Fatigue sets in

I friend whose church recently completed a search for Senior Pastor told me about his conversation with the search team leader about two weeks before the final candidate was announced.

"How is the search going?" my friend asked. "I mean, I know you can't tell me any details-- but how are YOU doing with the search?"

The team leader told him candidly: "I'm really tired. In the past two weeks I've listened to 120 sermons."

Make no mistake-- Search Committees have a long, hard road in this process.

Technorati Tags: Transition

Place and time

A friend and classmate from seminary reminded me of an important set of priorities a few days ago. He said:

"Remember that place is more important than timing."

This is good advice, and important to keep in focus. When you're in the midst of transition (as I am), it is natural to want to place as quickly as possible-- and when you have an opportunity near at-hand, the temptation to be ready to jump at accepting an offer is great.

I've known men whose desire for the "right timing" caused them to accept a call that they were not sure of; I've also known those who have chosen to wait (even turning down offers) until the right "place" came available. Invariably, those who have waited for the right place have had a better, longer, more fulfilling ministry than those who were in a hurry.

This may be the most difficult part of placement. But it is also one of the key factors to effective placement.

Technorati Tags: Effective, Placement

Dressing up for phone interviews

The morning of a recent telephone interview with a candidate-church, I rose from bed, showered, shaved, and put on dress pants and a pressed, starched shirt. No, I didn't have any other appointments that day-- I was dressing for my phone interview.

I know: they can't see me when we're on the phone. (And no, the interview was not a Skype video call.) But how you dress doesn't just affect the way oter people see you; it affects how you see yourself.

By dressing up for my phone interview, I felt differently than I would have if I had worn jeans or sweats and a t-shirt. I admit I wasn't as comfortable (though I have grown to be quite comfortable in dressier clothes), but I didn't want to be too comfortable. I didn't want to feel too relaxed.

Instead, I wanted to feel a level of formality in my attitude and even my physical presence that was appropriate for the situation. "Dressing up" for my interview helped that.

I don't know if this is the right call for everyone. Some guys might be so nervous for their first interview that they need every means available to make them more comfortable. But I would at least encourage you to give it a thought when you're approaching a telephone interview.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy

The importance of the Body

I know a guy who has been going through a "crisis of calling" recently. He's about transition from seminary into ministry after beginning seminary five years ago, and he's only now facing hard answers to questions that should have been asked years ago.

My friend has had his sights set on a particular area of ministry since early in seminary, and as he has moved through his training he has focused on that almost exclusively-- taking elective classes in that area, serving with a church that is distinctive in that area, and even beginning his search by focusing on opportunities in that area.

A few weeks ago, he went to a conference to get some training in that ministry area. While there, he spoke with some experienced, wise leaders about his desires to serve in this particular area of ministry.  Their counsel surprised him: having spoken with him at length about his experience, training, personality, and passions, their assessment was that he was not really a good fit for the area of ministry he had in mind. Further, they strongly discouraged him from continuing to pursue it.

To say the least, this man is discouraged. More than that, however, he now must entirely re-evaluate the candidacy opportunities he has been exploring-- and he's already told me that the one he was most excited about, and that he had the most traction with, is out of the picture.

I feel bad for my friend, but not as bad as I would if he had not received such wise counsel in time to prevent him from taking a position that was a bad fit. Frankly, I'm thankful for the strong words of these leaders-- I'm only sorry that he wasn't told this earlier.

One of the real benefits of Field Education, Internships, and simply being active and involved in ministry through a local congregation, is that it allows men (and women) to test their sense of calling and get valuable feedback about the direction their ministry is headed. The feedback of the Body is an essential part of a seminarian's a sense of calling.

My friend has completed an Internship, and has even been serving in a leadership role in his church. Why hasn't he received the kind of feedback he needed? Why didn't one of those that he served with suggest that he should re-consider this direction? Why didn't one of his close friends speak honestly with him about it?

(It's worth saying here that it takes a very good friend to have this kind of conversation. Another friend once told me that one of the best things a friend ever told him was that he should give up on songwriting-- he just wasn't good enough, and he had talents elsewhere. What a hard word to say and to receive! But what a value in a good friend!)

When I first began to sense a calling into the ministry, my Pastor asked me three questions to help me assess it: what does my heart tell me? What does God's Word tell me? And what does God's people tell me? These have been North-pointing compass questions for me ever since.

Sadly, it sounds like no one ever asked my friend the last question until recently.

Technorati Tags: Calling, Ministry

Follow-up on moving

One of the sales reps that provided me with a quote called me today. I have to confess that I was annoyed at first, thinking he was just trying to put the screws on me about committing. I soon found out how wrong I was!

He was actually calling to let me know that a new schedule of discounts had been published, and he took the liberty of running a new quote for me-- this one at 69% instead of 68%.  That quote represented a further discount of $400 (and those of you especially skilled with math will now know what the total amount of the quote was!).

