Questions to Ask a Pastor Search Committee
Questions to ask a pastor search committee, written for the candidate and not for the team doing the interviewing. They run in the order the conversations usually take: the vacancy and the search, the church's history, polity and doctrine, the people and the money, what is expected of the pastor and the pastor's family, and the call itself. Under each is a note for the candidate: what a full answer includes, what to read or whom to phone to confirm it, and where to state your own position before the vote.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Vacancy and search
Why did the last pastor leave, and would they tell the story the same way?
Why ask it
Retirement, a call elsewhere and a forced exit each leave a different congregation behind. If the account is brief, or committee members glance at one another before answering, ask whether you may phone the former pastor, and count a refusal as part of the answer.
How long did each of the last four pastors stay?
Why ask it
Write the years down as they are said. Outside traditions that move their ministers on a schedule, a run of two- and three-year pastorates points to something in the church that outlasts its ministers, so ask what those departures had in common. A single tenure of twenty-five years raises its own question, which is whether the congregation is ready for anyone else.
How long has the pulpit been vacant, and who has been preaching and visiting in the meantime?
Why ask it
A trained interim asked to work through old hurts hands over a different church from one that got by on guest preachers. Find out what the interim was asked to do, and whether that person wants the job, because an interim in the running changes how freely this committee can talk.
What did the congregation say it wanted in its next pastor, and may I see the profile or survey?
Why ask it
Read the document itself and not a summary. A wish list that asks for a young pastor with decades of experience who will grow the church without changing it shows a congregation that has not chosen between its hopes, and the person called gets to disappoint half of them.
What happens between this interview and a call: who has to approve, and what vote is required?
Why ask it
Get the steps in order, for example the board, a denominational official, a weekend with the congregation and a ballot, along with the percentage the bylaws set. Then settle privately what margin you would accept. Clearing the rule by a handful of votes means beginning with an opposition that already has a number.
How was this committee chosen, and whom does each of you speak for?
Why ask it
Elected by the members, appointed by the board, or made up of whoever volunteered: each gives the group a different weight when it brings a name. Notice who is absent, perhaps the newer members or the side that lost the last argument, since they will be voting too.
How many candidates are you speaking with, and where am I in that process?
Why ask it
Some committees take one name through to the end and others interview several side by side. You need to know which, partly for your own peace and partly to judge how long your present congregation must be kept in the dark. A vague reply here often means the committee has not agreed on its own method.
What made you pick my name out, and what gives any of you pause about me?
Why ask it
The first half reveals which strength they believe they are calling, and it may not be the one you would lead with. Then let the silence run until someone answers the rest. A reservation stated to your face is a fair preview of how this group will handle bad news later, and a quick chorus that there are none usually means nobody has looked hard yet.
History
Tell me the story of this church from its founding to now. Which chapters do people still bring up?
Why ask it
Let the longest-serving member answer and see where the story slows down. The golden age people describe, whether a full Sunday school in some earlier decade or a beloved pastor, is the standard you will be measured against, so get the dates and names.
Has the church ever split, or lost a large group at one time, and where are those people now?
Why ask it
The issue on the surface was probably music, a building or a person, so ask what lay under it. It is a healthy sign when the committee can state the leavers' side fairly and knows where they worship today. Contempt for them, years on, tells you how dissent is remembered.
Has a pastor or staff member here ever been dismissed or pressed to resign, and how was it handled?
Why ask it
Process tells you more than cause: who decided, what the congregation was told, what the family was given on the way out. A church that did it badly once can do it again, so ask what was changed afterward and whether those who led it are still in leadership.
Is there anything in the church's past that was never fully dealt with, such as misconduct, missing money or an allegation?
Why ask it
Say that you would rather hear it from them than from a member in your third month. If abuse or misconduct is part of the history, ask what was reported and to whom, and what care was offered to the people harmed. Where the church answers to a denominational or regional office, put the same question to that office before you accept.
Do any former pastors still attend or live nearby, and what part do they play?
Why ask it
A predecessor in the pews can be a real friend or a second pulpit, depending on the person and on whether anyone has talked with them about funerals, weddings and opinions. Some denominations have a rule about this and some churches a written understanding, so ask which applies here, and ask to meet the predecessor before you decide.
