Author: art rogers
Staffing the Church
Monday, May 19th, 2008 @ 12:01 pm
As our church seeks to staff for the future, the issue of Full and Part Time Staffing has been a part of our discussion.
When trying to balance what the church can afford and what the church wants, where do you draw the line?
How do you balance your staffing?
How do you pay for it?
What are your thoughts?
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May 19th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I have no real standing to observe such things as I’m not a pastor. But I’ve always held the opinion that God pays for what He wants done, and when you need someone full time, the money will be there. If you get the right person, which is another tall order.
I’ll never forget one time on the Deacon body here, we needed a balcony to hold the people who were coming, and the sanctuary was in scruffy shape. So we undertook the process and someone donated the $20K estimate for the balcony. But it ran to a lot more than that, and the carpet and paneling in the sanctuary ran the total to $96K. Miraculously, although we never “advertised” the shortage, offerings increased enough to cover the costs as the work was done. When it was done, it was paid for, and offerings went back down there they’d been.
That episode colors my thinking on things like this.
Bob Clevelands last blog post..Baptist Identity? WHAT Baptist Identity?
May 20th, 2008 at 8:06 am
We need to contextualize our methods to the community, right? The same applies to staff. Our church is located in a country/bedroom community on the fringe of a growing “countrurban” area.(countrurban = where everyone is moving away from Houston and it’s suburbs, buying their own 10 acres and building their dream home)
For us a completely bivocational staff has been the answer. This allows us to create more focus in important areas like youth and children’s ministry. People who are used to upscale settings are at least walking in and seeing the church is concerned enough to have someone leading the ministry to our children.
This situation is not for everyone but it allows a church with 130 in Sunday morning worship the ability to have 5 bivocational leaders (plus nursery workers, custodian, etc…)
Do I wish I was full time? Yes! Nevertheless I have been doing this 7 years and it seems to be working. As our community begins to hit a growth pahase we are praying for opportunities to reach new people.
May 20th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Bob,
My only thought to the statement that God will provide for what God calls you to do is that you had better be sure you are doing exactly what He says and not get off on your own plan. When we say that out loud or write in black and white its kind of a “Duh!” statement, but the reality is that we OFTEN fail to listen to Him. Rather, anyone with any experience in church knows that strong personalities will frequently drive the decisions of the church, whether those personalities be staff or lay leaders. Both do it.
Chuck,
That’s a great thought. I have encountered more and more staffs like yours over the last few years and you have my deepest respect. That is putting your life into your service.
Now, has this always been this way, so your church has always had it, or did you have to lead your church to understand and accept it? If so, how did you do it and what were the hurdles?
May 20th, 2008 at 10:48 am
The Pastor before me was full time and went to part time and people were not happy about it. I came in part time. The understanding from the start was that I would be part time. The search committee hammered out the details, the Deacons and Trustees went along. We even outlined the expectation in the job description. The Deacons do the visitation. I teach, preach and lead. I typically attend only the Personell,Nominating and Finance Comms.
All of that was up front and we presented it as it is: an opportunity to spend more of our funds on ministry opportunities.
The biggest challenges were not in getting it done but in figuring out how to make things work right. In my former Pastorates I had been full time. I was used to a scheduled staff meeting and having my hand in everything. It is nearly impossible to have a regular staff meeting. You really have to point people in the right direction and let go. Contact is mostly by email. This does create problems.
As far as having my hand in everything that was a change I needed to make anyway. I was way to prideful in that area since I was operating under the assumption people needed me for everything. Last year I took my first two week vacation ever. Interestingly enough the church was still there when I got back!
One caveat. I probably have an advantage in this area as I have a well paying job where I set my own schedule. Not everyone has that and you would not believe the freedom. I never have to worry about being fired or forced out because my outside ministry (job) can take care of our needs.
bloginafogpastors last blog post..Where Is FEMA When You Need Them?
May 20th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Art,
In our context bi-vocational is necessary. But not just bi-vocational, homegrown bi-vocational. We are too far out and too financially challenged to attract bi-vocational ministers. We had to “promote from within.” Just be certain that those promoted are on board with the church’s direction. I really believe that this will become necessart for more and more churches. I do not think this is a bad thing as it forces us to center on what we should be doing anyway.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:09 am
I think The contemporary theologian said it best: “Around here you just gotta get what you can get”
cb
cb scotts last blog post..POSTMODERN UMPIRES
May 21st, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Our young church (4 years old), in the buffer zone between suburban St. Louis and rural Missouri, started out with 4 bivocational pastors. This situation worked extremely well as the lead pastor worked for an auto plant that had closed, but because of collective bargaining still had to employ him! He went to full time last fall.
We’ve had one associate leave for a full time lead pastor position. We’ve also practiced the “promote from within” policy. I’m the promotee…
We left a regional SBC mega (as laity) to start working in our local context with a nondenom church (FWIW approx 160-180 worship attendance). A few months in to this new work, as the associate left, the lead pastor brought me in as a ministry team leader. After 6 months in this role, he extended an invitation to join the pastoral team. In fact, I’m being ordained tonight.
Our polity is such that this wasn’t that big a deal, but I know that a large portion of SBC church folk expect ALL of their staff to be seminary trained and certified. Several of my SBC friends registered some surprise that I was going into formal ministry this late in life (age 44), and that I was not going to seminary first.
Mike Woodwards last blog post..I’m still reading the Gospel of Matthew…
May 21st, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Mike,
Congratulations on being ordained. I praise God He is working on, in and through you.
It may not be the way it has always been done, but we know that God does things the way He wants to do them in every new context.
Thanks for this insight.