Should Pastors Be Interviewed Before Joining A Church?
By evets7
@evets7 (86)
United States
November 9, 2010 7:00pm CST
In light of all of the scandals surrounding pastors would having a private meeting with a prospective pastor ensure that you're being led by someone who walks the talk?
4 responses
@ScrambledBrains (144)
•
27 Dec 10
It's a good idea, but would only be a limited safeguard, because what's to stop a pastor splitting away and forming his own independent church, taking part of the congregation with him as his followers?
You may also be stuck with an interview panel who see their role as being a position of power, rather than thinking about what's good for the church, so a pastor who may have new, fresh ideas to attract more people, or who might have a more charismatic or down-to-earth preaching style than what's been offered before, may be rejected because he isn't "traditional" enough or doesn't "fit in" with established ideas (i.e. one interviewer doesn't like them), even though the church might get 200 people through the doors instead of 20 if a new pastor were employed.
@evets7 (86)
• United States
27 Dec 10
Thank you for your reply, and I agree with your concept. I believe all of the respondents to this conversation may have misunderstood my question or maybe I didn't make it comprehensible. What I am asking is that YOU as a prospective member, before officially joining a church should YOU have a private session with the pastor to ask him a slew of questions about his lifestyle and direction he is taking the church, because you don't want you time and energy and money wasted on potential scandal and misappropriation of funds.
@ScrambledBrains (144)
•
9 Jan 11
Oh right, I see what you're saying now. I'd say you should definitely met the pastor, because if you're uncomfortable with him as a person, how do you expect him to preach effectively to you?
I'm not religious, but I would imagine that it would also "feel" wrong to be in a congregation with a pastor that you aren't too sure about - simply by being part of his church, you'd be supporting him in a way, even though his lifestyle might not be acceptable to God, who is meant to be his ultimate authority, after all.
@gfeef01 (537)
•
10 Nov 10
I'm not really following the scandal, but i know that most churches do interview anyone who joins their staff team, and usually it's a long interview, some can last 3 or 4 days. I have worked on a church staff team before so i've been part of these interviews from both sides, though i'm not a pastor (not ordained clergy), i worked with children. Some churches don't both asking the right questions, others just blindly trust you when you say God lead me, often i was interviewed by people with no experience of interviewing, or i was not formally interviewed just accepted into everyday life for a bit to see if i would fit. It scares me to think of the trust they gave complete strangers. Some churches need to change their mindset and become more aware of the world.
@evets7 (86)
• United States
10 Nov 10
Thanks for your incites. However, I am speaking of prospective new members interviewing the pastor. If I have visited a church for several weeks or more, attended mid-week bible studies and the Word is being taught in a way that I am comfortable with, then why should I just jump right in, trust this pastor, give him and the ministry my financial support and go along my holy way? When I was a corporate professional before accepting a job offer from a company, I had more questions about the company and the leadership than the recruiter or hiring executive had for me. People in America blindly pour financial and other voluntary support to churches and really get no accountability from the leadership.
@LadyMarissa (12148)
• United States
10 Nov 10
I don't think interviewing prospective pastors would stop or help anything!!! Think about it...they lie about their activity in the scandal until they get caught red handed. So, there is nothing to make me believe they would tell the truth beforehand. Most of them are very charismatic & sound bound within their faith. So, an interview would not help weed out the liars!!!
