Watching Staff

I love watching our staff interact with people. I love seeing them do what they do best. Wednesday night I had the opportunity to attend a Life Group that Grant leads at his home. There were 29 people there for his Life Groups chili and fellowship night. (Food and fellowship are 2 things that I think are biblical commands for churches). As I sat there and watched Grant interact I realized something about hiring staff. (Even though Grant isn't hired he's the first person I asked on my team) I didn't ask Grant to be a pastor on my staff because he was educated. Grant has had ZERO formal training to be a pastor. NONE! I didn't ask Grant to be a pastor on my staff because of experience. When Grant moved here in March his total number of pastoral hours totaled? ZERO! I didn't ask Grant to be a part of my team because he could wax eloquently. (Grant has preached for me before but I didn't need a preacher). I asked Grant to be a part of my team for the following reasons, and I think they should be some of the reasons anyone hires pastoral staff:

1. Loyalty. I truly believe that Grant would charge a hill with me to the death of needed! And I would do the same for him. When hiring someone loyalty has got to be one of the top qualities to consider in hiring staff. Besides the obvious of being loyal to Christ they also must be loyal to the vision of the church. Grant believes in what we do and invites people to join it.

2. Natural ability. Grant doesn't have to try to be a pastor, he just is one. (Just like Adam doesn't have to try to be a musician or be creative, it just flows from him) When I say pastor I don't mean the leader of the church, I mean loving, shepherding, caring and just being with people. We got in the car Wednesday and said to my wife "Grant is a MUCH better pastor than I am". Being a pastor just happens for Grant. I knew that before he was ever on our staff, that's why I asked him to be our connections pastor. You MUST look for what the person does naturally and give them that role. (Other gifts will accompany staff but typically one thing rises to the top)

3. Fill your weak spots. Don't put people around you that will want to do what you do for the church. Seems like common sense but a lot of people don't do that. They find people with similar strengths and skills and put them on their team. I can lead a song, but I am NOT a worship leader. I can talk to people but I am NOT a people person. I used to (key word USED TO) LOVE working with teens, now, not so much! LOL I asked Grant to be on my team cause he filled a hole in me. Grant, you complete me. Again, LOL!

4. Teachable. Don't hire people who can't submit or be taught. Grant is absolutely teachable under me. Here he is, 10 years my superior yet he always listens to me. He may not always like it, BUT, he always takes it and works on it. Being teachable doesn't mean spineless. Teachable is an attitude. Grant has and is allowed to call me on issues, but he has gained that permission through being teachable and humble.

5. Friend. You're going to spend a lot of time with these people in ministry. Make sure you can be friends. All of our staff I consider friends first, co-workers second, and Grant is the epitome of that. Grant and I were great friends LONG before we were teammates. That is going to be a huge hiring factor for me.

Anyway, most of you could probably care less about all that, but I've been thinking about those things since Wednesday night. I could have wrote the same things about Adam or Curtis as well, but watching Grant brought them to my mind. I love our team!!

Following Christ,

Jeff