GFA counts it a great privilege to serve like-minded North American churches as they seek candidates for pastor and pastoral staff openings. Dr. Marshall Fant, Director of Church Planting and Revitalization, would be glad to advise both candidates and churches in their search process. You may reach him by email or at 864.609.5500. We pray that God will use our efforts to help churches and men discover each other according to His perfect will. 

Pastoral Staff Openings

GFA helps churches find senior pastors, assistant pastors, youth pastors, and music directors. We also provide connections to three additional arenas of ministry: church planters, interim pastors, and pastoral interns. 

Interim Pastors – Churches should consider having an interim pastor help them through the transition to a new pastor. An interim pastor fulfills pulpit responsibilities, provides pastoral care and church administration, and advises the membership about how to find a new pastor. 

GFA provides an interim pastor service through qualified retired ministry couples. Interested churches and seasoned pastors and Christian leaders desiring to serve as interim pastors should contact Dr. Marshall Fant, Director of Church Planting and Revitalization, for more information. You may reach him by email or at 864.609.5500. 

Church Planters – America needs sound, biblical churches in areas where there is no gospel-preaching church. Connecting groups of people who are endeavoring to form a new church with men who are interested in serving as church planters is a priority for GFA. 

Pastoral Interns – Men who have completed their formal ministry education may be looking for a church in which they can be mentored for 6 to 12 months with a pastoral internship. Others may have been called to the ministry later in life and desire a short period of orientation prior to entering pastoral ministry. We want to connect these men to pastors who are eager to mentor men for ministry. 

Serving Like-minded Churches and Candidates

GFA is focused on fulfilling the Great Commission through passionate evangelism, intentional discipleship, establishing indigenous churches, and training national leadership.

 GFA believes that we must be strong at home to be strong abroad. By God’s grace, we desire to do all within our power and means to strengthen American churches. We believe that there are thousands of like-minded American churches and preachers who share our essential biblical and historical convictions, and we strive to serve conservative independent churches primarily of a Baptistic persuasion.

We recognize that there is a spectrum of viewpoints on the fine points of doctrine and ministry philosophy and practice. Therefore, it is important for candidates and churches to be forthright about their views as they pursue a potential employment relationship.    

Agreement Statement

We require all participants in our church staffing program, both churches and candidates, to read and agree to the following Terms of Use prior to using our service. Completing the registration process indicates you agree. 

GFA serves sound, biblical, conservative churches and pastoral staff candidates who agree with the following statements. 

1. We believe in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible in the original manuscripts; the direct six-day creation of the world and its inhabitants; the fall of man into sin; the Triune God in three Persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the incarnation and virgin birth of Jesus Christ; His sinless life and substitutionary atoning death on the cross; His bodily resurrection and ascension; salvation by grace through faith; the necessity of the new birth; the imminent, premillennial return of Jesus Christ for His own; the future millennial reign of Jesus Christ on the earth; the eternal destiny of the saved in heaven and the eternal judgment of the unsaved in hell and the lake of fire.
2. We believe in personal holiness and ecclesiastical separation from apostasy and compromise.    
3. We believe in conservative, reverent worship and church music.
4. We believe in post-conversion baptism by immersion.
5. We believe that the sign gifts have ceased.
6. We believe that God created mankind in two genders, male and female. We believe that marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman. We believe in the sanctity of every human life, born or unborn. 
7. We believe that only biblically qualified men may serve in the office of pastor. 

GFA’s church staffing program operates within the theological and historical positions of Gospel Fellowship Association. These positions are articulated in greater depth in GFA's organizational documents. We reserve the right to serve only those whom we believe to be essentially like-minded. 

In addition, we require men using our service to affirm that they are biblically qualified to serve in a pastoral position by clicking the appropriate button when they register.

Expectations and Understanding

Candidates should expect that each church will do its own thorough vetting, including financial and legal background checks. This also includes verifying references provided by the candidate and potentially others. Details can be worked out between the candidate and the church. It is highly unethical for a candidate to seek a new ministry if there are unresolved allegations of immorality, impropriety, indiscretion or financial mismanagement. We would not knowingly allow such a candidate to use the GFA church staffing service.   

Churches should expect serious candidates to research prospective churches as thoroughly as possible. Churches should be forthright with candidates about the church’s financial situation and special circumstances as the relationship develops toward possible employment.

Pastoral search committees should take great care to protect the confidentiality of men seeking ministry positions. We ask that both churches and candidates keep one another posted about the interest they have in each other so that long seasons of uncertainty do not hinder the freedom to continue to search for other possible ministries or candidates.

Disclaimer

Both churches and candidates should use the GFA church staffing service with the knowledge that GFA is not able to provide the thorough checks needed at the employment level and that GFA incurs no liability for issues that could arise. Please inform GFA if there is a serious concern with a candidate or church. 

Registration

Candidates will be required to provide three professional references with contact information. References should include one’s current pastor, Christian ministry employers, and preachers or other Christian leaders. Men will also post a resumé. Men may also post a cover letter and a biographical profile, which can include a salvation and call to the ministry testimony, general experiences in ministry, family information, and a summary of one’s ministry gifts. Photos and sermon links are welcome as well. If you need assistance with registration, please call 864.609.5500, ext. 3221, or ask for “church staffing.”

Cost

GFA incurs ongoing operational costs by offering this vital church staffing service.   No fee is charged to churches or candidates at the present time; however, we reserve the right to change this status as needed.  

Resources for Churches and Candidates

Before You Move: A Guide to Making Transitions in the Ministry, John Cionca
Particularly helpful for prospective candidates, though churches will also find it beneficial. Published by Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, 2004, now out of print but can be found online. This is a revised and expanded edition of the previously published title Red Light, Green Light: Discerning the Time for a Change in Ministry, 1994.

In Search of God’s Man: A Help for Pulpit Committees, Douglas E. Devore
142-page guide published in 2002 by Bob Jones University Press in Greenville , SC.

Search: The Pastoral Search Committee Handbook, William Vanderbloemen
This short book lays out the pastoral search process clearly and offers many helpful ideas. Nashville: B & H Publishing Group, 2016. 

 The Right Pastor: Seeking God’s Man for Your Church, Wesley E. Johnson
112-page workbook filled with helpful advice, charts, and sample forms. Published by Regular Baptist Press.

Church Law and Tax Store. You will find helpful resources regarding church staff compensation, church finance and administration, and legal issues. 

Helps for Churches and Candidates. You will find a variety of practical articles by Bruce McAllister to help you in your search for God’s will. 

RE: CHURCH Episodes. RE: CHURCH is a GFA podcast to encourage pastors and church leaders as they refocus, renew, and revitalize their churches.

GFA Church Staffing Website