Every once in a while I get a call from a fellow pastor friend who is nervous about going before a pastoral search committee. After receiving such a call recently, I kept thinking through the kind of questions I would encourage them to ask in order to learn more about the church.
So here are thirty questions that would help you dig down to the true identity of the church.
- What brought you to this church?
- What are the 3 best things about your church?
- What do you think a visitor would say was the best thing about this church?
- What are 3 problems your church is facing that need to be corrected?
- What do you think a visitor would say was the worst thing about this church?
- What has been the biggest conflict your church has faced in the last 5, 10, 20 years? Was it handled in a biblical way?
- What direction has the church gone in the past 5, 10, 20 years?
- In your opinion has this been a good direction?
- What is the church’s involvement in evangelism and community involvement?
- If your church was gone tomorrow, how would the community be affected?
- What is the churches involvement in missions?
- If your church was gone tomorrow, how would the world be affected?
- What is the church’s involvement in discipleship?
- If your church was gone tomorrow, how would the younger generations of the church be affected?
- What is the community’s opinion of the church?
- If your future pastor felt lead to adjust a ministry or implement a new ministry, how would the congregation respond to that?
- If your future pastor felt lead to adjust a ministry or implement a new ministry, how would he go about implementing that?
- What do you believe is the most divisive issue facing your church?
- How did your previous pastor handle conflict?
- What type of preaching style did your previous pastor follow (topical, expository, blended)?
- Are there any topics that you would encourage your future pastor to avoid in the pulpit?
- Are there any topics you would encourage your future pastor to preach on in the pulpit?
- If you could tell you future pastor one thing that this church needs in order to grow, what would that be?
- Do you see any opportunities in your community for the church to get involved in?
- What do see as the vision for the church in the next 5, 10, 20 years?
- What did you love the most about your previous pastor?
- What did you like least the most about your previous pastor?
- Was there ever a time when you felt your previous pastor dropped the ball? What happened?
- What do you believe the congregation is looking for most in the next pastor?
- What have you been told to avoid with your next pastor?
What question(s) would you add?
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