While the world waited in St. Peter’s Square, watching a nondescript stove pipe protruding from the roof of the Vatican, I was recalling the smoke jokes at the church where I have served as interim pastor. And I’m thinking about our own Baptist conclave coming soon.
In Rome, three rounds of black smoke from the vent indicated the super-majority of the 133 cardinals locked inside had not agreed on a singled candidate in their latest round of voting. Then, finally, the pipe coughed out white vapor, signaling a new pope. It was relatively quick, and Chicago native’s selection was big surprise. But it was a success.
In the case of the church I served as interim pastor, the call process lasted not days or months, but almost two years. A congregation known for its harmonious operations took a long time to reach agreement on a candidate.
Several factors converged: Pastor searches take longer now. A recent study reported that the average time between pastorates has increased to 18 months in many congregations. We used to talk about six months as an expected period for a search team to locate and present a pastoral candidate, but as the resume piles have gotten shorter, the wait has gotten longer. Our own search sherpas at IBSA tell us the number of applicants is one-third what it was less than a decade ago. And, frankly, the percentage who might be good matches for a church based on denominational background, education, and experience is far less these days.
So, a congregation must learn to wait. In the interim, a church’s issues in relationship and theology surface. Waiting becomes opportunity to address those matters, lest a search team hurriedly bring a new pastor to lead a fractured fellowship. No one wants a protracted interim period, least of all the pastor who serves temporarily and tries to encourage the mending work of the Holy Spirit. But waiting and watching has its value.
Back to Dallas, with our SBC conclave of regular folks (called messengers) perhaps numbering 10,000, we will see if there remain significant cracks in the fellowship resulting from conflicting theology. With declining national membership and stagnant giving, we will look for the effects on our missional advance.
The recent issues we thought were settled aren’t completely settled. Internet scuttle tells us the matter of women in pastoral leadership was not resolved with adjustment to the Baptist Faith and Message stating the office of pastor/elder/overseer is reserved for men. Recent comments bring up the future of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission—again. And again, we are likely to hear questions about transparency in our national entities.
Debate on these important issues can be expected, but the arguing, name calling, and sideswiping common to social media has no place in denominational life. It is repugnant and offensive and not-at-all Christlike. The sniping of back hallways and parking lots has moved out front, and the root of bitterness Hebrews warned us about is in full bloom above ground. Not among the whole body, but among a few and with harmful effect.
“I didn’t know people could be so nasty,” I have heard some leaders say as they finished years in national leadership. Granted, it’s relatively few, but it’s still too many. Fortunately, they are outweighed by good-hearted people who give vacation days and savings to travel to our mobile Vatican (this year in Texas) to see God’s work done. (I will confess, this is the time when I am usually concerned about the outcome of the convention, when afterward I will say, “Wow, look what God did.”)
Back here at home, as I write this, the new pastor will arrive soon to lead the congregation I came to enjoy and appreciate and love over a two-year stretch. With a near unanimous vote, this church moved past the trials of searching and voting. They have come to deeper understanding of each other and the things that matter deeply to this autonomous body, including Southern Baptist identity and missiology. And their relationships are refreshed in anticipation of God’s movement among them under the watch care of their new shepherd.
It was worth waiting and watching. Let’s pray we can say the same about our denomination after the big conclave in Dallas.
–Eric Reed is editor of the Illinois Baptist.