WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A PASTOR
A guide for pastoral search committees
By Brian Biedebach. Day One Publications. 200 pages. £10.00
ISBN 978 1 846 252 686
A pastor may serve a church for a long time — 20 or 30 years. So when the time comes to seek a successor, there may not be many members of the church who are familiar with the process. Brian Biedebach’s book sets out to help by providing biblical guidelines for choosing a pastor.
The first three chapters discuss the role of expository preaching, the balance of different responsibilities in serving a church, and the character of a Christian leader. Biedebach rightly sets preaching at the heart of a church’s life, but exaggerates the difficulty of assessing a potential pastor’s sermons. Many churches now publish sermons online, making it easy to listen to whole series preached in their home context. For those following this course of action, Christopher Ash’s Listen up! is an invaluable guide to assessing sermons.