He also reminded me that there was a scheduled tariff increase in early May, and that if my move would be after then he would be glad to run a new quote back-dated before that increase that would be good for 60 days. He asked about other quotes I had received, and told me that he would be willing to match or beat any quote for the same estimated weight. (Based on this guy's hard work to help me out, I'm growing more inclined to go with him-- the fact that his quote is the lowest doesn't hurt, either!)

Two lessons learned here:

• Before you commit to a mover (e.g., after you've gathered a few quotes and landed on a final destination), ask if he is able to offer you any further discount or rate reduction. Don't assume that every sales rep is as eager as mine has been.
• When following up, ask if they will offer a rate that is competitive with another mover's quote. Before you do this, make sure you have the Cube Sheet that demonstrates that the quotes are based on the same estimated information-- otherwise, they will likely balk and say that the quotes are not for the same weight amount.

Technorati Tags: Transition

Answering Questions #3: women and ministry

This may seem like a subject to fit under the category of "hot topics" but in reality, this topic has matured beyond that point. 

While once a matter of debate similar to that of other theological controversy-- which is to say, largely theoretical and abstract for most-- the question of what role women have in the local congregation is now anything but abstract or theoretical.  Indeed, one who cannot answer this question to the satisfaction of his constituents will find one portion or another quite concerned with what the future holds.

The reasoning behind this is several-fold, in my analysis:

• We cannot begin anywhere except the fact that our forefathers in the Church have mishandled this question terribly. Accusations hurled at the Church of misogyny and male chauvinism in years past were not far off the mark, at least as far as the practice of the Church goes.
• This poor practice in the past (and to a lesser degree in the present) has unfortunately been tied to the theological truths that were (mis)used to justify such action, so much that these truths have themselves become targets for skepticism.  Coupled with a looser hold to the authority of the Scriptures, this is a treacherous association; however, even when the authority of Scripture is upheld, then the trustworthiness of the leadership that applies Scripture is weakened by poor practices.
• None of this is helped in any way by the fact that mature, godly men serving in strong, careful leadership roles are more scarce today than ever.  While refreshing, it is often a surprising exception to find a great Elder who can lead women while esteeming their dignity. The absence of men who can handle this balance well is more the norm than the exception.
• Meanwhile, a growing number of Christian women are becoming mature to the point of surpassing their male counterparts, and they take their mature faith seriously.  Thus, when called upon to lead, they do not shy away. More women than ever are, for example, pursuing training in seminaries, which prepares them well for leadership in a local congregation.

The question then becomes: in what capacity should a woman have leadership in the local church?

Without going much further into the underpinnings of an answer, I'll simply offer what mine is-- hoping that there is enough there for you to intuit some of the rationale.  Here's how I would answer the question immediately above:

I think the first thing that must be said is that women have been dealt with poorly in the Church at large, and more particularly in the Presbyterian Church in America, and they have not been given the dignity and respect they deserve as sisters in Christ and co-laborers for the Kingdom. I believe that there is much repentance and reparation to be done in that area, and that it is only with the gracious forgiveness of the women in the church that we can even begin to move further in considering the question.

That said, I believe that there is much available to women as opportunities for service and leadership within the local congregation. Traditionally, women have been offered leadership opportunities in Children's Ministry, Youth Ministry, and Women's Ministry, and these remain wonderful opportunities for women who are called to them. However, there are many other areas of church life and ministry that the gifts and abilities that are unique to women, or at least stronger in them, are a good fit: mercy ministry, hospitality, lay leadership development, and congregational care are a few that come to mind.

Furthermore, many women have gifts and abilities that equal or surpass those of their male counterparts, and in the appropriate contexts they should be encouraged and empowered to exercise them. My understanding of the Scriptural teaching on what women can and cannot do tells me that, apart from leading and teaching in corporate worship, women are free to perform whatever tasks a non-ordained man may do. In other words, if a woman is gifted for teaching, she may teach-- provided that the context is not teaching in worship.

One final distinction on the matter: concerning the question of women as Deacons or Elders, I believe it is Scripturally forbidden, and therefore prohibited for practice today, for women to be ordained as Elders.  I think that a reasonable case could be made from Scripture in favor of ordaining women to the office of Deacon, which is defined by Scripture as essentially an office of service.  However, the rules of government in the PCA outlined by the Book of Church Order forbid this, and unless this were to change I believe it would be unethical-- given the vows that I am prepared to take for my own ordination-- to go against these rules.  I am, however, grateful that the Book of Church Order allows for the appointment of godly men and women to assist the Diaconate in their duties.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Effective

If I were starting seminary all over again...

There are three technology tools that I would want to have from the start:

• An Apple Macintosh laptop.  I know, this sounds cultish-- and frankly, I'm an unabashed Apple supporter and evangelist-- but you can't beat the quality of the hardware, and it doesn't hurt that I don't have to worry about viruses or other malware anymore.  Plus, the next key tool is platform-dependent, and is only for Apple's Mac OS X 10.3 or higher.
• Devon Technologies' DevonThink Pro Office.  DevonThink is an amazing "free-form database" which means that it isn't confined to the structured data collection that other databases have.  Instead, you can import a hoard of file types into DevonThink, and they are indexed and stored according to your organizational method.  The search technology within it is based on a sort of artificial intelligence, so it "learns" by association what words and phrases are related to what.  Thus, it becomes a powerful tool for research and writing, as it can house lots of documents and cross-reference them on the fly.  There are three versions of DevonThink: Personal, Pro, and Pro Office.  You should get Pro Office, because you will also want...
• The Fujitsu ScanSnap S500m document scanner.  This is the Mac version of Fujitsu's great scanner.  This scanner can hold up to 50 pages at once, and it sheet-feeds them through a document scanner that can handle duplex (two-sided) scanning.  It is bundled with a lot of great software, including Adobe Acrobat, and therefore can scan lots of pages then convert them immediately into searchable PDFs or RTFs.  This is important, because you can use DevonThink Pro Office to import these directly into the database, where they are indexed and added to your archives.

If I had been in possession of these tools when I began seminary, it would have saved me hours-- even days-- of research work, and my papers would have been better.  I would have gotten as many full-text online versions of articles as the ATLA database offered (relevant to my current topics) and imported them directly, rather than printing them out.  And the ones I printed would have gone straight into the ScanSnap to be added to the rest.  I would have scanned the indices of all of my textbooks (and a bunch of other books) to make it easy to find references within books. And I would have all of the syllabi, class handouts, and reading packets scanned into my DevonThink database.

The end result of this would have been a research database that was incrementally constructed (so it wouldn't consume days to put together, as it is doing now!), but that would have returned more accurate results for relevant sources, and made extracting those results into papers more approachable.  And I would have had a tool that would last my whole ministry, only improving with age.

If you haven't guessed, I have all of these now.  We began switching back to Macs (my first computer was a Mac, so it was a switch back) in early 2004, and I got my first iBook that fall; I now have a MacBook that I love.  I've been using DevonThink for almost two years, and it is one of those things that stays open on my computer 90% of the time.  And my ScanSnap came via FedEx today-- I'm reviewing it for a magazine-- and it has already scanned about 600 pages of documents.  I'm hopeful to eliminate an entire filing cabinet before we move.

If you are serious about writing good research papers during seminary-- and continuing with good research after-- then these tools will pay for themselves 10 times over in the hours they will save you. 

Technorati Tags: Research, Seminary, Writing

Douglass & Associates updates

Many of you already know that I work with Dr. Philip Douglass of Covenant Seminary in his ministry consulting firm, Douglass & Associates.  I am pleased to announce that Douglass & Associates has an updated website, with a new look and easier navigation.

There are also a few features that are entirely new to the Douglass & Associates website.  The first is a blog called Church Personalities, where Dr. Douglass will be writing about his research, providing excerpts and other materials from his book, and numerous other great ideas.  In talking with him about blogging, he reflected that he could easily work of of existing content for many, many posts before he runs out. 

The other prominent new feature is a collection of forums, specifically set up to allow discussion of the many puzzles, problems, and issues of practical ministry.  There is also a section for placement, which obviously I am hopeful will take off.  Dr. Douglass already fields many of these sorts of questions by e-mail, and this will be a way for him to bring the same wealth of experience and wisdom to a broader audience.

I would encourage everyone to visit Douglass & Associates' online home, and check out the blog and forums.

Technorati Tags: Ministry

Gaining organizational leadership experience

Awhile back, I blogged about how future Pastors need to build skills in leadership, management, and administration.  I ended that post with a question:

If seminary falls on the side of “how well are they equipped for ministry” with regard to theological and biblical knowledge, where does the other half— the “readiness for ministry” part— come from?  Field Education and Internships.  After that, guys, you’re on your own.  How will you get the readiness you need?

Here are a few suggestions for ways to find such experience:

• Volunteer at your church to help with administrative tasks.  Offer to help prepare minutes, organize budget reports, or agenda meetings.  Ask if you could lead a team of people, rather than working on your own.  Seek out duties that force you to develop skills in areas where you are weak.  The leadership of your church will probably be slow to delegate many of these things to you, but over time you can earn their trust as you build your abilities.
• Find a job that will boost your leadership abilities.  You may even be able to find one at your seminary.  This may be a desk job or administrative work, or it may be working with the media or A/V department or the physical plant.  You will inevitably work with others, sometimes on a team and sometimes with you or someone else in authority— and that’s the point.  Learning to work with people is the heart of management, administration, and leadership.  If you need a job anyway, why not find one that will teach you as you work?
• Ask the Deacons at your church to teach you what they do.  In many churches, the Deacons are charged with overseeing the administrative organization of the church, which means they organize the budget, make sure the staff is competent and well-managed, and deal with the many facets of keeping an organization running.  Too often, they are also over-worked.  If you approach them graciously about helping you learn, they will likely embrace the opportunity to have someone to share in the burden.  Meanwhile, you gain familiarity and skills in areas where you will need them.
• Dig into the many available resources.  There are a lot of great books written about organizational leadership— some are geared toward a broad spectrum of organizations, while others are focused on non-profits, ministries, and churches.  Peter Drucker, for example, was a highly-regarded thinker, teacher, and writer in the business world, and after he retired he began focusing his efforts on non-profits.  There is also a growing number of resources that are not strictly books or reading material.  In another post I'll list my "top ten" recommended resources for building organizational leadership skills.

