The primary purpose of conducting an exit interview is to identify opportunities for improvement within the church and staff culture. A well designed exit interview will allow you to see patterns in feedback from departing staff, understand the reasons people are leaving, and identify actions that can be taken to avoid future loss of valuable employees. Unfortunately, most churches miss... Continue Reading
Pre-employment screening is a vital component of a comprehensive church staff hiring process. Pre-employment screening can make the difference between a successful and an unfortunate hire. A thorough pre-employment screening process includes both reference and background checks. What is Included in a Reference Check? A reference check is when an employer contacts a job applicants previous employers, friends, associates, schools,... Continue Reading
Every church needs a Pastor Interpreter, someone who is seen by staff and members as the one who knows and can translate what the Pastor said, meant, thinks, or wants accomplished. In other words, someone who can interpret to others on behalf of the Pastor. The likely candidates for this role is the Pastor’s Administrative Assistant, Executive Pastor, or Associate... Continue Reading
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats originated by Albert S. Humphries in the 1960’s as a simple strategic planning tool for individuals and organizations. It is intended to identify internal and external factors that might influence an organization, objective, or decision. By definition, Strengths and Weaknesses are considered to be internal factors over which you have... Continue Reading
When a staff member has difficulty assimilating into a new church culture, we often reference the dissonance as a “fit” issue. And, increasingly we see more emphasis being placed on “fit” during the hiring process. I have found it helpful though to further differentiate into “fit” and “fit in” factors. For purposes of this discussion, “fit” related factors are more... Continue Reading
“Matthew 25 scares the hell out me,” was the response of a pastor friend to the question of what he had learned during his recent sabbatical. Reading with new found clarity where Jesus thrice states we will be judged by our compassion towards “the least of these” had unnerved this seasoned pastor. And, observing social ministry and social justice... Continue Reading
The breadth of responsibilities for the typical Executive Pastor makes it difficult to briefly describe the position’s job duties. The pithiest description I’ve heard is “the Executive Pastor does everything the Pastor can’t do, won’t do, and shouldn’t do, and if did do, we’d be in big do.” Aside from witty maxims, analogies can be most helpful. The analogy of... Continue Reading
Start, Stop, Continue is a simple yet catalytic team building, feedback, and decision making exercise with a variety of applications that every church leader should have in their facilitation toolkit. When I am called in as an outside consultant to facilitate strategic conversations, this is my default feedback tool. Let’s take a closer look at how it works. Facilitation Instructions... Continue Reading
Most church leaders who have facilitated staff, team, or committee brainstorming sessions know that most of these efforts result in more ideas, initiatives, or strategies than you can possibly implement at once. How do you go about deciding which initiatives to undertake first? How do you determine priorities? One of the simplest ways for coming together on an agreed upon... Continue Reading
Last week we looked at the history, definition, and outcomes of the Command, Demand, and Control Leadership approach that has become so popular in businesses and churches in recent decades. This week we examine an alternate approach for church leaders to consider. The Church and Culture Has Changed Today’s churches are too large, too complex, and too dynamic to put... Continue Reading
Command, demand, and control is a common leadership style in the local church. Many of today’s church leaders were mentored themselves by command, demand, and control leaders, and therefore the culture of most churches is based on command, demand, and control behaviors. A command, demand, and control leadership approach is based on models from the military, where top generals develop... Continue Reading
In the article, “Church Staffing Levels – Getting It Right,” we examined the effect of Parkinson’s First Law, “work expands to fill the time allotted” and its application to church staffing. A corollary is Parkinson’s Second Law, “expenditures rise to meet income,” a law that has application to church budgets and expenditures. Northcote Parkinson’s satirical look at industrial and government... Continue Reading
Jim is a Church Organizational Leadership and Management Coach, Consultant and Trainer. Throughout his career Jim has demonstrated a passion for showing Pastors and Ministers how to use organizational tools for church and personal growth and health.
More About Jim“For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see how well ordered you are and the strength of your faith in Christ.” Colossians 2:5