Electing a Pastor Nominating Committee

(G-14.0502) "When a church is without a pastor, or after the effective date of the dissolution of the pastoral relationship, the congregation shall, with the guidance and permission of the Committee on Ministry, G-11.0502d, proceed to elect a pastor in the following manner. The session shall call a congregational meeting to elect a nominating committee, which shall be representative of the whole congregation. The committee's duty shall be to nominate a minister to the congregation for election as pastor. Public notice of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting shall be given at least ten days in advance, which shall include two successive Sundays."

Consider the following steps when electing a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC):

• Session should meet to set a date and time for congregation to meet and elect a PNC.
• Ten days notice must be given including two successive Sundays.
• Session suggests size of committee and recommends to congregation (final authority for PNC rests with congregation).
• The nominating committee should provide a mechanism for receiving input of names from the congregation.
• The nominating committee proposes a slate of representatives of the whole congregation. Persons should be knowledgeable of the church, the community, and Presbyterian theology and government. Before nomination, persons should be contacted to determine if they would serve if elected.
• A ballot is prepared in advance with space for nominations from the floor. Care must be taken that persons nominated from the floor are present and have agreed to serve, or that they have consented in advance.
• If at all possible, a COM representative should moderate the congregational meeting (or be present to advise) when the PNC is elected.

Getting Organized

When the members of the PNC have been elected, it is time to get organized and map out exactly what you will need, what you will do, and the timetable you allocated for. Your COM liaison will help you know what is realistic based on COM experience with other churches.

Plan the first meeting in consultation with your COM liaison. Committees on Ministry often lead the orientation meeting. It will be essential for all of your members to be present. It may also be helpful to ask the session to be present for the first 30 minutes of the meeting so that all roles can be clarified.

Selecting Officers

The role of the chairperson is:

• To encourage discussion of various viewpoints rather than discourage them.
• To delegate responsibility and see that tasks are carried out.
• To ensure that decisions reached are the consensus of the group.
• To carry on correspondence with the presbytery, with CLC staff, candidates, and ministers.

The role of the secretary is:

• To do correspondence and keep records of the committee.
• To perform other duties as determined by the PNC.

In order to speed your work through the use of Church Leadership Connection, you will want to appoint one member to be the internet "communicator" for your PNC. Ideally this would be your PNC chair, but if she or he is not comfortable with the internet, another member of the committee could take this role. This person should have confidential access to the internet on a regular basis. Access through a church office computer is not recommended unless complete confidentiality can be assured. All mailings and e-mailings should go only to PNC members, not through others who are not PNC members, thus the church office address should not be used.

Planning Communication and Resources

• Identify those key points at which the session must be involved in your work.
• Keep confidential all matters discussed by your committee.
• Decide now how you will keep the congregation informed. Many PNCs find it helpful to post a list of the stages of a pastoral vacancy and then mark their progress. Articles in the bulletin and newsletter and reports during worship are good ways to inform the congregation. You must not disclose names or descriptions of individuals considered or places visited for interviews, but you can tell the congregation the stage you are in (such as "receiving and evaluating PIFs") and give general statistical information (such as "We have received resumes from 32 individuals-18 men and 14 women").
• Plan the materials you will use to help you in your task and to help you understand the pastor calling process. Check www.pcusa.org/clc and click on "Resources" for on-line instructions and helpful tips. In addition, CLC has a companion DVD/VHS video entitled On Calling a Pastor Video to be used with this resource. The video is available at PDS (800) 524-2612, PDS #72214-04014 or order online:

  

Scheduling PNC Meetings

Set a date and a time for regular meetings, making certain that all PNC members will be available and that it is convenient for the COM representative to attend or be available by telephone. Calling a pastor requires wisdom and spiritual guidance. Prayer should begin each meeting of the PNC. In addition, congregational prayers not only support the work of the PNC but also encourage unity within the congregation at a time when divisiveness could occur. Keep the congregation informed, prayerful, and optimistic.

Writing and Submitting the Church Information Form

Before your Church Information Form (CIF) can be sent to Church Leadership Connection a position description should be developed.

Writing the Position Description

If you have done a mission study, a position description should begin to emerge. You are asked to draw up a proposed description so that the PNC and the ministers whom it considers may have a common understanding of what the PNC sees as expectations and qualifications. As you consider the position description, it is helpful for your committee to identify what skills it believes the person must have. For samples of position descriptions see Guidelines for a Session Personnel Committee at Church Leadership Connection Web site. Click on "resources" and download a copy for free.

