Finding Placement in the EFCA

The scriptures and history abound with evidence that God works in His church through individuals. Further, He equips and calls specific individuals to use their gifts of leadership in specific locations. The process God uses to match individual leaders with specific ministries is varied and miraculous. We count it a special privilege indeed whenever God chooses to use us to facilitate such a match up. There are two ways we are typically involved.

For Churches Seeking a Pastor or Additional Pastoral Staff Notify the District Office

Our first recommendation is to contact our office whenever a vacancy occurs or when a new position is added. Our experience has shown that healthy ministries have given much thought to theological, philosophy of ministry, and gift-mix compatibility of those in leadership. When a senior pastor position becomes vacant ,we strongly recommend that the primary church leadership board meet as soon as possible with the District Superintendent. He will work with you on evaluating appropriate steps and processes to implement.

Go On Line at http://ministerconnection.net

We are pleased to introduce you to this new ministry tool which has been years in prayerful and diligent development. When you go online to create a position profile, you will be walked step by step through a very helpful exercise to identify the very characteristics of your church's ministry. This information is critical to making wise placement decisions. There will be a approximate $100 charge for establishing an online position profile, but the benefits of this endeavor far outweigh this expense. We anticipate that in the very near future, most of the nearly 4,000 pastors currently serving in EFCA churches nationwide will have created personal profiles. Additionally, hundreds of new candidates who are seeking to join the EFCA family after seminary graduation or from other ministries are also entering the database. By creating a church profile, this entire resource pool becomes available for potential matchup with your position.

For Pastors and Ministry Staff Open to or Seeking Placement Go On Line! http://ministerconnection.net

We are delighted to announce that the new website for the Evangelical Free Church Pastoral Placement Services is up and running! This has been long awaited, and has tremendous and far-reaching implications for all of us. Among other things:

*Churches seeking candidates for any and all positions can now be put directly in touch with a much larger pool of prospective candidates.

*Candidates now have complete and continuous control of the file they want churches to see

*A prospective candidate can now be instantly included in searches by any search committee or leadership team, provided they are utilizing the new system (see paragraph on Confidentiality).

Who should create a file?

All pastoral staff! Whether you are happily placed in a ministry, are inwardly open to change, or are actively seeking new placement (this includes potential church planters), we hope you will consider establishing a personal portfolio in our national placement database. Several of you have already established files in the placement office, but the expanded capability of the new web-based placement service requires that you personally create your new portfolio. The reason will be obvious when you visit the site.

Confidentiality:

When a personal file is created, you will have the option of four levels of confidentiality:

*Unavailable for Placement (your name is completely blocked from matching, but your file can be accessed by your chosen gatekeeper with your permission to discuss your current position compatibility, leadership style, doctrinal position, or possible matches in other positions)

*Not Seeking Placement (your file can be accessed in potential position searches, but is not available to the church without your permission and that of your chosen gatekeeper)

*Open to considering placement (You can be matched and contacted by gatekeepers)

*Actively seeking placement (A church can directly access your file) A more thorough explanation about the graduated degrees of confidentiality is offered on the website.

Cost:

*EFCA Ministerial members can create a file at no cost.

*There will be a charge for those who are not EFCA Ministerial members. Go to the website and see the fee options. Please contact the district office with any questions.

How to Get Started:

*Go online to: http://ministerconnection.net

*Go to Candidate Login

*Go to Create New Account

Pacific Northwest District Requirements

Before a candidate can be endorsed and recommended to a local church by our Church Health Overseer, that candidate must:

1) Be a potential match, using http://ministerconnection.net (This is a consultant-assisted tool, and there will obviously be circumstances where rare exceptions are made.)

2) Have completed the Ministry Match (candidate required...spouse optional)

If you have not yet completed the Ministry Match, an order form can be obtained through Darris Arnold (907)349-1924 or pnwd@att.net. Once completed, Ministry Match results will be returned to you, and need to be entered by you into your on-line file.

The birth of http://ministerconnection.net represents a significant accomplishment. This new placement tool is prayer driven, consultant-assisted, and committed to finding the best possible fit between pastors and positions. May God richly bless you as you do your part to seek Him, to wait on Him, and to serve Him faithfully.