Technorati Tags: Education, Ministry, Seminary

U-Line discounts

A few days ago I wrote on things to know about moving.  One of the companies I mentioned was ULINE, a company that sells shipping supplies and has a great (and affordable) selection of moving supplies.

Two things deserve follow-up about ULINE.  First, they regularly have special offers, monthly specials, and overstock sales.  If you're buying, you should check the Specials section of their website to find what you can get an even better deal on.

Second, however, is even better.  I called ULINE today to find out if I could negotiate a discounted rate for my readers and the folks in Covenant Seminary's "Candidating and Transition into Ministry" class (I have served as a guest lecturer in that class for the past two years, and have been invited back this year).  While I was unable to get a commitment for a regular, standing discount, the Advertising and Sales Associate I spoke to advised me instead to urge folks to ask for a discount when placing a telephone order.  She told me that ULINE sales reps were authorized to grant discounts, and that it wouldn't hurt to simply say, "hey, could you give me a 20% discount on my order?"  She couldn't guarantee that every rep would be agreeable, but the way she presented it sounded very favorable.

Ask and you might receive.

Technorati Tags: Transition

Fired?!? Hired?!?

Michael Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing, recently blogged about three lessons he learned from getting fired.  Hyatt offers good insight for any job-hunter, and his advice is certainly applicable to pastoral candidates.  For example, #2 of Hyatt's post is "take time to clarify expectations."  Describing his relationship with one client whom he represented:

"Unfortunately, the relationship never really recovered. She eventually fired me—by sending me a fax. It was painful, but, honestly, I felt relieved. I knew I was never going to meet her expectations no matter how hard I tried."

Hyatt's advice is equally as valuable from a meta-perspective: when we leave a job because it was a bad situation, or when we are fired, we should nevertheless look for the lessons about why it went wrong-- and find our own fault in the matter.  Hyatt models this well.

In two other posts, Hyatt discusses the ideal candidate for a job at Thomas Nelson, and questions he would ask to find that candidate.  While the context is different, the qualities he describes are the same for most ministry jobs.  Hyatt says about his candidate:

"It’s hard to find the buried treasure unless you have a map. It’s difficult to win a scavenger hunt unless you have a list. And, it’s impossible to hire the right people unless you know exactly what you are looking for."

He's right-- and both search committees and candidate-pastors should realize this in the interview process.  This is why they should all approach the candidacy process in a manner similar to what Hyatt describes: looking for the right fit for the right position, with clear parameters in place.

Perhaps if more of us learn from Hyatt's lessons in the latter two posts, we won't have to learn quite as many of the lessons from the circumstances of the first post.

Technorati Tags: Transition

Follow-up on facing "rejection"

In response to my post "Rejection=Protection" and "Dealing with 'Competition'" a friend responds:

"That's all very well, but how do I reconcile these opposing mindsets?  On the one hand, so-called rejection from one position is really good for us, as we have greater things to anticipate.  On the other hand, we are told that we should expect suffering, difficulty, and perseverance as part of being conformed to the image of Christ.  Aren't these ideas contradictory?"

I understand how it may seem so, but in fact they are consistent if you recognize what is really at work in the idea of "God's best for us."

It may seem like those things that we should be eager about in the face of rejection-- that God has great things, even better things in store for us-- are delightful and prosperous ends.  After all, if God doesn't open the door for one position-- say, an Associate Pastor role in a small but growing church-- then that must mean that he is going to put me in a larger, faster-growing church, right?  Or maybe I need to be the solo Pastor of a church that is on the verge of taking off.  Whatever it is, I might assume that it will be that position which successfully launches a career as a strong and influential Pastor in my denomination.

But is that what is "best" for me-- is that what God would use for the good of me, my family, and His Kingdom?

Instead, maybe what is best for me would be to serve a small, small town/rural church that struggles to bring in enough to keep the lights on.  Perhaps the key to launching a "successful" ministry is placing me somewhere to learn how to be a true shepherd, and where I can do the least damage!  Maybe the very hardship and even suffering I am to expect as a Christian is what I will face as a Pastor-- and through that difficulty God will grow me into the Pastor He can truly use for ministry in His Church.

After all, isn't that what is "best" for me?  That wherever I land, I be in a place where I will grow and learn to be a better Pastor-- a better shepherd, servant, leader, and counselor?

