Potential Church was once known as Flamingo Road Church and resided on the corner of Flamingo Road in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. In recent years, Potential Church has exploded in growth – six campuses with a growing attendance of nearly 13,000 people. “Our new name reveals where we are going. ‘Potential’ pushes us to hope, it pushes us to our future and helps us live out our mission to partner with people to reach their God Potential!” says Lead Pastor, Troy Gramling.

With the growth Potential Church has experienced, the need for gifted staff has grown. Potential Church has retained The Vanderbloemen Group to aid in finding candidates for several exciting positions located in both Pensacola and Fort Lauderdale.

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle. There are a number of annual festivals, events, historic tours, and landmarks. The Great Gulfcoast Arts Festival is held annually in November often drawing more than 200 regional and international artists as well as The Children’s Art Festival which is held in the same park featuring art by children from local area schools.

Fort Lauderdale is one of the most beautiful areas on the south east coast of Florida. Just an hour north of Miami, Fort Lauderdale has the beautiful beaches and tasty restaurants like Miami, but there’s a lot less people. Fort Lauderdale is a peaceful yet thriving community.

Campus Worship Pastor: Pensacola

The Worship Pastor will provide leadership and oversight to the Worship experiences and volunteers at Potential Church Pensacola. The successful candidate will be able to work collaboratively with the Campus Pastor, the Production and Technical teams, and the Worship volunteers to create a worship environment that will stimulate participation, growth and connection among the congregation gathered.

The Worship Pastor should be a strong leader with the ability to lead music, volunteers and programming both inside and outside of the music program. The co-pastors estimate that the job is 10% music and 90% ministry. The successful candidate will have had 5-7 years of progressively responsible ministry and/or worship leadership experience. The new Worship Pastor must be flexible and passionate in developing leaders who develop leaders.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here:

Campus Pastor: Cooper City

The Campus Pastor will provide leadership and oversight to the campus staff. This role will create and articulate the vision for expressions of worship at Potential Church in a way that supports our vision, mission and values.  The Campus Pastor will work along side the Sr. Pastor, Campus staff, Central staff and volunteer teams that will provide programs, participation, spiritual growth and congregational growth.

Paramount to their success, the Campus Pastor will establish and grow a recognized and positive presence with the Fort Lauderdale community. The Campus Pastor should be a strong leader with the ability to lead, volunteers and programming both inside and outside ministry program.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here:

by William Vanderbloemen

You can know a man’s wit by his answers. You will know his wisdom by his questions.

I find myself spending more and more energy looking for good questions. I am almost finished with a focused three year study on interviewing techniques I had designed for our search work, and I have come to believe that what you ask can be the difference maker in discernment.

Have you ever noticed how often the Bible says, “Jesus answered them by asking a question….?”

These days, I spend my time helping churches find key staff. Prior to doing executive search, I served as the Senior Pastor and Head of Staff for large churches for many years. Both of those roles have required me to keep improving on how to ask the right questions. If you’re like me, that’s a skill that you weren’t taught in school.

Most churches I have studied have about a 50% success rate with their hires working out over the long haul. Interviewing the right way is a real difference maker in improving the likelihood of a long term match between candidate and church.

Among most of the top executive search consultants in the world, the trend in interviewing these days is toward a form of questions called “behavioral competency.” Questions center around a candidate’s ability to talk through how they have behaved in their most recent jobs. Many psychologists who write on this say that behavioral competency is the single best way to get to the root and true acumen of a candidate.

Below are what I consider to be four great topics/questions for assessing behavioral competence. They’re not original; – very few good questions are. And they’re not just helpful in your work. If you tag on the phrase “in my spiritual life” to the end of each question, you’ll see that these can be great measuring sticks for your own spiritual development.

If you’re looking for a job, I would urge you to walk through these and prepare yourself to answer them. If you’re running a business or church, you may want to put these on file for future interviews.

I hope they help you do your own gut check, and maybe even arm you with questions that take you and your church to another level.

1. What constructive criticism have you received in the past that surprised you the most?

2. Tell me about an initiative that you conceived and were responsible for executing. What challenges were expected? What challenges did you not foresee, and how did you overcome them?

 3. Describe the cultures of your last few job or church settings, how they differed, and which one fit you best.

 4. Tell me about a time when you had to get people with different viewpoints to the same level of understanding.

A good question is worth its weight in gold. Spend some extra energy looking for better interview questions. The time invested could pay huge dividends over the long haul.

The pile of resumes flooding your inbox is growing by the minute. You open each one, scan down the highlights, and make a snap judgment. Maybe ten percent of the candidates get a call for an interview. You’ve been preparing for these meetings over the last two weeks. It’s going to be tough to find just the right person, and there’s the question that always hangs in the back of your mind, are these candidates even really qualified for this position?

Even the best managers have been fooled in the past and have ended up with a bad hire (thank goodness for those 90-day evaluations!) How can you discern a professional interviewee from a truly professional candidate? Here are several areas that can help you  craft interview questions during the process to discern whether or not you are in fact interviewing a great candidate, or just a professional interviewee.

The past: More leeway has been given in the recent economy when it comes to having a perfect job history. It’s almost impossible. Aside from any obvious gaps that may be related to downsizing or something similar, how many jobs has the candidate held in the last five years? A history with short-term positions may indicate even though the person convinced someone they were right for a particular job, they haven’t quite found the right fit.

Listen: Candidates are often taught to learn about the company and the position for which they are applying. Listen closely. Are they repeating something verbatim from your website? This could indicate he’s simply following the rules. Pay attention to how they’re recalling the information. If it sounds rehearsed, it probably is. A more free-flowing interpretation is more natural, showing the interviewee has processed the information and made it his or her own.

Mix it up: We all know the standard interview questions: strengths, weaknesses, how someone has led a team, accomplishments. Get creative with how you ask these questions, or do a team interview to gather a variety of perspective and questions. Catching a professional interviewee out of their natural habitat of one-on-one will show who’s in it because they truly care.

Research on your own: Most candidates are looking at your organization’s website. Are you looking at theirs? Web searches, videos, even social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn may share more with you than you’ll ever learn in an interview. And for fun, maybe reference something you learned about them in your research to see how they’ll respond.

Because the pool of candidates never seems to dry up, it’s time for those who make hiring decisions to get innovative in their techniques instead of embracing the status quo. If you embrace the norm, you’re going to get the norm. Your organization needs someone creative and unique. Outside of certain legalities, there are no rules when it comes to interviewing someone, so don’t be afraid to color outside of the lines. You may be surprised with the sort of employees you begin to attract.

If you’ve been involved with the interviewing process in ministry, you know there’s no cookie-cutter approach. A lot of how staff members get hired has to do with equal amount relationship as well as fit (and of course calling plays a role, but we considered that a given.) However, you shouldn’t take a key relationship or even a team-fit for granted. A poor interview can derail the train to the ministry job of your dreams. Recently we were inspired by this great article about interviewing for your dream job in the secular world. Here are some tips for staying focused and intentional through the ministry hiring process.

1)   Be direct: It seems obvious, but often stories take the place of direct answers and can confuse the person interviewing you. Answer the question first, and if there’s an appropriate example to share, that’s the time to tell the story.

2)   Listen to their needs first: You may see glaring potential in the position for which you’re interviewing, but the person interviewing you already has a set of questions to ask. Remember at this point in the process, he or she has the most important agenda, not you.

3)   Map it out: If you are asked a strategic question, get creative and ask if you can map out your idea. Show them how you got from point A to point B. For example, if they want to know how you’re going to develop a volunteer team, whiteboard out your structure and plan so they’re left with a visible reminder.

