My church is currently searching for a new pastor and I am on the call committee. What are some of the best questions you were asked when interviewing for pastor jobs? What are some of the worst?
-Christine
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Ooh, cool question, Christine.
In the Presbyterian Church, Pastors are not assigned by Bishops, but rather find their calling through mutual agreement with a congregation. This means a LOT of interviews via phone, skype, and eventually in person, to see if a fit would be good. This is all facilitated now through a website the denomination runs which operates eerily similarly to match.com.
And like anyone who has tried internet dating knows, your mileage may vary.
I'm gonna start with the bad questions, first. In general, you don't get anything really bad, because while there are definitely some very broken congregations out there, most know that you can't walk around being openly racist or homophobic. Pastors in general tend to be more liberal than their congregations (at least in my denomination) and so churches that are getting desperate often try to... ah... sugarcoat the situation so you'll come to them.
The worst question I ever got, though, did not. This is the entirety of the interview.
Interviewer: Is this Rev. McCurdy?
Me: Well, not a Reverend yet, but yes.
Interviewer: Oh, right. So, for starters, what are your views on homosexual ordination?
Me: I support it.
Interviewer: (click)
In retrospect, at least they were straightforward. I'm pretty sure I would have been miserable in that church, so maybe it was actually a positive thing. Other questions about homosexuals were even more awkward.
Interviewer: Really? Even though in such-and-such scripture it says...
Me: Well, if you actually read the passage, you see it is actually condemning rape. Which I do condemn.
Interviewer: But Pat Robertson said...
I'll spare you the rest. Another fun one touched on my views of female ordination, if indirectly. It was a bit of a downer as it came at the end of a really great interview, in other respects.
Interviewer: And you have a family?
Me: Yeah, my wife and my dog.
Interviewer: Oooh! Are you going to be having babies?
Me: Uhh...
Interviewer: Our last pastor didn't. I really think it's why she didn't work out, here. I'm all for women in leadership, but they ought to follow their primary calling, first.
Me: Well, thank you for your time.
I also want to make clear that I talked to almost a hundred congregations during my search, so these are just a few REALLY bad seeds. Others could be awkward, but you'll have that everywhere.
The best questions were the ones that didn't harp over ideological conformity but rather my actual position as a pastor. They would start by informing me of the situation the church was in and asking how I would approach such a situation. They wanted to know how my theology would affect my ministry, not fill out a "liberal or conservative" checklist.
My absolutely favorite question, however, did involve such a question, because it had to. That conversation, done in person, went like this.
Interviewer: We haven't... really talked about the homosexual issue yet.
Me: Yeah, I was kinda wondering if it would come up.
Interviewer: We have really enjoyed getting to know you, but there is something we need to know about you before we get any farther.
Me: Uh, ok. (getting nervous, because I had enjoyed them, as well.)
Interviewer: In our church, we have a lesbian couple. They are long time members and beloved. We need to know that the Pastor we call will be able to treat them as beloved members, and be their pastor. Can you do that?
Me: You know what? I absolutely can.
Three weeks later I accepted the call to their church, and have never regretted it since. And that, dear readers, is a great question to ask a potential pastor.
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