A member of a congregation that had engaged McGowan Search to assist their Search Committee confronted me in the parking lot of the church with a question. He asked, “How can you justify what you are doing in light of the Biblical teaching that God alone is the one who will call the one who is to be the next pastor of our church?” While I was initially caught off guard and was inclined to be a bit defensive, I quickly recovered and we had a good conversation about how God uses often means (such as a search consultant or an architect) to accomplish His purposes in the local church.

Lots of congregations find themselves dramatically out of sync with the theological and programmatic direction of their denomination. Denominational leaders cannot always be counted on to suggest potential candidates that share the congregation’s values.

The fact is that an increasing number of churches are using consultants to assist them in finding their next pastor. Good questions are often raised as that decision is being made. It is becoming more and more acceptable for consultants to be used, and the benefits are becoming more and more clear. The best and most legitimate question related to this issue has to do with “when” is it wise and desirable for a local church search committee to seek the services of a consultant. Five suggestions come to mind in response to that question:

  1. When the Search Committee that has been elected has few if any members who have ever had any experience in searching for a pastor, it is a very positive move for the services of a consultant be sought. Several years ago I received a call from a friend who had been elected for the first time in his life to serve on a search committee. In fact, no one on the committee had ever done that before. After three months into their work, they concluded that they needed a coach.
  2. When you have little confidence in your denominational leadership to offer unbiased assistance to the committee as they seek highly qualified candidates to consider. Lots of congregations find themselves dramatically out of sync with the theological and programmatic direction of their denomination. Denominational leaders cannot always be counted on to suggest potential candidates that share the congregation’s values.
  3. When your deepest concern is to find the candidate that most perfectly fits the personality, values, and direction of your church. When the committee fails to find the very best possible fit, the ultimate result will fall short of the very best that the congregation would experience otherwise. The motto of McGowan Search is “to assist the local church find the very best fit to be their next pastor”.
  4. When you are not deeply connected to a denominational structure, the local church would greatly benefit from having a carefully-chosen consultant to help. The most fruitful source for finding highly qualified candidates is networking. A consultant almost always brings with him a strong network of sources that are broadly connected within the larger body of Christ.
  5. When a committee desires to be highly efficient with regard to their use of time and financial resources they would be wise to carefully choose a consultant with a proven track record of success. Most consultants bring a large reservoir of experience that results in financial efficiency and sharp focus for the local church search committee.

Finally, the local church committee should decide what they really need as they consider securing the services of a consultant. McGowan Search is one of those consultants that coaches, provides evaluation tools and counsel, and brings highly qualified prospects to the committee. We do, however, realize that we have not been elected by the congregation to pick their next pastor. That is the task of the search committee, not ours.