A Surprising Blind Spot on Many Pastor Search Committees

There’s a diversity that most churches miss when putting together a pastor search committee.

I’ve worked with dozens of search teams – on both sides – interviewing and helping them select the right pastoral candidate. In my opinion, the worst way to select the team is to make it strictly a “popularity contest” – the best known people make the team. Most churches, thankfully, are more intentional than this. Most churches form a pastor search committee trying to make sure the group represents the church.

• They think about an diversity age.
• It’s divided by gender.
• They’re intentional about different stages of life.
• Different ministry areas of the church are represented.

And they should think this way.

But there is one category I’ve noticed that churches often overlook.

You should build a pastor search team like you build a healthy team. 

With that in mind, in addition to the team dynamics mentioned above – churches should consider the personality of the overall team. How people think matters.

For example, a committee made up of people who all process information the same way will eventually have blind spots. Put all engineers on the team and you may get excellent questions, careful analysis, and a thorough process. You may also, however, analyze the process – and the candidates – to death.

On the other hand, fill the committee with people who are all eager for change and you may move quickly, but fail to ask enough hard questions – and you’re likely to make some mistakes. Some of the most important, deeper questions may never get asked.

If you only have extroverts on the team – and introverted pastoral candidate may never get a fair look. Or all introverts – and the extroverted pastoral candidate may never mesh with the team.

So, build a search committee the way you would build any healthy team.

Include the analytical person. But also include an entrepreneur.

Invite a small business owner who has had to make decisions without having every piece of information.

Include someone who loves tradition, but also include someone who naturally sees what could be next.

Let someone serve who asks, “What could go wrong?” And someone else who asks, “What could God do?”

You need people who move fast and people who slow the room down. People who think with numbers and people who read people well. Include people who are excited about change and people who will make sure the church’s story is respected.

The goal is not to find people who all think alike – it is to build a team wise enough to see what one person – or one personality type – might miss.

And then give everyone an equal voice on the team.

A pastor search committee should represent the church. That includes more than what people look like. It should also represent the different ways healthy people think.