There are currently 303 Kentucky Baptist churches searching for their next pastor. These churches are located throughout the commonwealth and represent our unified effort to advance the gospel in Kentucky. Most of those churches are looking for a bivocational pastor and are discovering that are very few, if any, qualified men in their area to serve their church.
A less publicized challenge, but not less important, comes when a multi-staff church is trying to fill a vacant staff position. Churches that are trying to hire a worship leader, student leader, children’s director or other positions are discovering that the pipeline of qualified candidates is very limited.
I recently heard from one of our great Kentucky Baptist churches recounting the challenge it faced trying to fill a vacant staff position. It tried traditional relational connections but was unable to secure good candidates for the position. Finally, it resorted to using a staffing consultant at great expense to the church.
This conversation highlights the growing challenge being faced by churches in finding qualified candidates to fill their positions. What can we do? Here are five ways Kentucky Baptists can work together to address this problem.
1. We can pray together: I recall hearing Dr. Tim Searcy, past KBC president, tell a story of a church where his dad was the pastor. The church was preparing for an upcoming revival and one of the deacons discovered that it had been more than 20 years since anyone in their church had answered God’s call to ministry. The deacon started praying earnestly. During the revival, five young men surrendered to ministry. Tim Searcy was one of them. Those teenage boys went on to serve Jesus with their lives. One thing we can do is pray for God to call out those who are qualified to serve in His church. Imagine what God might do if each KBC church added this item to its weekly prayer list.
2. We can invest financially: Because of the generous giving of KBC churches, the Kentucky Baptist Convention has a robust scholarship that benefited more than 150 Kentucky Baptist ministry students this year. The scholarship pays a portion of the expense for a student to receive ministry training at Clear Creek, Southern Seminary or Boyce College. Churches can add to that scholarship by agreeing to pay half the tuition, or any portion, for any ministry student from their church who will pursue ministry training. Those students in whom you invest may be used of God to make an eternal difference in advancing the gospel.
3. We can encourage those who have answered the call: I was recently invited to preach the keynote message for a group of men who have completed basic preaching training in their Baptist association. These are men who will remain in the county where they currently live but are available to preach in local churches and may one day pastor one of the churches in their area. My goal in preaching to them was to encourage these men in their willingness to answer God’s call. Each of us can encourage those in our churches who fill this important role in Kentucky Baptist life.
4. We can network together: If you know of leaders in your area or association who are qualified to serve a local church, be sure you are telling others about them. These leaders will need opportunities to serve in order to process and ultimately clarify God’s call on their life.
5. We can care well for our pastors, elders, church staff and ministry leaders: One reason some may be reluctant to answer the call to pastor a church or serve in a staff position is the horror stories they have heard or witnessed about how church leaders or their families were treated. While we must never put pastors and church staff on a pedestal from which they will undoubtedly fall, we must put them on a list of people we love, care for and pray for. One way we can make it easier for fellow believers to answer the call to serve the local church is by caring well for those who are currently fulfilling those roles.
Just this week I talked to a former deacon who is now the newly called pastor of one our great KBC churches. He had no plans to pastor a church, but as he took successive steps of obedience, and was affirmed by a local church, he is now fulfilling God’s call. Please join me in praying we will see more of this across the commonwealth.
Dr. Todd Gray 