Articles for tag: Church Staffing

September 1, 2024

Jerry Harris

The Solomon Foundation Doesn’t Just Believe in this Movement, We Believe in You!

There is no doubt that we at The Solomon Foundation really believe in this movement and that we put our resources and energy to work every day to help the person in a hard and resistant urban environment, the ministry volunteer in a rural church virtually invisible to the world outside of its community, the preacher trying to figure out how to connect more effectively to the community while lifting up the name of Jesus, and the church leadership wanting to reach out to new communities through multi-site. We don’t just believe in this movement; we believe in you! 

January 1, 2022

Christian Standard

Recruitment: How Do Restoration Movement Churches Find Talented Leaders to Fuel Growth?

By Kevin Stone Since the beginning of our church in Pennsylvania, staffing has been among our biggest challenges. There is a continuous, ever-increasing need for people to lead stuff! As we all know, without a constant flow of good people, it’s very difficult to grow. Hiring from the Outside Your church has a leadership need, so you go to an outside recruiting firm for help. You know the process—you write a position description and start the search. I wish it were that simple. Our desire to prevent theological drift requires that we recruit from within the tribe, so to speak. And finding

January 1, 2022

Kent E. Fillinger

Kent E. Fillinger

The Preacher Pipeline Problem

A ministry friend recently worked with the Slingshot Group, a church staffing firm, to find a new ministry, and they told him he was one of 19,000 candidates they were helping. I imagine this represents people from a multitude of denominations and backgrounds, as well as those seeking a variety of church ministry roles. Either way, it’s clear there’s a sizable number of people currently in ministry who are looking for something different or somewhere new to serve. But what does the future “preacher pipeline” look like based on who’s leading our Christian churches today? A Long-Term Look at Lead

March 25, 2019

Christian Standard

SPOTLIGHT: Manchester Christian Church, Manchester, New Hampshire

A Decentralized Approach to Church Growth By Steve Carr The church must look different tomorrow than it does today. This is the conviction of Bo Chancey, lead minister of Manchester Christian Church in New England. It is a fascinating observation, considering Manchester Christian, which now averages about 4,000 weekly, is already the largest Protestant church in New Hampshire, the second most dechurched region in America. Still, the church’s strategy relies upon continual risk-taking and nontraditional approaches to growth. Change is an essential part of Manchester Christian’s DNA. “Churches always change, because the church is people, and people are constantly changing,”

August 14, 2015

Christian Standard

Keeping New Leaders in the Game

By Dave Miller Ministry is hard. Who can help ministers jump the hurdles in their first few years of service? After 13 years of ministry, I was fortunate to jump on a start-up and fly all over the United States to consult in churches. I probably visited 400 churches over the five-plus years I was with that organization. I don”t want to exaggerate here, but I believe I heard some version of this phrase more than 200 times: “Please help us find a youth pastor or kids pastor or worship leader or executive or tech director, etc.” It didn”t matter

April 14, 2013

Christian Standard

The Chemistry Quotient

By Carl Kuhl Have you heard about The Three Ingredient Cookbook? True to its name, every recipe has only three ingredients. One of my friends got it as a wedding present when she was inexperienced in the kitchen, the idea being that even she would be capable of these recipes. But here”s the thing about The Three Ingredient Cookbook: if you leave out one of the ingredients, it doesn”t work! Some more complicated recipes call for a dozen or more ingredients, and if you are out of one particular spice, you usually can omit it with no problem. But when

October 13, 2010

Christian Standard

Hiring Resources

By R. Paige Mathews So, you need to hire a church worker””what is your first step? Here are some books and Web sites that will be helpful in your search. Job Descriptions Creating a comprehensive job description is the place to start in any church worker search. The following books provide a framework for writing a job description unique to your situation. The Big Book of Job Descriptions for Ministry by Larry Gilbert and Cindy Spear (Gospel Light Publications, 2002). Job Descriptions and Duties for Church Members and Workers by Herbert W. Byrne (Xulon Press, 2005). Staff Your Church for

