Future Lead Pastor Opening You May Be Interested In

Posted on May 24, 2010
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(44) comments

My church is starting a search this week for our next Lead Pastor. Take a look at the announcement. It will give you information on how you can apply. And, if you have any questions, you can send me an email as well... Here's the announcement:

We are pleased and honored to announce that the Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to help New Hope Community Church in Bryan, OH select their future Lead Pastor.

As the current Lead Pastor approaches 25 years of service, the Elders of New Hope have made a prudent move to prepare the church for its future by working with our firm to create a succession plan that will enable a smooth transition and hand-off of leadership long before the norm in most churches.

New Hope is in a healthy spot, and poised for the future, since the church by God’s grace has grown over the years to be more regional in nature reflecting excellence through its programming and offerings.

The successful future Lead Pastor will be a superb communicator, a visionary, and a small groups fan.

Interested candidates can confidentially submit their resume here, or contact William Vanderbloemen directly at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

I serve as one of the elders at New Hope, and we're really excited about finding our next Lead Pastor. We know that God has a special person in store for us to lead us well into the future. Bryan, OH is a great place to live, and New Hope will be a great place to serve! We're a larger church in a smaller community. Very mid-western. And a really great place to raise a family.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me as well!

Todd

Comments

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Arthur Brokop II on Fri, May 28, 2010

Kip and I guess those reading in � the lostness of contrast of individualism contrasted to community (Hebraic � Greek) rests in the direction that has followed (although not started by my commit I don�t think) elder leadership and self-appointed or majority based leadership, as well as individualistic disconnected atonamony. Leadership given to the �church� is Yahweh�s gift to us, Ephesians 4:7ff. these offices and the men who fill them have a purpose. That is to bring the church into maturity through unchanging �traditions� that come from the teaching of the �Spirit of Truth� that the Father sends. thus, the body can become unified. The instruction comes from the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets � that foundation is the Torah. Because He is the same yesterday today and forever contradictory understandings have to be checked by the Torah. Once this confirmation directs we of one body, spirit, and baptism walk in community � �organic� however that com- unity does not come from earthly � fleshly agreement but from us agreeing with the throne sitter - Yahweh.
Kip on Fri, May 28, 2010

Arthur - ??????

I got a headache reading your post, my friend. You would do well to eschew obfusgation
Peter Hamm on Fri, May 28, 2010

Kip.

ROTF…
Katherine on Fri, May 28, 2010

and “espouse elucidation”
A. Amos Love on Sun, May 30, 2010

Bill

Thanks for the kind thoughts and the willingness to share your past about
the frustrations and pain of having to work within an �Abusive� hierarchical system.

Yes… it seems what we see on sunday morning (the performance)
is very different the rest of the week behind the scenes. Been there. Ouch!!! :-(

Praise Jesus, You were able to walk away from a �Corrupt Religious System.�

Many can not walk away. They�ve invested their life - blood sweat and tears.
Their �Title� came with, Power, Profit, Prestige, Honor, Glory, Recognition, Reputation.
Their �Titles� became �Idols.� NOT easy to put down, Not easy to walk away from.
Even after seeing an knowing the �Truth� they continue to play the game.
When they continue to �Perpetrate the Myth� their hearts seem to harden.

You write…
�And, awesome people who love the Lord
are still functioning in the institutionalized church.�

Much agreement - I know, and have ministered to, quite a few.
And I cry for them and pray with them as they wither away, slowly,
attempting to keep a smiley face while seeing and/or participating
in the �Spiritual Abuses� you saw and the one�s you mentioned.

When you live the lie, you start to die.

Trying to please and serve so many…
The Denomination, It�s leaders, It�s creeds and beliefs.
The Congregation, and The Congregations leaders.
The Local Community. Your spouse and children.
And of course Jesus. Who is often relegated to last place.

Serving so many �Masters.� That�s tuff. Yes?

In my experience…
�Pastor/Leaders� attached themselves to a �Corrupt Religious System,�
and a �Title� and �Position� NOT found in the Bible.
And these �Pastor/Leaders� wind up separated from the vine of life, Jesus.

