3. The slow trigger.
Here we have the church that cannot hold people accountable or transition them out when they need to. This leads to ministry mediocrity over many years, and having even one of these can seriously impact your church.
How do we know when it’s time to release someone?
If they demonstrate a lack of effort or ability to improve their character, competency, or chemistry on the team–over a six month period.
If they are trying, I might go a year. If they won’t try, I might not even wait six months–provided they knew what the church expected from them and I was coaching them along the way.
Allowing people to languish does no one any favors.
4. Settling.
There might be times when a church should hire someone to fill a spot that really needs attention immediately. I just can’t think of one.
Don’t hire someone who can fill a necessary role quickly, unless they are the best person to fill it permanently. The one exception is interim hiring in which everyone understands it’s interim.
Don’t settle.
5. Handcuffing your ataff.
Don’t hire people if you don’t plan to make virtually every resource you can available to them. Care for them spiritually, and be generous in budgeting for their areas of ministry.
If you’ve hired good people, they won’t waste it. They will multiply its impact.
True story: I have a friend who is a highly capable Youth Minister. He was hired to work with a Youth Ministry of roughly twenty students. The church, which had plenty of money at the time (very important), allowed him only a whopping $200 Youth Ministry budget–total. Just as exciting for him, conference attendance was considered vacation time. It took him all of six months to figure out his hands were tied and he couldn’t deliver what they had asked him to–and he didn’t want to be there long-term. The church rehired the position, and that minister was gone in a year, as well.
If you’re going to spend the money on a staff position–give them the tools. Or, expect a lot less. But, who wants to hire someone will low expectations. If you don’t have enough money to resource the position you are hiring, you can’t afford the position. If you have the money, use it to equip the substantial investment you’ve made in position. It’s a worthwhile investment of God’s resources.
What would you add to this list? Any thoughts on the above?
