categories: staff
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Hiring Part 4
This should make for some interesting discussion.
What is ethical when hiring a staff member from another church?
I certainly don’t have the answers. Here are a few of my thoughts:
- Hiring a staff member from another church is not a sin. (Doing it deceitfully and without integrity is another matter.)
- I have appreciated when a pastor asks permission to talk with a staff member.
- I have asked other pastors for their permission. Two times I was told “no.” I respected their stance and didn’t pursue that staff person.
- One time a pastor fired a staff member who approached us about potentially serving here. (I always prefer complete openness but at times it may not be possible for the other staff person.)
- I have never denied another pastor the opportunity to talk with one of our staff. (If they feel called somewhere else, then they are blessed to go.)
- I think more consideration should be given when hiring local staff. For example, if we hire someone from Canada, it won’t likely disrupt their ministry. If we hire a youth pastor from two miles down the road, it would be more likely to harm their ministry.
- I also don’t feel as bad when considering another church’s staff person when that person approaches us.
- Again, I prefer hiring staff from within instead of from other churches. (More on this tomorrow.)
We don’t own staff. They are God’s people and should go where God leads a person to go. Whenever I lose a valuable team player, I always ask God to send someone who will be even better suited for the role.
Jump in. I’m very interested in your experience and thoughts!
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Craig… great post. As somebody that is currently on a church staff… but is praying about God’s direction in ministry right now, your posts on hiring have been very insightful and thought provoking.
I am fortunate to work on a mega-church staff, and to work daily with the senior & executive pastor. Our senior pastor places a high value on loyalty, and I have seen times in past when other pastors have interviewed at other places and when they have told him and asked for his blessing. He has always blessed people to go where God is calling them… BUT there has been times when he has taken them out of the loop at times just for interviewing.
I was some what concerned in my case, because I do work so close with him that if I interviewed some where I would have the same fate. I was interviewing with two different churches recently, when I wanted to let him know about them and asked for his blessing. For a few days it was somewhat tense, but he started to come back around. Now, neither place was the right fit for me, my family or the churches that I interviewed with… for some of the same reasons you listed.
Thanks.
Malcolm
Check out my blog at: http://www.completinggodsmission.com
It seems to me there is something uniquely ‘Christian’ in holding our staff with open hands. My last staff ‘loss’ was encouraging to me, actually. Not that I wanted that youth guy gone, not at all. He’s a friend and a brother in Christ. He was open with me about the opportunity he was presented with and I processed it with him initially. Then, after deciding to pursue it some, I was one of his references. His new ‘boss’ called and I spent over an hour talking about this youth pastor’s strengths and weaknesses. I asked about the ministry there and we talked openly about how my staff guy would do in his environment. During the interview process in another state, the youth pastor called ME with some questions. I coached him a little bit as far as what he was experiencing (without giving away his need to be fully himself in the interview process). When he got back, he processed with me whether or not this was God’s leading. He got the ministry position and lives in that other state now… and would you believe, we’re still good friends!
This process struck me as just being right! I think God is honored when we’re open and honest, holding HIS Kingdom with open hands. He can do whatever He wants, true?
Enjoying the blog… blessings!
I agree with hiring internal staff, or church members, for a number of reasons:
1) They are committed to the church and, more importantly, the VISION for the church.
2) They will be good on staff because they are probably doing whatever you are going to hire them for for free already which shows a love for God and ministry.
3) Turnover typically will not be as high…especially for administrative type jobs. As far as hiring a church member and ordaining him as a pastor I think that person has to be called to the ministry and the whole process should be a bit more serious since he will now be a biblical elder.
Be looking forward to seeing what you write about tomorrow. I am thoroughly enjoying this series.
Thanks for the hiring thoughts - some good, helpful stuff for sure. But hiring is the easy part right? I’m looking forward to your thoughts on how to handle the times when it’s necessary to “let someone go.”
I’d like to get thoughts on hiring staff from a church where you formerly served. Should the relational connection necessitate permission from the current supervisor? Is there a time period that should be allowed before pursuing staff, after you have moved to another church?
Craig - thanks for these series of posts… Very helpful!
Great comments. Can some of you help answer Steven’s question and keep the dialog going.
What have you learned about this from your expereince?
great post! one question though…
how is it less disruptive to a church’s ministry to lose someone just because they’re further away? have they not lost that staff member regardless of the new positions location?
or are you referring to the possibility that people will follow the personality if they remain in the area?
As far as Steven’s question about hiring former staff, as with anything, there are many variables.
I believe an example that would be a reason to hire former staff would be the following:
Let’s say you were lead pastor at Church X. Rev. John was your Associate Pastor. You leave Church X and go to Community Church. The new pastor comes into Church X and has a completely different vision for the church. Rev. John is frustrated with the new vision and Community Church, where you are now, could use a Rev. John to reach people for Christ. It would be beneficial at that point to definitely bring Rev. John on staff for you, him, Community Church, Church X, and the Kingdom.
This has great application to the business world as well. I’ll keep these in mind for my own hiring in the future. Thanks, Craig!
Steven, I think this is the same as in any business. Most people have an exit strategy, so when one of my management team decides to leave, one of the first questions is who they are taking (direct reports, etc).
At that point there is open dialogue and compromise. If that did not transpire then it is subjective based on your relationship. Any L5 leader will not stand in the way of a growth opportunity for a team member.
The change facilitates growth for both orgs.
[...] It seems that everyone has been talking lately about leaving churches and how to be graceful in doing so. And if it’s not how to leave a church, it’s how to take in someone who left another church or fire someone from your own church. [...]
[...] Hurt Relationships. If you hire from other ministries, you can put a strain on ministry friendships. We must be careful to hire with integrity. [...]