Articles on Staffing
Whether you have a staff of 3, 30 or 300, your staff leads the way in growing the church in your community. Having the “right people on the bus, in the right seats” is important for the health of your staff and church. Are you treating your staff right and helping them grow in their abilities and spiritual walk?
Top 10 Questions Employers Wish They Had Asked
Everyone has regrets, but after a bad hire, those “should have asked” questions pile up quickly! While typically an employer thinks ahead of time what questions they want to ask someone in the interview [...]
Free Church Hiring Toolkit
Tiffany Henning, the Chief People Person of HR Ministry Solutions, is making available to the XPastor community her Church Hiring Toolkit. This is an excellent 24 page resource. She says "Afraid of strings attached? [...]
Free E-Book on Smart Succession
Dave Travis has a great e-book on Smart Succession. This is available for a free download from this page. Dave successfully steered Leadership Network for many years and now is the Director of Strategic Counsel [...]
Free Webinar: I Have Salary Data—Now What?
Pastors get swamped by the tedious amount of salary information now available online. Just a few years ago, there was little data available. The challenge now is sorting through the best information for your [...]
Mandatory Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Update
California has recently updated the requirements for sexual harassment prevention training. Your state may have similar regulations. The bottom line---train all staff. Tiffany Henning at HR Ministry Solutions, XPastor's go-to resource for HR information, [...]
5 HR Myths that Can Self Destruct Your Ministry
You heard the calling. You received the commission. You found the location. Your team is now gathered and serving the community, and God is moving in amazing ways! But then, you receive another call. [...]
Fletch and Monty Kelso Talk on Retirement Income
Fletch and Monty Kelso shared a conversation about salaries and retirement. Monty is the President of SlingShot Group. Slingshot guides churches with staff searches and helps many with compensation issues. Fletch and Monty took [...]
Church Musicians: Employees or Independent Contractors?
Are the musicians your church pays to perform for worship services and other church events employees or independent contractors? Contrary to what some churches may believe, whether a musician paid by a church to [...]
ECFA Podcast with Fletch on Salaries
The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability recently said, "XPastor to the Rescue with Church Salary Workshops." Compensation can be a murky issue for churches. Few resources are available that are both approachable and accurate. Michael [...]
Sample Church Employment Application
Churches have asked for sample Employment Applications. Use this as a basis for your own application form. XPastor supplies this information for education purposes only. Consult an attorney or labor specialist to determine the [...]
Creating an Irresistible Workplace
Excerpt from Culture Wins: The Roadmap to an Irresistible Workplace I’ll never forget the first time I hired someone and felt good about it. We shook hands over a cup of coffee, and I walked away [...]
Job Description—Executive Pastor—Sample
XPastor has collected various job descriptions from churches, to aid you in preparing job descriptions for yourself or others on your staff. Below is a sample job description that David Fletcher put together, a compilation of [...]
Want to Reach Millennials? Hire Millennials.
I have seen article after article about how to reach millennials in church, how to speak to them, how to create events for them ... it just goes on and on. One thing that I [...]
Staffing Smarts—Free Resource to Download
Our friends at Slingshot have released a great book on effective techniques to help you hire the best. They say: "From building healthy teams to navigating ministry crises in your church staff, the people [...]
Clarifying the XP Role
“And all other duties as may be assigned.” This is commonly the last line in a job description, but the practical reality for many second chair leaders is that this is their first responsibility. This [...]
Church Staffing Firms: What Are the Options?
The church is not properly educated when it comes to understanding what their options are in hiring a pastoral staffing firm. Until recently, there was really only one option: Retained Pastoral Search Firms. Understanding the [...]
A Preferred Hiring Path
Do you have a preferred path for making a hire at your church? Everything works better with a plan, including the selection of your next team member. The author of this article wrote up these [...]
Podcast–David Fletcher on Next Generation Leaders
David was featured on the unSeminary podcast. He talked with Rich Birch about a system for training and releasing next generation leaders. If you don't know UnSeminary yet, dive into their website for rich information on [...]
Four Ways to Turn Off Pastoral Candidates
The hiring process of a new pastor or ministry director is like going to a school dance. When you know the candidate, the process is like a high school dance; if you don’t, then the [...]
Why the Apostle Paul Could Not Work at Your Church Today
“I wasn’t able to lead my church during the Christmas Eve service this year.” It was just a few short weeks into the New Year and I was with a pastor friend from a neighboring [...]
