Most laymen assume that if he went to a good seminary, his doctrine must be okay; and if he is the son of a famous preacher, his theology must be correct. But seminary does not guarantee that any student will agree with what he was taught in school. A graduate from a nationally recognized conservative seminary once stated that he did not believe the Old Testament contained any prophecies. He believed that the “prophecies” were written after the events occurred. They were merely recorded history. He also believed that there are no prophecies about Jesus. When the prospective pastor visits, a formal meeting should be held in which he is asked a series of doctrinal questions. Some leaders might be intimidated to ask questions of a prospective pastor since they themselves do not know the scriptures very well. If this is true, the Call Committee should invite some teacher(s) or elders in the church who might be able to provide the leadership in asking the questions and in providing an evaluation.

Here are some questions that could be asked of the prospective pastor. For example, what does he believe about the Bible and about Jesus Christ? Does he believe that the original manuscripts in which the Bible was written were written without error? Does he believe that Jesus Christ existed before He was virgin born? Does he believe that Jesus was born of a virgin? How is a person saved? Does he believe that we are born as sinners? What does he believe about women elders and pastors? What are his views about homosexuals, abortion, eternal judgment, spiritual gifts, the seeker movement, and the ministry to younger and older people? What does he believe about inerrancy of the scriptures and why? What does he believe about discipleship? Does he believe in evangelism? Has he ever shared his faith with his neighbors or someone at work? If he has, when was the last time that he did that? What does he believe about God’s plan for the future? What does he believe about the Holy Spirit’s activities today in the life of a Christian? Does he believe in Satan, demons, and holy angels? Read his doctrinal statement carefully and determine what doctrines he did not discuss. Why did he word his doctrinal statement the way that he did? This is a greatly neglected part of the selection process.

Laymen are allowing false teachers - wolves - to come into the flock because they feel inadequate to ask the questions. They feel that asking questions is too academic, or might offend the man. The truth is if it offends the man, then you do not want him. The primary responsibility of the pastor is the teaching of scripture. The priority issue in the interview is what does he believe about the book that you want him to teach and preach! It is amazing how many churches discover that their pastor believes a false doctrine after he has arrived.

When this questionnaire has been used in the past, most leadership teams ranked sermon preparation and teaching and preaching near the top, but assigned a small number of hours to the responsibility - typically, less than ten hours per week. Administration, organization, counseling, time with people, and time with the staff received the greatest number of hours and a lower ranking. The number of hours they assigned to each responsibility revealed what the leadership team really believed about the priority of teaching and preaching. On one occasion the leadership team of a church in Pennsylvania had the pastor working eighty hours per week. That is an interesting discussion all by itself.

The questionnaire could also be given to the prospective pastor to determine his priorities and to compare his results to that of the leadership team. The questionnaire is provided as a resource.