When people here disagree, where does it come out: in the meeting, in the parking lot, or in quiet departures?
Why ask it
You are asking about habits, so a little rueful laughter is a fine sign. Churches where disagreement is spoken aloud in meetings are louder and easier to lead. If the honest answer is that people simply stop coming, ask who last noticed someone missing and went to see them.
What is the next argument this congregation is likely to have?
Why ask it
Few committees prepare for this, which makes the first thing said the most reliable: the music, the roof, a staff member, the budget shortfall. Treat it as a forecast of your second year, and ask whether they expect the new pastor to settle it or to stay out of it.
What keeps each of you in this church, and what would its neighbors say it is known for?
Why ask it
Place it after the hard history and let every member answer the first part. What people stay for is what they will defend when you propose a change. Then set it beside the neighbors' view: if the members talk about the food pantry and the street knows the church for its full parking lot, ask how that gap opened.
Polity and doctrine
On paper, who governs this church, and may I read the constitution and bylaws before we meet again?
Why ask it
Read the sections on calling and removing a pastor, on who may call a congregational meeting, and on amendment. Bylaws nobody on the committee has opened in years are common, and they still become the rulebook the day there is a dispute. Bring your questions about them to the second meeting.
Apart from the people who hold office, whose opinion settles things here?
Why ask it
Nearly every congregation has one: a founder's daughter, a treasurer of thirty years, the family whose name is on the fellowship hall. When the name comes with affection, you are hearing about someone to have coffee with in your first month. Being told no such person exists is the less comfortable answer.
Walk me through the last big decision the church made. Where did it begin, who voted, and how long did it take?
Why ask it
A real case shows how the written structure behaves under load. Listen for where the proposal stalled and who got it moving, and for whether the losing side stayed. Use their timeline as the measure of how quickly anything you propose could happen.
Could the pastor change the order of service, replace a volunteer or spend a budgeted sum without a vote?
Why ask it
Three small cases draw out the real boundary better than a question about authority. Expect some disagreement among the members answering, which is useful in itself. Add a fourth if there is time: does the pastor chair the board, sit on it with a vote or attend as a guest?
What is the church's statement of faith, and when did the congregation last read or revise it?
Why ask it
Take a copy home and read it with a pencil, marking any sentence you could not affirm, then bring each exception back to the committee yourself. A statement nobody has looked at in decades may say things the members would be surprised by, in either direction.
Which questions of doctrine or practice has this congregation actually argued over?
Why ask it
The statement on paper shows the agreed ground, and this shows the live edges: Bible translations, women in leadership, spiritual gifts, sexuality, the end times. Give your own position on whatever they name before the interview ends. A candidate who stays vague to keep the door open pays for it in the first year.
How are baptism, communion and membership practiced here, and how firmly are those customs held?
Why ask it
Who is baptized, who may receive communion and how a person joins are the points where a pastor's convictions meet a church's habits every month. If you could not in conscience continue one of them, say so now. The first communion Sunday is a poor time for either side to find out.
What is worship like on an ordinary Sunday, in music, liturgy and length, and who plans it each week?
Why ask it
Watch a recorded service or two beforehand so you are asking about something you saw. Music is where many congregations keep their strongest feelings, so ask how the present style was arrived at and who would have to agree before it changed. Where there is a music director or organist, ask whether that person answers to the pastor or to a committee.
How is the church tied to its denomination or network, and how do members feel about that tie?
Why ask it
Whether the wider body must approve the call, holds the pastor's credentials or has a claim on the property differs from one tradition to the next, so have them spell out all three. Ask also whether leaving has ever been raised from the floor. A church halfway out of its denomination is a particular kind of call.
What is the written policy for keeping children and vulnerable adults safe, and who makes sure it is followed?
Why ask it
Request a copy, along with the date volunteers were last screened and trained under it. Requirements differ by place and denomination, so ask which rules apply here and who checks. Where nothing is written, the job of writing it falls to the new pastor, and so does the grumbling about paperwork that follows.
People and money
How many people attend on an average Sunday, how has that moved over ten years, and how many are on the roll?