4)   Relax: Sometimes a person interviewing you will put you under pressure for a reason – they want to see how you’re going to respond under pressure. Don’t sweat it. If you need time to process, ask for it. Honesty and staying calm are more desirable traits than frantically coming up with a hurried answer.

5)   Leave the perks off the table: If the ministry where you’re applying has some special perks (free lunches, trips to conferences, paid sabbaticals every year), don’t bring them up as reasons why you want to work for them. Instead, focus on the heart of the ministry – that is the main reason you’re interested.

6)   Research: Go online and read their mission and statement of faith. Do a web search for the church’s or pastor’s name to see if there are any community events they’ve been involved with or other key partnerships. Talk about these during the interview and show you’ve taken a keen interest in understanding the things that may go unnoticed.

7)   Tell stories that prove your point: Generally, you’re going to be asked what you’re strengths are. Instead of rattling off a list of five items, maybe cut it back to two or three and explain why those things are your strengths. You can lead a team through a crisis. Great. Now, tell them about the time you did.

8)   Ask questions: Don’t ask about the norms. Instead, get to know the passion and heart behind the person interviewing you. This opens up a huge relational well and also shows you’re not just interested in how you can help, but how the ministry empowers others. This reminder may just be what your interviewer needs to know you’re a great fit because you keep a bigger picture in mind.

9)   Be memorable: Bestselling author Seth Godin is famous for his Purple Cow theory. If you see a black or white or brown cow, you’re likely not going to remember it. However, if you see a purple cow, you’re not only going to remember it, you’re going to tell people about it. What can you bring to an interview that will leave behind not only a resume, but an experience?

10)  Be passionate: Be passionate if you’re passionate. If you’re not, don’t fake it, and reconsider why you’re applying for this position in the first place. A true passion will come through in your delivery, your body language, and your tone. If you want to serve this ministry using your gifts and if you think you’re truly the best fit for the job, let them know.

Forbes Magazine

1. The Way We Always Do Things: Has your church become a machine and the people who serve on staff or in volunteer roles simply cogs who show up, make something happen, and go home? If those who are doing the work don’t have input into the vision, it’s likely they’ll get stifled and not be able to use their creativity and talent to truly support the church. They just become warm bodies on an assembly line, so to speak.

2. Do You Know Their Passion? If anyone has ever attended church for a length of time, one will always hear the desperate “We need help in the nursery this summer!” plea from the pulpit. Sometimes seasons call for all-hands-on-deck, and often your church is willing to comply. Who’s looking out for the unique passions of the people in your church? Do you have a talented carpenter whose only area of service is picking up chairs after church? What would happen if there was a team of people who were passionate about finding ways for other people to use their passion? Win/win.

3. Feedback: It’s easy to get caught in the routine of serving in a church. As a pastor or leader, as long as there are no crises to attend to, we assume everything is moving along smoothly. Have you ever been surprised when a group of people choose to leave the church at once without apparent cause? These people may have had smaller concerns building over time, and because they were never given a chance to express their red flags or even hear how they were doing, they become less committed to your church’s vision, and it becomes easier for them to split.

4. Developing Talent: You have talented staff members and volunteers. But like anything, simply performing in the mundane may start causing disconnection. Talk openly with those who are serving your church to explore how the church may help them grow in pursuing their talents. Can a mentoring program be put into place? What about having experts in certain fields offer training?

5. Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day: Your church is innovative and new. You dream up big ideas fast and generally, everyone rallies around them. You find a team to work on the latest and greatest, but before they have a chance to strategize, implement and measure, you’re asking them to jump on the next new thing. Without the sense of completing a task with excellence and giving it enough time to learn to walk on its own, people are likely to feel rushed and unappreciated. Take. Time.

6. Don’t Be Hands Off: Micromanaging is definitely one of the least favorable qualities if you manage people. However, being completely hands off with a team or a project can give the projection that you’re removed from the front lines. Show your support, touch base, and while not watching every play happen, graciously guide those who are working with you.

7. Support Systems: Great people like to be around other great people. This is not a cry to have only the most excellent, most talented people in your church but rather to allow those with similar gifting and methods to spend time with each other. If you place a high-functioning, fast-paced leader with a team of slow, indecisive people, your leader may start looking around for a place he or she fits better.

8. No Vision: Vision is vital to keeping anything alive. “Without vision, people perish.” It may be stating the obvious, but rehashing your vision, communicating it in new ways, and reminding people of its importance will keep everyone excited about the future.

9. Listen: Do people regularly approach you with ideas or concerns? If not, you may be giving off airs that you’re not available to consider their opinions. By displaying the trait of being a good listener, people feel valued because they feel as if they are truly heard by you. Create space for this to happen, and communicate the best methods people can share their voice.

10. One Bad Apple: Have you noticed a lot of people leaving from serving in one specific area? Chances are it’s not a coincidence. Pay close attention to what’s happening in a particular ministry. Is the leader overbearing or noncommunicative? Ask people who currently serve in one area if they have any concerns or have heard any other people talk about potential issues. Address them with the leader and follow up. You don’t want to have one misplaced leader turning away talented people.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to share we have been retained Rolling Hills Christian Church in Eldorado Hills, California, in to assist in finding a Senior Pastor.

Rolling Hills is a church open to people from all backgrounds and strives to become the church described in Acts 2. Through relevant teaching, heart-felt worship, honest friendships, constant prayer, and compassionate care, Rolling Hills’ doors are open to everyone at any place on their spiritual journey. After 17 years of faithful service, Jeff Bigelow is stepping down to pursue other ministry opportunities. Rolling Hills is searching for the candidate to follow him in a seamless and fruitful transition.

The church’s track record speaks for itself. Founded with a vision to reach lost people and lead them to becoming fully devoted followers of Christ, the average attendance exceeds 2200, made up of all generations and a multitude of children.

The Senior Pastor will serve as the chief communicator, biblical teacher, and visionary for Rolling Hills. The successful candidate will be responsible to teach culturally relevant and biblically accurate messages. The Senior Pastor will be responsible for effectively sharing the gospel and communicating the vision of the church. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of working in a setting committed to reaching the unreached with a high degree of innovation, recruitment, and retention of new believers. The candidate will have had experience working as an effective leader of a large ministry team, instilling vision, and mobilizing leaders. The candidate will hold a Bachelor’s’ degree and seminary or advanced degree in biblical studies is strongly preferred. The successful Senior Pastor will have a proven record of being a gifted teacher, leader, and communicator as a senior pastor or similar capacity. In addition, the individual should show an ability to connect multi-generationally, be a strong proponent of externally-focused ministry and encouraging of small group relationships.

El Dorado Hills, rated 77th in Money Magazine’s Top 100 Places to Live, is nestled in the picturesque mountain foothills of the Sierras and is often referred to as the gateway to El Dorado County. Rich in history and with a wide variety of recreational choices, there is something for everyone. The westward view opens to a vista of the Sacramento Valley and Folsom Lake.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

Vanderbloemen Search is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

by Dr. John Townsend

One of the aspects of great leadership is to see things that have not yet come to pass, and to see diamonds in the rough.  All good leaders have that “what if we…?” quality.  However, every leader must, at the same time, come to terms with reality as well.  “What is” can guide us toward a positive “What if.”   And even the most positive and visionary leader can ignore reality to his or her peril.  Here are the four critical realities that I believe every leader must face and embrace, rather than arguing with, rationalizing, or denying.

1.  God and your fruit, not you, determine the value of your leadership.  Whether you are a senior pastor, teacher, small group leader, or executive pastor, you have a service.   Though you may have given blood, sweat and tears for years to develop it, you cannot determine its value.  Only God and the fruit do that.  What you are producing is larger than you, and it always speaks to you.  Ask those who receive your service, what the value is.  Ask them to be honest with you, as you are on a quest for reality.  You may want to change things, to add or subtract to what you do.  But don’t shirk asking for feedback from those most impacted by your work.  It brings value and clarity to you.  I have seen too many Christian leaders ask for the “good news” and miss the realities.  If the news is discouraging, it is time then to receive encouragement and support from God and the safe people in your life.  But even if it is hard news, reality is always your friend.

