Pastor search

In July 2013, God led me into an unexpected ministry—to serve as the chairperson of the Pastoral Search Committee (PSC) of Osaka International Church (OIC; oicjapan.org), a church with about 60% Japanese and 40% international people from Asia, North America, Africa, and Europe. Below, I highlight 12 aspects of our experience of searching for a pastor (which took just over a year) with a view to helping other search committees and encouraging readers to persevere in prayer when facing challenges.

Praying fervently

One of the most important aspects of a pastoral search is regular, fervent, faith-filled prayer. During the search, the congregation, the PSC members, and I spent a lot of time fervently praying, both individually and in groups.

Forming a committee

The PSC consisted of six church members of various nationalities and ministries: the finance committee chair (American), the treasurer (American), the discipleship committee chair (Japanese), two church administrators (Japanese), and the chairperson (me, a Briton). None of us volunteered to serve on the PSC; rather, several church council members asked us to serve and, after praying and seeking God’s guidance, we agreed. It is important that PSC members are mature Christians and have time to pray and work on the pastoral search as it is a fairly heavy workload. God led us through the Holy Spirit’s leading, the Bible, answered prayers, and divine appointments. We also followed the church’s constitution and Robert’s Rules of Order (parliamentary rules for churches and other organisations; robertsrules.com).

Enlisting help with the budget

We found it helpful to have at least one member from the church finance committee on the PSC to assist with working out the search budget.

Using Google Hangout

Our main administrator set up a Google Gmail account. One of the features of Gmail is the Google Hangout facility. This allowed us to add the names of all PSC members and main applicants so that we could keep in touch as a group and share documents easily. I downloaded the Gmail app on my smartphone so I could check emails while on the move.

Reviewing the biblical qualities of an overseer

At our first meeting, after a lot of prayer, we listed and studied the qualities of an overseer (pastor) given in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.

Conducting a congregational survey

Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed” (NIV). With this verse in mind, I helped create a survey to give the congregation an opportunity for input in the search. The survey included questions (mostly multiple choice) about experience and ministry areas to focus on as well as a comment box.

Producing application documents

I helped with editing past documents on file, such as a congregational profile of our church, a document that listed pastoral duties and areas of church ministry, and a personal data form for gaining information about ministry experience, cross-cultural experience, and qualifications.

Advertising

We advertised for three months (four months might have been better, since we received many applications in the fourth month that we were not able to accept as the deadline had passed). We advertised through JEMA, Reaching Japanese for Christ (RJC), and Prophetic Witness (an international Christian magazine).¹

Shortlisting and interviewing

After a time of prayer, we shortlisted the most suitable applicants. We developed interview questions about key doctrinal beliefs, Christian music for services, children in services, and the starting salary. We conducted the initial interview by Skype. I contacted the three referees of the main candidate and asked for detailed references.

Arranging a visit by the main candidate

Several church members organised a two-week visit for the main candidate during which he preached two sermons and met as many church members as possible at Bible studies and dinner events.

Holding a general meeting

On recommendation by the PSC, a general meeting was called for church members to vote on whether to call the recommended candidate.

Witnessing God’s divine provision

During the search, I was often in awe of God’s provision. The following three events were especially awe-inspiring:

• Call to Japan: While reading Ezekiel 2, Rev. M, an experienced pastor and former missionary to Japan, felt God telling him to return to ministry in Japan. Not long after, a woman at Rev. M’s church in the UK gave him the June 2014 edition of Prophetic Witness, which contained our advertisement.
• A divine provision: We invited Rev. M to visit our church from the UK. Our PSC needed about ¥90,000 to pay for a two-week hotel stay, a preaching honorarium, meals, and transportation to meet church members. We had no idea where this money would come from. But God knew! We prayed fervently with deep faith that God would provide. While walking to church on a sunny Sunday in September 2014 and praying about this need, a Japanese man suddenly approached me. He handed me an envelope and said it was for the pastoral candidate’s visit expenses such as hotel and meals. It contained ¥90,000! We had not advertised this need but had only prayed about it as a committee. This man had no idea that we had been praying about this or how much money we needed!
• Answered prayers for visa: Soon after we called Rev. M to be our new pastor, the administrators and I applied for his visa for Japan. On several occasions in the past, missionary friends of mine all received one-year visas initially. We spent a lot of time praying for Rev. M’s visa. By the grace of God, he received a three-year visa!

Conclusion

During my time on the PSC, I found the following five points helped us to trust God to provide a suitable new pastor:

1. Trust God and have faith
2. Pray fervently and regularly
3. Seek guidance from the Holy Spirit and the Bible
4. Wait on God’s timing and don’t rush
5. Update the congregation regularly

I would love to hear about readers’ experiences of pastoral searches in a Japanese context and how God provided a new pastor. Please write to me at sarajw@fastmail.fm.

1. “Osaka International Church Senior Pastor Advertisement,” in Prophetic Witness Journal Vol. 14, No. 217 June 2014, p. 13.