From the Church Administrator Search Committee: David Anderson
Make it stand out
To the Pullen Memorial Baptist Church and Congregation,
After careful consideration of all of our options, and David’s success in the interim role, the Church Administrator Search Committee has recommended unanimously to the Personnel Committee David Anderson to be our next Church Administrator. Personnel, with support from the pastor, also voted unanimously.
We have offered the job and David has accepted. Please see all of our comments below.
The Church Administrator Search Committee was composed of Laura Riedy (Personnel Committee), Bill Gowan, (former Personnel Committee Chair), Nathan Powers (Finance Committee), Lloyd Jones (Building and Grounds), Leigh Hambleton (Cox Avenue Building), Lu McGraw (Coordinating Council) and Nancy Petty.
At the initial Church Administrator Search Committee meetings, prior to posting the position, the committee reviewed the anti-bias training and decided to implement the training by crafting a list of “must have” qualifications for potential candidates and looking for evidence that they meet these qualifications. We decided to conduct structured interviews, asking the same behavioral situational questions during every interview to assess if the candidate met our list of “must haves”. We agreed to review all submitted resumes and conduct all interviews as a team in order to be alert for bias. Finally, we agreed to write down our feedback immediately after the interview and determine if we were inclined to hire them and then debrief as a group. We developed a guide to assess each candidate and how well they met our “must-have” list.
We then reviewed the Church Administrator job description in order to understand what skills/experience the role would require. This helped us identify the qualifications for the job.Then, the committee discussed what talents and personality characteristics would be needed to be successful. This gave us our list of “must haves”. The search committee was fully aligned in what we were looking for.
A job posting was composed and posted to the job boards of the national and state chapters of The Church Network, NC Non-Profit Careers, NC Council of Churches, and ChurchStaffing.com. As we received resumes, we measured potential candidates against the qualifications. None of the candidates met these qualifications.
Members of the search committee had had the opportunity to observe David in the interim Facilities Manager role and observed that he demonstrated many of the “must-haves” we had identified for the Church Administrator position. He was also the only individual that we were aware of who met the qualifications. The committee made the decision to request that David interview. During the interview process, it quickly became apparent that David possessed the necessary qualities. He came prepared with considerable knowledge about the maintenance situation of the campus and was proactive in bringing solutions. We asked David behavioral, situational questions to understand how his previous experience prepared him for the position and how he would approach the role. Based on his responses in the interview, we determined that David met our “must have” list.
Feedback from committee members included the following;
“I feel that David is an exceptional fit to the role of Church Administrator at Pullen. In his role as Interim Facilities Manager, he’s developed working knowledge of many of the requirements of the role, and he expresses interest in further honing these skills. He has demonstrated a centered and caring presence as he approaches challenging issues which will serve David and Pullen well as he works with the multiple parties and priorities involved.”
“David Anderson’s qualifications and experience throughout his time at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church has made him the best candidate for the position of Church Administrator. David’s articulate, thoughtful, and diplomatic communication skills are ideal in dealing with diverse people within the church and outside the church, including vendors in the Cox Ave building. David will provide leadership and direction for Pullen and staff. We would be hard pressed to find anyone with his abilities. “
While we did not decide to hire David strictly because he was in the interim role, it was an invaluable opportunity to see if he was the right candidate. Our initial work to gain consensus allowed us to move quickly in assessing potential candidates. Based on observations of David’s time as interim, our observations during his interview, and the insight David has into Pullen based on his combined years of service, we unanimously recommended to Personnel that David be hired as Church Administrator.
We are confident that David’s leadership skills, his intelligence, curiosity, and emotional intelligence would allow him to transition quickly into the Church Administrator position and be successful.
Thank you,
Laura Riedy, Chair, Church Administrator Search Committee
Kevin Neiley, Chair, Personnel Committee
