Responding to requests from presbyteries, pastor nominating committees, search committees, and church professionals, the Office of Call Referral Services (CRS) has developed a computer matching system that is accessible over the World Wide Web. The new system, called "Church Leadership Connection," provides easy access, user-friendly forms, instant posting opportunities, and instant retrieval of matching data.

A pastor, church educator, church administrator, executive presbyter, synod executive, or other church professional can complete a Personnel Information Form (PIF) and submit it to CRS. The same PIF is used for all types of positions and all ecclesiastical statuses and replaces the three previously used forms. The same is true for a pastor nominating committee or search committee submitting a Church Information Form (CIF). The CIF and PIF are shorter and easier to use than previous versions.

After required approvals and attestations are obtained, CRS reviews and places the CIF or PIF in the Church Leadership Connection (CLC) matching database. Presbyteries, synods, theological institutions, or CRS can then match people to positions.

A system of log-in IDs and passwords guarantee security and confidentiality. The only people who have access to the full database are CRS staff. Others have access only to the tasks the security level of their log-in ID permits.

Roles in the CLC Process

Call Referral Services (CRS) provides tools and leadership for using CLC. Each completed CIF and PIF are submitted to CRS, then placed in the matching database. CRS provides matching services for congregations located in presbyteries that do not do their own matching and for Search Committees.

Committee on Ministry (COM) assigns a log-in identification number (ID) and password to the Pastor Nominating Committee Chair and to the Clerk of Session and also approves the CIF. Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) chair or the assigned representative can log onto the system to fill in and submit the CIF and to review the referred PIFs after a match.

Clerk of Session reviews and electronically signs off on the completed CIF.

Committee on Preparation for Ministry electronically signs off on the PIFs of candidates to give permission to circulate a PIF.

Executive Presbyter or Synod Executive logs onto the system and uses the Matching function to provide a list of PIFs to refer for a specific CIF.

Church professionals access the system to use the Opportunity Search, to fill in and submit a PIF, and to review their list of referrals.

Stated Clerk of presbytery electronically attests to an individual's standing in presbytery.

Theological Institution Placement Officers use Reverse Matching and Opportunity Search to assist seminarians in their search for positions.

Personal Information Form (PIF)

This section of the handbook describes the steps taken by church professionals searching for a position. It shows how to fill out the Personal Information Form (PIF), how to obtain a login ID and password, and how to update your PIF in Church Leadership Connection. Your PIF is the means by which the matching database selects positions for your consideration and is the basis for your evaluation of Church Information Forms (CIFs) that you find using the Opportunity Search or that are sent to you.

The following is an overview of the steps you will take:

• Printing the Form from the World Wide Web to Use as a Draft Worksheet
• Submitting the Form On-line (and Helpful Hints to Get Started)
• Submitting Multiple PIFs
• Obtaining a Log-in ID and Password
• Changing or Updating a PIF
• Checking Referral Status of PIFs
• Viewing or Printing Your Existing PIFs
• Attesting the PIF

Note: Church educators and interim pastors, see special instructions.

Printing the Form

Access and print a blank copy of the PIF from the Church Leadership Connection web page. Use the printed form as a draft worksheet before you go on-line to submit the form. Do not try to write the PIF on-line; time-out features can cause loss of data.

1. To access the CLC web page, enter address www.pcusa.org/clc.
2. Click on Printable Forms.
3. Click on the format you want to use to print the form (MS Word or PDF). Print a PIF (Part I).
4. To print the forms, click your browser's File menu and select the Print option. You may also save the form to your hard drive by clicking on File, then Save As. Indicate the directory and file name.
5. Repeat steps 3-4, clicking on and printing or saving Part II.
6. If you will be submitting a paper or disk copy of the PIF, click on Attestation/Approval Forms and print the appropriate form (Minister of Word and Sacrament, Lay Professionals, or Candidate for Ministry).
7. Exit from the web page. You can use your browser's Back button if you want to go back to a previous page, or use the Exit button.

The PIF is also available in hard copy (please use a typewriter to fill it in) or diskette (Plain HTML, MS Word 97, MS Word 5.0, or WordPerfect 5.X Versions). If you choose to send a diskette or hard copy, send the completed form to Call Referral Service, at 100 Witherspoon Street, Mezzanine, Louisville, KY, 40202, and our staff will enter the data into the CLC system. The appropriate Attestation/Approval Form should accompany the PIF.