2.  Within your skin, you do not possess enough of the competencies needed to succeed.  You may be multi-gifted, and be able to  inspire, to think strategically, to execute well, and connect in productive ways with those you lead.  A fair percentage of you can do all those.  But you will never make it to the next level until you carve out what only you can do, and hire or recruit volunteers from those who can do the rest.  One of the major issues I work with in leadership is the inability to give up something they do well, and let someone else do it.  Remember that the Body is supposed to do lots of things you can’t and shouldn’t be doing:  “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Ephesians 4:16).”

3.  You can’t “make” anyone do anything.  Give it up, control is an illusion! You can inspire, create buy-in, set up a great path, and put people in their best-fit arena.  And all these are necessary.  But people will choose to work for you and with you, and choose whether or not they will give you your best, according to their own wiring.   Make the best possible successes contextual for your people, and work hard at it.  They will choose the path, not yourself.   Actually, it is a great relief to stop attempting to control the outcome.  You will feel like you have lost 20 pounds!

4.  Your own issues and character health will slow down or accelerate your organization’s performance.  The organizational and leadership worlds have thousands of examples where emotional disconnection, lack of boundaries, poor self-care, pride, or perfectionism sabotaged a potentially great mission.  You simply cannot achieve long-term great performance on smarts, commitment, and will power alone.  Make sure you are continually in a structured process of growth, so that you can “clean out the inside of the cup (Matthew 23:25).”   That means being vulnerable with God and a few safe and sane people.  Let them in to the real you and you will never regret it.

Christian leaders know that getting the truth about what is real is an advantage to them.   Learn from it, adapt to it and work with it.  Your results will be much better than protesting it or arguing with it.  This is simply a function of wisdom, which “is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding (Proverbs 4:7).”

This article was written by Dr. John Townsend specifically for the Vanderbloemen Search Group. To see more from John, you can visit his website at http://www.drtownsend.com

• Victims: People who have the victim mentality believe everything associated with their position is in direct opposition to who they are. Instead of seeing opportunities, they only see problems. They feel as if they aren’t paid enough, aren’t respected enough, and that no good will come from their efforts. They tend to shift their energy into complaining and creating chaos rather than contributing to a common good. Be careful when letting victims go. Keep issues and reprimands documented. They’ll likely feel as if they were unjustly fired and may retaliate

• Nonbelievers: If someone doesn’t buy into the vision of your organization, they certainly aren’t going to work very hard on seeing it fulfilled. The nonbelievers consistently have a pessimistic attitude toward the leaders and processes of your company. Skills can always be coached, but vision can’t be sold. Nonbelievers will only take others down their path of questioning, which will eventually lead to conflict and stagnancy.

• Know-it-Alls: Nobody likes a know-it-all. You remember that one person in your class who was always right and made sure everyone knew it.  A know-it-all has his or her mind made up and nothing will shift their perspective. If you’d like your organization to grow and adapt to new cultures and technologies, you’re likely going to face conflict with the know-it-all. Instead of approaching their career as an opportunity to always learn and grow, this person’s objective is to enlighten everyone else.

Keep in mind firing someone out of the blue is never a good idea, but after continuous failed efforts to improve an employee’s performance, sometimes cutting ties is the only remaining option. Not only are you releasing them to find something they can passionately support, you’re freeing up emotional energy in your own organization, which can only catapult it forward.

 The Children’s Pastor will serve as the chief leader and communicator of children’s ministries at Mountain Lake. The Children’s Pastor will seek to creatively implement that vision in a relevant and effective manner in the Children’s Ministry large group and small group structure. Primarily, this role will be responsible for the growth of the ministry and alignment with the vision of the church. A formal education is not a predetermining factor for the position, but formal education with a focus in biblical studies or similar is preferred. This person will have a proven track record of working in a setting of innovation and be comfortable with a high level of communication.

Cumming boasts a high quality of life at a low cost of living. It is undoubtedly a great place to live and raise a family. Located in the outskirts of Atlanta, the town abounds with ministry opportunities. Family life resembles most towns in a major metro area of the U.S. Good schools, sports, options for eating out, and cultural opportunities abound for families wishing to live in the area.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

Vanderbloemen Search is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The following is a repost of one of the most popular posts on William’s site. Think of it as you reflect on the Christmas story this morning. If there were a parking lot at the manger….

Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas.

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If Jesus built a parking lot for his congregation, he would probably copy one of this spot from a church I recently served.

The property at Cypress Creek is adjacent to the County Courthouse. That affords the church benefits like: folks leaving the courthouse needing prayer, 24/7 security, & lots of free additional Sunday parking.

But maybe best benefit of all is this parking spot that they get to use (from the County lot).

In all of my travels with executive search work, I have never run across a better reserved spot in a church. For about two years, I parked right next to it every Sunday, and laughed about every time.

I’m tempted to put up signs “reserved for prostitutes,” and another for “sinners,” just to round things out…

Honestly, if Jesus had a parking lot in his church, I believe this sign would be there. There wouldn’t be a sign reserving a spot for the Pastor, or anyone important. There would be a reservation for the unwelcome.

The church is supposed to be a place that doesn’t just tolerate new faces and people with baggage, but actually reserves a place for them. Are you reserving a place for the tax collector in your church? In your heart? Got a better picture that paints the idea? Share it with me and join the conversation.

With humble beginnings in an office basement in 1994, Church at The Springs launched with 21 people and a mission to reach those far from God and the church. Over the last fifteen years, they have relocated fifteen times and have grown to over 3000 in attendance. As the church continues growing, everything is intentionally designed to reach the current culture and community. The focus is on God’s pursuit of us – not just on Sunday mornings, but every day of the week. The Springs strives to develop disciples through worship services and weekly groups as well as church planting around the country. So far, they have started hundreds of churches through conferences and networks.

The Student Pastor will serve as chief communicator, biblical teacher, and leader for the Church at The Springs student ministry. The successful candidate will be responsible for teaching culturally relevant, biblically accurate messages. The Student Pastor will have the opportunity to create a new model for student ministry at Church at The Springs, with the approval of the senior staff. The ideal candidate will develop both volunteers and students. The candidate should have at least a four-year degree from an accredited university and a proven track record of reaching the unchurched with a high degree of innovation. The ability to be an effective leader of a large ministry team while instilling vision and mobilizing leaders is essential to this role.
The city of Ocala is located in the northern-central area of Florida; almost 80 miles north of Orlando and 40 miles south of Gainesville. With an hour and a half drive, you can find yourself walking along the sandy beaches of the “Sunshine

State.” There are many shops and boutiques in town for shopping, and great restaurants for any kind of dining. Florida is home to several professional sports teams such as the Miami Marlins, the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneer, the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and more.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

Vanderbloemen Search is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to announce that we have been retained by Peachtree Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA to assist in finding their new Chief Communications Officer.

Peachtree Presbyterian Church is the largest and one of the most respected Presbyterian (USA) churches in the United States. Founded as a Sunday school for children in 1910, it has become a thriving multifaceted full-service church dedicated to serving the community of which it is a part. It is a regional church, drawing from areas for beyond its neighborhood, reaching across the western corridors of the city. With a weekly attendance of 4,000, beautiful modern facilities resting on 26 acres of land in the prestigious Atlanta-Buckhead area, Peachtree continues to expand and grow as it seeks to creatively serve the world around it.

