20 Interview Questions to Ask Intentional Interim Ministers
Once your church has committed to the intentional interim process, calling a trained intentional interim minister is your next big step. While there are plenty of sample questions to ask settled pastor candidates, the tasks required of an intentional interim pastor are nuanced and necessitate focused questions.
Here are twenty sample questions to ask potential candidates to help search teams discern whom they should call to serve the church during the intentional interim ministry (IIM) process:
1. What can you tell us about your journey? What life experiences have most shaped who you are as a person and pastor?
2. How do you maintain the vitality of your relationship with Christ?
3. Describe your calling to intentional interim ministry?
4. What are your gifts for pastoral ministry and leadership?
5. How would you describe your approach to intentional interim ministry?
6. What would your first few months as our intentional interim minister look like?
7. What is your preaching style?
8. What is the most difficult church decision you’ve ever had to moderate during an intentional interim?
9. What was a situation in which you had to improvise as a pastor? How did you adjust midstream? What were the outcomes?
10. What have you learned during your church/intentional interim ministry tenure?
11. What are your pastoral priorities during the intentional interim process?
12. What is your favorite focus point of the intentional interim process?
13. How have you eased congregational anxiety to endure the lengthy intentional interim process?
14. What kind of timeline would you imagine for the intentional interim process work?
15. Our church is affiliated with the {DENOMINATION}. How do your theological convictions align with our church? What is your conviction about women in ministry, biblical authority, religious freedom, church autonomy, etc.?
16. What counsel would you give to the Transition Team based on your experience?
17. What would a productive/successful intentional interim process look like for our church?
18. When is the earliest date you could begin serving alongside our church?
19. What do you need to know about us to determine if this is the right place for you to minister?
20. What questions do you have for us?
For more information about intentional interim ministry, check out the video below produced by my friends at The Center for Congregational Health.