Ensuring equal opportunity for service. Committees on Ministry "shall provide for the implementation of equal opportunity employment for ministers and candidates without regard to race, ethnic origin, sex, age, marital status, or disability. In the case of each call, it shall report to the presbytery the steps in this implementation taken by the calling group." (G-11.0502g)

"…Care must be taken by the Pastor Nominating Committee to consider candidates without regard to race, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, age or disabilities." (G-140502b)

Develop selection criteria that are not discriminatory based on race/ethnicity, age, gender, marital status, or disability. For example, "being married with young children," "having a wife who plays the organ," or "must be African-American" should be ruled out as criteria. It may be helpful to explore feelings and perceptions in a nonjudgmental way, allowing folks to discuss the unfamiliar, to ask questions, and to express concerns. Search committees often say things like "We have nothing against a woman pastor, but our congregation just isn't ready for that yet." However, those are often the PNCs that bring forth a woman nominee with excitement. Those PNCs who do not allow personal preferences to close doors often find themselves deeply enriched as God surprises them.

When the CIF is being completed, the PNC chair and presbytery representatives will need to be able to sign with integrity.

Has the presbytery's Committee on Ministry thus counseled with the Pastor Nominating Committee regarding Equal Employment Opportunity?

Yes______ No______

Each Pastor Nominating Committee is expected to undertake its search for a minister in a manner consistent with the good news that in the Church "... as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

Has the Pastor Nominating Committee affirmed to the Presbytery Committee on Ministry its intention to follow the Form of Government in this regard?

Yes______ No_______

Completing and Submitting the CIF

Start by getting a paper copy of the CIF. You can download and print a CIF from the internet at the Church Leadership Connection Web site by clicking on "printable forms" or you may request a copy from CLC or the presbytery office.

In conversation with your session and with your COM liaison, complete your CIF. Your session will give direction about the position and about the compensation package you can offer a new minister. Your COM has experience with pastor searches and will be able to help you present your church in the best way.

Once your CIF is complete, both your session and the COM must read and approve it. COM approval is indicated electronically by your presbytery COM once you enter your CIF online.

When the PNC's research is completed and the information needed for all parts of the CIF has been gathered, the PNC, the session, and the COM representative should meet again to make certain that they all agree on the information to be submitted. All items should be fully discussed; the CIF is the means by which your PNC will evaluate PIFs. It is also a statement of the expectations under which the minister you call will come to your church and within which he or she will work for the first phase of the new pastorate.

Using Church Leadership Connection - For instructions on how to enter the CIF online go to the Church Leadership Connection Web site and click on "resources".

Get a PNC log-in ID and password from your COM. Secure all IDs and passwords you receive. For help, contact CLC staff at (888) 728-7228 ext. 8550.

For "references" for your church, you may want to consider listing your COM liaison, your executive or general presbyter, a neighboring pastor, your interim pastor, or others who have worked with you recently.

Think carefully about "skills" that you will require from all candidates you consider. Review CLC skill definitions.

Under "Geographic Choices," unless you have some strong reason to limit your search, you will be wise to select "unlimited" to get the best candidates in your referral list.

For "PNC Chair Details" it is important to always enter an email address. This may be the PNC chair or another member of the committee. Since they will receive PIFs through this email, it should be a personal, secure email (not the church inbox or someone who is not an elected member of your PNC).

Once the CIF has been submitted to CLC online, the computer or CLC staff will notify both the clerk of session and COM chair to indicate their approvals. After the approvals are made, the CIF is released into the matching database. Once that occurs, your PNC and anyone with internet access will be able to view your CIF on "Opportunity Search" at www.pcusa.org/clc. At this point, either your presbytery executive or CLC staff will do an initial match for you and your PNC chair or internet communicator will receive a group of PIFs referred for consideration.

By using "Opportunity Search", prospective pastors will be able to read your CIF and link to your web page if you have one, and may send you their PIF directly. These are called "self-referrals." Some PNCs choose to advertise in Presbyterian publications such as Presbyterian Outlook or Presbyterians Today, to generate other self-referrals. Remember to keep your COM liaison informed of PIFs you receive as self-referrals since they may not have received copies also.

The CLC-matching database has PIFs for Presbyterian ministers and candidates who have been approved by presbyteries to negotiate a call. Each PIF contains answers to narrative questions, details about skills, preferences, work experience, and financial considerations, as well as a list of references. Use this information in your initial screening.

The process of matching and referral through CLC uses the criteria you have indicated as your requirements on your CIF to select persons for your consideration. The first list of PIFs will automatically be sent to you. Additional lists of PIFs will be sent only on your specific request. Ordinarily, names of ministers who are presently members of your own presbytery are not suggested; contact your COM if you are interested in someone within your own presbytery. (This does not apply to candidates under care of a presbytery.) Names of racial/ethnic persons and women are included in these selections wherever possible. Additional names of women and racial/ethnic persons may be requested at any time by calling (888) 728-7228, ext. 5748.

At this point we suggest that a midpoint check be done to determine how the PNC will organize itself to work after the PIFs begin to arrive. There are several steps that must be completed, and your committee needs to take the time now to discuss the order in which it will complete each step. The committee may also want to set some target dates for completing each remaining step.