Notice the title of this post refers to staffing as ministry. While working with church staff, both paid and volunteer, does include various administrative tasks similar to what we might find in the secular world, staffing in the Church should be seen as so much more. We have opportunity to encourage people to serve in ways that pull on God’s power.
We serve the people we recruit and place into ministry. We build them up through training not only as a means of honing their skills but with the purpose of glorifying God by stewarding the gifts He has given them. That’s ministry. The way, then, to do staffing ministry, is through the power of God which suggests using spiritual gifts best suited for the various staffing tasks.
Who Can Best Fulfill the Various Tasks Involved in Staffing Ministry Based on Spiritual Gifts
Recruitment tends to be the starting point in getting people serving. Consequently, this task paves the way for the impression people have of the value placed on what they’re being asked to do. How they’re recruited can affect their motivation and enthusiasm in serving. Hence, someone able to encourage people to reach their God-given potential would be a person with the gift of exhortation.
Placement of people into a given ministry involves putting the right person into the right ministry in the right timing. Certainly that would call for someone with the spiritual gifts of wisdom and/or discernment.
Training involves “fanning into flame” the gift(s) God has given people to serve (2 Tim. 1:6). That certainly includes developing skills but also encouragement and feedback that helps people see where they still need to grow. The more practical training becomes, the better equipped people will be to serve. Someone with the spiritual gift of teaching can provide a systematic approach to training but someone with the gift of exhortation will tend to be more application-oriented in the training. Other gifts could be used in training when seen as equipping for specific works of service or ministry focus as seen in Ephesians 4:11-13 where we read that “Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
We need a coordinator of all these various tasks. Someone with the gift of administration brings the organization and planning needed to bring all these various tasks together. The ideal would be for this person to also have the gift of pastor so focus gets put on both getting the tasks accomplished and caring for the needs of people doing it.
As leaders, we may not have all the gifts needed for the different staffing responsibilities. Forming a staffing ministry team made up of people with gifting that is appropriate for the various tasks can be a way to help ensure we take staffing to the level of ministry. Or, we could consider consulting with people gifted to do a given task to help set up a process that gets us on the right track.
For More Help: Staffing Ministry Manual
All Posts about Staffing:
- Church Staff Expectations
- Communicating Expectations to Church Staff
- Church Staff: Expect Alignment with Church Purpose
- Church Staff: Expect Adherence to Body Life Principles
- Church Staff: Expect Pursuit of God’s Mission
- Church Staff: Expect Christ-like Character & Integrity
- Church Staff: Expect Reliance on God’s Power
- Church Staff: Expect a Partnership Mentality
- Encourage Church Staff to Grow in Grace
- Encourage Church Staff to Walk by the Spirit
- Encourage Church Staff to Use Their Spiritual Gifts
- Spiritual Gifts Best Suited for Staffing Ministry