Is your church going through a pastoral transition? Or are you a pastor seeking a new call?
The Office of Ministry Services helps pastors and search teams navigate pastoral transitions with hope, energy, and fresh vision.
Pastoral Search Support
Church leaders and church search teams
Our team can help you navigate the process of a pastoral leadership transition and connect you with the best pastoral candidates for your ministry. We can review and provide feedback on your church profile, help you develop a strategy for discerning which candidates to pursue, share best practices for interviewing, and assist in all aspects of the search process.
If your church is searching for a pastor, contact ministryservices@rca.org.
Church Profile Form
Once you’ve opened the church profile form in your browser, please download the form to your computer and save it under a new name. Then you can proceed to make edits.
To submit your Church Profile, please send the completed form to ministryservices@rca.org.
Pastoral Search Handbook
identifies effective ways to search for a pastor and is a helpful resource for classis supervisors, consistories, and search teams.
Other Resources
- Next: Pastoral Succession That Works by William Vanderbloemen and Warren Bird
- Job Description Guidelines from Vanderbloemen
- Contract versus Call Comparison Chart
Formulating safe and legal interview questions
- Visit the S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or the Canadian Employment Equity Act for specifics about protected groups, information, and topics that are legal or illegal to bring up before you decide what questions to ask in an interview.
- View Appendix 8 of Pastoral Search Handbook
- Legal and illegal interview questions
“Religious corporations, associations, educational institutions, or societies are exempt from the federal laws that EEOC enforces when it comes to the employment of individuals based on their particular religion. In other words, an employer whose purpose and character is primarily religious is permitted to lean towards hiring persons of the same religion” (see more at Pre-Employment Inquiries and Religious Affiliation or Beliefs).
Pastors looking for a call
Our team can help you find the place to which God is calling you. We can offer feedback and assistance with your minister’s profile, discuss job search strategies, and assist you throughout your search process. We will also keep your profile in our “actively searching” file and, with your permission, provide it to search teams who request it.
If you are a pastor seeking a call, contact ministryservices@rca.org.
Minister Profile Form
Once you’ve opened the Minister Profile form in your browser, please download the form to your computer and save it under a new name. Then you can proceed to make edits.
To submit your Minister Profile, please send the completed form to ministryservices@rca.org.
Job boards
Classis supervisors
This video and its accompanying worksheets are intended to be a resource for classis supervisors who will be helping churches go through a time of pastoral transition. Within this resource, you’ll learn what is involved in a healthy transition, and also discover tips and resources to help you guide churches through each stage of the process. The worksheets are intended to help you process information and ask deeper questions as you watch each video.
Session 1
Introduction
This session offers an introduction to the work of classis supervisors as it relates to pastoral transitions.
Session 2
Closing a Pastoral Relationship
This session discusses the process of closing a pastoral relationship and how a classis supervisor can assist in this work.
Session 3
Reflecting on the Congregation
This session talks about the role of the congregation in a pastoral transition and how a classis supervisor can help them be most effective.
Session 4
Discerning the Right Candidate
This session offers tips for the pastoral search process.
Session 5
Calling a Candidate and Helping Train the New Pastor
This session discusses the process of calling a new pastor and helping him or her get settled in that new role.