Pastoral Candidate, I feel like I'm being gaslit
I’m in a bit of a weird spot and feeling slightly gaslit by my congregation. I attend an independent Bible church (Calvinist-leaning) that has been without a Senior Pastor for 16 months. The search committee has finally brought in a candidate—we've heard him once, we hear him again this Sunday, and then we vote.
Because we are independent and have no denominational pipeline, this feels like a "mail-order bride" situation. We are hiring a stranger. Our structure has also shifted: he wouldn't be "Senior Pastor," but "Lead Teaching Pastor" and an Elder.
While his character is vetted and his writing is academically excellent, I am struggling with the "apt to teach" (1 Tim 3:2) qualification.
The issue: He is completely unengaging, lacking any connection or affect. He reads what is essentially a well-written white paper, but there is no sense of proclamation or "living voice." I find myself unable to follow his train of thought because there is no emphasis or engagement to hold the attention of the listener.
I feel that in Reformed-adjacent circles, there’s often a "badge of honor" associated with being "dry." There is a fear that being engaging violates 1 Cor 1:17 (preaching with "eloquent words of wisdom"). But I’m struggling to see how someone is "able to teach" if their delivery is a functional barrier to the congregation actually receiving the information.
Is "engagement" a part of being "apt to teach," or is that just a modern preference for entertainment?
Am I being too hard on him, or is "reading an article" fundamentally different from the biblical office of preaching?