Helpful Hints

• Before you begin, read the Questions on the CLC Main Menu or click on PIF for New Users and read the FAQ questions.
• Most browsers have a "time out" feature that disconnects you from the Internet after a period of inactivity (this period may be as short as 20 minutes). The CLC system has a "time out" feature set for 2 hours of inactivity. Before you begin entering the data on-line, you may want to extend your browser time-out limit. To minimize the time required to complete the narrative sections of the PIF, you may want to type the narrative portions in a word-processing program or Windows Notepad, then cut and paste the narrative sections into the on-line form.
• You can complete Part I at anytime and Part II within ten days.
• You are allowed 1500 characters to answer each one of four Narrative Questions. This includes punctuation and spaces.
• As you type information into the fields, press the Tab to go to the next field or use the mouse.
  To select multiple items press and hold the CTRL key while clicking with the mouse.

Submitting the Form On-line

Using your draft worksheet as a guide:

1. Access the CLC web page at www.pcusa.org/clc.
2. Click on Enter a New PIF; review the introductory information, then click on, Start Filling My Personal Information Form.
3. Fill in Part I of the PIF and click the next button. You will then receive an acceptance message with your professional ID number and password. Write down or print out the ID# and password; you will use these to regain access to your PIF. Then proceed to Part II.
4. Complete Part II and if there are no corrections, click on the submit button.
5. When a PIF is completed (Part I and Part II), the PIF will automatically be placed in a holding area to await attestation by your presbytery stated clerk. When the person is a candidate under care, the Committee on Preparation for Ministry (CPM) Moderator will consult with the stated clerk prior to approving the PIF.

To avoid losing data, as you fill out the PIF online, never click the back key button while inside the form. This will delete the information you have already entered. Click the back key button only when the computer prompts you to go back to make a correction. To back up to a previous screen, use the scroll bar to the right of your screen.

Multiple PIFs

You may have up to three (3) active PIFs in the matching database. This allows you to tailor your narrative responses to best highlight your experience and skills for various types of positions, such as pastoral, administrative, educational, interim, etc. For these positions, you will need to fill out only an additional Part II of the form, which will automatically link to your Part I.

Obtaining a Log-in ID and Password

After you submit your PIF (Part I), the CLC system assigns you a professional login ID and initial password. The login ID is a 9 digit number, (such as 100000000). If CRS staff enter the PIF for you, contact your CLC Consultant for your ID and password (888 )728-7228, x8550. The password will be a complicated group of numbers and letters that are case sensitive. You can change your password, but please make sure it's eight characters or fewer. If you forget your password or cannot for any reason open your file, you may call the CRS staff to re-initialize a new password for you.

Attesting of the PIF

When a PIF has been submitted to the CLC system, the appropriate person will be notified that a PIF needs to be attested:

• Stated Clerk of Presbytery for Ministers of Word and Sacrament
• Committee on Preparation for Ministry Moderator for Candidates for Ministry
• Stated Clerks of Presbytery where church membership resides

CRS will not place the PIF in the matching database without the attestation.

Changing or Updating a PIF

You will be required to update the PIF once a year. CRS will notify you by e-mail or letter when it is time to update the form. On your PIF Task List under Fill/Update PIF (Part 2), you will note that under the heading of Comment the system will notify you of the date that your PIF will expire, and in the Action column it will prompt you to update your PIF. If you do not do so by the expiration date, the PIF will be removed from the system.

The following instructions are for the church professional to update a PIF:

1. Access the CLC web page at www.pcusa.org/clc.
2. Click User Login.
3. Fill in your professional login ID and password and click Submit.
4. You are shown a list of Tasks.
5. Click on Update My General Information (Part I). Be sure to keep your address and phone numbers current at all times. To update Part 2 click on, Fill/Update PIF (Part 2). Under the Action column click on Update. Use your Tab key or mouse pointer to go from field to field. Click Update Form. A message is shown that your PIF is updated. If your PIF is not complete, another message is shown. Use the browser's Back [] button to return to the previous screen; complete; and click Submit again.
6. The options under Fill/Update PIF (Part 2) allow you to do the following:
   • View an existing PIF
   • Print an existing PIF
   • Update a PIF
   • Fill out an Additional PIF (Part 2)

Check Referral Status of PIFs

From the Task List for Church Professionals, click on the option Check Referral Status. This allows you to see where your PIF has been referred. Click on any of the church's PIN numbers to see the church's CIF. If you are particularly interested in a position to which your PIF has been matched, consider writing the PNC to confirm your interest.

