Would this be stealing a Pastor?

For someone who has no tolerance for a bully you need to go take a good hard look in the mirror. I'm afraid you may see a bully looking back at you.

 

You seemed to imply that there was something less than honorable going on, and my point is that we don't know that.

Yes, but you don't know that it wasn't. As I said, it is not wrong "per se."

Again, you don't know that this didn't go on.

It is not uncommon for godly people to desire two different things. I am not sure what the problem is here based on what you are saying.

How did the people know it was a search committee?

For a lot of reasons, not all of them bad. I know I guy who went to a church and lasted less than two years because they didn't like doctrinal preaching. So there are a lot of reasons.

The point is that we don't know enough to say much about what happened here.

 

Could you give a few examples?

 

It was so obvious that you could not miss it by the way they walked in from the same cars and nobody knew them. When I spoke with them and got to know them a little as I would anyone else it became quickly known why they were there. It made the people feel as though I was looking and caused them to doubt me when I told them I was not. Nothing good came out of it.

That same exact thing happened to me. I was talking about entire conventions statistics not particular churches. When you talk with a Baptist convention and their statistics are that pastors stay an average of 9 years and another Baptist convention is four. Don't you wonder why the difference?

 

There is no way I could know anything about that church. I should have stated what I did in a better way.

For someone to make a emphatic statement about that God wanted my friend to come to their church is entirely an assumption. Who am I to tell you what God wants for you and how the Holy Spirit has led you?

Years ago a young man I knew told a young lady that God wanted him to marry her. She bought into it and they have had loads of troubles since. When he was my roommate I pointed out to him about a statement he made to me once that it was not in agreement with scripture. He seemed to be led by what he thought was the Holy Spirit in much the same way some of the TV preachers tell people who are listening.

 

I had a search committee visit us a few years ago. It was very obvious. They all came in together and sat together. The most obvious one was that the men all wore suits and ties. :laugh: Needless to say, they didn't stay to meet the pastor. (me)

This is so right. It may not have been that way in the past, but now most churches narrow down their search for a new pastor via the resume route. That may not be best, but it is usually the way it happens. Unless given evidence to the contrary, I am going to accept the fact that the pastor was led by God to leave one church and go to another.

 

Thank you for your kind response.

 

I know a pastor who keeps his resume out. He is constantly looking for the next place. I don't blame him. In a day when a pastor can be voted out at anytime, why shouldn't he keep his resume out? If it is morally wrong for him to do this, it is just as morally wrong to terminate a pastor without just cause.

 

Originally Posted by Tom Butler
No church can steal a pastor who doesn't want to be stolen.

What a great story. What a great church.

 

I have served on two pastor search committees. I don't know how other committees operate, but we would never go to hear a pastor without his knowing we were coming, and never without his agreement.

People can spot a search committee in a heartbeat, so there's no need being subtle about it. I remember experienced search committee member telling me that when they went to a church, somebody would always say, "you're a pulpit committee, aren't you?" He'd grin and say, "Yep and we've come to get your preacher." It may disarm the members, but there's always the risk that the response will be "well, take hm as fast as you can."

In one instance, to avoid the awkwardness of a committee visit, we arranged to hear him preach in a revival service.

 

That would alsowork to keep a preacher you want.:laugh:

 

In dealing with committees I try to arrange to preach in a neutural place. Pulpit committee visits in the candidate's church are a potential source of too many problems especially if things don't work out.