Your next pastor is (probably) going to come from your own church

And why that is a great thing!

Annika Hoff on “Dress Up Like Dad” Day at Preschool.

I was at last year’s national gathering. Every breakout session I went to addressed the pastor shortage.

I was with 4 other pastors yesterday. We started talking about the pastor shortage. “Can you believe First Church can’t find a pastor? It is a great congregation—healthy, faithful, attractive, and they can even pay a full salary! Why can’t they find their next leader?”

I got a call from N.L. Headhunterbloemen agency a few months back. They heard we had young promising leaders here and were calling about a potential placement. Old North Church has been looking for a long time and were broadening their search to include non-M.Div graduates. They will pay for seminary. They want high capacity and high E.Q., male-preferred.

Finding their next pastor is proving arduous, taking longer, and costing more than most congregations expect. You used to call the synod bishop or network executive to get a list of candidates. It is different now. Really different.

Here is what I told the Trinity elders this morning. First, I am not leaving. Second, I am 75% sure (totally made up) that you already know your next pastor. I believe they are already among us or they will be soon. I believe they are already living in our town, and will not need moving expenses when they are called to serve this fine church.

Why do I think your next pastor will come from your own church?

1. Candidates are not out there. At least not enough of them. The clergy factories are faltering and the pipelines are broken. The few candidates who are out there will be hesitant to move to California (or North Dakota or New York City), worried about cost of living (especially housing), chemistry with an established congregation, cultural fit to coastal, metropolitan, progressive (or lonely, parochial, conservative) atmosphere. School/Seminary debt is prohibitive to living on the financial edge. Rural and urban congregations face similar, but different challenges in attracting quality candidates.

2. Candidates are in your own church. There are people in your church who love the scriptures, who others go to for soul-care, and who have commitments and character consistent with a pastoral vocation. There are numerous schools to help them get trained right where they are at! Today it is easier to fill in the theological formation piece than the character/commitment piece.

Why do I think this is a great thing?

1. Cost. In the olden days, the costs related to pastoral succession used to be:
   Farewell party for leaving pastor $250
   Pulpit supply $250/service
   Moving expenses for new pastor $8750
   Welcome party for arriving pastor $250
   TOTAL=$9500 (=$250 for every additional week of pulpit supply)
   
   The costs related to pastoral succession now:
   Farewell party for leaving pastor $250
   Pulpit supply $250/service
   Moving expenses for new pastor $8750
   +Headhunter agency: do you know how much it costs to hire a headhunter agency to help you identify your next pastor? It is not cheap.
   +Salary negotiations with new pastor: Did you know this happens now?
   +Sign on bonus: Did you know this happens now?
   +Down payment assistance in certain markets!
   Welcome party for arriving pastor $250
   TOTAL=$75,000—$100,000 to much much more.
   It is actually CHEAPER to make a pastor than to find and move one that someone else made. Seriously, you can pay ALL of the seminary expenses for a local candidate, throw in some living expenses, and it will still be cheaper than moving an existing pastor to your church! My preference is to connect funding to the making of our own pastors over-and-above the finding of existing pastors. Headhunter agencies only benefit those few churches that are able to afford their services.

2. Missio-Cultural understanding. A home-grown pastor knows your city already because it is their city! The pride, the idols, the injustices, the demographics, the hope, the grief, the potential, the history, the systems, the principalities and powers, etc. It won’t take them 5 years of detective work. They know it already. And they stay. And they root. And their kids went to the same schools and played on the same teams. And they cry when they pray for their neighbors and their kid’s classmates. And they know who to call. There is nothing cheap or inauthentic about their neighboring. They are you.

3. Known character of the candidate. You don’t wonder if they are who they appear to be on a resume or profile sheet. You know them! Good, bad, and ugly. You know their hang ups and hurts and you know their heart. Every pastor has good, bad, and ugly. Better known than unknown.

4. Stabilitas of the candidate. They already have roots where you have roots. That doesn’t mean they can’t leave, especially if God calls them somewhere. But their leaving would be a mutual sacrifice, because they would be leaving home.

So, what should you do?

Well, I have written about that here, and here, and here. Read those if you want more detail. But, let me suggest this:
1. Ask God to give you eyes to see who, among everyone you know, would be a great pastor. Forget age. Forget current vocation. Forget your preconceived profile of what a pastor looks like. Let God give you imagination in this consideration.
2. Talk to everyone God brings to your mind. It is simple, fun, and usually received well: “I was thinking about you the other day, and thought…wow they would make a great pastor. Have you ever considered something like that?”
3. Have conversations with other leaders in your church. How do we find future pastors in our midst? How do we help them get the training they need to make them great pastors? What do we think about making pastors here instead of finding them elsewhere? Ask if we should invest now in seminary for a few of our own people, or should we plan to save money for a headhunting agency when the current pastor leaves. Either way, it is going to cost.