Dr. Doak has been working out the ideas for this book, A Guidebook for a Pastor Search Committee over the course of three decades of ordained Presbyterian ministry. Before you read very far into A Guidebook for a Pastor Search Committee, you get the feeling the author has anticipated the necessary questions and that he knows whereof he speaks. Questions like, How do we get started? Are there rules we are supposed to follow? How long is this likely to take? are likely to emerge at the first meeting of the newly elected Pastor Nominating Committee. Meanwhile, the members of the congregation are generating some questions of their own. Dr. Doak has not only been on the receiving end of the process himself, but he has counseled numerous Pastoral Nominating Committees and colleagues involved in calling a new pastor. Dr. Doak has respect for that process, details of which vary from denomination to denomination. He affirms that those who are called to serve on a Pastor Search Committee, and he believes it is indeed a Call, will find themselves on a spiritual journey. At the same time, he acknowledges that it is a task and as such requires hard work, time, patience, and commitment. If there is one word that distinguishes A Guidebook for a Pastor Search Committee, it is practical. It systematically guides the reader from the agenda of the first meeting of the Search, right down to the choice of Pastor Wonderful. It will help committees to proceed confidently, avoiding some common pitfalls and doing the task in a manner worthy of the congregation that has entrusted them with this important responsibility. This book takes what can be an overwhelming task and breaks it into a step by step procedure, addressing matters in the order they are likely to come up in the process. While encouraging committees to develop their own style, the book also provides samples of letters, questions for interviews, ways to score candidates and many more practical matters. While written specifically for members of the Selection Committee, this book would be of interest to any member of the congregation who might wonder what the committee is doing and why it is taking so long. Having served on three such committees, I would heartily recommend this book to any Pastoral Search Committee (and congregation) who seeks not just to fill the empty pulpit but to find God s person to be their pastor.

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