Archive for Church Staffing 101

Ministry Burnout

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Sunday, July 8th, 2007

Having been in full time ministry for over 25 years, I’ve seen about everything.  One thing that is particularly disconcerting is ministry burnout.  Whether it’s by someone in full time ministry, a spouse or a family member of someone in ministry, or someone who is a volunteer at a church, the numbers who are experiencing burnout [...]

Firing a Church Staff Member (part 4)

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Friday, May 18th, 2007

OK…here’s one of my biggest pet peeves.  Sooner or later someone is going to call about the person you fired and ask for a reference.  What ever you do….tell them the truth!
I’ve seen former staff members lie through their teeth about someone just to get them off their staff.  They’d rather lie about the person instead [...]

Firing a Church Staff Member (part 3)

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

Now that you’ve let the staff member go, you have a few more steps you need to take.   You need to inform the rest of the staff and in some cases the church of the decision. 
Not informing the staff and or church will create tension, unrest, fear, anxiety, and erode your leadership influence with them.  This is [...]

Firing a Church Staff Member (part 2)

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Monday, May 14th, 2007

When I’ve done all I can do to help someone succeed and they still are not doing what is expected, it’s time to let them go.  So…how do you conduct that meeting?  Here’s what I’ve done in the past:

Plan to meet with them at the end of the work day.
Have your documentation with you at [...]

Firing a Church Staff Member (part 1)

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Friday, May 11th, 2007

Ok…here we go. 
So how does a church and or pastor remove a member of the staff?  Well, it’s not an easy and it shouldn’t be.  Steps should be taken over many months making sure you’ve done everything you can to make the situation work.  Others suggest taking time to hire and being quick to fire.  [...]

Letting Go

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

My mom had a hard time with this when I left for college.  My old girlfriends had a hard time when I broke up with them (at least that’s the way I remember it).  My first pastor had difficulty when I told him I was leaving to go to another church.  I had a hard [...]

“I’m Leaving” - steps to take when leaving a church

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Monday, April 16th, 2007

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve served on 5 different church staffs over the past 25 years.  That means I’ve said “I’m Leaving” four times.  Saying those words is never easy, at least it shouldn’t be, but it may be easier depending on your situation.  (Some staff members will know what I mean)
Here are some steps [...]

Saying Goodbye to a “Bad” Staff Member

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Wednesday, March 28th, 2007

Saying goodbye to bad staff member creates a real “opportunity”.  There are so many things that come into play in this situation.  Here are a few questions that I’ve personally had to deal with and I know there are at least a thousand more…

Do you tell the congregation why they are leaving?
How much do you [...]

Saying goodbye to a “good” church staff member

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Friday, January 19th, 2007

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve served on 5 different church staffs over the past 25 years.  That means I’ve said goodbye four times.  Saying goodbye is never easy, at least it shouldn’t be.  In my experience there are two ways supervisors or pastors can treat a staff member who leaves, with dignity and honor or disgrace. [...]

“Staff Stewardship”

Posted by Jeff Wilson on Sunday, January 7th, 2007

I’ve had the opportunity to serve on five different church staffs.  Each church has been very different from small, medium, and large, to rural, small town, and suburban.  Each pastor that I’ve served alongside has been very different and their leadership style has been one of the major differences.
One distinguishing mark of each pastor I’ve served with [...]