When to Hire from Outside Your Church
“When a church approaches me about making a new hire on their pastoral staff, they’re typically looking for someone outside their church. However, before we begin the hiring process with clients, we encourage these churches to evaluate if this is the right time to look externally for a new staff member.” – Matt Steen
This is a guest post from my friend Matt Steen, co-founder of Chemistry Staffing,a new organization who helps churches and potential staff members make healthy connections. Chemistry Staffing’s process has one goal: a long-term, healthy fit for both the church and the staff member. I can’t recommend Chemistry Staffing enough. As a gift for reader’s of this site, click here to receive a copy of 20 Things to Know About Church Staff Candidates BEFORE You Interview Them.
The following are a few of Matt’s signs for when to hire an external hire for a ministry or pastoral position at your church:
Your Church Culture Is Unhealthy
The number one issue that almost every staffing expert and church staffing expert will mention when it comes to an external hire is an opportunity to change the culture of a church. External hires won’t say, “But we’ve always done it THIS way!” Isn’t that refreshing?
Injecting some fresh ideas and systems that aren’t weighed down by past experiences at your church can go a long way toward bringing renewal and necessary shifts. While every new staff member should share your core values and commitments in ministry, “how” they operate within those values and commitments can make all of the difference.
You Need Someone with Experience and Training
In some hiring situations, we believe you can’t overlook the value of experience. Oftentimes a ministry opportunity may arise that the existing pastoral staff simply can’t manage, whether that involves experience in pastoral counseling or ministering in a particular niche such as youth ministry. A fully trained and experienced pastor can thrive by providing that sorely needed expertise.
You Don’t Have Time to Train Internal Hires
While every church should aim to train and develop leaders internally, there may be situations where an urgent need or shifting situation calls for an external hire. In some cases, a pastor may be booked solid and the new hire will free the pastor to do more discipleship and training.
We have heard plenty of stories of internal hires who thought that working in their church would be a great experience. Then they were tossed into the deep end and left to sink or swim without proper training and onboarding. Failing to properly train an internal hire can leave you without a vital staff member AND a committed volunteer.
You Don’t Want to Disrupt Your Volunteer Culture
A highly involved volunteer can sometimes make a very smooth transition into a paid ministry position, but such a move can also be highly disruptive in some cases. For instance, if there are other equally committed volunteers who believe they put in as much or even more time into the ministry, what are you communicating by not hiring them?
In most cases, churches need to simply communicate their needs and the qualifications for the position. Most importantly: don’t let your volunteers believe that they’re auditioning for a hired position when that’s not the case!
You Have Found the Right Fit
Although a church’s leadership team may believe they have a strong candidate within their own ranks, we’ve found that sometimes a wider search can turn up a much better fit for an open position. That isn’t to say that the person they had in mind would have been a disaster. Rather, once they interview a wider group of candidates, they find that they can hire someone who aligns with their values, culture, and needs for the current position.
Maybe I’m a little biased when it comes to valuing a wider search, but I’ve seen it happen enough that it’s worth noting its value. You simply won’t know the strength of an internal candidate unless you’ve brought in some outside candidates to get a clearer picture.
More from Matt at Chemistry Staffing
We spend a lot of time helping churches at Chemistry Staffing consider who to hire and where to find the best candidates. If you’d like to learn more, click here to receive a copy of 20 Things to Know About Church Staff Candidates BEFORE You Interview Them. This document is the foundation of our unique candidate assessment system and should be the starting point for your search as well.
We love learning about churches and helping them find candidates for their open positions… and we’d love to help you. As a reader of Brian’s blog, I’d love for you to take part in a free 30-Minute Consultation where we can learn a little bit about what you are looking for, and share some of what we have learned from the churches we have served. You can click here to schedule a time.