My grant proposal is off to Louisville, and I should hear from them by mid-April, it seems. I'm praying...I recently mentioned how much I love my Fujitsu ScanSnap; catch my review of the ScanSnap at ATPM. You might also find interesting my articles there on using tech tools for "Getting Things Done" in a column called "Next Actions:"Also, the article my sister and I wrote about hurting and loving those

Here is another list of questions from a questionnaire.Please give a brief testimony of your Christian experience.Regarding your personal devotional life, briefly describe your approach and practice.What are your hobbies and special interests?Is your wife persuaded of your call to pastoral ministry?How do you anticipate her being involved in your ministry?Are you quick to admit when you are wrong and

Once contact has been made with more than a church or two, it becomes difficult to simply remember what church is what, when you should follow up, etc. In fact, I doubt that most people could remember all of the details about even one church from start to finish, given that the process takes as long as it does. So how can a candidate keep track of what they have and haven't done with regard to their

I follow up with my active candidacy opportunities by telephone or e-mail about every three weeks.The goal in this process is to build a relationship with the church I will eventually serve. My efficacy in placement is and will be measured in direct correlation to how the relationship I build with each opportunity plays out: either one or both of us will figure out it isn't working out, or we'll grow

Here is a list of questions from a questionnaire I was asked to complete.Describe your preferences for worship style; i.e., contemporary, traditional, blended, etc.What are the core values that define your vision for ministry?How do you handle conflict between people within the church?What are the greatest strengths in your ministry?What do you consider to be the primary areas for your own personal

I got an e-mail responding to my post on brackets from a few days ago. This Pastor, who acknowledges that his church has used a similar process, had some good critique of my post, which I would like to respond to, and clarify some of my thoughts.He said:I simply don’t know how any interview process doesn’t involve comparison and weighting of strengths and weaknesses, unless you are willing to go

Not long ago, I was talking to an acquaintance about my candidacy; at that point, I was in the later stages with one church, who had recently included me as they narrowed their search to four candidates. When I told him this, he said, "Final four! Are you gonna get t-shirts made?!?"He was kidding, of course, but the mental image of a "final four" bracket with mine and three other candidates' faces

When I taught my very small portion of the Candidating and Transition into Ministry class last week, one of the students asked, "What do I do to get started in the candidacy process?"This is a great question; after he asked, I wondered how many candidates get stalled on this, and never gain (or regain) the momentum they need to candidate well. Here's how I would get started if I were starting today:Make

One of the things that Mark Dalbey said in his Candidating and Transition into Ministry class was very well-stated:"You need to remember that, on the interview weekend you are beginning your ministry to that church, if you end up going to that church. If you don't, then you have a weekend of ministry at that church."I think this is so important to remember, and too easy to forget. This is a key part

I have a friend who dabbled in web development for a while; he was a good programmer, and skilled with understanding the workings of a website. He couldn'r really understand why he wasn't bringing in  new business hand-over-fist.Part of the problem: my friend didn't have much of an aesthetic sense. He didn't really care how things looked-- he only cared if they worked. In his view, if a website communicated