Video: Should You Hire From Inside or Outside the Church?
Whether you should hire from within or outside the church when a staff position becomes available is a common question. Truth is, there is no right or wrong answer. Listen as David Lyons, Founder of MinisterSearch, [...]
Personnel Policies and Procedures
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church—items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Personnel Policies and Procedures from Parma Heights Baptist [...]
Five Common Search Committee Mistakes
In churches, universities and nonprofits across the country, search committees gather with high hopes and the intention to see a great leader chosen to lead their organization. None set out to fail, but in our [...]
Book Review: Necessary Endings
Necessary Endings is a “necessary” read for every church leader, regardless of denominational stripe. While the author and internationally renowned Dr. Henry Cloud intended this volume to promote personal and professional growth, it could have [...]
Video: Let’s Talk about Compensation and the Church
Talking about staff compensation should not be a taboo subject in the church. Compensation is very important to the long-term success of any staff member. Watch David Lyons, President of MinisterSearch, discuss this vital topic.
How to “Fire” a Church Volunteer
One question I frequently receive when talking about recruiting and retaining church volunteers is what to do about a volunteer who isn't working out. In other words, how do you “fire” a volunteer? This is obviously [...]
Fact: Insurance Costs a Lot and Can Be Very Complicated
I should preface this review of a somewhat painful education with the proclamation that some of the people I enjoy most in the world are insurance agents and brokers. With that said, I think [...]
Leading from the Second Chair—Depression Inside the Church
I was a young 20-something, eager to get ahead, and interviewing for a promotion to Project Manager. My boss at the time gave me this little bit of wisdom as she described the role, “You’ll [...]
My Top Ten Tips of Advice to a Church Walking Through a Scandal
Sadly, it appears church after church is having to respond to immoral actions of pastors falling from grace. It deeply grieves me and causes me to really hurt for those churches. Young Christians and seekers [...]
Employee Handbook
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Employee Handbook from Foothills Christian Church in El Cajon, [...]
Where Shall I Focus My Attention?
At the start of the XPastor Online Course on Operations 101--Staffing, I had been in my current role as Director of Ministry Operations at Calvary Bible Church for fourteen months. Calvary is a multi-campus church [...]
Human Resource Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Human Resource Policy from Seven Mile Road Church in [...]
Personnel Policies
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below are the Personnel Policies from Central Baptist Church of Hixon, [...]
Opportunity Profile
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Opportunity Profile for the Director of Worship [...]
Salary Grid Example
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is a sample of a Salary Grid from a [...]
Should You Hire From Within?
Thinking of hiring internally? When a church needs to fill a staff position, one of the first questions is always, “Do we want to hire someone from somewhere else, or do we want to hire [...]
Questions for the New Year
The New Year brings new opportunities to focus our lives on what and who matters most. In my mentoring and consulting practice, I am working with my clients this month, helping them talk through their [...]
How to Deliver Bad News
We all love to deliver good news---a successful event, a budget overage, finishing a building project early and under budget, or a ministry initiative that exceeded expectations. But what do you do when you need [...]
Video: Opting Out of Social Security
Should you opt out of Social Security? Did you know that you have to have a valid legal reason to make this choice? Are you aware of the requirements to opting out? Watch as David Middlebrook of [...]
Sabbatical Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the 2005 Sabbatical Policy of the Westminster Church of [...]
Sabbatical Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Sabbatical Policy from Bel Air Presbyterian Church [...]
Five Reasons to Avoid Questionnaires When Hiring
Do you like filling out questionnaires? I don’t. The only time I fill them out is when I have no other choice. But what about when it comes to hiring? Is it a good idea [...]
Staff Compensation
Determining how to compensate your church staff is not an easy task and we can easily find ourselves at one of two extremes. We can treat our church staff the same way many businesses [...]
The Termination Process
Understanding that termination is a difficult process to execute, we as human beings never want to engage in those conversations. But before even approaching the process of termination, I looked through Scripture and found countless [...]
The Hiring Process
One of the most exciting and challenging aspects of working together in a staff context is finding the right hire to fill an open position. The excitement comes from understanding that the staff group/team is [...]
True Confessions of a Decent Horse
“My good Horse, you’ve lost nothing but your self-conceit. No, no, cousin. Don’t put back your ears and shake your mane at me. If you are really so humbled as you sounded a minute ago, [...]
A Ten Step Process for Hiring Church Staff
I’ve hired a handful of staff members in my time; however, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that I’ve never committed the full process to paper—all in one place. After processing the XPastor Online Course material [...]
