Step-by-step guide for PNCs
The Layman Online, December 2, 2003
A step-by-step guide to the work of a Pastor Nominating Committee has just been published by PLC Publications.
The book, Selecting An Evangelical Pastor … A Lay Perspective: A Guide For Pastor Nominating Committees, was written by elder Robert B. Fish. It has been significantly expanded and enhanced with additional appended resources.
Fish has a distinguished record of service in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Having been elected an elder five times in three different congregations, he currently serves on the session and is chair of the personnel committee at Pioneer Presbyterian Church in Belpre, Ohio. He has taught adult Sunday school for 22 years and chaired a Pastor Nominating Committee. He knows presbytery procedures from his service as chair of the Representation Committee and as a member of the General Council and the Permanent Judicial Commission.
The book includes a preface by Robert L. Howard, longtime chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.
Howard said this new volume is a revised and expanded edition of a 1988 work that was one of the best-received resources ever published by PLC Publications, going through many reprints. Howard said the new volume “ought to be read by every active PCUSA elder.”
In the book, Fish writes:
“Serving on a Pastor Nominating Committee is one of the most crucial tasks requested of lay people in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The person you select will be the central focus for the spiritual leadership of your congregation as it helps to build up Christ’s Church in your community. Each of us can only imagine the wonderful ministry that could be achieved with pastoral leadership that ‘fits’ a congregation….
“Selecting the right candidate is a joyous accomplishment, a blessing from God. On the other hand, selecting the wrong candidate often can be a painful, frustrating exercise in disappointment that can wound a congregation for years to come. That is why the job of a Pastor Nominating Committee – struggling through the step-by-step process to find a pastor with the necessary qualifications to complement a congregation’s witness – is so crucial.
“And, because it is so crucial, that job cannot be conducted willy-nilly. The search process that a Pastor Nominating Committee undertakes must embody the procedures of Presbyterian polity. Unlike the Episcopal Church USA’s hierarchical call process or the Baptist Church’s congregational call process, the local congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA) authorizes the Pastor Nominating Committee to conduct the search with counsel and guidance from the presbytery’s Committee on Ministry and the executive presbyter. That counsel and guidance is designed to complement – and not take the place of – the hard and necessary work of a Pastor Nominating Committee, which makes a recommendation on a candidate to its congregation. And while it is true that the presbytery ultimately approves a call, it is the congregation alone that elects a pastor (Book of Order G-14.0501b).”
As a service to the church, and because it believes this book is a valuable resource, PLC Publications is offering a free copy to the chairperson of every Pastor Nominating Committee who requests it. Bulk discounts are available for other copies.
For more information, call 1-800-368-0110.