To be honest, I don't know that I would be ready for the kind of church that my pride and over-confidence suggests to my heart as a "better" church.  I'm pretty sure that I would mess up more than I did good.  And that's no way to get started in ministry.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Effective

More writing updates

I mentioned recently that I was interviewed for an article on David Allen's Getting Things Done method of project and task management.  That article is finished, and it can be found at Cnn.com.  He quoted me only briefly, but it's still disproportionately large compared to the amount of credibility I have beside the other guys mentioned (including Allen himself).

The rumor is that the recent article I co-wrote with my sister, entitled "Fighting Fallenness," is out in the paper edition of ByFaith magazine.  If you receive the paper copies, perhaps you can confirm this rumor.  I'll keep you posted about when it goes up on the website.

Technorati Tags: Writing

When it's time to move...

...here are some things you need to know:

• Find help on changing addresses, forwarding mail, etc. at the Postal Service's Moving page.
• An alternative to the traditional two options for moving (full-service and rental trucks that you drive) has become a very popular option; they call it "self-service" moving.  The idea is that you pack your stuff onto a 60-ft trailer (as in, 18-wheel tractor-trailers), paying by the linear-foot of floor space you consume.  They load the rest with standard freight, so you share the cost with the freight shippers, and your trailer arrives at your new home in 2-3 days.  You don't have to drive a huge truck, but you save by not paying movers to load and unload.  The most popular and well-known company that does this is ABF; a number of my seminary friends used them with satisfaction.  One alternative is Help U Move; I'm sure there are a few others.
• ULine Shipping Supply sells high-quality, affordable moving kits and supplies that are a great deal if you are packing yourself.
• Check in with MoversWeb, Moving.com, Movers.com, JustMovers, 123Movers, My Moving Quote, and/or Movers Directory to get quotes about your move.  Some of them will contact you by phone or e-mail; depending on the type of move you're considering, some will do a free in-home examination and quote.
• If you want to rent a truck and drive it yourself (or you can't afford to do more than this), the major rental companies are U-Haul, Budget, Penske, and Ryder.  If you're not moving very much stuff-- or if your move is local-- you might consider looking at Enterprise's truck rental for a cargo van or pickup truck.  (You may find ABF U-Pack's comparison/sales pitch about U-Pack vs. rental a helpful read.)  Mover Max has a helpful checklist about renting a truck.  I like U-Haul's low truck beds, which make loading and unloading a lot easier on the back; but there are lots of folks who would urge against U-Haul.
  • You may find it helpful to check up on consumer complaints, scams, and protection about moving and movers.  Some helpful pages to read are Moving Scam.com, Consumer Affairs.com's Good Guys, Epinions.com: Moving Companies, and the American Moving and Storage Association to find out about the service you are considering.
  • You can check with the Better Business Bureau to get a reliability report on companies, including moving companies.
• You should check with your city or town hall to discover whether you will need a permit to park a truck, trailer, or pod in front of your house.  (Oddly enough, some cities won't let you park a 75-foot trailer just anywhere.)  If you cannot get a permit, it can cost you thousands of dollars to arrange a shuttle service through your moving company.  Be sure to ask about this when you are getting quotes; movers are supposed to disclose "hidden fees" like this, but if they don't you can be subject to full-price (as opposed to a discounted price at the time of the quote).
• You should also ask about fee rates and when they are changing.  Movers' fees are based on tariffs, and these can change by several percentage points.  Ask when the next change will be, and how much-- and be sure to verify whether your quote will be good after that change.
• If you are getting a quote from a moving company (such as North American or Allied), be sure to ask for a copy of the "Cube Sheet."  This is the document used to calculate the quote, and lists all of the estimated weights and quantities that the quote is based upon.  If you have a copy of this, you can compare it to other quotes' Cube Sheets.  You should ask about any significant variance in weight estimation-- they should all show about the same weight (give or take 300-500 pounds).
• Quotes from moving companies or for self-service moving are based on two variables: how much stuff do you have, and how far do you need to take it.  Thus, you can begin gathering quotes before you have a firm ministry call, by using the location you might be that is furthest from where you are now.  If you are in Chicago and you're considering a church in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico, just list the town in New Mexico as your destination.  Once the final location is known, they can run a new quote based on that location-- and since they will already have the estimated weight of your stuff, this will be a fast process (probably nothing more than entering a Zip Code into a field and clicking a button).
• Ask your moving company for a discount.  Be sure to mention that you are in the ministry, and will be moving to serve a church or ministry.  They will be able to discount your fees significantly.  (One quoter told me that they had a discount for everyone, but he gave the highest discounts to the seminary families he worked with.  He gave me a 68% discount on our quote!)
• Make sure that quotes you receive are "Not To Exceed" quotes.  This means that the amount quoted is the most you will spend, assuming the distance listed.  Once your stuff is loaded, the actual weight will be determined and the cost re-calculated (or in the case of a self-service move, the recalculation will be based on the actual number of feet or units required).  There are other quotes available, but they won't be as helpful in estimating the final costs of moving.
• Inquire about the cost difference for packing yourself vs. having a moving service pack for you.  This can sometimes be several thousand dollars in difference, which is a compelling case for packing yourself.  (Most people would rather pack their own stuff, anyway; packing is a vulnerable thing to allow someone else to do.)
• If you are packing yourself AND you are using a moving company, ask about whether you can get boxes through them.  Some will offer heavily discounted or even free boxes (although they may be used ones) to those using their services.  Marcie and I used the same boxes to move us four different times, then we gave them to someone else-- so used boxes can be a good deal.  (We're not talking about grocery and liquor store boxes either, but good-quality moving boxes.)
• Clark Howard always has a lot of helpful things to say, and his advice about moving is helpful and valuable.
• Finally, if you have a lot of books (and what pastor or seminary student doesn't?), you might consider shipping these bulk or media rate through UPS or the postal service.  In one of our quotes, I asked him to calculate what part of the total quote (which was just under $7000) was books.  Can you believe that $1000 of it was?  It would surely be less expensive to ship them than pack them in our moving truck-- unless, of course, we rent a truck or a U-Pack and have fixed rate, not based on weight.  Check into this and figure out if you could save a lot of money shipping your books.

