Appendix 3: Sample Letter/Email to Prospective Candidate

Sample Letter/Email to Prospective Candidate

Dear (Dr., Rev., Bro.) _____________________: The Pastor Search Committee of ______________________ Church, (town,state), has received your name as a prospective pastor for our church. We are interested in finding out more about you and your ministry. Though any attempt to begin this process seems awkward, our committee has chosen this initial letter of inquiry as a way of taking some initial steps to finding God’s will for our church. We do want to acknowledge several facts to you in this inquiry: z You may not have known until now that your name had been given to us for consideration. Furthermore, you may not be interested. If you choose not to respond, we will assume that you do not feel led to pursue further correspondence. z Your response to this inquiry is not a commitment on your part, nor is this inquiry a commitment on our part. Our prayerful work to this point, however, has led us to take this step in our process. z We will keep in strictest confidence the information you share. In no way do we want to embarrass you or negatively affect your work. z Should you respond positively to this inquiry, we will maintain good communication with you concerning the progress of our search. If for any reason we cease to feel that you are a candidate, we will immediately notify you. Please find included a brief questionnaire on some items of interest to our committee. We recognize that volumes could be written on each subject and are not expecting you to prepare a complete theological treatment. A few sentences will suffice for each question. Please send your response in the enclosed stamped, self-addressed envelope. You may also send an email reply to _____________________ . We would be very grateful to receive your response by ____________________. Be assured of our prayers for you as you seek God’s direction in this matter. Thanks so much for your willingness to consider this letter and its implications for you and our church. Sincerely,

Chairman’s Name Pastor Search Committee _______________________ Church