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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 included the following:
Prayerfully sought God’s wisdom and guidance to reveal His will for Cherrydale’s next Lead Pastor.
Received resumes and invited qualified candidates (both internal and external) to submit the Lead Pastor application. Best qualified candidates were asked to complete an in-depth questionnaire.
For each potential candidate, the SAC reviewed his submitted resume, application, questionnaire, and references. Additionally, the SAC listened to multiple sermons, viewed church websites, and explored any other available information such as podcasts, blogs, or books written by the candidates.
The SAC conducted in-depth video interviews with selected candidates.
Once the SAC fully vetted all final candidates, they referred three candidates to the Elders for their consideration.
This second phase of the search process provides opportunity for the Elder Council (EC) to prayerfully evaluate the candidates recommended by the SAC. In this phase:
The EC will review the full application packet containing resume, application, questionnaire, notes from the SAC’s interview of the candidates and contacts with references, sermon links, and any other information available for all the candidates recommended by the SAC.
The EC will conduct its own comprehensive assessment of each of the candidates recommended by the SAC, including contacting references, conducting background checks, and performing interviews.
The EC will rank the candidates and proceed further with the top candidate by sending at least two Elders to observe the candidate (unless the top candidate is an internal candidate).
This phase concludes when the EC presents a final candidate to the Cherrydale congregation for consideration in the Spring/Summer of 2019.
After the final candidate has passed through the vetting process of the Search Advisory Committee (Phase One) and the Elder Council (Phase Two), he will be presented to the church membership for consideration prior to a final vote of affirmation/non-affirmation.
The congregation will enter in to 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.
At the end of the 60-day period, Cherrydale members will vote on the candidate.
If the candidate is not affirmed by the membership, the EC will present the next qualified candidate, or it may elect 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.
