
Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash
Picture this: You just got a job at a church. You have decided to leave your last ministry, gone through the interview process, sold your house, packed up, and moved your family. You are excited and a little scared, but ready to go.
What do you do first?
Your first steps determine how your ministry goes at that church. The phrase “you only get one shot at a first impression” comes to mind. And that first impression will become a lasting impression.
Often, pastors come to a new church thinking they have all the answers. After all, they got the job and must be the answer person. In many ways, the church does look to the pastor for the answers, to know the vision and where the church is going.
The problem for new pastors is that they don’t know what they don’t know.
One of the things I did in my first six months at CCC was interview almost 50 people. I met with people who had been at the church for decades and ones who had started in the last six months. I talked with people who were long-time Christians, some new Christians, and a few exploring the faith.
My goal was to learn as much as possible about the church from those in it.
I asked them the same 8 questions:
- What is going well at Community Covenant Church?
- What is not going well at CCC?
- What is one thing about CCC you hope doesn’t change?
- What is one thing about CCC you hope will change?
- What burning questions would you like to ask me?
- If money weren’t an issue, what would be your next full-time hire(s) and why?
- If you were in my shoes, what would you focus on first?
- How can I pray for you?
As I listened, I started to get a sense of the story of the people in CCC and the story of CCC from the perspective of the people who lived it.
When you talk with a search firm that is leading a job search, you hear what they want you to hear. It isn’t wrong or false, but it is often incomplete. Because the search firm doesn’t live in the area or attend the church week in and week out.
Additionally, when a new pastor comes, he will often want to change the church’s mission, vision, and strategy. Sometimes, this needs to be done quickly; other times, it might be best to wait. As I listened to people’s answers, I started to get a sense of what God had not only done in the life and history of CCC, but also what God might be calling us into next. I was able to start saying back to the staff, elders, and leaders, “This is what I hear people saying, does that sound right to you?”
Too often, we take our vision from what another church did or the last thing we heard in a podcast. That can be a good thing, but I think there is something unique that God wants to do in and through a particular church. That is why He has brought together that group of people in that place at this time.
The job of the leaders is to come together with the people to discern that.
What was amazing to me was how many answers were the same in terms of how people answered these questions.