| The process of hiring a senior pastor can prove stressful to both the search committee and the pastoral candidate. Those involved want to ensure that they find God's fit; however, they often lack the resources and appropriate skills to accomplish this task, such as the skills to ask enough questions or the right questions. Churches lack full understanding as to what they want or expect from a pastor. Not realizing what truly matters to them, they do not explore these areas in a pastoral interview. They also do not comprehend that others hold different values; thus, they struggle to see other perspectives. Available resources often fail to help since they only focus on certain aspects of the relationship between the pastor and congregation. This project seeks to bring emotional intelligence and cultural awareness into the pastoral hiring process to ensure a better fit between senior pastors and congregations, hopefully lessening conflict and lengthening pastoral tenure.;The project created an inventory to assist pastors and search committees in the interview and hiring process. This instrument contained a series of statements that individuals responded to using a scale ranging from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree." After the inventories were scored, those involved were invited to join in a dialogue to explore where their answers diverged and also create a better understanding of the meaning they applied to words and concepts. At the end of this dialogue pastors and search committees could decide if they wished to proceed with the hiring process. |
