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- Generally, you won’t have time to ask all of them, so simply pick those that are most important to you. As you move further through the interview process, some questions become more important, so pick and choose when to ask the questions you need the answer to.
reachconsulting.org/32-questions-you-can-ask-the-church-if-youre-the-candidate/
Jun 4, 2020 · Have you ever been interviewing at a church and the interviewer asks if YOU have any questions? Here are some ideas to consider.
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May 16, 2022 · If you’re serving on a Pastor Search Committee, here are 15 questions that you should consider asking during the initial interview with each pastor candidate: Could you share your salvation testimony and your call to ministry?
- Pastoral Candidate Questions You Need to Ask
- Who Would I Directly Report to?
- Why Did The Previous Pastor Leave?
- In A Year, What Would Make My Hire A Worthwhile Fit For The Church?
- What Do You Foresee in The Future For This Role? Church? Organization?
- What Makes This Ministry A Success?
- What Other Ministry Do You Respect/Admire/Follow/Relate with?
- What Makes You Want to Hire Me?
- What Expectations Should My Wife/Kids/Family Be Aware of?
- What Does The Ministry Schedule Look like?
The questions the church asks you are critical. It opens up lines of communication between both parties and gives a perspective of your character, skills, and personality. The church will find a sense of chemistry with you or even a lack of it. It also gives you insight into who the church is and the leaders that work there. If you flip that coin, ...
You obviously want to know who will be your direct report (DR) as you will, how can I say this, directly report to that person! Whether you have had the chance to meet that person or not changes so many things. Would you want to be evaluated by someone like your DR? Getting information about this will allow you to discover not only the church struc...
This question is by no means to disrespect anyone. People have a right to change, move, and follow God’s calling. Yet, this answer will give you insight into some challenges of the role or even how the church deals with rupture. The way they answer will also tell you a lot. If they lack any respect, why would they honor you? In the same vein, “Is t...
This one is so important. It forces the church to say what will be their evaluating criteria. A job description is important; that’s why there are 15 requirements, if not more. The 15 needed qualifications are not of all equal importance, though. There are usually 3-5 that supersede the rest… and they may just be your bottom 3-5 qualities! A match ...
Finding out what the church is striving for will come out with this question. It will need to build a new facility, acquire one, plant a campus, or consolidate with other like-minded churches are possible answers. Maybe no one will have an answer… which may be a problem for an ambitious and driven pastor like you. “If the church kept growing (or st...
Defining success is hard. Is it numbers-based, or is it all about how people feel? Is it compared to previous expectations or based on future hopes? While “If we get 15 more volunteers, it will be successful” and “We will have built new initiatives” are two very different ways to evaluate success, one probably fits better with your ministry wiring.
This is about alignment and partnership. It is said “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Whether that is exact or not isn’t the point; you usually align with people/organizations you value. Influence being what it is, the church will change in reaction to the people and organizations it values most.
This is not to get a pat on the back or even to fill your tank with words of affirmation. You need to set it up well, like “I’m privileged to be considered for this role within your church, knowing many capable pastoral candidates have applied. What reasons make you consider me for the role?” It will help you understand the reasoning behind their c...
If you’re married and/or you have kids, this one is a prerequisite of a question. The answer goes along the lines of what is implied, not necessarily noted on paper. You’ve heard of the “women/prayer/wives ministry” untold expectation. You wouldn’t want to offend the church, even less your wife, if you don’t attend a weekly member’s dinner!
Now more than ever, this is important for a pastoral candidate. Many things can be done from home, out of the office, like sermon prep and responding to emails. A job description won’t say office hours from 9-5, Monday-Thursday, prayer night on Wednesday, and weekly morning men’s breakfast. The church might not even mention block-out dates, which w...
- Why are you interested in this position? This is an open-ended question that leaves room for you to interpret motivation. A follow up question is to ask what excites them most about this opportunity.
- How would you describe your God-given hard wiring and how it contributes to your strengths and weaknesses? This question helps determine their understanding of underlying gifts, strengths, and personality traits.
- How would your friends and spouse describe you? How have they affirmed you? What blind spots have they identified? Here you are looking for alignment with how the candidate perceives himself and how others perceive him.
- What are your two greatest weaknesses? Instead of asking about one, for which they’ve likely already rehearsed an answer, this will allow you to see how self-aware the candidate is, and if they are able to demonstrate an opportunity for growth in their weaknesses.
But this will give you a good starting set of questions to consider as you navigate the world of interviewing. 1) Consider your non-negotiables. ASK: What are the things I absolutely believe and don’t want to have to “unteach,” should another leader in the church say differently?
But interviews are not only a church asking you questions. There are ministry interview questions that you can ask that will help determine the direction God would have you take, and to see if you would be a good fit in the open role.
People also ask
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Jan 28, 2020 · Here’s one thing I’ve learned: you need to be prepared to interview them even as they question you. Here are 10 questions you should be prepared to ask. 1. Ask about church finances and seek documentation. A financial crisis can devastate your ministry, yet we tend not to think about it when considering a pastoral position. Theology? Yep.
