Firing a Church Staff Member (part 1)

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.  I agree with the first part of that statement and disagree with the latter part.

What steps should you take before you fire?  Here’s a few I have taken:

• Meet multiple times to clarify the job description and their performance. (We have staff reviews every 6 months at Henderson Hills)
• When something is done that is wrong, let them know as soon as possible.  Don’t wait.  Don’t let the bad stuff build up.  Deal with it when it happens.  It’s best for them, best for you, and best for the church.
• Give adequate supervision.  Don’t tell them they are doing bad and not give them feed back as to how to improve.  Help them develop a plan for improvement.  If they don’t follow it, it’s their fault, not yours.
• In my situation, I inform my supervisor that I’m having problems with a particular person.  This does two things: 1) it protects me, 2) I get a second opinion.
• Set a specific date to review their progress.  Again, we have staff reviews every 6 months.  This helps everyone know that there will be at least an update in 6 months.  I have set additional dates for review to help them along the process.

When all these steps don’t work, it’s time to make the decision to let them go.  My opinion is to work with them for a period of time to make sure they understand what is expected.  But, if there is no change, don’t prolong the inevitable.  Cut them loose.  It’s like continuing to date someone when you know it’s not going any further.  Stop the pain and end the relationship.  Buck up and let them go.

Letting someone go is never easy.  It’s not easy for me and I hope it never does become easy.  But, I have learned that when I’ve done all I can do to help them succeed and it still doesn’t work, I can let them go and then sleep at night.

In Part 2 I’ll discuss the actual meeting where you let someone go.