October 11, 2010

Christian Standard

Let”s Get Together

By Rob Kastens Our leadership at Mountain Christian Church, Joppa, Maryland, has worked hard to create a mission-first, team-first staff culture. We work hard to facilitate, encourage, and protect this culture with existing staff, but we work extra hard to ensure prospective staff understand, buy in, and fit in with our culture. In fact, we believe selecting new staff to join our team at Mountain is one of the most important tasks of leadership. Few decisions have a longer-term impact on a church”s health and mission than the people it hires. Selecting wisely can move the mission forward and heighten

August 18, 2010

Christian Standard

Lookin” for Squirrels

By George Ross I”m sitting in a motel a long ways from home with a laptop and a deadline. (I”m on a staff recruiting trip interviewing two guys for two key positions for our ministry leadership team.) I”m wondering if I should acknowledge in this article what I”m struggling with. So here I sit in the motel facing a big mirror on the wall as I look beyond my computer. I”m OK with the deadline and the risk factor, just not the mirror! A visual of myself at 6:30 am brings no inspiration! A Specific Sign In recruiting for a

March 21, 2010

Christian Standard

Ask Yourself Some Questions Before You Fire

By Ken Swatman It was Monday morning and I sat at my desk feeling tired and frustrated, trying to decide if it was time for a staff change in a key position. I had been over the issues again and again in my mind, Did the staff member just not understand his leadership role or ministry expectations, or did he not have the skills necessary to be effective in his ministry position? I knew we weren”t getting what we needed and something had to change, but was firing him the right answer? As pastors and church leaders, we never want

September 13, 2009

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: The 2008 List

  by Kent Fillinger/Ben Simms This is our first Medium-Sized Churches chart for churches that averaged 500-999 for worship. This listing of 66 churches includes church name, city, senior minister, Web site, average attendance for 2008, and number of baptisms. (This is not a complete listing of such churches; it is a listing of Medium-Sized Churches that participated in our survey.) The chart/pdf that is accessible below contains the entire 66-church listing. Click here to look at this chart of the 2008 MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES.         This listing is part of The 2008 Medium-Sized Church Report: Deluxe Edition, which is available as a

September 13, 2009

Christian Standard

MEDIUM-SIZED CHURCHES: Fun Facts

  Compiled by Ben Simms A COMPARISON: The combined attendance of the 66 medium-sized churches we surveyed, 46,392, is smaller than the combined attendance of the four largest megachurches. OUR NORTHERN NEIGHBORS: It”s been said a Canadian church of 500 should be considered a “megachurch.” Hats off to the two north-of-the-border churches on the list: Churchill Meadows Christian in Mississauga, Ontario, and Bow Valley Christian in Calgary, Alberta.   DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE: The combined megachurch attendance roughly equals the population of Cincinnati, Ohio, while the combined attendance of the medium-sized churches that participated in our survey is approximately the

January 27, 2008

Christian Standard

Size Matters: The Changing Role of Elder

By Doug Priest Our family became members of Oaklandon Christian Church a dozen years ago when we returned to the States after our years as missionaries in Singapore. In Singapore we were part of a church with about 80-90 in weekly attendance. With the move, we became part of a church with an average weekly attendance of 350. And during the 1990s the church”s growth surged from 200 to 700. The church in Oaklandon, a township on the outskirts of Indianapolis, Indiana, was founded 140 years ago. In the last couple of decades Oaklandon has lost most of its rural

October 7, 2007

Christian Standard

Cultivating Church Leadership Through Internships

By Kevin Stone As Christ”s Church of the Valley”s executive pastor, I receive e-mails like this all the time from church leaders around the country: “I”m looking to release a new employee manual, do you have anything I can use?” “We”re revising our bylaws; can I get a copy of yours to read for input?” “We”re about to begin a capital campaign, what consultant do you recommend?” By far, though, the queries I receive most are from pastors with key leadership positions to fill. Good people are hard to find and lack of leadership people can and will hamper a

Help Keep Christian Standard Free & Accessible with a Tax Deductible Donation

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Does Your Church Want to Support Christian Standard?

Would your church consider including support for Christian Standard in its annual missions budget? Your support would help us not only continue the 160-year legacy of this unifying ministry, but also expand the free resources, cooperative opportunities, and practical guidance we provide to strengthen churches in the U.S. and around the world.

We can do more together!

Every gift makes a difference!

No, thank you.
100% secure transactions - receipts provided.
Secret Link