Churches Seeking Ministerial Leadership

Thank you for your interest in knowing more about how American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky resource congregations in search of ministerial leadership. You may have come to this page because: you are a member of a pastoral search committee, your congregation is looking for a new pastor or ministerial leader, or you are a ministerial leader wanting to know more about how ABC/IN-KY regional staff work with congregations in the search and call of ministerial leaders.

When a congregation needs to search for a new pastor or other ministerial leader we invite you to make contact with the ABC/IN-KY staff person assigned to work with your church. For Pastoral Searches or Associate Staff Leadership,  you will need to contact your Area Resource Minister.

Upon contact with the ABC/IN-KY staff person you can expect this individual to meet with your search committee for an orientation to the process ABC/IN-KY uses to resource congregations conducting a ministerial search. The core of this Search and Call approach is to identify the ministry needs and expectations of the congregation. The primary resource tool used for this is a tool called Church Reflections, which will be provided by Regional Staff. Through use of this tool, and the guidance of your Area Resource Minister, the search committee will be able to encounter candidates that are a more likely match for the congregation, based on their ministry gifts and specialties and compensation needs.

The insights Church Reflections provides have been gained by experiences of about 6000 churches over a thirty year period. It is a vital process that seeks to respond to the uniqueness of the needs of each church seeking leadership. We understand that first and foremost the search for ministerial leadership is to be a spiritual process. The framework we provide serves to offer a context within which God’s Spirit connects with the church. We serve with a clear commitment to the autonomy of the local congregation, and respect that the ultimate decision as to who is called remains with the church.

In review, this ministry of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana and Kentucky seeks to:

• Assist the congregation in gaining and articulating a clearer understanding of who they are as a Body of Christ.
• Identify the expectations and needs of the congregation, which can serve as guidance for the search committee.
• Identify the pastoral gifts and skills which will best serve and lead the congregation.
• Offer counsel to focus the church and pastoral search committee toward an eventual candidate.
• Train the committee in accessing the descriptive material from pastoral profiles.
• Offer a proven process for focusing on the candidate to be presented to the church.
• Assist the pastoral search committee in clarifying and communicating its search process for the congregation.

Below you will find links to a variety of tools helpful to the work of a local church search committee:

To begin the pastoral searches, contact your AREA RESOURCE MINISTERS:

Here are additional helpful tools (documents are in Microsoft Word format):

Interim Ministry Work Sheet

A Covenant For Interim Ministers

Sample of Commissioning Service for Search Committee

Code of Ethics

Sexual Misconduct/Domestic Violence Questionnaire

Sample American Baptist Personnel Service (ABPS) Profile 

How to Read ABPS Profile

Guidelines to Job Description
    Issues to Cover in Pastoral Ministry Job Descriptions
    Position Descriptions (Ministers Council Resource)

Ministerial Leader Compensation Guidelines
    Pastoral Ministry
    Bi-vocational Ministry
    Specialized (Multi-Staff) Ministry
    The Laborer Deserves to be Paid (MMBB Resource)

Interview Materials

Guidelines for Telephone Reference Interviews

Sample of Minister/Congregation Agreement

Sample of Installation Service

Back HOME to ABC/IN-KY

Questions? Comments?  Contact us at abcin@abc-indiana.org 
1350 N. Delaware St., Indianapolis, Indiana  46202-2493
Ph (317) 635-3552/FAX (317) 635-3554
This page was last updated on October 23, 2008