The �Pastor/Leaders� and their families pay a horrible price.

http://pastoralcareinc.com/WhyPastoralCare/Statistics.php

# 80% of pastors’ spouses wish they would choose a different profession.
# 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families.
..............Many pastor’s children do not attend church now
...............because of what the church has done to their parents.
# 33% state that being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family.

http://www.pastorcare.org/PastorCare/Healing___Health.html

� 77% say they do �not� have a good marriage.
� 71% have felt burned out or depressed.
� 70% do not have someone they consider a close friend.
� 38% are divorced or seriously considering divorce.
� Over 1600 pastors in the U.S. are forced out of their positions each month.

These are the �Pastor/Leaders� running the show???
# 80% of pastors’ spouses wish they would choose a different profession.
# 80% believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families.
� 77% say they do �not� have a good marriage.

Is there any wonder why there is so much �Spiritual Abuse� today.

Is **Today�s** �Pastor/Leaders� a �Title� and �Position� found in the Bible?

What is popular is not always �Truth.�
What is �Truth� is not alway popular.

Yes… People can see the pain in my writing.

I minister often to those who have been **Burnt** **Burnt Out**
**Kicked Out** and **Crawled Out** of �A Corrupt Religious System.�
Both �Pastor/Leaders� and those being �Led.� And there is lot�s of pain…

Be blessed in your search for �Truth.� Jesus…
Todd Rhoades on Sun, May 30, 2010

Wow.

We’re just looking for our next lead pastor.

That is all.

Yep… not at all what I had planned for this post.

How about a discussion on how church’s rarely do anything in the area of succession planning?

That seems a much more logical place to land than where we are.

This was a little more than a rabbit trail. It’s like ordering a piece of chocolate cake and being served a pound of shrimp. Both are tastey, but let’s get back to the subject at hand on this one, guys.

Besides, I think I have a hankerin’ for some cake all of a sudden.

Todd
Bill on Sun, May 30, 2010

Hi Todd,

I guess the deal is that hiring a firm and stating that the new “lead pastor” will be a “visionary” and “superb communicator” is way, way over on the corporate/performance side of the spectrum. Those of us who have been burned in the corporate model of church have a bit of an involuntary reaction to that. And, frustration pours out in forums like this one.

Thanks for your patience and gracious response. I hope my comments have not been inappropriate.

When I try to look at it objectively, I think what you guys are doing is better than the way it is often done. I’m glad that your new “lead pastor” will have some time to learn from your current pastor and develop a relationship with him and the congregation before stepping into positional leadership. There’s a lot of wisdom that can be passed from the one to the other and it’s very wise to head off any feelings of rivalry that often move their way into decisions the new guy might make.

If you don’t mind me dropping in a few words of advice, though, as you consider people, please put humility, a shepherd’s heart, and a deep love for God well above the other requirements you are looking for. I’m sure that you are, but I think it’s a good thing for you to state among each other as an elder board and then search for in any candidate.

Look out for over-ambition. A guy who seeks to build your local church as if it is his personal kingdom and a reflection of his own success will be toxic. Search for a guy who sees himself as submissive to the way God is moving His body in the context of your church. And, it will take some time for him to learn and discern that direction. If he’s got it all mapped out on day #1, he’s probably not willing to listen to God’s Spirit.

Look for somebody who is not over-confident. Talk to others who have worked under him and make sure that he is somebody who is willing to apologize when he is wrong and is quick to own his own part in mistakes. Find out if he is willing to confess specific, current sins he might be struggling with—somebody who knows he needs accountability and isn’t quite sure he’s ready for the task you are handing him.

If he’s not quite comfortable being addressed by a title, that’s a good sign. If he thinks a title is owed to him, that’s probably not.

Ask others who have worked with him, under him, or on his board if they have ever felt subtly deceived, manipulated, blocked out of key decisions, or only given part of the truth.

I’m saying these things because the pain we experienced as a family was intense. It was hard on my wife, my kids, my ministry, and my relationship with God. I felt like my heart and my purpose were being ripped away from me. At times, I thought I was going crazy. I was close to suicidal.

Others who worked or are working there have experienced much the same thing I have—sometimes worse. I’ve been the confidant in more than one of those cases.

