sharing your side of the story with anyone and everyone who will listen. I have found that the benefits to a graceful exit include:

-We avoid giving the church we are leaving a bad name or a black eye. After all, that church will continue to be a light to their community and will continue to preach Jesus.

-We avoid putting people in the church we are leaving in a position where they have to choose between us and the leadership of the church. Choosing sides is rarely beneficial for anyone.

-We speed up the healing process in our own lives and allow us to work though the need we have to forgive instead of allowing bitterness to take root in our lives.

So if the time comes (and I hope it doesn’t) that the Lord makes it clear that the challenges you are facing in your ministry is to end in a parting of the ways, choose to leave graciously. Don’t go out with “guns blazing.” Keep those guns (your tongue and your words) holstered. I believe that God will bless you for it, and in the end, He will be the one to vindicate you. Go with the words of Isaiah, “In quietness and trust is my strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

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