With a solid biblical foundation, a warm and inviting congregation, and a pristine reputation in the community, Peachtree is poised for growth in the coming years. With the growth has come in increasing need to effectively and coherently communicate the vision, values, messages, and programs of Peachtree in order to better serve the congregation and community. To that end, Peachtree is seeking a Chief Communications Officer to bring leadership, creativity, and vision to all the various communication efforts at Peachtree Presbyterian Church.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

Vanderbloemen Search is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

McKinney Memorial Bible Church (McKinney) is a non-denominational, externally-focused Bible church whose purpose is to “Develop Christ-Centered People Who Make a Difference” by communicating the practical relevance of the Bible for everyday life and for empowering and equipping its members to serve the world in Jesus’ name. This church has experienced steady growth over twenty years, is well positioned in the southwestern region of Fort Worth, Texas, and is comprised of largely young families. McKinney consistently emphasizes serving the local community and provides many opportunities throughout the week for involvement.

The Pastor of Adult Ministries is responsible for all Adult Ministry activities and teaching, except for worship services. He oversees all groups and will strategize the growth and development of McKinney’s adult groups. Formal education is not a predetermining factor for the selection of the new Pastor of Adult Ministries, but will preferably have a seminary degree. He will have a proven track record and experience in a growing church. The ability to be strategic and relational is key to this position.

Fort Worth is listed as #9 on Money.com’s “100 Best Places to Live” and the fifth fastest growing city in the US. Fort Worth carries a genuine Texan flair while also boasting cosmopolitan offerings in art and culture. The economy of Fort Worth has remained stable throughout the economic downturn and a wide variety of affordable house options abound. A majority of those living in Fort Worth are familiar with the church, but are not involved.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The Wall Street Journal’s Julie Steinberg offers five tips that were written for the corporate world, but we believe have many applications to Kingdom for as well.

Stay in the Front: Do you show up at work, take care of business and leave when the clock strikes five? If you’re spending all of your time at your desk and no time engaging with your coworkers and superiors, you may become a distant memory. Don’t go overboard trying to get attention, but do make an extra effort at sending updates, contributing to projects, and complimenting others’ jobs well done.

Teacher’s Pet: Let us say this first – don’t be inauthentic. Sometimes you can’t force a good relationship. However, creating a good and growing relationship with your boss is essential for staying in the game. Recently, an employee approached her manager because she knew her budget was getting cut and the department’s revenue was significantly less than planned. Because of the relationship she had with her boss over time and by always being consistent, he allowed her to have a six-month grace period to allow her extra time to realign her department. He clearly said he wouldn’t have offered it if it weren’t for their relationship.

Vacation Time: It’s easy to skip out of the office more frequently than usual during the holidays. If you’re relatively new at your company, simply take the time off you need to. When you’re out of the office, you’re out of peoples’ minds. It can be easy for others to lose sight of your contributions when you’re away. Without robbing your family of your time away, see if there are a few times you can check in should you take an extended leave.

Focus: Multitasking is required especially as companies downsize and people are left with a growing mountain of responsibility. However, as you work on your various projects, focus on one at a time. This will help you be more productive by completing your tasks with excellence and preventing do-overs for simple mistakes.

Assert Yourself: It may seem counter-intuitive to ask for more money during such an unstable economic time, but if you’ve earned it, ask. Your assertiveness will likely be looked on favorably and also show your manager that you have confidence about the direction the company is heading – and how you will be contributing.

Radiant Church began in 1997 in a local elementary school. Not only has the city of Surprise, Arizona expanded, but the number of attenders and those committing their lives to Jesus have also grown. Currently, Radiant Church serves 3500 people a weekend. Growth opportunities are abound with a vibrant student and children’s ministry, a committed core of members, and a new Family Life Center about to break ground. Radiant Church is focused on the five purposes given by Jesus: Worship, Ministry, Evangelism, Fellowship, and Discipleship. Many weekly programs are available for every age group and for special interests as well. Weekend programming consists of casual, friendly and contemporary services.

The Senior Pastor will serve as the chief communicator, biblical teacher, and visionary leader for Radiant. The successful candidate will be responsible to teach culturally relevant and biblically accurate messages. The senior pastor will also be responsible for effectively sharing the gospel and communicating the vision of the church. Candidates will hold a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Seminary training and/or an advanced degree in biblical studies or divinity is strongly preferred. The successful Senior Pastor will have a proven record of being a gifted teacher, leader and communicator as a senior pastor or similar capacity.

Surprise, Arizona is known as one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. During the 80s the city was home to less than 4,000 people while today more than 100,000 people call it home. Surprise aims for a community that “defines vibrant southwest living.” The city is located just minutes away from downtown Phoenix and it is a place where you can connect all aspects of your life: family, work, and recreation.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Trinitarian Congregational Church (TCC) is a non-denominational congregational church with a strong vision and track record for biblical teaching and witness.  Founded in 1828, the church has a vision to connect the Gospel and the teachings of the Bible with people seeking to apply their faith in their daily lives.  Over its 183 year history,  TCC has been renowned in the community and beyond for reaching families and individuals in Wayland and many surrounding towns and equipping them with a biblical understanding and worldview.

The Senior Pastor will serve as the preacher, visionary, organizational leader, biblical teacher and chief communicator at TCC.  He will also serve as the primary ambassador for TCC to the community as a whole. The successful candidate will demonstrate an intellectual and spiritual depth in his ability to preach culturally relevant, biblically accurate messages that speak both to mature believers as well as those who are unfamiliar with the faith.  The ability to communicate deep truth with an approachable style is critical.

The heart of TCC is a desire to make disciples of unreached people and to teach them applicable life principles of the Bible.  Located in a growth area approximately 20 miles from downtown Boston, the community surrounding the church has a compelling mix of new families, young professionals, as well as families who have lived in the area for generations.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Preshow: If you’re interested in making the switch and are interviewing at nonprofit organizations, use this time to uncover as much as you can about the processes, systems and environment of the organization. Some nonprofits, especially those who are expanding quickly, may not have training structures in place, which can lead to a bumpy transition. By asking about specific coaching and leadership cultures, you can gauge the temperature of the senior leadership team.

Waiting to Begin: You’ve been hired, and now you’re waiting to begin. How can you get a head start on more smoothly transitioning? If you have several weeks before you begin, ask for any material the organization may have produced – internally and externally – so you can start learning the language and key focuses.  If you’re able to, meet with other senior leaders and any managers with whom you’ll be directly working. This will help establish trust before you unpack your office so you can immediately contribute.

Setting Expectations: Being able to define expectations for your first month, and up to your first year will not only relieve anxiety of all the things a new job brings, but it will provide you a safe place to explore how to lead inside the new environment of a nonprofit. Ask for feedback, ask for help, and ask for time if you need it. Communication is vital with both your peers and those you manage. Be flexible, but let others know your leadership style. Take confidence in the fact you were hired for a reason and while you will need to adapt to a new culture, don’t be hesitant to express your strengths.

Getting to Know You: Finding relationships within and outside of your new organization is another way you can help make your transition smoothly. Especially in the nonprofit sector where board members and donors are key, the sooner they meet you and you take an interest in them, the better. Nobody likes to be left in the dark when it comes to important transitions, and your presence will help them adjust. Also, seek out mentors either in your organization or in other nonprofits that can provide you with insight as you begin leading. People in senior positions often find themselves isolated when it comes to finding guidance. Be proactive and reach out.

Mind the Pace: Let’s face it: sometimes the pace by which decisions are made in nonprofit organizations can be a bit slower. Due to the nature of how most nonprofits operate, this is to be expected. Unlike for-profit businesses, big decisions made too quickly can have a potentially devastating impact on the culture. Slow down and learn, especially at the beginning.

