The Strangest Interview EVER

My husband was without work for 2 years. It was a long 2 years full of downs and some ups. It was a 2-year testing of our faith with a lot of questioning. Because my husband is a pastor he went to a lot of interviews with churches--for anything from youth pastor jobs to senior pastor jobs. He also did countless interviews with secular jobs from Stanley Steemer (which we found out is 100% commission, who knew???) to working for phone companies. At the end of his job search process he was called to go to 2 interviews. One was for a youth pastor job in the town he had grown up in and the other was for the job he has now. The interviews were on the same weekend and we knew it was going to be nuts, but were also so excited about the possibilities!

He goes to the first interview on Friday night at the church in his hometown. (To protect the "innocent" I won't tell you what church or denomination it was, because let's face it, we hope this interview is not typical!) He arrives to the interview and sits down with the search committee--did I mention this is for a youth pastor position? He introduces himself and no one else introduces themselves. WHAT???? Straaaaaaaannnnnnnnge!!! He has no idea who the members of the committee are, their positions in the church, let alone their names! He is asked a list of questions, none of which has ANYTHING to do with his spiritual life, his stance on theology, or even if he IS a Christian. They were very surface questions. He asked them a few theological questions, but could tell they thought this odd. There was a youth member on the committee and her burning question was to know my husband's view of people having tattoos. Really??? This is what you're most concerned with? It was a really short interview, needless to say! He drives the 30 minute drive back to his dad's house and we wait.

I was on the computer and noticed that about 5 minutes (NOT kidding!) after David gets home we get a new email. It was from the church he had just had the interview with and they were offering him the job. WHAT???? Never mind this was the first encounter he'd had with the church--typically you meet with a church 2-3 times before a decision is made. He didn't get any opportunity to talk to the head pastor (whom he'd be working closely with), nor did he know where the church stood on different issues, what they were even looking for in a youth minister. The church had not even bothered to check his references!!!!! WHAT???? So much head-scratching ensued on our part! There are so many red flags here it's hard to list them all. The least of which being why on earth a church wouldn't check the references of a person about to be with the youth--not a good idea!

We tried hard not to panic. David would be getting paid hardly anything, with no benefits, which meant I would certainly HAVE to work outside the home. We had so many misgivings about this. Thankfully, I have a wise husband and he kindly replied to the pastor that we would have to talk and pray and we would let him know the following week. We went to bed almost begging the Lord that after 2 years of no job this was NOT the one, but also knowing we had to trust.

Thankfully, the interview the next day went MUCH better, no red flags and a HUGE green light from the Lord telling us this was the direction he had for us. But, the interview the evening prior will always be one that makes us chuckle...

What strange interviews have you had?

Only One Day a Week

When we lived in MI I was at a store shopping for some clothes, and a lady from the church saw me and asked me how things were going--I think at the time I was trying to find a better job to help meet our financial needs, though I can't remember. In any case, she told me about subbing in the school system and if I was interested to let her know because it was her job to call subs. I was appreciative and said I would keep it in mind. Before I could walk away she asked if David would like to do subbing too? I said, no he was pretty busy during the week. The lady's response was "interesting," befuddling, and I guess sad. She said, "What can he be busy with? He only works on Sunday!" Wow. I had always heard the jokes about a pastor only working one day a week but had not encountered anyone who actually believed it! I started to laugh, thinking she was joking, and when I realized she was not joking I proceeded to run down a list of things that David did during the week to keep busy--prepare for Sunday morning and evening worship, mid-week worship, hospital visitation, home visits, continuing education, etc. Her eyes kinda glazed over, and I kinda wondered if she thought I was making it up. I went home scratching my head, and I suppose she probably did too.

So, what does a pastor do during the week? The list is endless, really. And, Sunday isn't always the busiest day of the week, interestingly enough! I can't speak for all pastors, though I figure it's pretty much the same across the board. And, the size of the church and amount of staff members a church has also determines just how much needs to be done, but I assure you the pastor is busy! The interesting thing about a pastor is he/she may have a weekly agenda for the same things that need to get done each week, but a funeral or wedding, or other crisis in the church can really make the week take a totally different direction. My husband takes Friday and Saturday off so we have 2 days in a row to be a family and get stuff done around the house. This means he gets his sermon done before Friday and gets all other pastoral duties done before then too. However, there are the times when a member of the church dies and he has to take a different direction to his week.

Sermons don't write themselves, a master's or doctorate doesn't happen overnight, decisions aren't made on a whim. These things take time and these things are all part of your pastor's job and calling. Your pastor is a man/woman who works very hard, and carries the weight of at least the congregation on their shoulders. If your pastor jokes about how he/she "only works one day a week" it's OK to laugh because you know better than that!