That's all for now.  If I figure out more tips, I'll update this post.

Answering Questions #2: "hot topics"

Another question I anticipate getting, at least in some interviews, is regarding current "hot topic" issues.  Every denomination has it's controversies and conflicts (if they aren't theological, as they often are in the PCA, they may be ecclesiological or even just matters of pragmatism).  I've posted about how to understand the relative importance of these issues (see here and here), and early on I posted some thoughts about how to think about them (see here and here).  Now I'll talk about how I would approach answering questions about them.

Honesty.
First and foremost, candidates should deal with issues honestly.  By this I mean two things: be honest about what you believe, and be honest about what you know.

Do you have a position on topic X?  Then state it concisely.  If you believe in the practice of paedo-communion, struggle with accepting infant baptism, or consider yourself a strict reconstructionist, say so.  If you think that Pastors must wear robes in the pulpit or that worship should include only Psalms in singing, be upfront about it.  Don't try to hide or mask your beliefs in complex, esoteric, or misleading language, but put it in plain terms.  Why would you want to imply that you don't believe what you do?  If you've reached conclusions about these or other issues, you should see it as your obligation to profess those conclusions at this time.

On the other hand, if you haven't reached conclusions about an issue-- or if you simply don't know enough about it to say-- then admit this plainly, as well.  It is perfectly acceptable to acknowledge that you are undecided or uninformed about them.  No one can keep up with all of the issues and discussions and still be attentive to study, ministry, or family.  If they happen to ask about something you know about, great-- but if you don't know, just say, "I don't know."

Charity.
The folks interviewing you are listening as much to how you answer as they are to what you answer.  You may be utterly convinced that your position is true; thus, Ephesians 4 requires that you speak that truth "in love." 

Said another way: when you are asked about a hot topic, the chances are that it is because the committee or even the whole church has encountered it in some way.  Do you know what way that is?  Are you confident that every member of the committee-- and the church-- will agree with your perspective on the matter?  Would you be comfortable if the most outspoken opponent of your position were in the room?  If you cannot answer these questions with a confident "yes" then you should re-think how you state your position. 

The candidacy interview is not an inherent opportunity to instruct and correct the committee or team interviewing you.  It is not your job (yet!) to shepherd them to a new level of understanding about difficult issues.  You will demonstrate a respect for the dignity of their role as members of the search team if you deal with them charitably.

Humility.
Even if you are convinced of your position, take care to hold loosely onto it loosely enough that you don't put ideas before people.  (the singular exception is, of course, if you are asked about one of those "Primary Issues"-- but of course that shouldn't fall under the category of "hot topics.")

I was recently confronted with the reality of this in my own life.  A dear friend mentioned that, at times, it seems like I don't care about what other people think of me.  This may be because I regard truth highly enough that I would rather be in accordance with the truth than compromise but keep the esteem of others.  But my friend remarked how this sometimes made her feel rejected, as if I didn't appreciate being loved.  When it comes to that, I've sinned pridefully, even though my intentions were the opposite.

Along similar lines, my friend and hero Joe Novenson commented about one of the current discussions in the PCA, sometimes known as Auburn Avenue Theology-- so called because it centers around ideas first introduced at a theological conference held at Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church.  Joe reminded me of the humility needed when he said, "Before Auburn Avenue was a theology, it was a church."  That church is not essentially the ideas behind that theology, but the people of her membership.


Approaching these questions with honesty, charity, and humility, here is how I might answer a difficult question:

Q:  What is your perspective on Federal Vision?

