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Three Congregations Take Different Paths in Their Search for A New MinisterContinued from Pane Imittee, while the local churches in the Presbyterian denomination have effective autonomy in choosing a minister, the governing body likes to have a representative on hand at all times to ensure that all the proper procedures are followed. The Presbytery must also approve the final selection, although Grandgeorge says %u201cthe cases in which the Presbytery doesn%u2019t accept the selection of the local church are extraordinarily rare.%u201dCIRCULATED A QUESTIONNAIREIrene Ng, chairperson of the Mission Review committee, says the group circulated a questionnaire among the congregation%u2019s 274 members, on the basis of which a report was prepared on every area of church activity from the annual budget to the order of service.The report also discusses the Church%u2019s relation to the community and its organizations and activities. It begins and ends with a pair of general statements on the church%u2019s plans and needs%u2014the %u201cStatement of Mission%u201d and %u201cA Sense of Direction,%u201d which are meant to help prospective new ministers decide whether the church fits in with their talents.%u201cBasically we%u2019re looking for a pattern of leadership that is understood not in terms of power for one but empowerment for all,%u201d says Ng. %u201cJust as Christ was a servant, so the minister should be a servant for the members of the church.%u201dNg says one of the major conclusions of the mission review was that the church needed an energetic appeal to younger people. %u201cThe membership tends to be on the older side rather than the younger side,%u201d she says. %u201cWe%u2019d like to have an inter-generational church.%u201dTHEN SEARCH BEGANIn April of 1984 the results of the mission review were passed on to a second panel, the seven-member Pastor Nominating Committee, which also had a representative from the city Presbytery.It was then that the really onerous work began.According to Grandgeorge of the nominating committee, a church profile was sent to the offices of the New York Presbytery on Riverside Drive in Manhattan. There it was entered on a computerized database which includes the detailed resumes of 3800 Presbyterian church professionals throughout the world. Data processing specialists at the Presbytery then conducted a computerized matching process where the resumes of the ministers best suited to First Presbytery%u2019s particular needs were sorted out. The resumes were then sent in batches of 15 to the nominating committee.The committee read the resumes%u2014close to 200 in total%u2014discarded most, and selected about 20 for further study, Grandgeorge says. More detailed personal statements from these 20 were made available by the Presbytery, while the mission report was made available to the ministers.PROFILES FROM MINISTERSAccording to Howard McCuen, coordinator for data at the Presbytery%u2019s Vocational Agency, the primary categories in the church profile include the geographical location of the church, the salary range, the size and demographic makeup of the congregation. In addition, he says, the church may specify what it needs from a minister%u2014a minimum number of years of experience, particular pastoral skills, and specialized stuff%u2014for example if they want someone experienced in a large church or in an urban church.The profiles from ministers are even more extensive, and may cover up to 12 pages. They include a personal statement of up to four pages, a %u201cskills page%u201d on which ministers rank on a scale of one to four their proficiency in six of twenty categories of work%u2014worship, preaching, visitation, administration, fund-raising and so forth.Both ministers and churches may, if they choose, also indicate where they stand in the spectrum of theological opinion. %u201cMany ministers do categorize themselves as conservative, evangelical, charismatic or whatever,%u201d says McCuen. %u201cIf we know that that%u2019s relative to a particular job we try to include that in the matching nroeram.%u201dBut McCuen adds that several theological interest groups have their own information banks%u2014for example, Presbyterians United for Biblical Concerns, an evangelical group.We re looking for a pattern of leadership that is understood not in terms of powerfor one, but empowerment for all. Just as Christ was a servant, so the ministershould be a servant for the members of the church.Thus, ministers committed to serving in a church with a strong doctrinal orientation tend to move through those self-selecting channels.If a church is dissatisfied with the results of the matching process, McCuen says, additional parameters can be added to the computer program to obtain a more precise match.DIDN%u2019T GO THROUGH PROCESSBut the hand of God often moves in mysterious ways, and the minister First Presbyterian%u2019s nominating committee finally wound up choosing never went through this laborious process%u2014he was recommended for the job by a man he had known in the 1970%u2019s while living in St. Louis, teaching at Washington University and studying for his D. Min. degree.%u201cI was not seeking a job%u2014the church sought me out,%u201d Smith says, adding that he was %u201cvery happy%u201d with his job as pastor of Hillside Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Ga., which he assumed in 1979.For this reason, he says, he did not suffer the tension and anxiety often associated with job-hunting in the pastoral field. %u201cIt was very easy,%u201d he says. %u201cI came to a neutral pulpit and was free to be who I am.