It recently dawned on me that all my church experiences have come in threes: I pastored six churches, three rather small and three rather large, and in between served on the staff of a large church for three years.

As you know, we preachers love our threes. Sermons seem to always have three points.

In doing these church staff articles, it occurred to me that the time I spent on the staff of First Baptist Church of Jackson, Mississippi, was critical to everything that came afterwards. In some ways, I received more from those 3 years than from a similar period in seminary working for a master’s. Of course, the lessons learned and skills received from each were different and invaluable, and are not to be compared.

When Ken Westbrook left FBC Greenville, MS sometime in 1970 (he had been assistant pastor; it was a fairly large church) for a pastorate in Florida, I said, “I wish I’d had the experience you’ve had, to serve on the staff of a large church. There are lessons and experiences not available in smaller churches.”

Little did I know.

A few weeks later, Pastor Joe Walker suggested that FBC of Jackson was looking for a minister of evangelism. He wondered if I’d like my name in the pot. “Not me,” I said all too quickly. “I’m a pastor. I couldn’t be a staff member.”

One week later, Joe Walker and James Richardson–two of my best friends in the ministry–mentioned my name to Larry Rohrman, pastor of FBC Jackson. He called late that night, asking if I could drive down the next day to talk about the position.

I knew before the interview had ended this was of God.

For the three calendar years of 1971, 1972, and 1973–exactly 36 months–I served that wonderful church as their Minister of Evangelism. (Although, student minister Derrell Murphree could never get the title right. Murph kept calling it “minister of vandalism.”) When I departed, it was to become pastor of the equally wonderful FBC of Columbus, Mississippi, where we stayed an even dozen years.

Now, let’s get to the question: What difference did serving on the staff of a large church make in my life and subsequent ministry? Originally, I’d planned to limit the list to five things, but the more I’ve thought it, it could easily be fifty!

And–lest readers get lost in what follows–may I emphasize that the whole point of this is to encourage someone who is thinking of joining the staff of a big church to go for it!

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(This should be the final entry in this little series of postings regarding church staff teams. For a pastor to bring in associate ministers for his church can be a wonderful boost to his work, a blessing to the congregation, and a lift to the associate’s career. But it’s also scary, a real faith venture which can and sometimes does go badly. Here are a few considerations on the subject.)

1. The pastor and congregation of a small church agree it’s time to add a staff member, their first. How should they go about it?

Very deliberately. Cautiously, prayerfully, intelligently.

The most common error I’ve seen pastors in this situation make is to bring in a buddy whom they have known through the years, who is presently without a church. On the surface, it looks like a gift from Heaven, a situation handed them from on high.

Maybe so. More likely not.

Pastor, it’s one thing to be friends with that colleague through the years. But when you become his supervisor, the relationship changes. Be careful here.

I suggest to the pastor of a small congregation about to bring in a new staff member that he do the following:

a) Put together a small team of mature church members to assist him. They are not “the” search committee, although they and you work as a team. You will need their counsel, their wisdom, their judgment, and the new minister will need their support. (It’s best if they do not select a chairman; you are their leader.)

b) Be very clear as to what you want the new staffer to do. If it’s to work with the youth or administer an educational program or develop a senior adult ministry, spell it out.

c) Have an understanding with your committee that all must be on board with a recommendation before it goes to the church. Prepare them for the possibility of everyone except you agreeing on someone, or you wanting a candidate whom they do not accept. Make sure they are able and prepared to deal with that. Immature members will quickly lose patience with a pastor who seems hard to please or who does not accept their choice.

d) Call other pastors and get their help. They know people you don’t.

e) Once you find a likely candidate, do not fall in love with him/her too quickly. (Caution your committee about this, too.) Take your time to get to know him, to run plenty of references, to check thoroughly into his past.

After all, this being the church’s first venture into staff members, you want the experience to be a good one.

2. Where do we find great staff members?

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A friend in Georgia who had read these articles on church staffs raised a good question: “How do do you begin to build a staff when the pastor is the only employee of the church, or even when you are bi-vocational?”

I sent the note to a friend in Alabama who knows all about the bi-vo business. While working full-time for a government agency, Bo has another full time job: pastoring a Southern Baptist church. And, a growing one at that. In fact, Bo’s church is sufficiently large to have two or more ministers on board full time. And yet, he and every member of his staff are bi-vocational.

A word about definitions. Bo called my hand on saying he is part-time at the church. “Hey, no minister is part time! No matter where you are, and no matter what you are doing, you are a minister of the gospel. There is no such thing as a part-time minister.” Good point.

So, how does Bo go about assembling a staff? Before telling you what he said, let me point out that he seems to have a great concept of whom to hire. The times I’ve preached for him, I’ve been impressed by the quality of the leadership of his team.

All right. Here are the eight principles that guide this bi-vocational pastor in seeking staff members….

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Recently I requested of some minister friends their advice and lessons learned concerning church staff relationships. What follows are some of the best of the responses. In no particular order.

1. Jim says, “Be very careful whom you trust completely.”

In over 3 decades of ministry, Jim says he has been brutally betrayed at least 3 times. It has made him wary about trusting anyone with anything confidential.

I’m recalling a time two churches ago when the personnel committee and I were dealing with a sensitive issue, long since forgotten. I said, “Can I say something in here and it not go any further?” The chairman said, “Pastor, I wouldn’t say anything in here you do not want to get out.”

That was a courageous thing for him to do. As subtly as he knew how, the chairman was warning me off from trusting some of the people in that room. In time, I learned he knew whereof he was speaking.

2. Andy says, “First, pastor the staff. Be their shepherd.”

Something inside us wants to protest, that, well, the staff are all ministers and they don’t need pastoring. They do. In fact, preacher, so do you.

I have heard that the typical ministerial staff wants the pastor to be their friend and the congregation’s pastor; the congregation, however, wants him to be their friend and the staff’s pastor.

My answer is: be both. I can pastor friends.

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The receptionist–the one who greets the public–is in many ways your most important staffer.

She is the first person most people see when they walk in, the voice they talk with on the phone, and the only one a lot of outsiders will deal with from your church.

Pastor, she can make you or break you.

She can be a light to someone coming in from the dark, lift the spirits of a visitor who ran out of hope miles up the road, defrost the spirit of Jack Frost himself, and protect the beleaguered pastor who desperately needs an hour of study time without interruptions.

She can do all these things and more. But she can also run people off faster than Sunday’s lousy sermon or Wednesday night’s cold ham and peas.

Where does one find a receptionist sent from Heaven?

Answer: Heaven.

Ask God. He knows them all, has full resumes on each person on the planet, and runs the best placement service ever. Pray.

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