I believe that the questions raised by the proponents of a Federal Vision view are important, valuable concerns about our understanding and practice of the sacraments.  In some ways, I applaud the men who have raised these questions, and I do not believe that they have always been dealt with in a loving, brotherly manner-- which has prevented fruitful, productive discussion from taking place.  To be perfectly candid, I have not studied the writings of those who promote the Federal Vision view in depth, nor am I familiar with the historical writings that they appeal to with a level of confidence to comment.  I have read several summaries of the issue, including some that are sympathetic, if not supportive, of Federal Vision theology, and from what I have read of these I cannot say that I fully agree with any of the main points of discussion.  I am not comfortable claiming a decided position, however, nor am I convinced in any way that those who hold a Federal Vision perspective should be seen as unorthodox or unbiblical in their convictions.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Effective

Answering questions, pt. 1

I have a telephone interview coming up, so I'm going to spend a few posts discussing how I would answer some of the questions I anticipate fielding.  I'll also proffer a few thoughts on how others should approach answering them.

Anticipated question #1:
"Tell us about your greatest weakness."

I've mentioned Manager Tools before, and I think they regularly offer good advice.  In a recent "members only" podcast, they talked about how to handle this question in an interview.  Their advice is great, and it serves everyone well-- the interviewee actually answers the question (rather than dodging it), but is also given a way to save face.

They advise an essentially three-part answer:

1. Qualify your answer-- in other words, state outright that this is not your struggle in every moment.  Say, "sometimes" or "in certain situations" or some other like qualification.
2. State a real weakness.  Don't soft-pedal or understate, and don't find something utterly irrelevant to the job.
3. Tell what you are doing to improve on it.  Notice the present active tense-- this is not what you plan or hope to do, but the action you are in the process of taking to strengthen what is weak.

Mike and Mark offer a lot more insight into how to understand the question, identify a good weakness, and even things like presentation of the answer.  I would encourage everyone to have a listen to their advice.

As for me, here's something akin to the answer I'll give:

In situations where I have a conflict with someone else, I sometimes have difficulty accepting my part of the responsibility for the conflict and responding appropriately.  In those moments I become defensive, rather than apologizing for my errors and seeking repentance.  In the past, this has caused tension in relationships, and has hindered me in ministry.  I have learned a lot about dealing with my own pride and sin through studying Ken Sande's Peacemaker, and I've recently begun reading Miroslav Volf's Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving in a Culture Stripped of Grace which is teaching me a lot about living relationships more graciously.  I have also been dialoging about this problem with my friend Dan Zink, who is Professor of Christian Counseling at Covenant Seminary.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Effective

God meant it for good...

I just found this article about Mike Jones, the former male prostitute whose accusations led to Ted Haggard's resignation from his church and from the National Association of Evangelicals last year. 

In my view, this is Gospel evangelism at its purest.  Haggard was honest, humbled, and repentant through the course of this scandal, and by owning the consequences of his sin-- and his congregation owning it biblically too-- Mike Jones became curious about this church (and, though the Star Tribune doesn't report it this way, he became curious about the Gospel).

A telling remark came from Associate Pastor Rob Brendle:

"I told Mike, 'I don't want to impose my religious beliefs on you, but I believe God used you to correct us, and I appreciate that."'

What a great picture of leadership!  Of course, no one should hope for struggles and stumbling such as Haggard's, but everyone can pray that their leaders (and themselves) would respond to stumbling in a manner such as Brendle (and even Haggard) did.

Technorati Tags: Ministry, Pastoral, Transition

Writing updates

Those of you who follow my writing may be interested in these few notes:

• I continue to write a (fairly) regular column for Low End Mac called "The Efficient Mac User".
• I've also begun writing a new column for the well-established e-zine About This Particular Macintosh; my column is called "Next Actions" and it deals with how to use technology tools to implement David Allen's "Getting Things Done" task and project management system.
• Getting Things Done (GTD) is a pretty esoteric subject, it's true; however, it scored me an interview with CNN.com's David Williams about using GTD in the tech world.  (I'll let you know when the article is up.)
• My sister and I recently completed an article for ByFaith called "Fighting Fallenness."  It discusses how churches can become communities of support and fellowship to hurting people.  If all goes well it should appear in the next issue.  (I'll put up a link to that as well.)
• My friend and colleague Phil Douglass has completed his book, tentatively entitled Your Church Has a Personality, about the organizational temperament of churches and ministries and how they affect communication.  This is significant to me, as I helped him with some of the editing and research.  The book will be published by P&R and they've promised to deliver it in time for the PCA's General Assembly.  We're hoping to write a book together someday soon, combining his research with mine; it would focus on how churches and search committees can do a better job at finding and evaluating candidates.

Technorati Tags: Writing

Rejection = Protection

My friend Mark Long offered this equation to me about candidacy today.  I think it works.

When a church finds a reason to go a different direction, you should be glad for it.  It doesn't matter how small or insignificant you believe their reason is-- because if it was significant enough for them to eliminate you now, it would turn up as significant enough to spoil an otherwise strong ministry later.  They are simply saving you-- and the congregation-- the pain of that spoiling.

One of the churches I have been corresponding with did this for me recently.  I had submitted my name as a candidate, and felt like I was a very good match for what they claimed to be seeking.  Several people within that church had echoed my confidence, and at one point we (Marcie and I) thought I might be their strongest candidate.

