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As the new chairman of the 17-member pastoral search committee, which included deacons, trustees and regular church members, the Rev. Jacques Andre De Graff gave the ministers hints on how best to win over Canaanites, as church members call themselves.

“My observation has been that the only way you can do this is to be yourself, and not look at this as a job interview,” said Mr. De Graff, a former campaign manager for the Rev. Al Sharpton, as he sat last month beneath the serene gaze of Dr. King in the chapel named in his honor. “The first time everybody came to wow us. They all tried too hard.”