The Upstate New York community recently went through the process of hiring a pastor. Since then, various members have inquired as to how we went about doing this, and I promised that I would publicize it. The following report is based on the Report the Search Committee made to the Upstate congregation as we neared the conclusion of the search.

On July 26, 2006, the Tuesday Night Red Hook Church Community meeting discussed the idea of forming a Search Committee (SC). Our True Parents had asked the Korean Regional Directors to return to Korea and directed the American Headquarters to install Americans in their place. As our Bishop Ki Yeal Lee departed, I was aware that finding willing and able American leaders was not an easy task and felt moved to take this burden off Headquarters for our church. I also felt that communities should have more voice in generating their leadership. Rev. Jenkins approved it with the understanding that the Search Committee would discuss with and have the agreement of National Headquarters in making its final decision. As it turned out, our Continental Director, Dr. Chang Shik Yang, agreed with our process and committed his full support to the decision of the Committee even before he knew what we would decide. This committee represented the entire community, so this enveloped the whole community in an historic trust.

The job of the Search Committee is:

Create the job description for the Upstate New York church leader Determine qualifications for the person we are seeking

Determine compensation and benefits that the church can offer

Craft a "Job Opening" announcement and publicize it.

Gather responses and evaluate them.

Send appreciation letters to those who would not be considered as qualified.

Pursue deeper research and discussions with those who might be good for the position

Discussion with National HQ

Make an offer to the number one candidate

Repeat 7 - 10 until we have a church leader

At that Tuesday evening meeting, Rev. Akpan and Dr. Hendricks offered themselves as co-chairs to create the SC. We distributed a letter and announced in church that any and all members who would be interested in serving on this committee should let us know. We proposed to have between 4 and 7 members plus the co-chairs.

Our primary role has been to focus and illuminate the spirit, heart and vision of our upstate community. Therefore we involved you at every step of the way, in forming the committee, in a survey to determine the qualities we want in our pastor, in receiving applications -- and three members of the community did apply --, in giving comments, and in what will happen today. I want to review these steps.

Through the next Tuesday night meeting we developed a list of qualities that might be good in a Unificationist pastor, and I reported this list to the congregation in a sermon on August 6, 2006. I also announced to the community the five people who had volunteered for the search committee, whom the congregation in church approved. That was Dr. Mickler, Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Corcoran, Mr. Delaney and Mr. Byrne.

The committee, with Rev. Muanda's help, ran a survey in preparation for creating the position announcement. Here is the report on the survey, delivered Sept 8.

Blessed couple 4.54
Can preach sermons that move people's hearts every Sunday 4.34
Willing and able to include, communicate with and raise up members 4.29
Open and humble 4.20
Interested in and values teamwork 4.02
Able to counsel 3.93
UTS grad 3.56
Able to teach and organize education 3.32
Effective at administration 3.29
American 3.05
Charismatic 3.00
Second generation 2.44
Likes what we are already doing 2.29

Analysis (TH) (See appendix)

On SEPT 14 we published the Position Announcement

Wanted: A brother or sister to fill the paid full-time position of pastor of the family church in the Mid-Hudson Valley, a part of the New York District. The person and their family will move to or already live in the Red Hook / Kingston / Barrytown area. The pastor will be able to give inspiring sermons and lead effective worship every Sunday. A video or audio tape of a sermon would be appreciated. We are looking for someone able to provide pastoral care, facilitate small group ministry and encourage personal ministry. Someone with organizational skills, who can delegate in relation to people's talents and callings, work with committees and teams, and relate well to people. Someone with a vision for church growth and an internal calling to take this position. Employment begins January 1, 2007, salary negotiable. Send your resume, references and a short Vision Statement for Ministry and why you feel called to this post to the Search Committee in care of Rev. Michael Akpan and Tyler Hendricks.