Eight Ways to Respond When Facing Rejection
You will learn more about a person’s character when they face rejection than when they face success. It’s easy to feel enthusiastic, fearless, and prideful when we feel successful. However, being rejected or feeling [...]
Sabbatical On-Ramps and Off-Ramps
One of the keys to a successful sabbatical has nothing to do with what you do on your sabbatical itself, but everything to do with how you transition into and out of it. For twenty years I have [...]
Video: When Insurance Doesn’t Want to Pay
What should you do with a denied insurance claim that you believe is valid? David Middlebrook of the Church Law Group outlines helpful steps to start resolving a dispute in this video. David Middlebrook, and [...]
Book Review: Staff Your Church for Growth
Gary McIntosh’s book, Staff Your Church for Growth, is ambitious in its broad coverage of topics related to developing a team to lead a church---all within the context of the current dynamics of American culture, [...]
Book Review: All Rise—Church Staffing
I am not an XP yet, but I do hope to be one when I grow up. In my pursuit of knowledge about the role and the many areas an XP has to keep track [...]
Pastoral Review Plan and Forms
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and opportunity profiles. Below is the 2012 Pastoral Staff Evaluation Plan and forms [...]
The Interview Process and Sample Questions
To get to the in-person stage of the interview process, the candidate has successfully gone through one or two phone interviews. Below are some ideas for how the in-person interviews should proceed. Included are some [...]
The Spiritual Benefits of a Sabbatical—For the Servant and the Kingdom
Just the word Sabbatical conjures up all sorts of mystery. You might be contemplating whether you should take a sabbatical—if your church provides one for you. Perhaps you are thinking of asking for a sabbatical [...]
Interviewing the Church … While They Interview You
I have worked at two different churches full-time and have learned, through my experiences, how and what to look for in a church. I do not consider myself to be an expert but want to [...]
Seven Warning Signs that Your Church Staff is in Trouble
The caliber of your church staff is crucial to the long-term health of your church. Honing your ability as a leader and your church staff's ability to operate as a high functioning team takes work, [...]
Ministerial Housing Allowance
Our friends at GuideStone have collected vital questions about Ministerial Housing Allowances. They have let XPastor share this information. If you need more help with this or other financial and insurance issues, contact Barbara Medlin, Managing [...]
Employee Handbook
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Employee Handbook of Christ Community Church of Chicago, [...]
Before You Pay the Pastor
What should church leaders note before structuring compensation plans? Compensation planning for clergy and other church staff presents several unique tax issues that are not well understood by many church leaders and their advisers. Here are [...]
Three Kinds of Executive Pastors
Who will be your next XP? What is the rise and function of the Executive Pastor? Whether you call the position Executive Pastor or Senior Associate Pastor or Chief Cook and Bottle Washer, there are many [...]
45 Job Descriptions
XPastor has collected various job descriptions from churches, to aid you in preparing job descriptions for yourself or others on your staff. Below are 45 job descriptions from the Central Baptist Church of Hixon, Tennessee. Also [...]
The Nuts and Bolts of Writing Job Descriptions
Job descriptions are written documents that facilitate good communication about what a person is to be doing and focusing on. If they are well thought through, well written, and referred to often, job descriptions will [...]
Staff Educational Assistance Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Staff Educational Assistance Policy of the Wesleyan Church [...]
Staff Termination Exit Interview
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below are Exit Interview Questions from Old North Church of Canfield, Ohio that they [...]
Employment Application
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, and opportunity profiles. Below is a link to an Employment Application from the Old North [...]
Employee Handbook
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Employee Handbook of Old North Church of Canfield, [...]
Salary Disclosure Policy
XPastor tries to help churches out by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms, applications and policies. Below is the 2001 Salary Disclosure Policy of BCF [...]
Personnel Handbook
XPastor tries to help churches out by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms, employment handbooks and ministry policies. Below is the Personnel Handbook of BCF [...]
Family on Staff Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, employee handbooks, review forms and policies. Below is the 2001 Family on Staff Policy from [...]
Family on Staff Procedures
XPastor tries to help churches out by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, employee handbook, review forms and policies. Below are the 2007 Family on Staff Procedures [...]
Conditions for Service
XPastor tries to help churches out by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms, employee handbooks and policies. Below are the Conditions for Service at Bible [...]
Good Fit or Poor Fit: How Can You Tell?