The scary thing is, nearly all the people who attend that church have no idea that the pastor they respect and learn from each Sunday struggles as much with control issues as he does. The professional image and the occasional vague statement that looks a little like humility keeps people making the preferred assumptions. The board doesn’t know it’s being manipulated and I’ve watched them almost suspect it, and then put the suspicions aside in quiet submission.

I’m not trying to rant, but I’m typing this because I hope and pray that it might be helpful to somebody out there. I know you know a lot about leadership, Todd, so I’m pretty sure I haven’t said anything you haven’t already considered. I just don’t want the staff or congregation of any church out there looking for a new pastor to find themselves dealing with the kind of thing we dealt with.

I hope it was OK to share that.

PS—Amos, thanks for reaching out to others who are hurting. I hope you are able to have peace soon. I’m still struggling with that, but as I said, it’s getting better. Maybe we can pray for each other!
Kip on Sun, May 30, 2010

Todd, sounds like you unwittingly tapped into a common area of pain.

From what I can gather, my experience is very similar to Bill’s - the parallels are uncanny.

I would encourage you to explore this further. What you at first view as a bothersome interruption may, in fact, be a “divine intervention”.

Sorry for the Christianese - blech!
Bill on Sun, May 30, 2010

Kip,

I think you’re right. I’ve appreciated your comments.

I think there are probably places on the internet where all of us who have been injured can commiserate. But, this site is a good one to get both sides to chime in.

How ‘bout it, Todd?
bisopdave on Mon, May 31, 2010

This is completely off topic but I’d like to ask: Todd, are there some principles about succession that can be learned form some failed successions, like at FBC_Dallas, Bellvue-Memphis, Calvary Chapel-ABQ (which the pastor left, named his successor, began at a new church, ran his successor out, left new church to go back to CC-ABQ), the fiasco at Coral Ridge Presbyterian, etc?

Seems like a church, organic or non-organic, is most vulnerable to splits and failure when a pastor change is made. Since Todd’s pastor has been organic in that church for 20+ years, that often gives the successor a steeper hill to climb in gaining acceptance and influence among long time members.
A. Amos Love on Mon, May 31, 2010

Bill

I pray - Lord Jesus, we thank you for, and hold on to, your promises…
**Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Mt 5:4
**They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. Ps 126:5

You are �The Prince of Peace,� we thank you for your comfort and joy.
We pray for, and look for, �your peace� that passes all understanding.
Lord, that you would heal our broken hearts and bind up our wounds.

Jesus, we give you thanks for all things, the hurts, the pains, the tears.
And we give you, the best way we know how, All the Glory and Praise.
It hurts Lord, we drown our pillows with tears, our families hurt,
we wish there was another way, that this cup would pass from us.
But, not our will Lord, only, �your will� be done in our lives.

We ask for the courage and faith to believe your word… Always…
We thank you that - all things do work together for good. �ALL� things.

Thank you Jesus…
A. Amos Love on Mon, May 31, 2010

Bill - Anyone - Everyone…

Thought this site might be a benefit in your search for peace and healing.

“God’s Words of Comfort & Healing”

http://web.me.com/love101

**Especially **Love is Rising** found on the “Your Heart” page, and the “Welcome” page.

The “Frustration,” “Tears,” “Hopelessness,” “Pain,” “Separation from brethren I loved,”
eventually… becomes a benefit.

I had no place to go but to Jesus.

It is better to �trust in the LORD� than to put confidence in man.
It is better to �trust in the LORD� than to put confidence in princes.
Ps 118:8-9

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean NOT unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pro 3:5-6

Jesus… He is faithful…
Peter Hamm on Mon, May 31, 2010

Todd, what is the time-frame on this succession plan? I’m curious. For instance, the succession plan and gradual change at Willow Creek was unsuccessful, and Hybels ended up stepping back in. I wonder if the succession shouldn’t be careful but rather quick.
Kip on Mon, May 31, 2010

I DO think a pastor succession plan is vital. The statistics for the survival of a succeeding pastor following a beloved pastor are daunting.

I’m also curious, Todd, does your current pastor intend to remain at the church - either as a consultant or a pew-packer?