If there is more than one person biblically qualified to pastor a church, does it matter which one? If so what is the basis for choosing?

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Nathan
Baptist
Jacksonville, Arkansas

If both are biblically qualified then it would be the better part of wisdom to make determinations based on things such a experience, level of education, even which one best suited to minister in your particular situation (e.g. Would bringing a lifetime city dweller to minister in a small rural town be as productive as bringing a small town guy?).

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James Helbert, Wytheville, VA
Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCUS
TheBibleAlone.com / The Edinburgh Inn
"Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” - Zechariah 3:2

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Prayer and meditation. Both the candidate and the church should be confidant that God is calling that man to serve. God does not call resumes, he calls men, and we have to remember that God has a specific man for a specific time. I think it really comes down to seeking God's direction.

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Ben Franks

I attend: Ketoctin Covenant Presbyterian Church (OPC)
in Purcellville, Virginia
I'm a member of: Heartland Community Church (PCA)
in Wichita, Kansas
I blog here (along with my Dad): http://rrfranks.blogspot.com/
And I'm a student here: www.phc.edu

"Remember the speeches we have spoken so often over our mead, when we raised boast on the bench, heroes in the hall, about hard fighting. Now may the man who is bold prove that he is."-Aelfwine at the Battle of Maldon

Hamalas,

Do you have any suggestions for how this could be done without an extreme reliace on the subjective or extra-Biblical revelation?

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Taylor W. Otwell, Husband to Abigail
Member, Fellowship Bible Church
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Family Blog

I guess I'm wondering why two pastors are being considered at the same time.

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Ivan R. Schoen, B.A., M.A., M.L.I.S.
Pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church (SBC)
Poplar Grove, IL, USA
http://maranatha-sbc.org

Nah, I don't like to talk in specifics. I just let the Spirit guide me.

Just kidding. On a more serious note, it's hard to suggest specific things without knowing more about the situation. Are both men confidant that God is calling them to this church? (Or is this just a hypothetical situation, I can't tell. )

-----Added 1/19/2009 at 09:18:56 EST-----

Good point!

This was just a hypothetical question, what I was really asking was "does God have a specific person chosen for each church"?

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Nathan
Baptist
Jacksonville, Arkansas

I would say yes. There are many, many passages that talk about calling. Acts 13:2, Acts 16:10, Romans 1:1, Romans 8:28, 1 Corinthians 1:1-2, the list could go on and on. God has clearly set aside every individual for a certain task. If you consider the gift of Prophesy to be a foreshadowing of the proclamation that comes from the Ministers of the Word, then one can easily see the correlation between the calling of the prophets and the calling of the Pastor.

The 2nd London Confession, chapter 26, sections 8-11 and their Scripture proofs may be helpful here. I'm on my phone, otherwise I would paste it.

It seems to me that the Lord's church is to make due use of the available means to selecting elders. The main being the lists of qualifications found in the letters to Timothy and Titus, and the counsel of other godly Christians/ministers.

Of course, there are differences between the Baptists and Presbyterians in the process of
appointing teachers of the Word. I think the Presbyterian practice of examining candidates by other ministers in the area has a lot of merit.

Interesting...so how do Baptists examine their candidates?

Ivan,

I'm sure this varies, and you probably know better than I, however, I usually hear of a committee that is appointed in the church to search for a pastor. I'm not aware that the candidates are ever interviewed by other elders in the area.
Of couse this is all assuming that the teachers are brought in from outside. I think it would be great to start seeing young men gifted in teaching taken under the wing of existing elders and teachers, so that some elders could be raised up from among the local flock itself.