Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCA)

Pastor-courting: A ritual unveiled

By Stephanie Byrd

Published February 19, 2005 in This Week

Search committees have been formed and searches are in progress to fill three important positions at PCPC: an Executive Pastor or Director, a Pastor to Families with Children, and a Pastor to Communities. Your prayers for the many people involved in this search process are requested.

The Executive Pastor or Director will cooperate with the Senior Pastor to develop a team of ministry leaders to accomplish the vision God has set upon the Session. The objectives of the Session in establishing this position are, first, to relieve the Senior Pastor from day-to-day administrative responsibilities, allowing him to devote his time to areas of special giftedness and calling; and, second, to preserve the sense of connection between the Senior Pastor and the staff. The search committee for this position, moderated by Harry Hargrave, is considering both ordained and unordained men with the special qualifications this position requires.

The Pastor to Families with Children will extend the transforming presence of the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to over 400 families with children up to fifth grade. His major responsibilities are to shepherd parents and children and to develop a network of discipleship among the families of PCPC, making them into mature disciples who embody the gospel in every area of their lives. The moderator of the search committee for this pastor is John Harrison.

The Pastor to Communities will develop and oversee mid-size and smaller communities throughout our church—including Sunday School Communities, Care Clusters, and small groups—discipling leaders to expand ministry outside of our church building into homes, neighborhoods, workplaces, and the world. In addition, he will oversee the Library and Bookstore and plan MIDWEEK and other special events such as WinterGrace. Tommy Bain is the moderator of the search committee for this pastor.

The searches for the Pastor to Families with Children and the Pastor to Communities have been going on since October 2004, although there has been no one to fill the former position since summer 2001 or the latter since August 2003. The Executive Pastor or Director opening was posted in December 2004, and the spot has been vacant since spring 2003.

Choosing these ministry leaders is a serious task, and the search process is appropriately slow and prayerful. First the personnel committee, chaired by Bill Mabus, designates the members of a unique search committee for each position. The committee then contacts the denomination, seminaries, other churches, and individuals who might know of potential candidates nationwide, and sends them job descriptions.

The church also receives applications from men who have seen the posting on our website or the PCA’s website or who have learned of the position through word of mouth.

The search committee reviews the applications and determines which men meet the basic requirements for the position. Committee members then make conference calls to each candidate. When possible, members go and meet the candidate in his own setting. This stage of the search also involves checking candidates’ references.

The next stage is to invite the most likely candidates for a short visit to PCPC, where they meet the entire search committee, the ministry leaders they would be working with, and some of the pastoral staff. Once the committee has decided on one or two candidates that it is very serious about, they are invited for the final stage of the process—a long visit, preferably a week. During this visit search committee members show them the community and introduce them to lay leaders, ministries, and staff members.

Once the search committee has decided on a single candidate for a pastoral position, the candidate must be approved by the personnel committee, then by the Session of PCPC, then by the theological examining committee of the presbytery, and finally by the presbytery as a whole, whose next meeting is in May.

The process is clearly not a speedy one. Rob Allen, Pastor of Administration, estimates that the earliest date the search committee might come to approve a candidate for the Pastor to Families with Children position would be two months from now—and that’s not counting the time it would take for the personnel committee, the Session, the theological examining committee, and the presbytery to approve him.

According to John Hawkins, Clerk of the Session, there are eight or nine applicants for the Executive Pastor or Director position, and they would like to have twice that number. The search committee hopes to choose a candidate within the next six months, but the members are open to God’s timing. There have been almost 20 applicants for each of the other two pastoral positions. Although the former position is still in the conference call stage, three men under consideration as Pastor to Families with Children have been invited to visit Dallas with their spouses.

Please pray for these committee members and our church leaders as they seek the Lord’s will and prepare to make significant decisions for the future ministry of PCPC.