Don’t Give Up: Crises and unexpected mishaps will happen in your first year. This can be discouraging and may lead you to question if you should have made such a big leap from the familiar into the unknown. Instead of being derailed by what may go wrong, lean into other senior leaders and strengthen your bond with them. Pulling through crises with a unified front will only build trust with employees, volunteers, and donors.

Beginning a new career in the nonprofit world can be extremely rewarding if you take the time to plan and manage expectations in your first year. And once you begin learning the ropes, always remember to pay your knowledge forward.

Here are some of the expert insights we gleaned from the article that we believe might help you in your hiring efforts.

Patience. Taking time to hire for a position is key. Often, organizations want to desperately fill any gaps that may exist and in doing so, neglect a proper timeline to receive ideal candidates. While intuition certainly plays a role in hiring the right person, simply asking a few questions and determining an interviewee would be adequate may cost you more time in the end. Waiting for the best person could take some time in the beginning, but will save you the hassle of repeating the hiring process if a mistake is made.

Behavior before Skills. It’s easy to size up someone based on their credentials, but by ignoring behavior analysis, you may be putting the chemistry of your team or organization at risk. Ask questions about how a candidate has resolved conflict with superiors and subordinates, or how he or she has recovered from mistakes. Does it seem as if they accept responsibility or do they shift the blame? Those simple questions can help you avoid personality clashes in the future.

Integrate New Hires. In today’s economy, it’s typical for a new employee to receive a human resources download, but often it’s sink-or-swim. Team members share in the training burden and no expectations are set, which can be frustrating for the new hire and those he or she works and serves with. Integrating a new hire into the culture, processes, and nuances of your organization and qualifying expectations up front for the first 30, 60, or 90 days will remove some of the stress of learning the ropes and will also allow you to measure productivity.

It may seem like a lot of time to invest up front, but by creating a process of evaluating your specific needs, realizing skills can be taught but behavior is difficult to modify and coaching new hires through their first few months on the job, you’re saving yourself time, and your organization or church money (not to mention frustration) in the long run. Hiring mistakes can be learning processes in and of themselves, so by talking with other hiring managers in your organization or other key leaders in the church, you may learn a valuable lesson or two.

Mars Hill is one of the leading churches in the country. Led by founding Pastor Mark Driscoll, the church has grown from a Bible study to over 12,000 weekly attenders at 14 different churches in 4 states, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, and California.

The Chief Operating Officer will sit on the senior lead team of the staff, and will give leadership in the overall strategy, communication, and development of churchwide efforts, as well as existing and future campuses. The COO will office at church headquarters in Seattle. Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: 

2. Acts 29, the church planting network birthed by Mars Hill, has also retained our firm to help identify their next Chief Operating Officer. The COO will help with the development, execution, and implementation of the overall strategy of Acts 29. The network oversees more than 500 churches and is steadily growing throughout the country.Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: 

Both of these jobs will require candidates with exceptional strength and experience in high growth organizations. All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Preston Trail Community Church, located in the fastest-growing area of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, is a growing, relational church of 2000 attenders and home to a vibrant children’s ministry. Preston Trail has a creative approach to ministry that is Biblically modeled and follows many principles from Jim Collin’s book “Good to Great.” The church is co-pastored with responsibilities shared between the two senior pastors. Worship services are contemporary, simple and elegant with many opportunities for people to connect in the lobby, or throughout the week.

The ideal Executive Pastor candidate will be expected to champion the growth of Preston Trail drastically. This person will have a strong commitment to family values and will minister in the church as a family.

Frisco, Texas, is located north of Dallas and offers an upscale quality of life with close proximity to the many attractions the Dallas area offers including professional sports teams, amusement parks, a thriving arts and entertainment culture and excellent schools.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Recently we came across a great article on what not to ask during the interview process. Whether you’re interviewing for a job or you’re the person hiring, it’s important to know what questions are off the table – legally speaking. Regardless of how casual a job interview may be, certain questions can get employers in trouble. And if you’re being interviewed, it’s important to know what questions you don’t have to answer.

Federal law doesn’t allow job discrimination based on someone’s gender, race, religion, ethnicity, disability or marital status, meaning anything that comes up in an interview in regard to those topics can’t be discussed. Only in rare cases – typically involving religion – are there limited exceptions. For example, a job qualification of a priest is to be a professing Christian, so a church would be within its legal limits to check. However, any non-pastoral position, from secretaries to janitors to administrators, cannot be discriminated against because of a candidate’s religion, or lack of.

Drug and alcohol use are other topics that are illegal to talk about in an interview. What about drug testing? That’s legal, even though it seems contradictory to the law against asking questions. This allows people who are or have been addicted to, or have been treated for addiction to, these substances (which is recognized as an illness and in some cases, a disability) to be protected from discrimination. However, if the answer is relevant to the job (such as positions that require driving on the job), it’s legal to ask if someone drinks or uses drugs. It’s not legal to ask how much, or if a candidate has ever been treated for addiction related issues.

It can be confusing when it comes to non-profits and matters of legality in the hiring process. If you’re unsure of specific questions, seek legal counsel. There may also be local or state laws to take under consideration which a lawyer can guide you through. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re unsure if a question is legal, the best bet is to stay away from asking – or answering if you’re the candidate. If you stay focused on experience and personality during the interview process, you’ll likely stay away from a lawsuit.

The Vanderbloemen Search group is very excited to announce our newest team member Charles Jenkins.

Charles Jenkins is a leader respected and revered for his innovative thinking, contemporary leadership, business savvy and holistic approach to social change and large-scale community development. While Jenkins is widely known as the senior pastor of an 8,000-member church, the legendary Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, he is also a visionary, a trailblazer, a connector, a community leader, an advisor, a Grammy Award-winning songwriter, an author and dynamic communicator.

I am thrilled to have Charles Jenkins join our team. He is a first class leader, and his ability to connect people and opportunities is beyond compare. When we first did work for Charles’ church, I knew we had found a winner. I never imagined it would lead to a future partnership, and am so glad it has. The future just got brighter for our firm because of Charles Jenkins.

-William Vanderbloemen

Charles Jenkins is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Christian Education and a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where he earned his Master of Arts in Religion. Charles Jenkins is married to Dr. Tara Rawls-Jenkins and has two young daughters, Princess and Paris, and one son, Charles Jenkins, III.

You can take a look at Charles’s full bio on our team page.

After 23 years of faithful service, the Lead Pastor is transitioning to the role of teaching pastor and opportunities to minister in Asia. Lee’s Summit Community Church (LSCC) is searching for a candidate to follow him in a seamless transition in becoming the new Lead Pastor. LSCC is a growing and externally-focused church in the Kansas City with a track record for reaching the unchurched, creating disciples, and furthering the Kingdom by planting churches and intentionally caring for their community. LSCC sits on 10 beautiful acres and over 1800 people attend services each weekend.

The Lead Pastor will serve as the chief communicator, teacher, and visionary for LSCC. He will be responsible for sharing the gospel and communicating the vision of the church, leading the staff and elder teams, and championing all areas of growth, including church planting. The candidate will lead from a place of a servant and have a strong relationship with Christ. He will be able to teach with clarity and authenticity, lead LSCC into the future with respect for its history and be relationally and spiritually proactive with the staff, members, and community. Candidates will have a Bachelor’s degree and seminary training or advance Biblical studies are preferred.

Lee’s Summit is becoming one of the busiest centers in the Kansas City metro region. Cultural, entertainment and educational opportunities are fifteen minutes away from this quiet, suburban area with a low cost of living.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

by Justin Lathrop

I’ve spent 12 years serving as a staff pastor at two different churches. Both experiences have been unique, positive, and challenging. I don’t plan on ever being a lead pastor, so I’ll spend my entire career serving on a staff rather than leading one.