And we waited almost six weeks for a response. I was thinking, gee, maybe nobody likes us. Maybe nobody believes that a Unification congregation can just go out and advertise and hire its own pastor. Both thoughts were later totally dispelled as we received nine applications. We are immensely grateful to each for their trust in us and willingness to offer themselves in probably the most challenging mission the world has to offer.

A well-qualified local member applied October 23. We soon thereafter renewed the advertisement and announced the salary range and the deadline of Nov. 30. On Nov 12, Gillian presented a sermon and the Committee interviewed her later that week. On Nov 15, we received Gavin Hamnett's application and he gave his sermon on Nov 26. The community had lunch with him and the Committee interviewed him the same day.

By that time the Committee had received three applications that we discussed and declined, two on the basis of our looking for a western, ideally American, pastor (one was Korean and one from India) and one for lack of experience as a pastor. We heard rumors and recommendations of various people but dealt only with actual applications received.

That evening, Nov 26, we invited the church members to give their comments on the two applicants, and began phoning the six to eight references that both had given.

That week leading up to Nov 30 we received four more applications. Suddenly the Committee's workload increased dramatically. We had long meetings on the 26th and December 3. We enjoyed Dr. Bennett's sermon last week and convened afterwards and met all afternoon. We reviewed the comments we had received on major contenders, then discussed the last-minute applicants. We discussed each, including comments made by references in one case for which we had time to call.

Evaluating our candidates by the church's criteria for the position, which placed the highest valuation on exemplary blessed family life, excellence in preaching, and strong ability in counseling, communicating and team-building, we whittled the list down to two. Two of the other applicants were hampered as well with a failure to submit the required materials prior to the deadline.

At that point we went back to our discussion of the two front-runners. We completed our review of the comments and letters we'd received, phone calls we'd made and conversations we'd had. I should add that the Committee had engaged in prayer conditions during that last week and Rev. Akpan had offered a fasting condition as well.

Each person on the Committee listened carefully as we read the letters and comments -- these were very helpful and they leaned decisively for the candidate we are recommending. As we moved around the table and each committee member shared his or her reflections, we found that each had come to the same conclusion as to the best recommendation. Each expressed love and high regard for both final candidates. In each of us, a contest was waged with an appeal to God for wisdom. The compelling point is that the conclusion in each of us was the same. And the answer is not something any of us would have predicted a month ago. Based on prayer, research, input received and shared discussion, we believe, individually and unanimously as a committee, that Gavin Hamnett is the best choice for pastor of the Upstate New York family church.

The Committee realized that whomever we choose as our pastor cannot do the job without our active support as a community. We hope that this process of search, of meeting and hearing individuals who are offering themselves to us, will make of upstate a stronger community. We hope that we feel a new sense of ownership, based on our standing up to take responsibility. It's not out of obligation that we should do that, but that through giving our total support, we can make of our church an even greater blessing to our community, nation and world. Dr. Yang's statement, that "I will respect the committee's conclusion" sealed our faith that God has us in His hands.

At this point the Committee stood together and asked for the congregation's response to our recommendation that we call Gavin and Cindy Hamnett to serve as our pastor. The congregation rose to their feet together in support of the nomination.

This result was reported to Dr Yang and Rev Jenkins. They, along with District Director Rev. Bruce Grodner, had been in the communications loop through the whole process. Rev Jenkins, on the basis of his speaking with Gavin by phone and in person, gave his endorsement to the community's selection of its pastor. We are very grateful for the trust and encouragement we felt continually from Dr Yang and Rev Jenkins, neither of whom knew Gavin and Cindy Hamnett personally.

After the election, the Search Committee became a "Transition Team" (TT) with a few more people being added on. The TT meets every Sunday after service. It is dealing with the Hamnett family's externals such as moving, health insurance, contract and salary and details of the job description. We are also consulting on building the new structure for the church community, covering matters such as worship, youth ministry, children's education, small groups and gifts-based ministry. We were edified when Rev. Hamnett's first priority was visiting members, in particular seeking out people suffering illness or difficulties in marriage or family life.