When Goldilocks visited the Three Bears’ house, she tried three different rocking chairs. Papa Bear’s was “too big,” she decided. Then Baby Bear’s broke into a dozen pieces under her weight. “Too small,” she declared [...]
Employee Manual
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the Employee Manual of Northwest Bible Church of Dallas, [...]
Opportunity Profile Example
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---one of these items is an Opportunity Profiles. An Opportunity Profile should be prepared to aid in orienting candidates to the [...]
Senior Leadership Review Form
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and Opportunity Profiles. Below is a review form for the Senior Leadership from [...]
Personnel Manual
XPastor tries to help churches out by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, employee manuals, review forms and policies. Below is the Personnel Manual of Village Bible [...]
The Hidden Step in Hiring: Get to Know “X”
In my career, I have hired dozens and dozens of pastors, ministry directors and church workers. There are huge differences between hiring people in each one of these categories. To name just a few, there [...]
The Cost of Hiring Mistakes
In most churches, the ministry year begins September 1. Kids get promoted to new classrooms, youth programs have new plans and preachers begin a new series. Many people decide to find a church in September. [...]
Suggestions for Writing Church Policies
Every XP deals with church policy. Some of you love them, others tolerate it, while others avoid it like a plague. But every church needs them. When writing policies for your church, keep in mind [...]
Strengthening Your Staff
As an experienced executive pastor, and as the founder of XPastor, I often have people contact me with questions about ministry. One of the most frequent issues that church leaders bring to me is about [...]
Raises for Your Staff
At least once a year, you have the wonderful and terrible role of determining raises. Certainly it is wonderful. You have the opportunity to reward people for their hard work and great performance. I love [...]
Church Policy and Procedures
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below are the Policy and Procedures of The Sanctuary Fellowship of [...]
Staff Service Award Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and policies. Below is the 2012 Staff Service Award Policy of the First [...]
Sabbatical Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the 2006 Sabbatical Policy of Grace Covenant Church of [...]
Employee Handbook
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Employee Handbook from Wildwood Church in East Moline, Illinois. [...]
Sabbatical Policy
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the Sabbatical Leave Policy from Old North Church of [...]
Opportunity Profile Example
XPastor tries to help churches by providing some of the essentials for running a church---items like job descriptions, employment applications, review forms and church policies. Below is the 2005 Opportunity Profile from Grace Covenant Church in [...]
Honing a Church Staff
By definition, leaders build teams. One cannot be a leader unless others follow. In a similar vein—and again by definition—a church involves a plurality of people. One person cannot operate as a church. It takes a team [...]
Leading Through a Senior Pastor Transition
Nothing jolts a church quite like the resignation of its senior pastor. Shock, disbelief, confusion, disappointment. And that’s just the get-go of the attending reactions and emotions. While the inner circle of leadership may see [...]
Get the Most From Your Sabbatical
Recently, our church gave my wife and I the gift of an eight-week sabbatical. It exceeded my expectations, by a long shot. My last sabbatical was devoted to writing a dissertation. Thankfully, this one was quite [...]
“Calvin Grads Dominate 2006 Pastors’ Draft”
Never forget to laugh! Here is some great fun from Joel Kilpatrick, founder of Larknews.com. You don't know about Lark News? It's a Christian version of The Onion ... so put on your sense of [...]
Free Minister’s 2013 Tax Guide
Our friends at GuideStone Financial Resources are making this resource available to the XPastor community. They are committed sponsors of the XP-Seminar each year and have given us great help in our retirement planning. Enjoy this [...]
Developmental Paradigms for Leaders
My developmental paradigm for leaders is assess, challenge and support. The threefold paradigm of assess, challenge and support comes from The Handbook of Leadership Development (McCauley, Moxley, and Velsor, editors). The assessment needs to be honest and [...]
Paying the XP: How Much is Enough?
Everybody struggles with it. Everybody seemingly wants more of it. So how much should we pay our church leaders? This article is drawn from the responses of 135 Executive Pastors about their base salary. Consider the following [...]
How to Get Hired at a Large Church
David Fletcher gave this PowerPoint presentation at Dallas Seminary in 2002. There was a "snappy" discussion on the topic that was highly animated at times. This 28-slide PDF begins to explore some of the issues of getting [...]
Ten Steps to Hiring Great Pastors and Directors
Executive Pastors face an enormous challenge—hiring great staff. An XP called me because he had a hiring dilemma. “I think that I have a great candidate, but I need your input.” In working with church [...]