View or Print Your Existing PIFs

You can view or print any version of your PIF by going to Fill/Update PIF (Part 2) and click on the PIF ID number.

Opportunity Search

Anyone can use the Opportunity Search. A log-in ID and password are not needed. You can tailor the search to your own personal needs by filling out the criteria screen, or you may search for a particular church or organization.

The following are instructions for using the Opportunity Search:

1. Access the CPS web page at www.pcusa.org/clc.
2. Click Opportunity Search.

To look for a CIF from a specific church:

1. Click on Search opportunities in a particular church/organization.
2. Fill in the church's 5-digit OGA pin number, or the church name, city, and state. Completing only the church name will bring up all churches in the system with that name; completing only the city and state will bring up all the churches in that city and state.
3. Click on the CIF ID number to review the complete CIF.

To obtain a list of positions matching your criteria:

1. Choose whether to conduct an unlimited search (default) or a restricted search for each of the criteria shown. For example, to select only certain states from which to conduct the search, click on the Only the states selected circle, then click on the state names that you want to include in your search area. To select more than one state, hold down the control key and click on additional states. For Minimum cash salary, type in the minimum cash salary, not including housing or benefits you would consider. View the complete CIF to find the amount for housing allowance. You may also specify the skills you want the position to contain. Keep in mind that each position lists a maximum of ten skills, so you will want to avoid selecting "match all. . ." if you select more than ten skills. You may select as many skills as you want when you select "match any. . . ."
2. Click on Search General List to bring up all positions that match the criteria you have selected. Click on Search Diversified List to bring up interim positions, educator positions, governing body positions, and all other non-congregational positions. Click on Search Racial Ethnic List to bring up positions in congregations or organizations that have identified themselves as multiracial or multiethnic.
3. To view a list of the matching CIFs click on Show Header Info Only. You are shown the list of CIFs for positions that meet your criteria. You can view the complete CIF by clicking on the CIF ID number. To view more detail of the CIFs, click on Show Summary Info. You are shown a summary of the CIF data and the name and address of the person or persons to whom you can send a copy of your PIF for self-referral. To view the full CIF, click on View CIF Details. This also allows you to view a bar graph or a table of ten-year trends in this congregation.
4. Determine how many records to display per page. If you have a slower PC with limited memory, we advise you leave the number of records per page at ten. For faster PCs, you can increase the number to as many as 50.
5. Click Begin Search.
6. You are shown the matching CIFs, either by Header Info, or Summary (see Step 3).

Self-Referrals

Suggestions follow to assist those who wish to send their PIF to a church/organization. Your first step is to select from the Opportunity Search the position(s) in which you are most interested. Then carefully review your PIF and ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you within the geographic choices specified? If not, would you be willing to pay part of the moving expenses?
• Have you checked that you would consider the community type listed?
• Do you have the experience required? The characteristics and qualifications needed?
• Have you checked that you would consider the congregation size shown?
• Is the salary acceptable?
• Do the skills you have listed on your PIF match at least the four required skills selected by the church/organization?

Sending Your Self-Referrals

You may see a CIF on "Opportunity Search" or see an ad in a Presbyterian publication and want to apply. It is perfectly acceptable and encouraged to do "self-referral." If you decide a position is a good match for you, send your PIF with a one-page cover letter to the person(s) designated in the "Self-Referral Contact Information" field for the church/organization. Because some presbyteries prefer that the executive presbyter and COM review all PIFs before they are given to a PNC, it is wise to check Church Leadership Connection for referral information before mailing or emailing your PIF directly to a PNC. Even when you send to a PNC, it is always courtesy to send a copy of your PIF to the EP of the presbytery. Indicate in the letter your interest, highlight your qualifications, and state why you believe you are a good candidate. If you are particularly interested in serving in a specific presbytery, it will serve you well to send your PIF and speak personally with the EP. If you have special skills or interests or have a spouse with special career needs, an EP can be especially helpful.

Note: A church/organization cannot access your PIF unless a computer match occurs for the particular position(s) in which you are interested. Sending only a cover letter with your name and ID# is not sufficient; send your PIF. You can also send your PIF electronically by doing a Save As (you may have to change the extension from an ASP file to a HTML file) and then email it to the person indicated on the opportunity search.