If you are a staff pastor, no job is ever 100% secure. Things happen, economy has its ups and downs but there are four strategic things you can do to make yourself an indispensable staff pastor.

1. Find the most important objective your pastor wants to accomplish and put yourself in the middle of it.

—Volunteer to lead a task force to accomplish the objective.

—Be a good listener. For instance, if you hear frustration from him on why the church has a low retention rate for visitors, make note of it and take initiative to help craft a solution.

2. Make strategic connections for your pastor.

—Make sure these relationships are life-giving and not things that give him more work.

—Make sure they are strategic and contribute to accomplishing his present objectives or future dreams.

3. Bring more solutions than problems.

—When you see a problem, it’s tempting to let your pastor know right away about it. Instead, stop and brainstorm solutions. When you tell him the problem, offer several ideas to solve the problem. And when you offer your ideas, volunteer to be a part of the solutions.

4. Think team, not silo.

—Don’t always talk about your needs or your budget. Instead, offer to sacrifice for other team members or departments. Find ways you can show your ministry is not singular in focus but recognizes it’s part of the whole. For example, your youth leadership team can volunteer to do all the set-up for a children’s ministry event.

—Offer to evaluate other ministries. If you’re a respected youth pastor with good relationships with other staff members, volunteer to spend one Sunday a quarter going to the kids’ church and give tips on making it a better experience.

We don’t become indispensable by jockeying for power or claiming our rights, but by humbly and intentionally serving our pastor and our team.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to announce we have partnered with Rock Bridge Community Church in Dalton, Georgia, to assist in filling the position of a Missions Pastor.

Rock Bridge Community Church is a fast growing, contemporary church serving Northwest Georgia. This ten-year-old church is known for reaching and equipping individuals and families in the Dalton area with relevant, biblical truth. Currently, 2800 people attend this multi-site church each weekend. With the explosive growth Rock Bridge has experienced, the need has surfaced for a pastor to deepen the church’s ministry to the local community, region and world.

The Missions Pastor will provide leadership for all mission initiatives at Rock Bridge. The candidate will raise awareness and participation in serving in the community and throughout the world. This position requires a motivated and relational personality, who can connect easily in any cultural situation, especially with the Hispanic community.

The candidate will have a growing and fruitful relationship with Christ. Proven experience in team building, creating thinking, vision casting, mobilizing teams and connecting people and resources to needs is strongly preferred.

Dalton, Georgia is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and boasts a high quality of life with a low cost of living and an inviting, small town atmosphere.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

As the job market continues to rapidly change, people are using the internet to search for career opportunities. But can the internet provide candidates with more than “Apply Now” links? Recently we came across a great article in the Chicago Tribune that shares some great tips on how job seekers can improve their chances at landing that perfect job. Using search engines such as Google to research everything from resume design to a company’s financial profile provides candidates with indispensable tools in their quest.  Below are some tips to help get your resume on the top of the pile.

Background Check Potential Employers

Whether you want to work for a publicly traded company or a non-profit, you can use Google to investigate the financial status of many organizations. For stock prices and trends, use Google Finance to see and compare stock prices. Many companies post their annual reports on their websites, so accessing that information is as easy as searching for it.

Revamp your Resume

You have a list of contacts to send your resume to, but you’re wondering if it may need some touching up before you move forward. Inspiration is only a few clicks away. By using Google’s “Image Search,” you can easily peruse resume designs for ideas. Focus in on your area of expertise (you probably wouldn’t want to use a graphic artist’s resume design if you’re looking for work as an assistant). A tip for keeping it safe: Change your Google Image “SafeSearch” setting to “strict” to avoid accidentally stumbling on inappropriate content. This feature is under advanced settings.

Don’t Trust (Only) The Monster

While job hunting sites like Monster.com are a great place to begin, don’t limit your search to them. If there is a particular company piquing your interest, go to Google and type in the company name plus “career” or “employment” to be taken to their job opportunities.

Ask for Help

YouTube has channels chalk-full of career advice. You can learn more about looking for jobs in specific industries as well as best practices for preparing for interviews. And when you need a break from the information overload, you can always find those cute kitten videos for relief.

Know Your Interviewer

If you know the name of the person who will be interviewing you, a little online stalking won’t hurt. A quick search should reveal his or her blog (if they have one), their previous employment history (via sites like LinkedIn), any videos of presentations or awards they have received. Knowing a bit about the person who’s asking you the questions can provide an edge over the competition. Just make sure to keep it professional and not personal. Commenting on photos you found on Facebook of their family vacation will probably end an interview fast.

Find Your Way

Once you’re invited to be interviewed, use Google Maps to plot the best way to arrive at the company’s location. You can even use the “Search Nearby” feature to locate the closest café so you can be properly caffeinated before your interview, or to send a thank you note with a gift card to a nearby restaurant to the person who interviewed you.

As always, the internet is an invaluable tool and provides us with ways to improve on our careers and potential opportunities. However, don’t get pulled too far into the vortex. Hard work, relationships, networking and simply picking up the phone to say thank you can go a long way as you scope out what the future holds.

VSG on the Dave Ramsey Show

the full audio for the show is available on Dave’s Site.

We’re sure there are going to be countless references to Steve this week in churches everywhere. We hope that our question can help your thoughts as you prepare messages to help people step into their God given destiny.

Have a great weekend!

(Most Fridays, William posts an illustration from his desk to yours and for your use. We know that the scramble for message material always runs up to the very last minute. If any of these illustrations help you or your church, feel free to use them!)

Over the years, I’ve been blessed to know a bunch of older, wiser church leaders, and to count them as close friends. Maybe it’s my rather unique collection of friends that makes me have so much fun doing executive search.

Last week, I read a great post from my friend Tony last week that called one of my long time friends to mind. I’ll never forget what my great Houston colleague Ed Young told me about measuring the effectiveness of programs.

Over a long lunch in his office, Ed said, “William, never forget that the church is a non-profit but it has a profit margin. Our profit margin is life change.”

“William, never forget that the church is a non-profit but it has a profit margin. Our profit margin is life change.” – Ed Young

Now that’s money.

Ever since hearing that wisdom, I’ve insisted that every line item in the church budget be measured against that metric. I think it translates in any church, no matter your vision statement or particular strategy.

Measure programs for their life change, and you’ll never wonder what is worth funding and what needs to be cut.

Show your people the profit margin of the church. Show them how much the church is changing lives, and they will never wonder why we are here. You won’t have to worry about raising money. You won’t have to worry about being off purpose.

What would change in your church if every line item were measured against the question, “How is this ministry changing lives?” What would the overall effectiveness of your church look like?

How’s your profit margin?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

And we know that Friday isn’t about looking for a job.

It’s about scrambling for the weekend.

Particularly, it’s about preachers scrambling for illustrations.

In fact, we know pastors are always looking for illustrations. As a service to you, William is posting an illustration from his desk and for your use every Friday. This week’s illustration: “The Best Eulogy Ever.”

Enjoy:

In addition to providing churches legal council, our firm regularly partners with the Church Law Group in compensation studies that provide churches with a professional analysis of pay scales, so that churches can determine what they should pay their top staff in a way that is equitable and sound based on the criteria set by the IRS.

This month, Church Law Group is releasing a new resource geared towards assisting Churches and Church Boards in determining whether or not a pastor is being compensated reasonably. We urge you to take a look at the video below about their new resource, the Church Law Guide to Executive Compensation, we are sure you will find it useful.

Harvest Church is committed to reaching those far from God. They are known for a welcoming spirit, undergirded by solid Biblical values in a contemporary setting that strives to be culturally relevant. The theology of Harvest can be described as Biblical, orthodox, and evangelical. They currently have four campuses reaching 2,500 people each weekend.

