Internet, ‘headhunters’ aid in search for qualified pastors

It’s not necessarily your grand­parents’ pastor search process. Increasingly, churches are changing the way they locate prospective pastors by using the Internet or even “headhunters” to find the right candidate for the position.

Dale Huff, director of LeaderCare and church administration for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), said Web sites have become a popular method of enlarging the candidate pool when churches search for staff.

A trend toward using headhunters to pick prospective pastors  is gathering momentum, driven by large churches with big budgets. They use  resources such as Texas-based MinisterSearch, a headhunting firm  that deals with churches.

David Lyons, a former corporate recruiter, said he founded MinisterSearch to help churches find qualified candidates.

Lyons was raised as a Southern Baptist and now attends a nondenominational church affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. His personal experience serving on a pastor search committee convinced him that churches need help with this task. “I realized the process churches go through is pretty arduous. It’s just too difficult for someone who has a full-time job to find the right candidate.”

Since the startup, business has grown 400 percent, Lyons said. The company’s clients, typically 30–35 churches at any time, come from a range of denominations, and half are repeat customers. “Once the church uses our services they realize what a benefit it is,” he said.

One Alabama Baptist congregation has been advertising a ministry position recently on the firm’s Web site, but Lyons declined to identify the church.

Size matters

Although churches of every size use the company’s services, most are large congregations of a thousand or more, according to Lyons. Size matters not only because of the expense involved, but Lyons contended that larger churches, which have already adopted a growth mind-set, are more receptive to nontraditional methods. He tries to impress this on smaller churches, too. “That’s a point that’s been powerful.”

While churches that use the service pay a retainer, pastors may submit their resumés to the company without charge.

Huff predicted, however, that smaller churches in Alabama would not follow the headhunting trend. He pointed out that all state conventions and Southern Baptist seminaries offer resumé services as well as training for pastor search committees  for free.

Hefty fees are not the only drawbacks. “I can’t see it ever well received in the smaller churches. I think it’s too corporate.”

Plus, Huff recognizes the value in the direct, hands-on approach of a search process devoid of a middleman. “It’s taking some of the personal touch out of it. I’ve heard some of our ministers say it’s distressing to them.”

Dave Simpson, who was previously on staff at North Mobile First Baptist Church in Saraland, reacted favorably to his experience with a firm that operated as a middleman. Simpson was contacted by a company hired by a South Carolina church while he was job searching.

Now serving as minister of music at Green Valley Baptist Church in Henderson, Nev., Simpson said he appreciated the thoroughness of the company’s approach, which included a comprehensive background check.

“It was intimidating because you’re not used to that kind of scrutiny,” he admit­ted. But he also found it comforting. “It made me respect the church in the process.” 

After interviewing with the firm, Simpson was also interviewed by the church but was even­tually eliminated as a candidate based upon an on­line compatibility test. “You can’t flunk the test; it’s just who you are.”

Initially disappointed, Simpson was re­lieved that he might have avoided an awkward match. “That was important for us as well. It was important that we specifically made a move to a church that fit us.”

Simpson entered the search process with the South Carolina church through a Web site.

“I found that the Internet was a tremendous tool.” Simpson said he dialogued with about 20 churches altogether during his job search. “Not only could you find out about op­portunities, you could go and re­search the church and find out what they’re like.”

First Baptist Church, Southside, in Etowah As­sociation, a congregation of 250 active members, adverti­sed for a worship and education minister on church­staffing­.com. It also used methods such as the state convention, association and newspapers. “By far the most response has been through the Inter­net,” said Allison Cleveland, ministry assistant at Southside. Candi­dates who re­sponded via the Internet “seem to be pretty qualified,” Cleveland said, and responses have come from as far away as California. “It’s very helpful just to have more to choose from.”

While the church hasn’t filled a position this way, it extended a call to a candidate who replied to the Internet posting.

The candidate decided to remain where he was, but the church considered the process effective.