Why ask it
Ask for the figures year by year, because adjectives like steady hide a lot. Then set attendance beside the membership roll. Where the roll is three times the room, votes can be cast by people you will never meet, and it is fair to ask how names come off it.
What does the congregation look like by age, and how many households have joined in the last three years?
Why ask it
Count for yourself on the Sunday you visit and compare. Newcomers who stayed are the best evidence that the church can absorb people, so ask who they are and what brought them. No new households in three years is a fact to weigh, and it need not be a verdict.
How would you describe the spiritual health of this congregation, and what do you see that makes you say so?
Why ask it
Press gently for instances over adjectives: who meets to pray and when, who is teaching someone younger in the faith, when the church last saw a baptism or a profession of faith. If the reply drifts to attendance and the building, the committee has answered a different question, and you have learned which measures it trusts.
Which ministries are thriving, and which carry on mainly because nobody wants to be the one to end them?
Why ask it
The tired list is the delicate one, and if they can produce it without flinching there is realism in the room. Ask who leads each of those programs and for how long. They are usually faithful people, and how the church treats them will show you how it treats anyone whose season has passed.
Who is on staff, paid and volunteer, who hired each of them, and to whom would they report?
Why ask it
Length of service and family ties are the two things to get: how long each has been there, and whether any is related to a board member. Settle too whether the pastor may hire and dismiss, or only recommend. A long-serving administrator or musician often held the place together through the vacancy, so ask to meet them alone.
What is the community around the building like, and how has it changed while the congregation has?
Why ask it
Drive the surrounding streets before the interview so you have your own picture to compare. If the neighborhood has turned over in age, language or income and the pews have not, ask how many members still live within ten minutes of the door.
May I see the budget, three years of actual income and spending, and the most recent financial review?
Why ask it
A budget is a hope, and the actuals are what happened. Handing them over without fuss is itself a good sign. The detail to check is who examines the books each year, and whether that person is independent of whoever writes the checks.
Is the church carrying debt, drawing down savings or an endowment, or putting off repairs?
Why ask it
Each is a way of spending money the offering plate did not bring in. Work out with them how many years the reserves would last at the present rate, and what the roof, the boiler and the parking lot are expected to need. A church living on its savings is asking its next pastor to work against a clock.
What share of the giving comes from the ten largest givers, and roughly how old are they?
Why ask it
No names are needed, since a treasurer can give the proportion. Where a few older households carry the budget, two or three funerals or moves to be near grandchildren can change what the church is able to pay. See whether the leaders have talked about it openly and what they intend to do.
Expectations
What does each of you most want the next pastor to accomplish in the first year?
Why ask it
Go around the table and let every member answer separately. Six different answers amount to six job descriptions, and you will be reviewed against all of them. Where they converge, repeat it back in your own words and check that you heard it right.
Does the church have a stated mission or a plan for the next few years, and who wrote it?
Why ask it
If a document exists, ask when it was adopted and what has been done under it since. If none does, ask whether the congregation is waiting for the new pastor to bring a direction or expects to be consulted on one. Those are two different jobs, and the members in front of you may not agree on which they are offering.
Is there a written job description, and how would you expect an ordinary week to divide among study, visiting, administration and meetings?
Why ask it
Have them put rough hours on each. Committees often describe sixty hours of work without noticing, and adding it up together is a gentler way to make the point than objecting. If nothing is written, offer to draft it with them before any vote.
How many times a week would I preach or teach, and how much study time will the church protect?
Why ask it
Sunday morning, Sunday evening, a midweek study and a class add up to four preparations, and that leaves little time for anything else. Ask which of these members would give up and which they would not. Congregations that say they prize preaching should be willing to guard the hours it takes.
What does the congregation expect in visiting, at hospitals, in homes and with those who cannot get out, and who shares that work?
Why ask it
Find out what the last pastor did, since that is the standard in people's minds whatever the committee says. A church where only a visit from the pastor counts will fill your week quickly. Ask whether deacons, elders or a care team already visit, and whether members accept them.
Whose weddings and funerals is the pastor expected to take, and who has the say when I would decline one?
