Calls, congregations and communication
What are the guidelines for calling a pastor? I am especially wondering about communication between members of the church that called your pastor and your pastor that holds their call. It seems as if guidelines have changed. How much can a pastor do to investigate conditions in the congregation calling him, and why are congregations who are calling a pastor directed to call/speak with the pastor holding the call and encouraging him to accept the call to their congregation? When did this all start?
I cannot point you to any specific guidelines that govern communication between a calling body and the person called. What drives that communication—and the amount of communication—is personal preference and circumstances.
When a pastor receives a call to serve another congregation, he is interested in receiving information about the congregation and community. The cover letter that accompanies the call document puts some of that information in print. Conversations with the calling congregation’s president and other lay leaders—and the laity in general—help round out that information. The pastor called to serve the new congregation desires information so that he has a good picture of both calls he is holding and that he can prayerfully determine where he can best use his gifts to serve the Lord and his people at that particular time in his life.
District presidents report that sometimes the pastor who has received a call from a second congregation expresses the desire to receive information from that congregation’s members. In that case, members are invited to communicate with the newly-called pastor. On other occasions, district presidents on their own initiative encourage congregation members to communicate with the person they have called to serve as their pastor. Any communication, again, is intended to help the newly-called pastor answer the question: “How and where can I best serve the Lord at this time in life?”
While communication between people in the calling process is important and can be helpful, there is another form of communication in the calling process that is even more important. That is prayer. When a pastor receives a call to serve another congregation, the members of both congregations want to pray for the pastor, not with “accepting” or “declining” the call in mind, but asking God to enable the pastor to see clearly where he can best serve at this point in his life and then to be at peace with the decision.
There has always been some communication between a congregation and the newly-called pastor. Perhaps in our day of instant and greater communication we are much more aware of that kind of communication.
Scripture directs us to respect and honor God’s representatives in the church (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17). We can do that by our communication—to pastors and to God.