Clergy: Shopping for Preachers

When the pastor of the First Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., accepted a call to a bigger parish in Texas last winter, the seven laymen on the pulpit committee had to find a new preacher. It was not easy. During the next nine months, First Baptist's committeemen checked out more than 100 prospects in 16 states, spent three Sundays out of four listening to sermons of possible candidates, traveled as far as Texas and Florida before deciding on the Rev. J. T. Ford of Atlanta's Wieuca Road Baptist Church. Last week, after weighing...

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