7 Elements To Include On Your Pastor Search Website

If your church is searching for a new Senior Pastor, one of the best means of communicating that search - both to your own church-goers and to job seekers - is a website (or a webpage on your church's website).

Creating a Pastor search Website will help to draw in potential candidates and keep your congregation updated on how the search is going. Regardless of whether or not you’ve decided to use a search firm to help you find your next Lead Pastor, here are 7 key elements to include on your Pastor search website or webpage.

1. Timeline

Including a timeline at the top of the page of your Pastor search website will help let everyone know how the process is going to run and where you are in that process. This is helpful not only to potential candidates, but to the congregation as well. What do the beginning stages of the search look like, even before resumes are being accepted? Let your congregation and potential candidates know if you are still in the strategizing phase and taking a little more time to figure out what this role will look like.

2. FAQ Page 

Now put yourself in the job seeker's shoes. Take a few minutes to brainstorm some questions that you might have if you were in their place. These can be questions as simple as, “Are we currently accepting resumes?” Early in the recruiting process, you will quickly identify common questions among candidates or those interested in the job. 

Again, you will also have to take into account your church members. A question such as, “what about the current leader?” is perfectly valid, and it's one your members are most likely thinking already. If you’ve decided to go with a search firm, use the FAQ section to explain to your congregation why this decision was made. 

3. How To Apply

As the search moves into the phase of accepting resumes from potential candidates, make sure that you have a clearly laid out plan for resume intake. Whether you have created a form for all candidates to fill out or you have created an email address for all resumes to be sent to, having one consistent location/way to apply will help minimize chaos.

Appoint one or two people from the Pastor Search Committee to manage the applications and maintain consistency. If you are using a Pastor Search Firm and they are handling all interested candidates, link directly to their website’s application page, as they will handle all of the resume intake and processing.

4. Job Specifications

Creating a detailed Pastor job description (including goals and expectations of the position) is key to building an effective Pastor search website. This may be too in depth to include directly on the Pastor search website, but make it easily accessible to qualified candidates. This may look different for every church. Do members of your search team have time to send Senior Pastor job specs directly to interested candidates, or would it be more practical to create a downloadable PDF for them? Figure out what works best for your Pastor search committee and stick to it. 

5. Updates

As the search progresses, FAQs will change, the timeline may need to be updated, and the job specifications may need to be tweaked. Assign someone to regularly update the Pastor search website. If you have a blurb or blog to give the congregation updates, have a search committee member to maintain that as well.

6. Church Links

Likely your Pastor search website will be a link or tab on your church’s website. Even if that is the case, including important links to Sunday services or ministry pages helps to centralize pertinent information for interested candidates. Are you looking for a Youth Pastor? Perhaps you could include a video of a Wednesday night youth event to show candidates what the Student Ministry looks like.

7. Pastor Search Committee Information

Keeping in mind that this page is just as much for the congregation as it is for candidates, including information about the pastor search committee will help keep the church in the loop. Include photos and a description of the people on the search team. It will make the search more personal for candidates and help establish points of contact.

Final note: just like we all learned in school, keep it super simple. Keep the search website clean-looking and not so crowded with information that it becomes overwhelming.

Your Pastor search website should capture who you are as a church and body of believers. 

Use it as place to call your congregation into prayer for the future of your church.

What are some steps you can take to create or improve your Pastor search website?

If you liked this, you'll also enjoy The Top 10 Essentials For Your Church Website.