4 Things You Don’t Want to Hear When Looking for a Ministry Job

Tip #1 - Dont wear purple.

I’ve been seeking to land a job by the time Leigh and I arrive back in the States when our three-year term of overseas missionary service comes to an end this summer. I’ve taken to scouring the Internet for available positions on church staffs since mid-November, which, incidentally, was around the same time I injured my foot, a healing process that has included multiple diagnoses, treatments and, just recently, corrective surgery. It’s not that I believe these two situations actually parallel each other, but I do maintain a thin hope that when the bruising goes away, the stitches are removed and I can walk confidently again, perhaps I will also find myself hired at one of the churches to which I have applied. Silly, I know, but if there’s one thing I want as much as the ability to walk and run and exercise again, it is some small sense of job security when we return to the U.S.

Unfortunately, a job search is a job search – a tragicomic experience not without its share of speed bumps, fumbles, and at least a few blunt no-thank-you’s. However, even in failure, a person can keep positivity levels in check as long as he or she trusts that God is along for the ride. Then again, even if a church’s response is ultimately a “Thank you, but no,” there are a few specific things a person seeking a position in a church never wants to hear, such as…

#4 – “We’ll keep your resume on file.”

Landing a position in a church can sometimes be similar to landing a job on any corporation’s staff. This does not mean the work is the same or that God’s call is inconsequential, just that the hiring process is not necessarily different. However, one response born out Human Resources in the standard corporate world is this phrase, which usually follows a polite albeit detached “Thank you for applying.” I can understand why a church might say this to a few folks who were second or third choices; however, in the past I’ve been turned down from several places before I ever even made it to that initial interview, and yet the administrative assistant or search committee chair still tells me they plan to hang on to my resume … the one the committee quickly removed from the pile as if it was covered in rancid sweet-and-sour sauce. Really? You’re gonna hang on to the C.V. of the guy you didn’t jive with enough to even call in for an interview? The one with the oddly unsettling picture of a dude you suspect may be a Marcionite, or a Marxist, or *shudder* a moderate…

"I dont know if hes got the right look for our Pastor of Students."

…you’re gonna keep that one in the files for some rainy day hiring? Seriously, some applicants simply don’t match the position. The Church is made up of an enormously diverse group of people, so it is not a wholly unrealistic assumption that we might not all work together well this side of the Kingdom, Matthew 7:12 notwithstanding. But there’s no reason for us to be patronizing in this job search caper. Just thank me for applying, let me down easy, and send my resume through the shredder.

Or, better yet, recycle that thang!

#3 – “You don’t possess the necessary experience for this position.”

This is the confounding catch-22 of job searches everywhere, from Wall Street to waiting tables at Chili’s, but nowhere is this statement more comically frustrating than when it is handed out to someone seeking a ministry job. There are some churches – and you can have ‘em – that tediously reflect the corporate world in both their staff structure and hiring philosophy, where the pastor is a kind of CEO, and all other positions fall somewhere beneath him in the hierarchy. It is a cold, non-communal way of doing business, but when what you’re running is as business, it works great. However, when what you’re running shepherding is a church, such a model of leadership is tragic.

"Bill, I know youre currently in need of some guidance. Its just that were putting new covers on all our T.P.S. reports..."

Most of the churches I’ve applied to do not seem to maintain this kind of outlook. However, a few come close when they decide not to interview some applicants because of a certain reason I believe to be rather trivial. What reason, you ask? When a person is seeking a certain job he has little or no prior experience working (or wants to work in a church larger than any in which he or she has previously served). The resume is passed over, and the applicant is told this is due to him having a lack of experience. Now, if this person turns around and asks how one gains this level of experience, the search committee chair will normally respond that one must have first held that same kind of position, or have served in a church of the same relative size. Invariably, the applicant is left to ask, “How will I ever gain this necessary experience if no one will ever hire me for such a job?” Basically, a church that passes on someone (without first interviewing him) solely because of what they feel is a lack of experience is perpetuating a system of distrust. How do you know the applicant might not thrive in this position if given the chance? You don’t, but that isn’t reason enough not to sit down for a chat.

Pictured: Actual lack of experience.

How does anyone ever gain experience unless, somewhere, there’s a church willing to respond to even some seemingly inexperienced applicants with hopefulness and alacrity?

#2 – “Blessings to you as you continue in your search.”

We can’t always land the job we want, but even when we try to be a good sport and remain positive in the face of a rejection e-mail or phone call, one thing that tends to rub me the wrong way is some clichéd statement of blessing tacked onto the rejection. It’s not that I don’t appreciate congeniality, but to receive a blessing is, I believe, a holy thing. However, we pin the word “blessing” onto so many things we aren’t necessarily interested in invoking the power and watchcare of God upon. To receive the actual word “blessings” from someone today means about as much as we mean ”God bless you” after a person sneezes. The problem with sending out a short statement of “blessing” to someone you are turning down for a job is that, while I’m sure you wish her nothing but the best, you are essentially troubling this person with another month or so of job-hunting. Often, a clichéd and careless blessing can make the rejection feel even more like a curse – in an e-mail, it is hard not to view it as a lame measure to dial down the inherent indifference of a “Thank you, but no.”

"Thanks for applying, but we find you dreadfully underqualified and repulsive in every way. Blessings to you as you continue in your search."

Now, if you truly do wish God’s blessing upon this person, or you have taken the time to pray for her success in finding a position somewhere, just include that actual prayer, or a personalized message of encouragement. This will mean a lot more than an emotionless and impersonal Gesundheit.

#1 – Nothing.

However, I would take any of the above answers over no answer at all. Yet many of the church positions I look into, send inquiries about, and even submit my resume to, never respond at all. This would not be so frustrating if we did not live in a world permeated by instantaneous electronic communication; almost all of these churches maintain a website and have already journeyed into cyberspace to upload their job description for applicants to view. But these same churches will receive resumes or interested e-mails and will (at best) not check their junk folder on their e-mail account, or (at worst) completely ignore you. A few times, I’ve even left voicemails and have still been ignored, even when all I want is a simple “yes” or “no” regarding whether or not the position is still open. Once again, this invokes a corporation-like image, where companies maintain an intentional distance from applicants, allowing the riff-raff to fall through the cracks

or into the moat

while they pursue only the finest candidates, based on little more than the example of their sterling resumes. Can’t the Church do better? Can’t administrative assistants, search committee chairs and/or pastors take even sixty seconds out of their day to send an e-mail reply that clarifies a potential applicant’s question? Can he or she not dedicate a few minutes to setting up an automated response so that a job seeker receives an immediate confirmation that the resume has been received and, if interested, the church will be in touch again in a few weeks or months. Churches should be about the business of encouragement, even if this takes a little more time out of a staffer’s day. It can be a harrowing experience to search for a job, but even the folks that you ultimately turn down deserve some measure of respect, don’t they?

Final Thoughts

I’ve been on both sides of this hiring thing. I’ve applied to churches and interviewed with a few, and I’ve also participated on search committees. None of these things are easy. However, we must learn to be intentional, as ministers and lay people alike. We must seek to put our best foot forward, not only when applying for a position, but when determining who should receive that position. It takes a significant amount of grace and mercy, but what ministry endeavor doesn’t? It takes cultivating an interest that reaches beyond one’s own church, to the greater field of harvest in which we all labor.