The Chapel’s Budget Cuts—Cutting $750,000 in Staff
Due to the failing economy and a decline in attendance numbers, The Chapel in Akron, Ohio needed to make budget cuts. They had to trim $760,000 from their staff budget … which meant laying off [...]
Caesar Takes a Pastor’s Salary
Few issues are as misunderstood, abused and confused as the tax implications of a pastor’s salary. The issue is so different from compensation in the business world that some CPA’s have given errant advice to [...]
How to Hire: The In-Person Interview
There are many steps to successfully hiring a new pastor or director. In the first five steps of the process, you have posted the job, received resumes and conducted interviews by telephone. The sixth step [...]
Sabbatical: Siesta, Study or Sayonara? Summary Article
“I talked about my sabbatical from the pulpit,” said Pastor Mark Brewer. “I even brought up the Elders at each of the three services, and brought up all of the pastoral staff. But, the congregation [...]
Sabbatical: Siesta, Study or Sayonara?
“I talked about my sabbatical from the pulpit,” said Pastor Mark Brewer. “I even brought up the Elders at each of the three services, and brought up all of the pastoral staff. But, the congregation still had [...]
A Contrarian’s Journey through Staff Evaluations
I never would have called myself a contrarian until recently. Now I can look back and see the seeds of it being planted in my college years during the turbulent ‘60s. The school of architecture [...]
The Business of Church
There is a distinctly business-like aspect to overseeing a church: churches have assets to manage, employees to pay, and members who rightfully demand accountability for their financial contributions. The business side of church leadership [...]
Hiring 101: How the “Great” Ones Do It
Hiring. Just saying the word out loud for many pastors produces audible groans, pained expressions and rolling eyes. Hiring. Everyone knows it’s a necessity; hardly anyone sees it as glamorous. Yet a few, perhaps, see in it [...]
Hiring For Right Fit
An important word when talking about hiring is chemistry. And it seems to me that there’s hardly a topic that could be more important or relevant for today. Every winning sports team seems to have and talk [...]
Leading Your Staff and Church During Hard Times
One of the hardest experiences I have ever had as an executive pastor is coming to the reality that our church will have to lay off a staff member. The burden hurts beyond words. It [...]
How to Hold Difficult Conversations
Holding a tough conversation is arguably a leader’s most difficult and draining responsibility. Many leaders dread these talks … and understandably so. But strange as it may seem, a tough conversation can be the most [...]
Senator Andrew Weiner and You: What to do With Fallen Employees
You lay down in bed to read a bit before going to sleep when the phone rings. You freeze momentarily as your stomach tightens. A quick glance at the clock reminds you it’s after eleven. [...]
Hiring: Last Step, Best Step
In the art of hiring the right candidate for a position, I’ve found that the last step is the most important. After all the work of creating a position, describing it accurately, and reviewing numerous [...]
Hiring an Executive Pastor?
A couple of months ago, I was asked to give a presentation entitled, “Executive Pastor: If, When, Why, How?” As you can guess from the title, the focus was on churches that were thinking about [...]
The Secret of Improving Staff Performance
I really hesitated using that title but I did because I get so many questions related to staff performance. Every XP I know deals with this issue of getting people to do better and do [...]
The XP Mentoring Checklist
One of the greatest privileges of serving as an Executive Pastor is the opportunity we have to come alongside men and women and help them develop in their leadership. The first few months of the [...]
Leading Self Through Painful Transitions
For the past two months, I have been coaching several XPs who have been asked to resign their positions. Transition is never easy and usually makes the honor roll for experiencing pain and suffering [...]
Let’s Prune Some Ministries!
Executive Pastors get excited about the opportunity to flex their catalyst muscles to launch ministries in the church. But most tend to lose enthusiasm when it comes time to do some pruning. Ministries are living [...]
The Fun and Fright of a 360 Evaluation
I still remember the day when I received the results of my 360 performance evaluation as an XP. I seriously wanted to either quit or beat the stuffing out of someone (in a Christian sort of [...]
When Hiring a Worship Pastor
This article is for Senior Pastors and Executive Pastors that are involved in the hiring process. For some of you, you’ve been there, done that and have some great insights to share with us. For [...]
The Crash: A Journey to Accepting a New Staff Position
On a family trip out west, my family and I were traveling home for Christmas. After four hours of traveling, we heard a loud noise outside the car. We were traveling at seventy miles per [...]