The Campus Pastor is the relational pastor to his campus. The successful candidate must be able to embrace the overall vision and values of Harvest Church and translate it into the context of their local community and congregation. The will oversee the staff at his campus and coach key volunteers. He  will be responsible for evangelistically growing the campus, building small groups, as well as outreach to the community.

The successful candidate will have a strong, demonstrated relationship with Jesus Christ and a high level of integrity. He must be highly relational and able to interact with a broad spectrum of people. He must have a proven track record of developing and coaching staff and volunteers.

Billings, MT, boasts a high quality of life at a low cost of living. Family life and outdoor activity are optimal in Billings. Good schools, summer and winter sports, options for eating out, and cultural opportunities abound for families wishing to live in the area.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

I’m often asked,

“How do I get hired when nobody is hiring?”

I cannot get you hired, but I can tell you how you can stand out among the crowds we see.

Every week, we comb through a growing number of resumes, usually of highly qualified people. What catches an employer’s eye?

Over the coming weeks, we will share a number of ideas. Here’s one to start:

Have a plan, and an open hand

When a candidate shows an employer that they are living and working with a purpose, that sticks. When people come to the table with a keen self awareness, a knowledge of how God has wired them and what He wants them to do, it separates them from the ordinary resume in a stack. Do you know your purpose? Can you state it well (without sounding proud)?

At the same time, most great churches are growing quickly and changing on a daily basis. That makes flexibility paramount. Some of the best leaders I see are people who can do whatever is needed. It’s almost like “agility” ought to be on the spiritual gift list.

Preston Mitchell (on our team) is a great example. He was at Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) before anyone, even before Ed Young came to be the Pastor. Then he served the church in nearly every leadership capacity imaginable as it grew from 30 families to over 20,000 weekly attenders. He’s run students, been the Executive Pastor, and everything in between. Unusually valuable people are able to show value in a number of different roles.

Unusually valuable people are able to show value in a number of different roles.

Here’s a practical application of “having a plan, and an open hand.”

There’s some old advice out there that says your resume should lead with a stated objective. I find this to be good advice, when it’s held loosely. If you state too tight an objective, you may not get noticed at all. If you state it too loosely, it won’t register.

A little too specific:

“Objective: To lead a multi-ethnic, Spirit filled, Reformed, SBC church in Southern Ohio, preferably the western side, of 1250-1400 attenders.”

A little too loose:

“Objective: To pursue God.”

If you hit the middle, stating purpose while showing flexibility, then you’ve caught my eye. More importantly, you’ve allowed our research team to enter you into our systematic database in a way that you hit our radar. Here’s a great example from a resume:

“Objective: To use my experience building and leading teams to help a church move to a new level of effectiveness”

Believe it or not, that’s not too loose. Your resume will show me if the teams you’ve built are in student ministry, children’s ministry, etc.

That’s just one example, but the idea should be pretty simply grasped. Have a plan. Have an open hand.

It will get you noticed in a time when getting noticed is harder than ever.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to share we have been retained by Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to assist in finding their new Multisite Pastor.

Beulah Alliance Church is thriving church of 2300. The desire is to be a reproducing church that creates multi-site venues throughout the city. Since its founding Beulah Alliance Church has experienced a God-inspired restlessness, a kind of uneasiness with the status quo. The very heart of Beulah is the commitment to reach, teach, and equip people to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ. Beulah Alliance Church is connected denominationally to The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA), an evangelical Protestant denomination with an emphasis on global evangelism.

The Multisite Pastor is responsible for directing multisite initiatives and providing spiritual leadership to all campus pastors and the associated congregations. The successful candidate will serve as a member of the Executive Team and provide input for future ministry strategies. A strong, demonstrated relationship with Christ and a commitment to following biblical principles will be evident. Interested candidates will have a proven track record of pastoral care, evangelism, and leading and relating within a multisite environment.

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and has one of the strongest 20 year economic forecast in all of Canada. It plays host to a year-round slate of world-class festivals, earning it the title of “The Festival City.” With high wages and low taxes, Edmonton is the place of choice for individuals and businesses.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

by William Vanderbloemen

Here’s a truth about preaching and doing ministry:

Monday is likely the hardest day of the week.

Our previous two articles on “Beating the Monday Blues” have garnered a lot more traffic than we ever expected. So as an encore, here’s one last article, with a couple of pieces of advice about beating the Monday blues.

1. Don’t believe anything or decide anything until Tuesday.

I’m not sure there are many professions that require the level of nakedness that preaching does. To step up and deliver a public speech about eternity is a big deal.

It’s been noted by a myriad of studies that public speaking is the number one phobia among people; – it’s feared even more than death. As Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Turns out most people would rather be the subject of a funeral than the speaker at one.”

Answering the call to speak is a big deal, but too often, we are met with critics.

Folks walk out of services telling you how much they liked “last week’s message.” All preachers have met the fact checker in their house who makes sure to email a correction right away. If you’re really lucky, you might have a really great grammarian in your midst who helps you see all the participles you left dangling or infinitives you split.

Then there’s the very real dynamic God’s Word brings when preaches: It ticks someone off! That’s when the real critics show up.

No matter how large or small the criticism, it all hurts. What’s a preacher to do? I say turn off the email for a day. Don’t answer critics for a day. Don’t sweat it.

Sure there are valid criticisms out there, and preachers can always learn. But they might do well to put off learning for a day while emotions get back to a normal state.

The same is true for decisions.  Making major decisions on the day when you’re down can have some real consequences. Most things can wait until Tuesday. When I was in ministry and younger (read, when I knew everything), I thought it was a great idea to start Monday out with marathon meetings filled with big agendas and meetings. I even scheduled our board and committee meetings for Monday nights. Ask me how that worked out….

Turns out, not every day was designed for intense decisions.

2. Schedule light work that has tangible results on Monday.

If you follow the suggestion above, you might be tempted to do nothing on Mondays. That works for some guys, but I have found that most preachers find great fulfillment in doing some work on Mondays.

Just like working out will help you out of the low points, so will working.

My mother has worked with Hospice for over 25 years now and she says that over all that time, one piece of advice remains constant: Hospice tells grieving family members to go volunteer somewhere as a coping skill. We all know the saying, “it’s better to give than receive,” but it’s only recently that I’ve realized the power of that saying in motivating staff through service.

Behavioral Psychology has been a proponent of this time and time by showing us that if we simply become more active in our lives, then we will feel better and think more positively. Basically, you can become more motivated by taking action and engaging in new, positive experiences.

Spend your Mondays with a punchlist of attainable goals. Things that can be done and checked off a box. If Monday is your day off, maybe it’s projects around the house. Maybe it’s a service project. If you’re working at the church (which I do recommend), maybe it’s cleaning the desk, writing notes of encouragement to staff, or knocking out some of those menial tasks you never seem to “have time for.” Finishing a to do list will do wonders for your soul!

I’m sure there are other tips out there for getting out of a low spot. And maybe some of you don’t suffer from post-Sunday Blues. But if you do, know that you’re not alone, and that they will pass.

Preaching is a holy calling. A task like no other, and one to be treasured. Part of treasuring and nurturing that calling is to take care of yourself with some regular patterns of dealing with the low spots.

I know when I was preaching, as much as I loved it, I remember thinking, “Sunday seems to come around every seven days!”

The Good News is, so does Tuesday!

This week’s illustration is in memory of September 11, 2001.

We hope and pray that services at your church are meaningful, and if this illustration is helpful, then use it by all means!

Click below to read William’s illustration

The Flag Doesn’t Stop Flying

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to share we have been retained Hillside Community Church in Alta Loma, CA, to assist in finding their new Senior Pastor.