Why ask it
Members' relatives, people from the town, couples with no tie to the church: congregations draw this line in different places, and some have a written policy on weddings and on use of the building. If your convictions would lead you to decline certain ceremonies, name them here. Who may legally conduct a wedding depends on where you are, so ask what the church's ministers have had to do locally.
What did the last pastor do that members would be upset to see stop?
Why ask it
This is how the unwritten duties surface: driving the van, printing the bulletin, the open house at Christmas, attending every committee. None of it appears in a job description. Decide now which you would gladly continue and say plainly which you would not.
How much change is this church ready for, and what is off the table?
Why ask it
Most committees say they want to reach young families, so ask what the church would give up to do it: a service time, a style of music, a room. Ask too what happened to the last new idea and the person who proposed it. Honest limits are easier to work within than open-ended enthusiasm.
What do you expect of the pastor's spouse and children?
Why ask it
The polite answer is nothing at all, so follow with what the last pastor's spouse did: played the piano, led a group, hosted. That is the baseline people carry. If your spouse has a career or other plans, describe them here, and if you are single, ask how the church pictures its pastor's household.
How are days off, evenings and vacation treated here, and who covers an emergency when the pastor is away?
Why ask it
The telling case is the last time a member died while the pastor was on vacation. A church with a plan, an elder or a neighboring minister on call, has thought about it. One that expected the pastor to drive back has told you what the day off is worth.
Is this a full-time call, and how would the church regard outside commitments such as study, denominational work or a second job?
Why ask it
Where the salary assumes other income, get the expected hours and days stated, because part-time pay with full-time hopes is a common source of grievance. Where it is full-time, name what you would bring with you, a degree in progress or a committee seat, and agree on roughly how much time it takes.
How will I find out how I am doing: who reviews the pastor, against what, and how often?
Why ask it
A yearly conversation with a small group, based on goals agreed in advance, is worth proposing if it does not exist. Without one, feedback arrives as rumor. Ask how the last pastor learned that people were unhappy, and you will hear how it really works.
The call
What is the whole package: salary, housing, retirement, health coverage and expenses?
Why ask it
Get it in writing with every item on its own line, so a housing figure is not quietly counted as salary. How clergy pay, housing and benefits are arranged and taxed depends on the country, the denomination and your own status. Ask the treasurer how the last pastor's package was set up, and have the offer read by someone who knows clergy compensation where you would be living.
Is there a parsonage, and if so who maintains it, who holds keys, and may the pastor live elsewhere?
Why ask it
See it before you answer anything, with your family if you have one. Ask who approves repairs and how fast the last one happened. Living in church housing can also mean having no home of your own at retirement, so ask whether the church makes any provision for that.
How is the pastor's pay reviewed after the first year, and what did raises look like for the last pastor?
Why ask it
A named committee that reviews it annually against the cost of living is the answer to hope for. If the pastor has had to raise it personally at a business meeting, ask to change that before you arrive. The history tells you more than any promise made during a search.
What will the church cover for the move, and is there help with housing, schools or work for a spouse?
Why ask it
Get a figure or a method, such as actual costs against receipts, and ask who books the movers. Then ask whether anything must be repaid if you leave within a set time. Members who offer to help a spouse find work or show the children a school are telling you something good about the welcome.
What provision is there for study leave, conferences, books and a sabbatical, and has any pastor here taken one?
Why ask it
The last clause separates policy from practice. A sabbatical in the handbook that nobody has ever used may meet resistance the day you ask for it. Pin down who would preach and who would pay, and have the terms put into the written call.
Will the terms be set down in a written call or contract, and what does it say about how either side ends it?
Why ask it
Look for the notice period, what the church provides if it ends the pastorate, who may call that vote and the majority required. Rules on clergy employment differ by place and denomination, so have the document read by someone qualified in yours before you sign. Raise it as ordinary housekeeping, and if it gives offense, weigh that along with the wording.
If you bring my name to the congregation, will this committee be unanimous?
Why ask it
Hold this until they know you, around the time a recommendation is being drafted. A divided committee can still bring a name, so ask what the hesitation is about and whether the person holding it would say so to you directly. Decide before you hear the answer whether you would go forward without a united committee.
