[LWC]

I wrote this one day while I was in college. I was frustrated about the church-system and their method of hiring pastors. With true humility and giving all glory to God, I did well in college and had a better resume than almost anyone that was my age or near and was TOLD THIS by almost every church in every state that I ever applied to.

At some point a person gets tired of constantly being rejected. In case you did not know, churches that do not have pastors appointed generally have certain unwritten, sometimes actually written guidelines for their pastor. (Episcopal systems appoint pastors to churches, so the hiring/firing system does not usually happen [not necessarily Episcopal churches but that is what the system is called])
Those guidelines usually include:
1. At least 30 years old, preferably 35+
2. MALE (not to get into that debate, but trust me, churches usually prefer that their pastor be male)
3. 10+ years of experience
4. Great recommendations from each church you have served at
5. MARRIED (Again, not to debate, but trust me.)
6. Bachelors Degree in a Ministry of Bible field required, M.Div degree strongly preferred, and a Doctorate of Ministry would be nice.
7. Pledge of loyalty to that specific denomination. If you have been a member of, or served at a church of another denomination, sorry.
8. The WIFE will be involved in the ministry of the church, but will not be paid.

Now maybe you will say that your church is different, I do not doubt it. That comes from personal experience, 68 times, I have been a finalist for a pastor position based on my resume and references alone. 67 times, I was turned down for one of those reasons. One of the churches that turned me down just 2 years ago, did everything but beg me to begin serving there. A negative part of me wanted to ask, "What has changed from before? I still do not fit that bill!"

Again, I wrote this out of frustration, but I look back now and can laugh about it. I will not say that it is not the truth because almost everything in this note was either written into a job description, asked of me, or unwritten-yet-expected-but-everyone-knew-it.

Nobody likes to hear it but pastors have to go through the system just like everyone else does, and trust me, it feels as weird to be in as it does to read it. I always felt weird sitting in a church office, watching committees of 10-20 people looking over resumes and trying to decide whether Person A or Person B, etc... should be the next Pastor. It does make a clergyman appreciate how hard the non-church job market is though.)

It is also tough for pastors to find churches because every church (SEEMS) to want a 40 year old, married, male, with 10+ years of experience, an M.Div degree, with 3 well-behaved kids, an unemployed wife who sings and plays the piano, who doesn't drink, smoke, gamble, swear, tends a small flower-bed, mows the lawn, is always clean shaven, always has nice suits and ties, but does not have any monetary comforts, does not drive a nice car, but has something that is new-looking and very dependable, works 60 hours a week, but is always free to come over at any time, will make, print and copy the bulletin, will have great people skills, will be a great public speaker, will always be happy, will never show sadness, will always be available at a moments notice for every emergency (unlocking the church door because little Susie left her doll in the back pew, does constitute as an emergency and you will leave whatever you are doing to get it with no forward-notice), will be willing to get further training for denominational things, or for leadership or church growth, but still never miss a meeting, birthday, or traditional casual visit, will be able to be his own secretary, treasurer (wait, scratch treasurer, because he can do this on little to no budget from the church), will vote but will never discuss anything political ever, will keep the parsonage very cool in the winter and very hot in the summer to not make the heat bill go up, which means he will freeze or sweat profusely when attempting to rehearse a sermon or pray at the church, and will do ALL of this for a very minimal almost-unlivable salary because of his dedication, passion, humility and love for the Lord. Oh and we also expect the pastor to openly tithe from that as well , will never take a vacation, unless it is to the Holy Land, in which, he will not miss more than one Sunday and will never and I repeat ever ask for or expect a raise. Salary is D.O.E or in simple terms, we will look at what you should make, and drop it significantly.

I was angry at the time I wrote that, but I can look back and laugh now because God has me in a place that I need to be.

I revealed this to all of you today to ask that you remember pastors and potential pastors in that state of limbo that I was. It is VERY hard not to give up when doors are shut in your face for reasons that do not make sense in 2011. I promise, there are effective, God-fearing, Lord-loving, energetic, hard-working, pastor-candidates that will never even see an interview because of one of the reasons I listed above. We do not look to ever get rich, money is not what it is about. If I could preach for $1 of salary but know that my family will be taken care of and be happy, I would do it. SOOO many times, I almost quit the ministry because I believed that doors were shut because it wasn't for me. Many of those recommendations were in churches that paid as little as $5,000. I distinctly remember 3-4 of them in the CKY-EKY area. I looked and said, they will never find someone like that, ever. I was right, they had to "settle" for much less.

I am not asking y'all to hire someone that is unmarried, or inexperienced, or uneducated, etc... I am just asking you to be considerate, give it a chance.

I say this with a little sadness, but if I was in the denomination that I grew up in, I would not be in a pulpit today because you have to "rise in the ranks" and nobody would hire me until I was much older OR until I moved to the middle of nowhere and worked for milk and cookies. It would not bother me to do so, but churches do not tend to want bi-vocational pastors. Many small ones will deal with it, but they still expect that 60-hour week mentality.

The greatest personal example of this was when I was a Senior in college, I applied for a position at a small church in Eastern Kentucky. Very small little church, averaged about 60 on Sunday mornings. I was dating and engaged to my soon-to-be-wife, and about 8 months away from graduation. The church had stated that the pastor would be hired after I would have graduated, so balancing school and a church would not have been an issue. I talked with their committee and everyone seemed to be, and said they were, very impressed with my resume, my appearance and my interview. They let me know that I was a strong favorite. One lady caught me before I got to my car and told me that she had to say something to me. She informed me that I was the strongest candidate they had had in all her years on the committee to apply. She went on to tell me that she was afraid that being young, not having children and being technically "single" would cost me the position, though based on everything else, I was a shoe-in. I eventually did get a call and was told that I was in the final two, but they went with someone else. I later found out that an older, married man, with a family, less experience, less education and poor public speaking skills was hired. (I have not heard him speak, but that is what I was told by someone with no ties to me or him that was on the committee).
Sadly, that pastor lasted about a year. Maybe that was God's will. I do not know. My wife and I are content where we are and are doing all we can to serve the Lord here. I am in a denomination that appoints pastors, taking the decisions of hiring/firing, ultimately, out of the churches hands. That is one of the majors reasons I am in that particular denomination as opposed to something much like it that does not appoint.

Again, give young people like me a chance. I am not saying not to pray about things or to let go of principles that are important to you, just do not pass us by. If people like me do not get hired, at least we will know that we were truly considered and not lose hope.