Search and Call
Your congregation is about to depart on a great faith adventure. When your pastor leaves either through resignation or retirement, these are the steps we recommend for the congregation to follow to call a new pastor.
- Celebrate the completion of a ministry
- Call a Transitional Pastor
- Appoint a Search Committee
- Start the process of Search & Call
- Select a Candidate
- Make a Call
- Prepare for the New Minister
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma hopes that when you complete your work at least three things will have been accomplished:
- You are excited about the person the committee has recommended to the board and you believe God was a part of the call,
- You have gotten to know and appreciate your colleagues better, and
- That this has been a positive spiritual experience.
RESOURCES
These documents are also available for download at Disciples.org here.
(Click the blue link to download to your computer)
Phase 1
Phase 2
Phase 3
Best Practices, Hints & Etiquette for Search Committees & Congregations
Congregational Profile Form (updated September 2017)
(Call for Word document 405-528-3577)
Instructions for Completing the Congregational Profile (updated 2017)
How to Read a Clergy Background Check
Initial Letter of Call (updated 2017)
Three Phases of the Search and Call Process
Phase 1 – Community in Reflection
Who we have been makes us who we are.
Appoint a search team for the Interim selection (this may or may not be the search team for your called pastor).
Meet with the Regional Minister to discuss Interim options and review the process.
Extend a call to the Interim Minister.
Say “Goodbye” to the current minister.
Phase 2 – Community in Transition
Who we are now and who we are becoming.
The Interim Minister leads the congregation through the process of discernment by implementing
Goals/Developmental Tasks for the Interim Period
- Grief resolution
- Identity formation
- Movement toward transition from where we have been to where we are now
Congregation reflects on how its history has formed them and on how the present will form the future.
Phase 3 – Community in Co-Mission
Who God is calling us to be and who God is calling to lead us.
The congregation is able to name:
- Who we’ve been and how that history has shaped the present
- Who we are and how the present will shape the future
- Who we are called to be and who God is calling to lead us
Deliver the Congregational Profile to the Regional Minister
Receive Ministerial Profiles from the Regional Minister. Process of discernment of profiles by the Search and Call Team
Extend a call (usually 2-5 months after receiving Ministerial Profiles)
Welcome and installation of the new minister in conjunction with the Regional Minister.