I believe that our community is happy with the results of this process. We don't necessarily feel that we got it just right or that there aren't other ways to go about this task of finding a pastor. We hope that other communities will look at what we did and build upon it. Some people called it revolutionary for our church to have this degree of local ownership. The critical factor that is essential is to gain the maximum community involvement. This we did through the survey and the continual request for input both written and verbal. These requests were made usually at the Sunday service, and we made reports at the Sunday service. The survey could be improved, with a set of questions more carefully generated. The questions we used were generated at a Tuesday evening community meeting. The consulting of references was a good deal of work but totally necessary and valuable.

When the upper echelon makes decisions, then the lower echelon is not responsible. When the lower echelon makes their own decisions, the responsibility becomes ours. We become more serious and have ownership of the result, whether good or bad. We have no one to blame but ourselves if the outcome is bad, but if the outcome is good, then we have accomplished something wonderful, and it's ours.

In a hierarchical situation, unity comes out of love and respect for the central figure. In a community situation, unity comes out of love and respect for each other. In a hierarchical situation, you just have to listen to the central figure. In a community situation, you have to listen to each other. In a hierarchical situation, you are told what to do. In a community situation, you have to figure out what to do.

The Search Committee needs to be able to each listen to each other, respect each other's opinions, and have a very prayerful spirit allowing God to be in charge and giving Him the glory every step of the way.

"blessed couple" (4.54)

Of the "abilities," "preaching" was rated second highest of all (4.34). The next two highest qualities had to do with people skills: "include, communicate with and raise up members" (4.29), "teamwork" (4.02) and "able to counsel" (3.93). The traditional church leader abilities were deemed of slightly above mid-level importance: "teach and organize education" (3.32) and "administration" (3.29).

Of the two "personality" items, the congregation strongly prefers "open and humble" (4.20) over "charismatic" (3.00). The "attitude" item, "likes what we are already doing," was rated as of lowest importance (2.29).

Respondents' notes on additional qualities:

(Selected that seem most relevant.)

Blessing status (actual unedited).

Spouse able to support the ministry and congregation. Add to "Blessed couple" "in good standing."

Also, they need their spouse's full support? If they move here their spouse and children need to come here also. There has to be a definite commitment from their spouse, from the spouse's own mouth

Has an exemplary family; is a fine parent

Needs to have a spouse who can be an active support for the community. From here they are selected and edited to make more concise

Worship

Sermons that can move people's hearts-concise, focused, have a point, stick to the point, with personal examples that are meaningful to people

Musically inclined and athletic

Able to develop/inspire/encourage an inclusive music ministry for adults and children, i.e. able to work with a fulltime minister of music Evangelism / Community Relations

Able to effectively articulate our heart and vision to those 'outside' the movement

Community-oriented and self-motivated to reach out to both UC and local communities. Leadership

He/she should have a great vision

Can communicate God's Providence to members . Someone who wants to listen to the community Small Group Ministry

The pastor needs to be knowledgeable about / understand and be willing to lead the way in small groups Administration

Someone with the ability to delegate and encourage, inspire others to offer their gifts

Able to relate well with others

Organizational skills Personality

Deep love for God and others

Committed to outreach and church growth

Loving with a parental heart

The person should love the area and people

Sensitive to others

Have a very deep faith in God and True Parents and Divine Principle

Respects and loves the people

A person who cares about people

Sincere heart

Musically inclined Attitude

Person needs to be practical - understand how "the world" works so can be effective in it

Person needs to be a good listener

Able to listen

Respectful of others

Able to work with and create international community

Someone who will actually call and visit members in their homes

Someone interested in and supportive of the concept of Pastoral Care

Willing to rock the boat, willing to offer and accept new ideas. . Respects and appreciates all religions, have an interfaith and ecumenical consciousness.

Committed to youth education

 Download entire page and pages related to it in ZIP format
Table of Contents
Copyright Information
Tparents Home