Four Perils Of The Internal Candidate

The senior pastor has just resigned. Before anyone can say “search committee,” the board chairman lets it be known that his nephew, a missionary in Botswana, would make a great candidate. The missionary is a favorite son candidate and there are dangers involved in how he is handled.

Much more dangerous, however, is the situation involving the internal candidate.

The senior pastor resigns and before anyone can say “awkward,” the associate pastor lets it be known – subtly or not so subtly – that he wants the job. The associate pastor is an internal candidate and there are some unique perils involved with his candidacy. After reading about the perils below, please consider my suggested solution, based on more horror stories than I’d want to tell or you’d want to read.

Peril #1 – The internal candidate who is eventually chosen for the position may be unable to lead effectively because of the emotional whiplash created by his changed position. He may have grown up in the church or he may have come to the church years earlier as a wild and crazy youth pastor, swallowing goldfish and playing football with raw chickens. Now he wants to be viewed as the “senior pastor.” Really?

Besides that, previously he was “buddy” to some in the church who were his peers. Now, after his “battlefield promotion,” they are expected to see him as the church’s leader. That’s emotional whiplash.

Peril #2 – The internal candidate may become an icon for a faction in the church. To some, he may represent contemporary music, or a different kind of evangelism, or a different style of preaching. Without intending it, the candidate can become a divisive figure.

It’s actually common for the pastoral search process to bring such issues to light. But it’s far better if the candidacy of an outside candidate (not an inside candidate) is the cause of such an unhappy, but important, discovery.

Peril #3 – The internal candidate may not be considered in an honest and evenhanded way. Those who love him and want him for the job will likely say so openly. Those who love him but don’t think he’s the right person for the job will be unlikely to speak up, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Those who don’t like him at all will likely be afraid to speak their minds in fear of what will happen to themselves if the internal candidate becomes the senior pastor.

Peril #4 – As a result of #3, some mismatched internal candidates are selected by the church in order to avoid a lengthy search process or to avoid conflict. I’ve heard both of the following:

“Why look elsewhere when we have a pretty good candidate right here in front of our noses? I’ve served on a search committee and it was a lot of work!”

“I suppose we’d better just vote for brother So and So so we don’t have trouble.”

Here’s my suggested alternative. Before the senior pastor resigns, the church board prepares the church for potential internal candidates by establishing a policy that any individual who “puts his name in the hat” for the position pledges himself, before he is officially considered, to leaving the congregation, quickly and quietly, if he is not selected for the position.

It will never work for him – except in the rarest of circumstances – to remain in the church after his rejected candidacy. It’s like trying to continue in your office job, as if nothing has happened, after the failed office romance.

Those who have seen these scenarios play out repeatedly say that it’s just a matter of time before the rejected internal candidate will leave the congregation. The sooner he leaves the scene, the better it is for everyone involved.

Instead of confronting the disappointed candidate with the need to move on after the fact, why not warn him up front that this will be the expectation?

This will probably not solve all of our internal candidacy problems, but God will be glorified if it prevents some of them.  

And by the way, I’ve written about two more perils in a subsequent post.