The Platform is not the Person We all present ourselves to give good impressions to others. Ordinary community members want other ordinaries to think of them in positive ways. More public figures in a community do the same, sometimes with a more ramped method of image management. Teachers do this in their teaching, pastors do this from the platform and pulpit and in various communications, neighbors can be quite busy in managing what other neighbors think of them. Authors present themselves in their writings in a way that readers trust and then think of them in those terms.
When I drop a seed into a hole in the ground, it begins with the root, not with the flower. Choosing people for a search committee is perhaps the most critical part of a hiring procedure. It's not that easy to settle for "root" people when the "flower" people are so engaging. But a committee that does not include at least one or two "root" folks may end up making a serious mistake in its choice of a leader. Cut flowers don't last - not in a florist's shop, likely not in a church.
Some mainline denominations have ordination/credentialing requirements. These include MMPI, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, M.Div., education and employment verification, reference checks, interview processes from a variety of pastoral and lay leaders, and more, including continuing education requirements and compliance with a code of ethics. Data bases are maintained, and the denomination serves as the clearing house of clergy conduct and misconduct information. It may not be perfect, but is at least a step in the right direction.
A consideration I've had thoughout the reading and conversations on "Tov" is that there is such a thing as closet/covert narcissism. (As C.S. Lewis said in Screwtape Letters, "....get him to take pride in his humility.") We need to look for ways to see consistency demonstrated over time.... Scott, you mentioned some of these. I think the MMPI is lacking, but other suggestions were made. Another thought... it seems that often, over time, there is a progression of the abuse of power.
I look for all that, but I also look for God things. I tend not to trust a pastor who has just book learnings to accurately portray God, but who has real, true, stories of how God led them, whether it was spoken or other leadings, that came true. One true encounter with our Living God can transform a person, a church and society...
Good one. We are right now in the process of hiring two staff members, a pastor of Youth and Family and a pastor of Outreach and Discipleship. This article is wise and helpful… and perfectly-timed for me! 👍🏼👍🏼
We're Americans; we want everything about us to look good, with our "can-do" attitude. It's truly a matter of shame if people "can't-do" for whatever reason. A characteristic of American Evangelicalism (not of all Evangelicals, by any means) is to project Success - God is blessing us, our families are all healthy, we touch a lot of people with our ministry programs (nothing wrong with that, but...), etc. etc. In the last couple of decades people have been realizing how empty that is; my anecdotal experience is that it's hard for those folks to remain in Evangelical churches, and a lot of them have migrated to a different church or become Nones. It's very tempting to think we have to uphold God's reputation by being Successful and having a Successful Church - we can't admit to something going wrong personally or corporately.
It's much easier to sort between the platform and the person when the church is committed to fostering the virtues of honesty and humility, both individually and corporately. Fostering virtue - a different thing than simply encouraging moral behavior - does not seem to be on the radar screen of many non-sacramental churches. Of course, as I noted above, there are exceptions on both a personal and corporate level, but that's not generally what we as Americans want to see.
Don't know if I'm making myself clear here; this is something I grappled with in the past, as you well know, Scot. One of the things that attracted me to where I am now is that a sizeable number of Jesus-loving people could admit, "Yup, in many ways we're a mess."
Yes indeed after 45 years in ministry I am saddened to see so many of my peers hanging on by their fingernails to their pulpit even though they are past their "sell by" date. They have served their generation but won't give up. They have lost touch with their true identity. My husband and I have tried to remain "real" sharing our ups and downs. Our son sent me a mother's day card that sums it up. "Mom you are just like the Queen" inside said "She also has four children that embarrass her". We have continually been thanked for being "transparent". Now we are retired making room for a young man who was in our school and we are so proud of him. I spoke to a Pastor's wife who had retired and was trying so hard to stay in the ministry somehow. what her hobbies were and she looked amazed and said "but ministry"! It was the sum total of her life.
When I drop a seed into a hole in the ground, it begins with the root, not with the flower. Choosing people for a search committee is perhaps the most critical part of a hiring procedure. It's not that easy to settle for "root" people when the "flower" people are so engaging. But a committee that does not include at least one or two "root" folks may end up making a serious mistake in its choice of a leader. Cut flowers don't last - not in a florist's shop, likely not in a church.
Some mainline denominations have ordination/credentialing requirements. These include MMPI, Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, M.Div., education and employment verification, reference checks, interview processes from a variety of pastoral and lay leaders, and more, including continuing education requirements and compliance with a code of ethics. Data bases are maintained, and the denomination serves as the clearing house of clergy conduct and misconduct information. It may not be perfect, but is at least a step in the right direction.
A consideration I've had thoughout the reading and conversations on "Tov" is that there is such a thing as closet/covert narcissism. (As C.S. Lewis said in Screwtape Letters, "....get him to take pride in his humility.") We need to look for ways to see consistency demonstrated over time.... Scott, you mentioned some of these. I think the MMPI is lacking, but other suggestions were made. Another thought... it seems that often, over time, there is a progression of the abuse of power.
This is great--until I saw that $104 book!! Hopefully the library has it :)
I look for all that, but I also look for God things. I tend not to trust a pastor who has just book learnings to accurately portray God, but who has real, true, stories of how God led them, whether it was spoken or other leadings, that came true. One true encounter with our Living God can transform a person, a church and society...
Good one. We are right now in the process of hiring two staff members, a pastor of Youth and Family and a pastor of Outreach and Discipleship. This article is wise and helpful… and perfectly-timed for me! 👍🏼👍🏼
We're Americans; we want everything about us to look good, with our "can-do" attitude. It's truly a matter of shame if people "can't-do" for whatever reason. A characteristic of American Evangelicalism (not of all Evangelicals, by any means) is to project Success - God is blessing us, our families are all healthy, we touch a lot of people with our ministry programs (nothing wrong with that, but...), etc. etc. In the last couple of decades people have been realizing how empty that is; my anecdotal experience is that it's hard for those folks to remain in Evangelical churches, and a lot of them have migrated to a different church or become Nones. It's very tempting to think we have to uphold God's reputation by being Successful and having a Successful Church - we can't admit to something going wrong personally or corporately.
It's much easier to sort between the platform and the person when the church is committed to fostering the virtues of honesty and humility, both individually and corporately. Fostering virtue - a different thing than simply encouraging moral behavior - does not seem to be on the radar screen of many non-sacramental churches. Of course, as I noted above, there are exceptions on both a personal and corporate level, but that's not generally what we as Americans want to see.
Don't know if I'm making myself clear here; this is something I grappled with in the past, as you well know, Scot. One of the things that attracted me to where I am now is that a sizeable number of Jesus-loving people could admit, "Yup, in many ways we're a mess."
Dana
Yes indeed after 45 years in ministry I am saddened to see so many of my peers hanging on by their fingernails to their pulpit even though they are past their "sell by" date. They have served their generation but won't give up. They have lost touch with their true identity. My husband and I have tried to remain "real" sharing our ups and downs. Our son sent me a mother's day card that sums it up. "Mom you are just like the Queen" inside said "She also has four children that embarrass her". We have continually been thanked for being "transparent". Now we are retired making room for a young man who was in our school and we are so proud of him. I spoke to a Pastor's wife who had retired and was trying so hard to stay in the ministry somehow. what her hobbies were and she looked amazed and said "but ministry"! It was the sum total of her life.