CHURCH LOGO HERE
APPLICATION FOR SENIOR PASTORAL
CONSIDERATION FOR
(NAME OF CHURCH)
ASSOCIATION OF VINEYARD CHURCHES
ATTN: PASTORAL SEARCH COMMITTEE
ADDRESS: (OF CHURCH)
PHONE:
FAX:
EMAIL:
INSTRUCTIONS: Please type your answers to the following interview questions and send them back to the above address. We can email this application to you so you don't have to type the questions over if you so request. Feel free to be brief in your answers but note that the questions are asking for very specific information and answers. All your information will be held in the strictest of confidence within the search committee and all materials will be destroyed when the process is completed. Your answers may differ if you are a senior pastor, associate pastor or presently working in a secular job. In any case, try to adapt the questions to your most recent job.
TESTIMONY, RESUME, AND BACKGROUND CHECK:
1. Briefly describe how you came to know Christ?
2. Have you or your spouse ever been divorced? (If either you or your spouse have ever been divorced, please write the circumstances surrounding it on a separate sheet of paper, and include a pastoral reference of someone familiar with the divorce.)
3. What is the number and age(s) of your children?
4. Please submit a copy of your resume that includes your education: Include majors, degrees received, and any courses pertinent to ministry. List all employment in the past. Include dates, companies, position and duties of employment. List four references from your most recent job, including addresses and telephone or cell numbers. Please send us a few CD’s or tapes of messages you have preached that represent your heart and call.
5. Are there personal events or relationships from your past or present that could prove damaging to the ministry of Christ if disclosed such as bankruptcy, sexual orientation, addiction to pornography or substances, child or spousal abuse, criminal activity? If so, please give details.
6. Are you licensed by any church body? With whom? Are you ordained? With what association? If ordained, give the date of your ordination. Have you been associated with any particular denomination, fellowship or association of churches in the last ten years? Please name those associations and a contact person within the association.
7. Have you ever left the ministry for any reason? (If so, please give details.)
Have you ever been disciplined by any group? (If so, please explain.)
8. Is there any reason why a leader of another church or denomination would question or oppose you in becoming a Vineyard pastor? Give the name of that pastor and briefly describe your relationship with him.
VINEYARD VALUES & METHODS SKILLS:
1. Why do you want to pastor a Vineyard ? Please give the names of two Vineyard pastors you’re close to.
2. Are you able to fully ascribe to the statement of faith adopted by the Association of Vineyard Churches? If so, list two aspects of our statement that you are the most passionate about? Why?
3. Which have you read:
____ Power Evangelism by John Wimber
____ Power Healing by John Wimber
____ Empowered Evangelicals by Rich Nathan and Ken Wilson
____ A Theology of the NEW TESTAMENT or The Gospel Of The Kingdom by George Eldon Ladd
____ Surprised By The Power Of The Spirit by Jack Deere
____ The Kingdom And The Power, Ed. by Gary Grieg And Kevin Springer
____ When The Spirit Comes With Power by John White
____ Spiritual Gifts: Are They For Today? Four Views Ed. by Wayne Grudem
____ Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
____ Other Relevant Material:
4. What Vineyard conferences have you attended? What mission trips have you been on in our Movement.
5. What concerns do you have about relating to or identifying with the Association of Vineyard Churches?
SENSE OF CALL TO MINISTRY:
1. How did your call to ministry come to you?
2. What has tested your call making you go through, around, under, or over a seemingly insurmountable obstacle to your ministry?
3. What are your non-negotiable convictions in ministry that we who work with you should know?
4. What is the deepest wound you have received while being in ministry? What has this experience taught you?
CREATES VISION:
1. What vision for the future of this church drives you to consider moving here? How does this style compare or differ with your previous ministry?
2. How did you build a shared vision with the people you previously led? List the specific steps you took to build that shared vision in your leadership community?
3. What was your previous church’s vision statement?
4. What kind of target groups were you trying to reach in your last church? How did you go about reaching them? How would you evaluate your effectiveness?
5. What were the next spiritual goals or steps for the church you just left? ¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬
6. What roadblocks kept you from reaching those goals? How did you try to overcome those roadblocks?
PROVEN DISCIPLE MAKER:
1. When was the last time you followed-up on a new believer? What materials did you use to follow up on them? How did you teach spiritual disciplines to your new believers?
2. Describe your previous small groups ministry system as a church? How did you release ministry to others, train and supervise them in these groups? What percentages of your people were in some type of small group?
3. What types of training did you do with your previous church to help them grow in Christ?
4. What is the Spirit of God saying to you about where the Church in America is going? How have you changed your ministry to address those concerns?
5. Explain the system you used to train your people when they needed help from your prayer ministries and counseling?
6. How did you teach your small group leaders to train new leaders and how to grow their groups?
CREATIVE IN OUTREACH: ¬¬¬¬¬
1. How many people have you led to the Lord in the past 12-18 months? How did you come into contact with them? Can you give the names of individuals you have led to Christ and discipled into the faith who are now participating in a local church?
2. Can you name individuals you have trained or interned that have been raised up into leadership positions and sent to other ministries? How did you support them after you sent them?
