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Lead Pastor Search Process
Since 1983, Cherrydale Baptist Church has been blessed by the service of Senior Pastor Steve King. In October 2017, Pastor King shared with the Cherrydale family that “after much prayer and reflection, I believe that God has called me to serve at Cherrydale five more years….The plan is that I will continue to preach and function as your senior pastor for at least two more years and then shift to a new role of support for the next generation of leadership.”
As overseen by the Elders and the Search Advisory Committee, our pastoral search process has three phases with the congregation serving in a vital role. This process is subject to change as we proceed through the phases, but below is our overall plan:
In June 2018, the Elders solicited nominations from the congregation for individuals to serve on the Lead Pastor Search Advisory Committee (SAC). After much prayer and discussion, the Elders chose the following members based upon several criteria—including a representative cross-section of the congregation in terms of age, gender, and race/ethnic identity: Jenn Baird, Judy Bates, Sarah Byrd, Mark Dronfield, Barb Ferrell, TJ Hunt, Katelyn Leslie, David Loebsack, and Jeremy Wong.
The SAC’s work includes the following:
Prayerfully seek God’s wisdom and guidance to reveal His will for Cherrydale’s next Lead Pastor.
Receive resumes and invite qualified candidates (both internal and external) to submit the Lead Pastor application. Best qualified candidates will be asked to complete an in-depth questionnaire.
For each potential candidate, the SAC will review his submitted resume, application, questionnaire, and references. Additionally, the SAC will listen to multiple sermons, view church websites, and explore any other available information such as podcasts, blogs, or books written by the candidates.
The SAC will conduct in-depth video interviews with selected candidates.
Once the SAC has fully vetted all final candidates, they will refer five to seven top candidates to the Elders for their consideration.
This second phase of the search process provides ample time for the Elder Council (EC) to investigate and review the final candidates recommended by the SAC. In this phase:
The EC will determine the steps they need to take to choose the single candidate that they will consider nominating to the Leadership Council. All meetings will begin in prayer to seek the Lord’s direction for choosing among the remaining candidates.
The EC will review the final candidates’ full application packet containing resume, application, questionnaire, notes from conversations with references, sermon links, other information about the candidates.
The EC will conduct a comprehensive video interview with top candidates.
The EC will rank the candidates and proceed further with the top candidate by conducting a background check, contacting references, and sending at least two Elders to observe the candidate. At this time, an in-person interview would also be conducted with the top candidate.
This phase concludes when the EC announces a proposed candidate to the Cherrydale congregation.
If the final candidate passes through the vetting process of the Search Advisory Committee and the Elder Council, he will be presented to the church membership for consideration prior to a final vote of affirmation.
The congregation will enter in a 60-day period to pray, ask questions, and get to know the candidate. During this period, the final candidate (and his family) will visit Cherrydale to deliver a Sunday morning sermon, have a question-and-answer time with the congregation, meet the staff, and meet with various focus groups.
Cherrydale members will vote on the candidate.
If the candidate is not affirmed by the membership, the EC will revisit the remaining top candidates and may choose to continue or to start over in Phase One.
Cherrydale members with questions or comments about the process should email elders@cherrydale.org.
Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.
