You may not love it. In fact, you may be pretty bad at it, but you’re still expected to do it. Seminaries don’t teach it (in my experience), but your church’s health depends on it. And more personally, your own longevity in ministry will often rise or fall because of it.
I’m talking about managing a church staff. I’m not so much referring to the culture of a church staff, though that’s certainly critical. I’m referring more to the scaffolding, the authority structures, the supervisory and subordinate relationships. This subject doesn’t excite me at all. But if managed poorly, it can make your life, your experience of ministry, and the ministry experience of those under you miserable.
So if you’re the lead pastor (or an elder given charge of staff oversight), here are a few hard and humbling lessons I’ve learned along the way. And please keep in mind: much of what I’ll share is more prudential than biblically prescribed.
1. Clearly distinguish between elder and non-elder staff positions.
Most polity structures recognize this difference in some fashion. I pastor a congregational church, so the
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