What will the candidating visit involve, and whom will my family and I meet?
Why ask it
Have the schedule sent in advance: the sermon, any question-and-answer session, meals, time with the youth or the staff. Request an unscheduled hour as well, to walk the building and the town on your own. A weekend planned to the minute shows you only what the committee selected.
May I talk privately with the board chair, the treasurer, a staff member and someone who was not on this committee?
Why ask it
A search committee sees the church from one angle, and other people hold other pieces of the picture. Put the question about why the last pastor left to each of them and compare the versions. Offer to let the committee make the introductions, and if it is reluctant to, ask kindly what the worry is.
What have I not asked that the next pastor ought to know before saying yes?
Why ask it
Keep it for the very end and then stay quiet. Someone usually looks at the chair before speaking, and what follows is often the thing they debated whether to mention. Receive it without arguing, since how you take this one decides how much you are told after the call.
Interviewing the church that is interviewing you
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
What to ask at each stage
Before the first interview
Request the documents that answer the factual questions without using up meeting time: the church profile, the statement of faith, the constitution and bylaws, and whatever attendance and budget figures the committee is willing to send. Read them, listen to a few recorded services if there are any, and arrive with questions about what you found.
The first conversation
Stay mostly in the first two groups: why the pulpit is vacant, how the search works, and the story of the church. Six or eight questions is plenty when the committee has its own list to get through. Leave pay alone unless they raise it.
Second and third meetings
This is the place for polity, doctrine, people and money, and expectations, and for going back to anything that was answered thinly the first time. By now it is reasonable to ask to meet other people and to see the actual financial statements.
Once you are the only candidate
The last group belongs here: the package, the written call, whether the committee is united, the candidating visit and the vote. Have everything agreed in writing before the congregation votes, since your room to ask shrinks sharply once a call has been announced.
Papers to read before you answer
Constitution and bylaws
Read how a pastor is called and how one is removed, who can call a special meeting, what counts as a quorum and what majority each decision needs. Note where the document and the committee's description of the church differ, and ask which one is followed.
Money
Three years of actual income and spending, the current budget, a statement of debts and reserves, and the latest outside review. If you are not used to reading these, ask a treasurer or an accountant you trust to go through them with you.
Minutes and annual reports
A year or two of board and congregational minutes show what the church spends its meetings on and how votes fall. Some churches will hesitate to share them with a candidate, and a fair compromise is reading them on site once you are the final name.
The offer itself
A written call or agreement listing each part of the package, time off, the review process and how the pastorate can end. Your denomination or network may have a model form and someone who reviews these, so ask.
Checking what you were told
The former pastor
With the committee's knowledge, phone your predecessor and, if you can, the one before. Ask what they wish they had known and what they would do differently. Expect a partial account, as the committee's is, and look for where the two overlap.
Someone outside the congregation
A denominational official, the interim or the pastor of a nearby church often knows the congregation's reputation and its record. Ask the committee whom they would suggest, then find one more name they did not give you.
An ordinary Sunday
The candidating weekend is the church at its fullest and friendliest. If distance allows, attend or watch a normal service beforehand, and notice the size of the room against the number in it, who speaks to a stranger, and how the announcements sound.
Your own household
Whoever would move with you should see the town, the housing and the school, and should have a chance to ask their own questions without the committee present. Their reading of the place is evidence too.
Where candidates go wrong
Auditioning the whole time
A candidate who only answers questions learns what the committee thought to mention. Careful questions do not look presumptuous to a serious committee. They show the kind of attention a pastor would bring to the church.
Hearing what you hoped to hear
When you want to leave where you are, every answer sounds better than it is. Write the answers down the same evening, in their words, and read them a week later or hand them to a friend who has no stake in the move.
Planning to fix it later
Unwritten expectations, a hostile minority and a salary that does not cover the household rarely improve after the vote. Whatever troubles you now, raise it now, and decide on the basis of the church as it is.
Interrogating
Hard questions land better when they come with evident goodwill and are spread over several meetings. These are volunteers who love their church and have given months to the search. Thank them for candid answers, especially the uncomfortable ones.