Many people enjoy
“being in the know,” being the first to learn a piece of news as
an insider, even if they don’t intend to pass it on to others.
But sometimes it’s hard to resist the temptation to tell others
about something, even when the news may be harmful or derogatory
to someone. Everyone must be reminded of this human tendency
when the search process begins, and those who select the
committee should look for candidates who are known to
demonstrate discretion.
The need for
confidentiality should be reiterated to committee members after
they are selected for the search committee and throughout the
search process. Search committee members must be reminded that
the trusted friends with whom they might share information could
also be friends or relatives of candidates or their references.
In fact, it will be most helpful if the entire congregation is
well prepared from the beginning to accept the need for
confidentiality and to feel offended at any breach of the
principle during the search process.
All information
about candidates must remain strictly within the search
committee. Spouses, board members, other members of the
congregation, even the interim pastor and people outside the
congregation may be eager to learn the names of candidates or
information about them, such as age, gender, location,
experience, and interests. This is all confidential information
that should not be shared outside the committee. From the time
the congregation begins to receive candidates’ names and
information about them, the confidentiality policy should be
reasserted and the commitment of all search committee members to
observing it secured.
In addition,
search committee members must respect and protect the right of
each member to express his or her opinions and observations
freely. Conversations within the committee about candidates,
things going on in the congregation, and other pertinent matters
must be kept as confidential as the information about the
candidates themselves. Search committee members can be candid
with one another only if they are certain that their comments
will not be shared outside of the committee. For example, if a
committee member expresses reservations about the individual who
is finally selected as pastor and this information is made
public, the relationship between these two individuals, and even
the pastor’s ability to enter the congregation without
controversy, could be compromised.
Search committee
members must learn to distinguish information and decisions
about candidates from general information on the search process.
Still, it is probably best to agree that only the committee
chair will comment publicly on the search, in writing and
orally. The chair should report at Sunday services and in the
newsletter what the committee is doing: for example, preparing
the congregation profile and defining the characteristics and
talents the committee will look for in a new pastor, processing
the first list of candidates it receives and developing a list
of people to investigate more deeply, conducting phone
interviews, seeking background information, preparing for site
visits to candidates’ home congregations, and arranging for one
or more finalists to be brought for a visit.
Members of the
search committee—in fact, all members of the congregation—should
be alert to the spreading of information that should be kept
confidential. Anyone who hears such information should notify
the search committee chair, who should then try to stop the
spread of such information by identifying its source (if
possible) and asking the person or persons involved to act more
responsibly. If it turns out that a baseless rumor is being
spread, measures can be taken to end its circulation. If a
search committee member is the source of a leak, the committee
should discuss how to proceed (i.e., whether the seriousness of
the matter suggests the offender be dropped from committee
membership).
In the case of a
serious breach of confidentiality, the search committee chair
will also have to notify the judicatory executive of what
occurred and discuss how to proceed. If the chair fails to do
this, the transition companion or any concerned participant in
the search should take this step.
A final means of
maintaining confidentiality in the search process is for every
member to return to the chair or destroy all information they
have received about candidates, together with any notes they
have made during the search process. Some committees plan to
have paper shredders or a bonfire at their closing celebration;
others ask members to destroy materials in private. Having the
material destroyed will help ensure that the confidentiality
that the congregation has worked so hard to maintain will be
preserved.
In the end, the
highest praise a search committee can receive is the comment: “I
never knew any details of the search, and now I’m happy to meet
the new pastor without any preconceptions.”
Excerpted
from
Beginning Ministry Together: The Alban Handbook for Clergy
Transitions, copyright © 2003 by the Alban Institute.
All rights reserved. For permission to reproduce, go to
our permissions form.
The
Final Version of the Vestry's five year strategic plan
for Christ Church. The plan's purpose is to
provide a vision for what we hope Christ Church will be
and become by the end of 2012 - and to set out a road
map for realizing that vision. The plan is
available in two formats:
