Bill Easums Observations

One of the main bugaboos of many pastors is learning how to staff a church.  When in reality knowing how to staff is simple if you just use your noggin.

The following is based on any size church. If under 500 some of the following staff are volunteer or one paid staff may oversee two or more of the following.  By the time the church is over 500 there should be a paid staff, part or full time, over each of these.

One, staff to increase the number of new visitors on Sunday.  If the number of visitors isn’t increasing each year sooner or later the church stalls and begins to decline.  It’s really that simple. So you need a staff person to insure the number of first time people increases.  Up to 500 in worship the pastor should cover this one.

Two, staff to assimilate new people.  It’s easier to keep new people than it is to attract new people. So you need an assimilation system in place and someone to oversee it.  In most churches this person is a worship leader who understands the importance of hospitality.

Three, staff to disciple people.  Under 500 this is spread throughout all the staff. But around 500 small groups should become a major concern and will need someone to oversee it.  If you don’t do small groups, then what are you doing to disciple people.  Very few people are discipled by simply attending worship.

Four, staff to send people out into the community to become backyard missionaries. The true measure of a church is not its size but what difference is it making in the community. So you need someone to organize weekly events in the community where a growing number of participates in worship are in the community doing three things: blessing the community; blessing the ones serving; and creating visibility.

So there you have it. See how simple it is?

Now finding and keeping the right people isn’t that easy.  That is one of the reasons why my partner, Bill Tenny-Brittian, and I wrote the book, Effective Staffing for the Vital Church: The Essential Guide to Finding and Keeping the Right People.  You can find it at Amazon.com

Our new book, Effective Staffing for Vital Churches is now on sale in print and for the Kindle version and maybe Nook Nov. 1. 67  Many have pre-ordered and we thank you.   We believe it is one of our best books to date.  Rick Warren thought so also. He wrote “This book is a winner.”

We are getting reports from people who are reading it.  Here is a comment from Randy on Facebook

Randy wrote: “I just received my copy. I am already resonating with the idea of an Antioch Church vs the more common models churches use to justify existence…to partner with God to change/transform the world is exciting and life-changing!”

Here is a brief excerpt from the book

“Because people no longer come to church on their own, the church must
spend most of its time, energy, and money filtering people out into the
community. The measurement of effectiveness shifts from “how many in
worship?” to “how much difference is the church making in its efforts to
transform the city?” The question “What is God doing in our community that
we can be part of?” is replacing, “How can we get more people to come to
church?”

We have a website for the book at www.effectivestaffing.us where you can order the book or if you want a closer look before purchasing it you can get two free chapters.

In the book you will discover

• Discover the Four Core Processes every effective church must staff.
• Learn how effective church leaders of growing churches manage their time.
• How to not make the #1 staffing mistake almost every church makes.
• How to ask the right questions so you can hire the right people with confidence.
• Master the skill of coaching your staff … including how to hold them accountable for results.
• When it’s time to hire the next staff member, and what position you need next.
• The skills you need and the personal values that must change as youlead your church through each growth barrier.

Go grab your copy

I was speaking Thursday in Baltimore when i mentioned that there are only four things that grow a church and that I had never seen a church doing these four things that wasn’t growing.  In fact, I challenged them to put those four things in place and if they didnt grow I would give them $10,000.

About that time someone raised their hand and asked, What are the four things.” So I proceeded to share the four things that grow a church.

• You must constantly invite people to Christ and/or your church.
• You must have a system in place to connect with them and cause them to return again and again.
• You must disciple them into followers of Jesus.
• You must send them back out into the community to back yard missionaries.

Sounds simple doesn’t?  But each of these four core processes takes time, energy, and money.  Someone has to make sure they happen every day. Depending on the size of the church it is either the pastor and volunteers or a paid staff person for each process.

But nothing else a church does matters as much as they four things.

Then someone asked “How can we learn more about what these four staff positions look like.”

“Well,” I said.  Our new book on staffing just hit the shelves.  It’s called Effective Staffing for Vital Churches: The Essential Guide to finding and keeping the right people.

You can find the book at Amazon.com or through Baker Books. I think it is one of the best books our group has ever published.

But don’t word for it – read what others are saying about it.

Rick Warren:”This book is a winner.”

Dave Ferguson: “A tremendous help for church leaders”

Darrin Patrick: “I wish I had had this book when I started”

You can also go our website www.effectivestaffing.us to read three chapters from the book and a video on Time Management when you and sign up ‘

We’re here to help you grow your church.

There aren’t many mistakes staff can make that are cause for immediate termination. However ,when I was a pastor and we had a staff of some 68 people, there are three mistakes, that no matter what the circumstance, I would fire the staff person without any conversation other than “You’re Fired!” Here they are:

1. A serious moral failure like having an affair.  Even though I would try to get the person help and restored to ministry it would not be in the same church where the failure occurred.
2. Having an issue with anyone on the staff, especially the lead pastor, and instead of talking it out with the person, the staff person goes around the person directly to the personnel committee. This type of action is simply one form of passive aggressive behavior and can not be tolerated.  People who can not confront a problem with the person with whom they have a problem aren’t mature enough to be on any one’s staff. Such action goes beyond even triangulation and border lines on mutiny.
3. Questioning or bad mouthing in public a decision that was made in a staff meeting. This is another form of passive aggressive immature behavior and demonstrates a lack of trust and team spirit.

These three actions are so deadly they can’t be tolerated and should not have any recourse. Of course, this stance  needs to be clearly communicated in the hiring process that there is no second chance on these three fatal mistakes. 

Now you may be thinking this is a harsh stance to take.  I agree; it is. But so are these three mistakes. I’ve seen pastors try to save the staff person by working with them only to see their staff torn apart, its effectiveness decline, and the problem rear its ugly head once again. These actions so undermine the credibility and integrity of the person with the staff that their effectiveness and trust are so diminished their effectiveness is severely reduced. These actions all point to a level of spiritual maturity that is should never be tolerated among a staff.

Yet, even in such situations, grace must abound. You should offer to get them the help they need to mature in the faith and hopefully they will be an asset to the Kingdom – but on some other staff.  Just not yours.

I applaud those lead pastors who care enough about the Kingdom that they hold themselves and their staff accountable to high ethical standard.

So tell me what you think about this.  Am I a tyrant or am I setting an example of team spirit and ethical behavior between leaders?