Search and Call - Communications

And it begins…

As we set out on this journey together of what it has been for me to navigate Search and Call in the United Church of Christ, I invite you to go back and read through the first post I did in preparation. In part, I suggest this because this journey may at times not be for the faint of heart… and by that I mean that it may ruffle some feathers along the way. And… it is my hope that through my sharing of this experience, others may be equipped and perhaps a bit of change may occur.

So… let’s dig in.

For those who are not part of the United Church of Christ or those who have never had to endure the Search and Call process, either in search or in call, let me give you some grounding information.

In the United Church of Christ, our local church communities embody an experience of autonomy and are therefore able to hire and fire their own pastors. And similarly, clergy are able to apply to churches wherever and whenever they like.

In some ways, it is this autonomy that adds (in my opinion) unnecessary stress and anxiety to the Search and Call process.

What do I mean by that? Well, each faith community forms a Search Committee to receive and review profiles from prospective candidates. They read through hundreds of pages of vital information as they seek to discern who God is calling to be their next pastoral leader.

In that process, there is a lot of opportunity for communication with the applicants… as well as many missed opportunities.

When I was in Search and Call the second time, over nine years ago, I began to recognize the communication challenges within the process. One such challenge was the fact that Search Committees were well-resourced through our denomination… and perhaps too well-resourced, as I found quickly that each and every rejection letter I received was word-for-word from the denominational resourcing.

When I would open an envelope (yes, these came as actual physical letters back then) I would read the opening sentence and know immediately if it was a rejection letter.

“We have prayerfully and carefully reviewed your Ministerial Profile and we want you to know that you are no longer under consideration.”

I don’t know exactly how many of these rejections I received. However, I do know how sterile and unemotional they felt, often leaving me questioning; “Did you really? Did you really ‘prayerfully and carefully’ consider me?”

Those letters were quickly discarded… all except for one. I have to this day a hand-written rejection letter from a church that used the exact same wording. However, the fact that someone took the time and energy to write those words to me by hand… well, it felt special, so I kept it.

This experience of cookie cutter communications began to leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, though not as much as the experience of extremely poor communication on behalf of many churches. It became clear that many committees were neglecting to realize that they (often) were not the only church with which I was communicating. It felt as if their timeline was the only one in existence. Which, in some cases meant a bit of surprise when they heard from me that I had accepted a call elsewhere and was removing my profile from their consideration.

I had one church actually tell me at that point that I was their top pick… yet had not communicated anything to me that would signify I was even being considered.

Communication from these committees was often very little and infrequent. In fact, I am still waiting to hear back from a church that received my profile and expressed interest in me fifteen years ago. (I hope they’ve found someone by now.)

I greatly appreciate the resourcing that is provided through Association, Conference and National Staff to churches and pastors for use in the Search and Call process. Lord knows I have relied heavily upon it at times. So I thank all of those who have been such a blessing to my process over the years.

And… I also recognize that their are many ways we can do better as local churches and as candidates in Search and Call process.

Ultimately, there's great opportunity here for grace and compassion while also striving to honor the time and effort put forth by all involved.

[Photo Credit: Xavi Cabrera on Unsplash]