Pacific Northwest Conference Full Membership Committee

Elders Personal and Professional Development Questions (Revised Oct. 2013)

Initial Interview

Personal Graces

  1. Your commitment to Jesus Christ
  1. Your sense of vocation in being called to the ministry
  1. Your belief about the validity of the local church as the “Body of Christ”
  1. Your sense of participation in the United Methodist Church with our history, tradition, and polity
  1. How often do you engage in the following spiritual disciplines? Please explain your practices. How have they enhanced your spiritual life, professional life, and personal life?
  2. Personal Prayer not related to the practice of ministry?
  3. Bible study not related to the practice of ministry?
  4. Private spiritual retreat?
  5. Practice of faithful stewardship

Professional Competencies

  1. What is your “growing edge” as a pastoral leader? How have you intentionally engaged in growing in your pastoral leadership?
  1. Answer this question: “If we accomplish ______as a church or ministry area this year, we will have succeeded.” What is your plan of action?
  1. What is your intentional plan for fostering spiritual growth in your congregation?
  1. What is your understanding of the “missional church?”

Elders Personal and Professional Development Questions (Year 1)

Intellectual Disciplines

  1. What books have you read and/or workshops/seminars have you attended that have stimulated your growth as a pastor? What was your key learning(s)?
  1. What is your plan for continuing education in the coming year (books to read; classes; seminars)?
  1. Based on who God created you to be, how effective do you perceive yourself in the following roles? What are the limitations? How do you plan to nurture your effectiveness and strengthen the limitations?
  1. As a communicator
  2. As a prophet
  3. As a shepherd
  4. As an evangelist
  5. As an administrator
  6. As a leader
  1. Your attitude toward and your sense of effectiveness in your public worship ministry:
  2. Leading public worship
  3. Creative use of liturgy
  4. Preparation of sermons
  5. Grounding of sermons in Biblical sources
  6. Relating of sermons to personal issues and/or social issues
  7. Administering the Sacraments
  8. Conducting the rites: funerals and weddings
  1. What is your understanding of the Body of Christ in terms of the:
  2. Local Church
  3. Annual Conference
  4. Church Universal

Elders Personal and Professional Development Questions (Year 1)

Self-Understanding

  1. Your understanding of the need for self-care in your life in the following areas. Please comment on where your strengths/successes are and where you need more work and the

plan that you have to improve. Please remember that the Full Membership Committee is not looking for perfection, rather for honest reflection, and that God’s grace allows the space for improvement and growth.

  1. Do you have friends outside the local church
  2. What recreational activities do you participate in?
  3. How often do you engage in physical exercise lasting at least 30 minutes? What is that routine?
  4. How are your eating habits? If you are over/under the average weight for your age and body type, do you have a plan in the next year to move toward a more healthy weight?
  5. Do you meet regularly in an accountability/support group? How often do you meet? How has this group helped your spiritual, emotional, and mental outlook?
  6. How many nights per week are reserved for “home life”?
  7. How many days off do you take consistently each week?
  8. Do you take all your vacation?
  9. What are your interests and hobbies outside the church?
  1. Edwin Friedman, author of Generation to Generation, says leaders provide a “non-anxious presence” in the midst of their settings. What does this mean to you in the context of pastoral leadership?

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