One of the biggest hurdles that churches face is the revolving door regarding staffing. Statistics show that ministry leaders and pastors are switching jobs or leaving ministry altogether in large numbers.

Matt Steen of Chemistry Staffing works daily with churches and potential staff members to help churches have a healthy staff culture and ensure their next hire is excellent. In this episode, Matt talks about the parts of the process you cannot skip when hiring, how to treat people well even when they aren't your choice, and why slowing down your process might be the best decision you make.

As always, let us know what you think!

CHEMISTRY STAFFING LINKS

Website: https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/

Before You Go: https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/before-you-go/

When To Leave: https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/when-to-leave/

In some office environments, you can put a sign on the door that says "do not disturb," or you can interrupt someone mid-sentence and say, "I don't have time to hear this story right now. But in a church office, that's rarely something that is done. And church office interruptions aren't usually short bursts of time; they're often emotional moments that require a little bit of time to come down from after.

Mission Drift is what happens when your church slowly moves away from where it's called by God to go. And we call it a mission drift because, typically, it happens very slowly. So slowly that often you don't even notice.

It's not a sprint away from your Mission; it's a slow, unnoticeable, sometimes undetectable, drift.

I met with a church a few years back, and I asked them many of the same questions I presented in my previous post. I was sitting a team of leaders putting different church areas into a “Mission” or “Method” category. When I came to Sunday School, their answer was clear. They believed their Sunday School was a Mission in their church, not a method. 

As I often do in these moments, I asked them to explain…

We know that your mission is your purpose, and the method is how you're accomplishing it. But something you need to identify in every meeting is how each one manifests itself during a conversation. 

When I meet with churches to discuss mission and method, I'll start by listing a series of ministries or traditions that happen in that church, and I'll ask the group if they think that thing is a mission or a method of the church. 

In every church, and in every ministry, there are two things that are in constant competition with each other. 

Your Mission, and Your Methods.

And if you don’t know how to tell the difference between the two, then you’re in for some frustrating days, and your church will be less effective in sharing the message of Jesus and loving your neighbours than it should be.  So today we’re going to start a conversation about the difference between Mission and Method and going to help you, big time.