Aligning church staff is a critical factor to having a successful ministry. When you successfully align your staff, the impact you make on the kingdom will increase substantially. The next time you prepare to hire a new staff member consider these tips for aligning your church staff:
1. Doctrinal Alignment.
This point is two-fold.
There must be alignment on the doctrinal essentials such as the Trinity, Christology, inspiration of the Bible, etc.
Yet, there does not necessarily have to have alignment on the doctrinal non-essentials, such as women’s role in ministry, baptism by immersion, etc.
2. General Alignment of the Church’s Mission, Values, Vision, and Strategy.
If a staff person has a different vision or values from the church, the long-term viability of that role diminishes. That person will be moving in a different direction than the rest of the staff. Soon you will find yourselves working against one another.
Aligning church staff in the areas of mission, values, vision, and strategy, is essential to success, because everyone must work as a team, pursuing the same goals.
3. Emotional Alignment.
Staff need to understand how God has uniquely wired them and how that can emotionally affect their ministries.
A good example from Scripture is Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15. They differed on whether or not to include John Mark on their next missionary journey coming up. John Mark had quit on them earlier, and Paul didn’t want to include him; Barnabas, however, did want John Mark to come along.
Scripture said that things were so emotionally tense that Paul and Barnabas decided to split up and go their separate ways. Scripture doesn’t say who was right or wrong in the situation, but their emotions did carry the day and impacted their decisions.
These three areas of aligning church staff is key if you want to run a successful ministry. What other tips do you have for aligning church staff? Which areas do you find most important? What other areas do you look for when aligning your staff? Let us know in the comments below.
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Dr. Aubrey Malphurs is the Founder and Visionary Leader of the Malphurs Group (a church consulting firm) and the Senior Professor of Leadership and Pastoral Ministry at Dallas Theological Seminary. He frequently writes on Pastoral Ministry, Church Leadership Development, Strategy, and Vision and also serves churches and denominations as a Consultant and Speaker (The Malphurs Group church consulting team also provides Leadership Coaching and Sunday Secret Shopper Consultations). He is also a husband, father, grandfather, fisherman, and a diehard Florida Gator fan. | @amalphurs | website