In recent years it has become increasingly popular for churches of differing sizes, locations, and denominational traditions to make use of consultant services to find new ministers and staff for Christian institutions. If you browse the denominational job boards of the PCA, the ACNA, and a number of other denominations, it is not uncommon when selecting the link to apply for the job to be re-directed to organizations such as McGowan Global Institute, which describes itself as offering “consultant services.” Churches seeking to fill a position can provide a profile to these services for job candidates to consider, while in turn prospective ministers can create a profile for themselves which prospective employers will then evaluate. Another example found on such job boards is Vanderbloemen Search Group, whose statement about “what makes us different” boasts mantras such as “We’re a Thought Leader” and “Speed Wins,” alongside “Theology Matters.”
A charitable way to evaluate the existence of these services, and their use by churches, might be to concede that indeed it can be difficult for many churches to fill their ministerial and staff positions, especially for churches in remote locales or without connections to a theological seminary. Ideally, some such medium for communication could enable churches and prospective ministers to find one another. Theoretically, this might even veer close to a good use of technology. I suspect that the vast majority of the people who work for these consultant services, and the churches who make use of them, are well-intended. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in a church has likely found some processes or procedures that have not been handled as well as they can or should be. Churches can seriously struggle and almost always experience some numerical or financial strains during interim pastorates. Likewise, where a church mishandles or misleads a prospective job candidate through an interview and hiring process, the consequences can be vast and long-term for the candidate and their family. Hence, we can recognize that there is some real need in the church which these services are trying to meet.
However, the existence and use of these services is indicative of two problems with potentially devastating consequences. First, those who make use of these services might not have sufficiently considered what the problem actually is that these consultants are providing “solutions” for. Second, if we were to naively assume consultant services are neutral tools, we may not realize the extent to which using these tools transforms and distorts us into their own image, which can have potentially disastrous consequences where this specifically involves the church. Read more»
Joshua Heavin | “The Church Will Not Be Consulted” | August 14, 2025
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