• Start with your internal network. Who do you know?
• Then your tribes. Denomination. Schools. 
• Then publicly posted positions. Church Staffing, etc.
• A word about Search Firms

Many times, you'll be tempted to apply for a job that isn't a good fit for you.

• Do your homework. Are they REALLY a potential fit?  
  • Read the Entire Job Posting
  • Visit the Church's Website
  • Watch a Service
• If not, give it a firm no and a hard pass. Then move on to find another opportunity

Don't try to fit somewhere you know you won't fit.  You'll be tempted (you need a job, after all). But a wrong fit will mean another probably move in another 12-18 months.

WORD OF CAUTION:

The longer your search goes, (and the more desperate you get), the more pressure you will feel about giving in on your non-negotiables.  Always keep that in check. If you need to widen your search, it’s not a crime, but be sure your spouse is on board and that you don’t compromise your values.

You want to continually search out churches with open positions that fit your profile and put them in the top of your funnel. As you start sending out resumes, some will stay at the top of the funnel (you'll not hear anything back from them, or they will turn out to be closed doors).

Some will work their way down the funnel by contacting you for more information or to schedule an interview.  Then comes the second interview, background, reference checks, and ultimately a job offer.

Your task is to keep working on your plan.  Keep putting new jobs at the top of the funnel and following up until you land your next ministry position.

We recommend that you have between five and ten jobs in your funnel at different points at any given time.

If you just work on one or two churches at a time, you could find your funnel empty, and you'll have to start all over from square one. This is the leading cause of job searches taking a long time.  You have to constantly prime the pump... adding new jobs to the top of your funnel as other jobs leave the funnel or work their way down.

Of course, with five or ten jobs in the hopper at any given time, it can get confusing... so you'll want to be organized. We’ve provided the Job Search Spreadsheet in this section to help you stay organized.

Are you on social media?

Consider this: One of the first things a prospective church will do is look you up on social media.

How do you represent yourself? Is your social media feed full of political posts? Are the pictures you post appropriate?

This is a great time to look at your social media accounts and read them with a fresh set of eyes (as a prospective church would). They may very well form their first impression of you from just one social media post from three months ago.