%u201d He refers to an advanced stage of the selection process, in which the prospective minister is invited to conduct a service at a third church%u2014in Smith%u2019s case, a Presbyterian church in Manhattan%u2014so that the nominating committee can get acquainted with his preaching. A series of private interviews are conducted at about the same time.Given his happiness with his situation in Decatur with a larger congregation (more than 300 as compared with First Presbyterian%u2019s 274), why did Smith decide to move?%u201cThe location is very attractive,%u201d he says, %u201cand the potential for this congregation is very great%u2014it%u2019s very diverse and there%u2019s good lay leadership.%u201dFRANKNESS CAUSED CONSTERNATIONSmith is unabashed in his willingness tobring a theological viewpoint to bear on political issues%u2014a frankness that apparently caused some consternation when he first preached at First Presbytery on January 12 of this year.%u201cWe%u2019re about peace, about loving our neighbor,%u201d Smith says. %u201cWhen politicians and the government go against that, the Christian is obligated to speak his mind. When 77 percent of the people approve of the war on Libya, what does that say about the Christian message? When do you begin to say, %u2018What is the Christian position?%u2019 %u201dBut Smith, who in addition to his 17 years of experience in the ministry has an impressive resume of academic positions and three years of work with the Urban League under his belt, was approved by a 67-23 vote of the congregation after his January 12 appearance, perhaps as much because of his frankness as in spite of it.Smith%u2019s appointment was ratified by the New York Presbytery two weeks later, and he will assume his duties June 1%u2014meaning that the gap between permanent ministers will have been nearly three years, with the actual selection process taking up a little more than two.Park Slope%u2019s Old FirstReformed Church Chooses aMan Who Has AnUnorthodox ResumeThe Reformed Church in America, whose downtown area congregation is served by Old First Reformed Church on Seventh Ave. in Park Slope, both doctrinally and structurally, is closely related to the Presbyterian Church. The ministerial selection procedure differs only slightly from the Presbyterians%u2019, the primary distinction being that the matching of ministerial and church profiles is done without the aid of a computer. Although any appointment must be approved by theW ere about peace, aboutloving our neighbor. Whenpoliticians and thegovernment go against that,the Christian is obligated tospeak his mind. When 77 percent of the people approveof war on Libya, what doesthat say about the Christianmessage? When do youbegin to say, *What is theChristian position?%u2019Rev. Paul Sm ith (Phoenix/Pearson Photo)local governing body, or Classis, it is the congregation which effectively ratifies the decision of the search committee.What made Old First%u2019s choice of Lawrence Veenstra to replace the Rev. Steven Giordano in 1985 interesting was that Veenstra had spent the previous 14 years as the advertising sales manager of two radio stations in his home town of Muskegon, Michigan.Veenstra, who held pastorates in Michigan, Bergen County, N.J., and Rockland County between 1957 and 1971, says he dropped out of the ministry because of a painful divorce and %u201cpersonal struggles with the meaning of life.%u201d But after building a successful ad sales career and %u201cgetting my life put back together,%u201d Veenstra said he concluded that he was %u201cnot entirely satisfied with working in the business world.%u201dSo he applied for re-admission to the denomination%u2019s ministry, and at the same time applied for a job at Old First. He was reordained in March of 1985 and shortly thereafter he assumed the ministry of Old First.Veenstra says his 14-year sojourn in the wilderness of commercial America was %u201ca plus%u201d in getting his present position, and that his long absence from church affairs appeared not to perturb the elders of the congregation. %u201cThis particular church probably thought my experience in business was helpful, that it was good I had lived in the %u2018real world,%u2019 %u201d says Veenstra. %u201cI may be more aware of the life situations of my parishioners than if I had been a pastor all my life.%u201dVeenstra says it was not uncommon for ministers to give up their ordinations after a period of soul-searching, but added that %u201cvery, very few ever return.%u201dA Long and Careful SearchTo Fill The Historic PulpitA t The VenerablePlymouth Church in HeightsFor some churches, a minister with an unorthodox resume like Veenstra%u2019s isn%u2019t appropriate. Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims on Hicks St. in Brooklyn Heights, which has been seeking a replacement for minister Harry Kruener for almost exactly two years, is a church so heavily laden with tradition that only those with unusual qualifications and a life-long commitment to the ministry are likely to be seriously considered for the post.Plymouth%u2019s illustrious history began with the noted abolitionist and social activist Henry Ward Beecher, who was the church%u2019s first pastor and presided over the congregation from 1847 to 1887. He was succeeded by Lyman Abbot, a widely-read religious journalist, who carried the torch of Plymouth%u2019s distinction into the Twentieth Century.Kruener, who was minister for 24 years, was only the sixth pastor in the church%u2019s history; the average tenure is over 20 years. Not suiprisingly, Plymouth%u2019s pastoral search committee takes its job very seriously.A BROADER CHOICEBarbara Delmhorst, that committee%u2019sAjkojr oovo D lirm nutk in onm o rocrvoMo Hocmore latitude than its Presbyterian and Reformed brethren. As a Congregational church, it is beholden to no local or national denominational hierarchy, although it isPage 4, T H E P H O E N IX , June 5, 1986