12 Witnesses

Searching for staff is, obviously, crucial. After having been through the process 6 times, I have picked up a few things, and I am sure that most of you have as well.

The committee is so important. You don’t want anyone who is a “delegate” of a person or group of people in the church. Nothing will grind the committee to a halt and frustrate the church faster than someone serving a small interest. Rather, it is vital that everyone be willing to put the good of the church first. This will lead to unity, the necessity of which is absolute.

Next, the committee needs to have a clear job description from which to work, rather than a nebulous idea of what is to be expected. In some churches, the job description is given by the Personnel Committee, in some it is left to the Search Committee and in others it is determined by the church through a survey.

One other thought I’ll pass on is that the search committees I’ve worked with, and having served in six churches, you can imagine that I have worked with far more committees throughout the process, very few of them had their act together when it came to finding out about the candidate. Most of them asked leading questions like, “Do you believe that Youth Ministers should spend time in the schools?” Clearly, this is a conviction of the Committee and they want to know if you share it. However, they have asked in a way that virtually demands a “yes” answer, so no matter what they get, they won’t really find out if this conviction is a high priority for the candidate.

If they really want to know just how important this is, they will ask something like, “What are the practical ways you pursue integrating yourself in the lives of the students in your group?” If school visits come up, then you know it is a priority for them as well.

An even better way to ask the question is this, “Describe your typical week’s activities.” Or even, “Give us a ‘Reader’s Digest’ version of the last two weeks of your ministry where you are.” You are much more likely to find out where their heart is without leading them to your heart. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t suspect ministerial candidates of intentionally misrepresenting themselves. I just think that everyone is putting their best foot forward and when you let someone know that you want to hear about “x” then that is what they are going to talk about. The only problem is that you run the risk of not really finding out who they are.

Oh, and don’t forget the background checks. Absolutely essential nowadays. But be forgiving as you look at credit stuff. Unless they show that they are still in the throws of bad stewardship, then you shouldn’t hold mistakes made a long time ago with too much credence. After all, it takes a long time to get out of credit trouble, and in our culture, young people get into credit trouble soooo fast. Even Christians.

Finally, the committee should understand the position and the skills necessary. If they don’t, they should research it diligently and interviewing other staff about it is actually quite helpful. Case in point, a previous church’s Personnel Committee hired a secretary for the church when we were without a “Senior Pastor.” They didn’t ask me a word about the situation at all. Now, the position really needed someone with Office Software expertise, but they didn’t know that. They hired the best receptionist in their opinion, and I think they were accurate in determining that. She was a phenomenal receptionist, but she didn’t know squat about word processing, putting together a newsletter, using spreadsheets, etc. Meanwhile, they let a highly qualified lady go because, though she was a new Christian, she hadn’t quit smoking, yet. She has now, but she has also moved on to other things.

When the lady they hired came in, she didn’t know what to do, so I had to train her on everything, which took me away from my own job. She got better, but she is still way behind where the other lady was years ago. I found out later that the extent of their questioning her about computer skills was to ask here if she knew much about computers. Her answer was that she used them every day - which was true. She filled out certain forms in a data entry process every day. Obviously, that was not a sufficient evaluation of what was needed.

Translation: If you are hiring for a position, find out about that position from your other staff members, then learn how to accurately evaluate the skills involved.

What else would you add? What mistakes have you seen committees make? What tools have you seen be effective?

Where should the job description originate? How much involvement should the congregation have throughout the process? How often should the committee report to the church? How secretive should the committee be?

How much time should you aim for when starting a search process? Do you give the committee a budget? If so, how much? If not, how do you fund the search?

What is the best way to let your need be known? Do you advertise? If so, where?

Next week: The Resume

[edit]

Hey, Brenda Smith from the Kentucky Baptist Convention has posted some great resources that the KBC has provided.  I am reproducing the links that she gave here, just in case you aren’t getting the comments.

Pastor Search Committee Workbook

Staff Search Committee Workbook

Thanks, Brenda and the KBC for being Kingdom minded and sharing these resources!

[/edit]

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• June 3, 2008 -- Church Staffing: The Resume (5)
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• May 22, 2008 -- Church Staffing: Education v. Experience (11)
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