3. In your previous ministry, what outreach events have proven to be the most fruitful to bring people to Christ or show His love?
4. What gospel presentation do you train your people in? How did you train them to share their faith?
5. How have you put your finger on the pulse of the community where your church is located? What methods and techniques have you employed to assess the needs of your community? How effective were they in making authentic followers of Jesus Christ?
6. How has church planting and missions fit into your outreach plans in the past?
PASSIONATE FOR WORSHIP & PREACHING:
1. How has the ministry of the Word and the Spirit’s power been demonstrated through your previous ministries?
2. How do you prepare your messages and structure them? What kind of time do you need to prepare? What were your last few teaching series? Why did you choose those topics?
3. What do your critics say are the areas you need to improve in for better communication? In what ways have you attempted to make yourself more effective in your communication?
4. How have you structured your worship services or ministry groups to be friendly to visitors? Outline your ideal worship service from start to finish.
5. Describe what your view of worship is and how you have implemented it in the past. What information should the worship leader know about working with you?
6. What place did the spiritual gifts have in your public services in the past? What have you learned to make ministry time more meaningful experience to your people?
7. What training have you had in preaching? Who do you share your pulpit with?
BUILDS SOLID RELATIONSHIPS:
1. How did you take initiative and build relationships to get to know your people in your last church?
2. How do you help others develop relationships?
3. Tell about the most recent close relationship you invested in for friendship. What efforts did you make to achieve closeness? How did you overcome barriers such as distrust or fear of rejection?
4. What is the general nature and source of your friendships?
5. How do you stay in contact with life long friends? Who do you call when you are seriously down or hurt?
DEVELOPS LEADERS: ¬¬¬¬¬
1. In your last church how did you encourage your leader’s vision, values, and aspirations?
2. How have you structured and scheduled your leadership community in the past? In your opinion, what is the best way to structure the church to run most effectively?
3. Tell about a time when you confronted people who were undermining the unity of the body. How did you bring about resolve, reconciliation or healing?
4. How did you conduct and structure your staff meetings in your previous church? How many people reported to you at one time?
5. Give some examples of how you typically gave ministry away to others? How did you follow up on them? How did you make them feel part of the process?
6. Which aspects of staff and or leadership development will you focus on first? How?
UNDERSTANDS HOW TO GROW A CHURCH:
1. What have you learned about growing a church in transition that must be passed on to your leadership team?
2. What knowledge of Natural Church Development by Christian Schwartz do you have about how to keep a church focused on health as opposed to success?
3. What will be your goals for the first two years of this church?
4. Draw out the infrastructure of this church as you know it and add all the different types of ministries you envision and the different types of small groups you envision.
5. Based on your needs, personality and gifts, what kind of leaders do you need to place around you to be more effective?
6. What are your continuing educational goals? What specific areas do you wish you had more training in?
GOOD FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: ¬
1. Has personal indebtedness ever been a problem? If so please comment.
2. How do you exercise a personal budget system?
3. Have you ever had to “sell yourself” to others by presenting a project or fund raiser which required significant financial involvement on the part of others? What was it? Explain how many people you motivated to action in this project and what amount of money you raised.
4. What business training have you had in managing money, creating budgets, and keeping the system accountable?
5. Have you ever taught on financial stewardship? Explain. Do you feel confident to raise the money for the next building phase of this church?
SOLID MARRIAGE AND FAMILY:
1. How do you and your spouse use your gifts and talents to complement each other?
2. Have you found a compatible way to spiritually grow together as a couple? What is it?
3. What role does your spouse prefer to fill in this church?
4. Is relocating going to cause isolation for anyone in your family?
5. What relational conflicts have you experienced as a couple in ministry? What insights have you learned from those conflicts?
6. How do you balance the demands of ministry with the needs of your family? Explain the steps you take.
EMOTIONALLY MATURE:
1. How did you handled power brokers in your previous ministry and their need to control you?
2. Describe a time when you put all your trust and energy into someone only to have them suddenly quit and leave the church.
3. What unforeseen emergency have you led others through?
4. How have you confronted and corrected someone who did not follow through on his or her assignment?
5. Have you ever had your integrity challenged? How did you handle the unfounded criticism against you?
6. What has been your biggest personal failure or disappointment? Who is helping you coping with it beyond God?
HAS A VITAL SPIRITUAL LIFE:
1. In your calendar on a given month, how much time do you set aside for thinking, planning, and praying with the Lord?
2. What were your spiritual formation goals last year? How did you do on carrying them out?
3. Do you have any people in your life who can ask you anything about your journey in Christ? When and where do you meet?
4. What fills your tank spiritually and brings you closer to God? How do you keep yourself going when the pressure is on?
5. What experiences have most challenged your faith? When you felt powerless, how was your faith evidenced in that situation?
6. Has life broken you? If so, how has brokenness become your friend?
To man belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the reply of the tongue. All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.
Prov. 16:1-3
May God Guide Your Hand And Ours In This Process,
Sincerely,
(BOARD/ SEARCH COMMITTEE SECRETARY'S NAME HERE)