New resource: guidance for your church's minister search
Get logistical and spiritual help from this e-book.
In 2016 I first published an approach to minister searches entitled Searching for the Called: A Guide for Congregations in Ministerial Transitions. It helps churches navigate the time from the departure of one settled minister to the welcome of its next leader.
I wrote the Searching for the Called manual because minister searches are unique seasons in the lives of congregations. There is a lot of anxiety around what the future holds and how to operate in the meantime. When that anxiety drives the search process, churches make regrettable decisions that end up being very costly spiritually, emotionally, and financially for everyone involved. But when a church is truly open to the movements of the Holy Spirit, there is so much opportunity – for celebrating and reconnecting with the congregation’s roots, for listening deeply to and growing closer with God, for stoking the church’s imagination about who it can be and what it can do, for strengthening individuals’ relationships with one another and the church’s partnerships with the community and denomination, for blessing the many candidates who come into contact with the search team, and for setting the new minister up for a fast start.
Because the Searching for the Called approach is deeply rooted in worship and the discernment of God’s invitations, I have wanted to create a companion prayer/devotional guide ever since. Much has happened during that span to keep the writing of that guide on the back burner, but the Holy Spirit began actively working on me to begin composition earlier this year. The result is an e-book entitled Searching for the Called: Logistical and Spiritual Guidance for Your Minister Search, which is now available for order. Part one provides the heart of the original Searching for the Called framework: an overview, essential tasks, key reflection questions, best practices, candidate perspectives, and assessment of readiness to move forward for each stage of your minister search. Part two includes prayers and litanies for use in the whole congregation, particularly toward the beginning and end of a minister search. Part three contains scriptural reflections primarily for the search team. And part four offers prayers for the search team at a range of points in the process.
If you are a congregant at a church in a minister search or a judicatory leader who resources minister search teams (this approach is designed to complement your denomination’s resources), I invite you to check out this book, available for $5.99 on Amazon (or for free if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription).