Hello, my name is Bob Withers and I’d like to share my heart with you and also why I founded CompassDynamicsSM. While you will find more formal information about both me and CompassDynamicsSM elsewhere on this website, I think it’s important for you to understand who I am and the goal of this ministry.
I am a pastor who loves pastors, associate pastors, other staff members and churches. I also love students who are preparing for vocational ministry.
When I was in my final year at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary my wife and I sensed God calling me to pastoral ministry. As my book, Charting the Course, relates, Vickie and I had not planned on entering the pastorate but God had another plan.
In preparation for the church-search process I reviewed every book in Gordon-Conwell’s library written for candidates and churches and did not find one book that thoroughly explored the process. Moreover, what I did find was typically written to search committees rather than to candidates.
As I began working with denominations as a candidate I found their pro-forma approach to candidate and church profiles stifling, uninformative and without imagination.
Later, having entered pastoral ministry, as I listened (as I continue to do) to accounts from my peers of poor pastor-church relationships my heart broke for both the pastors and their churches.
Out of the foregoing a burden developed within me to minister to pastors and churches, with this burden becoming a passion. As I point out elsewhere, the statistics on pastor–church longevity are both sad and disheartening, and every statistic represents not only a pastor and his or her family, but it represents dozens, hundreds or even thousands of families within each congregation, many of whom are profoundly affected by a change of pastors.
Since I believe that much of the breakdown in pastor-church relationships can be traced to a poor candidating process, I have chosen to focus most of my attention on that process.
You should know a bit more about my background. My first career was in real estate development and property management. I was an executive with responsibility for millions of dollars in assets and for hundreds of employees over the years. I hired and discharged management personnel and executives from all walks of life, reviewed hundreds of resumes and conducted countless employment interviews.
I understand corporate culture, whether it is a business, a non-profit or a church. One of my business specialties was retooling organizations; this meant discerning corporate culture and initiating change as appropriate.
Now I know that many people attempt to bring business principles into the Kingdom of God. What I want you to know about me is that I integrated the Kingdom of God into business. I believed that I was in business as a servant of Christ and that I was to be a steward of whatever corporate position I held. This stewardship made me a servant of all with whom I came into contact – be that person the president of a bank or a janitor.
So if you are a pastoral or other candidate, you can expect me to bring you a servant’s heart that wants the best for you. You can also expect me to apply a critical eye to your candidate profile and other material – if you are unused to a critical eye you may be uncomfortable with this – but be assured that my desire is for you to fulfill your ministry in Christ. I have read countless candidate profiles and talked to a number of search committees, the overall quality of most profiles is poor – but yours can be great!
If you are a search committee or a church that needs to hit the refresh button in terms of who you are and where you are going, you can expect the same approach. You can anticipate questions and coaching designed to help you chart a course in Christ that will yield years of fruitful ministry for both your pastor and your church. My desire is for the best for you in Christ.
While I have a network of peers who may provide input on your candidate profile or church, and who, especially if you are a church involved in our Matrix process, you may have contact with; I will be your primary contact in your relationship with CompassDynamicsSM.
Thank you for visiting our site and I pray that you will fulfill God’s calling on your life.
Love in Jesus,
Bob Withers
To read a more formal bio of me please click here.
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