Category / Staffing

This fall will mark 17 years for me on the 12Stone staff team. I’m blessed! Our team is a God-gathered group of many of the best people I’ve ever known or served with. They are smart, gifted and fun!

We had 35 services for Easter this year. My top highlight was the hundreds that said yes to Jesus!

But my second highlight was noticing three telltale signs about our staff that stood out as I drove to our different campuses. These three indicators struck me as noteworthy hallmarks of a healthy team.

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Married and on staff together is a unique circumstance that can be really good, but does carry some risk.

Here are a few of the risks:

• The risk of the appearance of playing favorites.
• The risk of one doing well and the other not.
• The risk of confidential information being shared.
• The risk of extra pressure on the marriage relationship.
• The risk of church becoming the consuming focus of the family.
• The risk of one being let go from staff.

Nonetheless, married couples can and do flourish on staff together, but it doesn’t happen by accident. Good coaching is needed.

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Why is it that some church teams stick together like brothers and sisters even under adversity?

Their attendance may be stuck, perhaps few baptisms are taking place, and the offerings remain under budget, but the morale is still strong. They stay on mission, press forward, and genuinely enjoy being with each other.

Their morale is high.

Other church teams who seem to realize consistent success, but they don’t experience a positive esprit de corps. The numbers are good, services are mostly full, and the general outlook is that all is well. But amongst the staff, it’s more professional than personal, they lack community, and the laughter is minimal.
Their morale is low.

These two examples are incomplete. There are different examples for every scenario.

It’s never as black and white as I’ve written, but regardless of the circumstance, we all know the difference between high morale and low morale on a church staff team.

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A search for the ideal boss is like a quest for the Holy Grail. It will always elude you.

Getting along with your boss is more about perspective, give and take, and a lot of grace more than an ideal.

For example, when an employee has a highly structured and possibly detailed boss, they often want more freedom and empowerment. And when an employee has a highly fluid and creative ideas boss they often want more structure and clarity. It’s human nature to want more of the one you don’t have. However, that skews how you see the situation, and therefore solutions may escape you.

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