I'm not out of the running entirely, reports the Senior Pastor, but they have several candidates that are a better fit in one way or another.  Thus, while I'll remain open about pursuing that position if they ask me to, I'm not going to pin a lot of hope on it-- nor will I give it much attention, unless the situation changes.

In my view, they have done me a great service: they have helped us see more clearly where the Lord is (and isn't) leading us.  They have also done their congregation a great service, by maintaining a firm stance on what they need and want in an Assistant Pastor.

It is short-sighted, therefore, to think of this as "rejection."  In the Lord's great plans, it is actually "protection."

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Placement

Negotiating terms of call: retirement savings (part one)

Most Pastors I know vehemently claim that they plan to work until they die.  Thus, they really don't need to invest much in terms of retirement savings.

That's good, because most of them have done a terrible job at building up any retirement savings.  I actually know men in their 50s who have little or no retirement funds set aside.

The problem is, there may come a day when they do want to retire-- or when they need to do so.  Like it or not, our fallen bodies fail us, and the time comes when we have to slow down.  This may mean changes to our ministries: moving to a smaller church in a slower-paced community, accepting a role with less ministry responsibility, or moving into a part-time ministry position.  Or it may require stopping ministry altogether, at least as a vocation-- and if that is the case, we must begin as soon as possible to prepare financially for that season.

In most cases, when a man is coming directly out of seminary into ministry he doesn't have his mind on how he will retire from that ministry.  But unless you are in a circumstance where your financial future is already cared for (such as a classmate of mine who came to seminary after a 30-year military career, and his Army pension will cover his retirement), the negotiation of terms of call is the time to begin thinking about this.

I want to split this topic up between two posts.  In this post I'll discuss the "what and why" of retirement savings, and in the next post I'll cover the "how"-- looking at some strategies for getting it done.

I shouldn't have to define "retirement savings" as a concept, but I will say this in terms of preliminary remarks: it would be naive or foolish, or both, for anyone to assume that their earning ability will only increase throughout life.  Thus, think of retirement savings as preparation for the time when you are less willing or less able to maintain maximum workload.  (Frankly, that day may come a lot sooner than what is typically considered "retirement" age.)

Many people have a lot to say about how to think about planning for retirement, and almost every one of these people is more knowledgeable than I am.  Thus, I'll keep my remarks to a minimum, and instead refer you to better sources of information.

• For starters, be aware that Social Security is itself a retirement plan of sorts; I have already offered my comments (here and here) about whether an ordained pastor should exercise his legal right to apply for exemption from the Social Security system, and I'll simply follow those comments with this remark: it seems to me that opting out is far too individualistic for a Christian to be comfortable with.
• Rick Warren's Pastors.com has a great article on planning for retirement, written by a veteran pastor who is himself retired.
• Crown Financial Ministries offers good advice on planning for the future (including retirement) in their Pastor's Corner.  They also have this article on retirement planning on their regular site.  (Note: there is a lot of other helpful information in both areas.)
• The Wesleyan church's General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has a very thorough handbook for their Board of Ordained Ministry, which includes this chapter, "Retirement Planning and Relationships," which offers good food for thought on how a denomination is responsible for caring for its pastors.
• This article from Your Church magazine has some very helpful data on retirement planning based on good research.
• Naturally, Pastors in the Presbyterian Church in America will want to be in contact with the PCA's Retirement and Benefits office.
• Finally, you may want to see this NY Times piece on saving less for retirement!

That should get you started on the "what and why" questions about retirement savings.  Soon I'll give my thoughts on strategies for it.

Technorati Tags: Ministry, Transition

Advancing the research

Long-time readers will know that I have been researching pastoral transition for several years.  Specifically, I've been studying "effective" placement from seminary, and to that end I have already conducted an extensive survey with graduates from Covenant Seminary.

Today I spoke with the Louisville Institute, who is offering a number of small research grants funded by a much larger grant from the Lilly Endowment.  One in particular, the Pastoral Leadership Grant, is a good fit for my research, according to the Director of the Louisville Institute.

For almost two years I've wanted to expand my research to include other seminaries, but I can't afford to underwrite the costs myself.  This grant would clear the path to expanding and advancing my research significantly.

Over the next few weeks I'll be putting together a proposal, and Lord willing I'll win my first research/writing grant.

Technorati Tags: Research, Seminary, Transition, Writing

Placement-seekers' resource: Jibber Jobber

I've come across a tool for job-seekers that could be very adaptable for pastoral candidates.  It is called Jibber Jobber, and it is basically an organizer for your search process.

A lot of the features offered there are designed to help candidates focus on some of aspects of placement-- such as networking, focusing on the relationship you're building with the church, etc.-- that I think get overlooked easily.  This tool could be a great way for candidates to keep these essentials in view.

Oh, and it's free.

If you're in the process of seeking placement, give Jibber Jobber a look.  It may help you a lot.

Technorati Tags: Candidacy, Placement