When serving on a search committee, one of the most important things to accomplish is to have people apply to serve at your church in the first place. While it is uncomfortable to consider the idea of “selling” our churches to potential ministry candidates, it is necessary to represent our churches in the best light possible in order to attract job candidates. This does not mean that we should make our churches sound perfect and deceive people. It does, however, mean that we put time and thought into expressing our church strengths, goals, and vision.
Church search committees should invest time and energy in crafting a job description to post on job sites such as Red Letter Jobs, denominational literature, and other places. This should be one of the first tasks the search committee takes upon themselves. Once this is established, the search committee can begin writing a description that will bring the right candidate to the church in question.
- Keep It Short
The more concise you can make your job description, the better. When presented with many job opportunities, applicants often resort to skimming for important details. When your details are easier to find (not lost in excessive wording), ministry candidates are more likely to read them in full.
- Divide Into Sections
When writing a job description, divide the information into categories. Categories can be created for things such as salary, qualifications, expectations, beliefs, church details
- List The Salary
I know this can be controversial, because ministers should not apply to any position for the pay alone. However, it does help a minister to know what pay they can expect when applying for a job. Listing the salary increases the chances that a candidate will actually send in their resume.
- Be Honest About Expectations
List the qualities you are looking for in your minister. What duties will they be expected to complete? If a minister can see themselves in your job description, they are more likely to be interested in applying to your church.
- Give Details About Your Church
Is your church a small congregation of 50, or a large church of 500? Offer these types of details about your church. Some ministers feel called to work in certain types of churches. Giving this information up front helps ministers who are called to congregations such as yours connect with you!
- Communicate Your Church Vision
If your church does not already have a mission and vision statement, this is the time to make one! Gather together with a team of church members and list the goals your church has for itself and the community and the world. Write down what is most important to your church. This will give ministry candidates a good idea of who you are and what they will be working toward if they are offered a job at your church.
Job descriptions are the first thing ministry candidates encounter when considering where to apply. It is important that a search committee invest time and energy in this step. Prayerfully consider writing and rewriting your ministry job description until it has the best potential to draw the exact candidate your church is looking for.