Hillside Community Church is a growing, dynamic, externally-focused community church. After 35 years of faithful service, Hillside’s senior pastor is retiring and is searching for the candidate to follow him in a seamless and fruitful transition. Hillside is a church that offers something for everybody with seven-day-a-week classes, Bible studies and other ministry opportunities. The average attendance exceeds 2500 and has posted an annual positive growth rate for a majority of its years. It is well-positioned for continued growth in the coming years.

The Senior Pastor will serve as the chief communicator, teacher, visionary, and community ambassador for Hillside. He will teach culturally relevant and Biblically accurate messages. He will initiate and build healthy relationships with staff and key leaders, equipping them and inspiring them with God’s vision for the future. He will be generous with the work entrusted to Hillside, handing off ministry tasks to high capacity leaders.

The successful candidate holds a Bachelor’s degree and will likely possess an advanced degree in biblical studies or a similar field. He has experience working in a setting committed to reaching the lost and mobilizing leaders. He is a gifted communicator and can connect to multiple generations.

Alta Loma is one of the most affluent areas of San Bernardino County. It is well known for its history and outdoor activities, highlighted by over 300 days per year of sunshine. With its proximity to both Los Angeles and Orange County, Alta Loma offers all the benefits of small town living with the accessibility of city life.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to share we have been retained by Grace Community Church in Fulton, Maryland to assist in finding a Teaching/Young Adults pastor.

Grace Community Church is a highly relational church between Baltimore, MD and Washington, DC. Because of the church’s emphasis on relationships, 103% of the people at Grace are connected to small groups (no, that’s not a typo!)

The Teaching Pastor will be relationally engaging. He is expected to teach at a quarter of weekend services as well as in other avenues. Also, the successful candidate will provide leadership to the Young Adult Ministry. He must have an excellent knowledge of Scripture, be tactical and organized, and be passionate about working with and equipping young adults. He must possess a seminary or Bible college degree with experience in young adult ministry preferred.

Fulton, MD, is in Howard County, which has been ranked nationally as the #2 Best Place to Live in America by Money Magazine. It’s known for its great educational opportunities, public safety, and the lowest unemployment rate in the state.  Howard County has a high percentage of unchurched people in the United States.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is excited to announce that we have been retained to assist Visalia First Assembly to find their new Children’s Pastor.

Visalia First Assembly is a thriving congregation of over 3100 weekly attenders.

The heart of the church is to creatively present the gospel to those far from God. The church is well known within the area as a place that exists for the community.

Visalia is at the in the heart of California’s agricultural San Joaquin Valley and has almost 500,000 residents in it’s metroplex. Visalia is the third fastest growing city in California.

Visalia First Assembly is looking for a high capacity Children’s Pastor who can creatively reach the lost students of the area as well as build systems to address the growth and make disciples.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

With the job market as volatile as it has been lately, more and more candidates are trying to stand out from the ocean of resumes potential employers receive. The rules of the game have changed, and even ministry positions are affected by the downward spiraling economy.

A cover letter is a job-seeking staple when introducing your resume for consideration. It’s the first impression you’ll make on the person who may hold the future of your career in his or her hands. Fins.com recently discussed ten cover letter mistakes that could land your resume on the bottom of the stack. Here’s our take on their list.

1. Brevity May Not Be King

While a two-page essay probably isn’t the best idea, not giving your cover letter any attention is a damaging mistake. Your cover letter should be like a movie trailer and give the employer a reason to invest in the main feature: your resume.

2. Play Nice

It would seem like common sense, but interestingly enough candidates often approach employers with a rescuer mentality. They see the potential in the position and instead of focusing on the positive elements of how their skills may benefit the company, they criticize what’s already in place and explain what they can do to fix it.

3. Save the Story

Stories are always a great place to connect and relate, but most employers prefer to hear them in the interview. By sharing the tale of when you were a child and pretended to be a teacher with all the neighborhood kids in your cover letter, your diminishing the effects of your professional persona.

4. Say it Straight

Passivity or unclear verbiage is common in cover letters, some hiring managers say. You may not be a professional writer or know the difference of “their,” “they’re,” and “there.” If that’s the case, it may be wise to have a more language-saavy friend look over your cover letter and resume to correct any grammatical errors or passive voice.

5. Don’t Copy & Paste

Everyone has probably searched for “Cover Letter Template” online at some point in their job search, which in and of itself is nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes you need a little direction to get started, especially if job-hunting is new to you. However, when a prospective employer reads the same sentence in several cover letters, it’s easy to see people aren’t putting in the hard work. Be creative. Research the company online instead of generic cover letters. A little insight into their values or accomplishments will go a long way in a cover letter.

6. Be Relevant

One manager in the Nashville area who was hiring for a sales associate received a resume where the candidate bragged about his leadership experience because he led a video game team online. Not only is that not relevant to the position, the simple fact the person thought it would be a helpful skill shows he may lack the necessary, relevant skills the position demanded.  If your job history has been in a different world than the position for which you’re applying, find relevant aspects of your history that do tie in to the new job.

7. Ditch the Fluff and Arrogance

Inflated language – vaguely describing your skills in grandiose terminology – is a turn off to employers. While some may believe creative word-smithing such as “design ninja” generic descriptions such as “expert” really mean nothing to hiring managers. Be specific in your qualifications and back them up with proven examples.

8. Attention to Detail

Are you correctly spelling the name of the person or company receiving your cover letter? Few things about a cover letter say, “throw me away” than missing crucial details. If you aren’t cautious about the specifics before you’re hired, how well can you be trusted to handle them as a part of the company? Easy answer: you can’t. And employers know this.

9. Job Hunting is not Dating

While personal interests are important to how you may fit in the culture of a company, if it’s not directly relevant to the position to which you’re applying, it’s best to let your teammates find out after you’ve been hired. Sure, you may love running marathons and cooking, but what does that have to do with your job search?

10. Charm Them. Don’t Overwhelm them.

While a good sense of humor is desirable in most circumstances, it’s easy to allow nervous laughter and jokes into the interview process in order to diffuse the situation. Being personable is always a good idea, but overcompensating your anxiety by trying to be funny is an all too common mistake.

Be sure to check out the full version of the article at fins.com

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to announce we have been retained by Christ Fellowship Church in Miami, Florida, to assist in filling the role of Teaching Pastor.

Christ Fellowship is a fast growing, multicultural, contemporary multi-site fellowship based in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Christ Fellowship is known throughout the south-Florida region for it’s biblical and relevant teaching.

Over the last several years, Christ Fellowship has experienced explosive growth resulting in approximately 7000 attenders over five campuses each weekend (from 1500 six years ago!). Considering its location in a diverse community, the demographic of the church varies widely from ethnicity to socioeconomic status. While the church offers various ministries throughout the week, a “less is more” strategy is key and allows the church to do fewer things with intentional excellence.

The Teaching Pastor will be an inspiring, authentically biblical and relational communicator for weekend services. The multisite model at Christ Fellowship uses alternating teachers at live venues. The successful candidate must posses the ability to connect with multicultural congregations while walking attenders through the Bible in an exegetical fashion.  Consistent quality teaching is imperative. The Teaching Pastor will also work with the creative team to generate ideas for the execution of services and small group DVD curriculum.

The candidate will have a proven record of a growing and fruitful relationship with Christ, be a gifted communicator and is committed to reaching those far from God. Candidates who have experience working in a large staff setting is preferred.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

By Tony Morgan

I get to spend a lot of time with churches either consulting related to staffing and structure or helping churches with searches for senior-level leaders. Here are some of the philosophies that shape how I coach leaders about church staffing. Use this as a guide…

10 Keys to a Smart Staffing Strategy

1. Think strategy before staffing structure. What’s your discipleship strategy? How do you help people who are new to your church become fully-devoted followers of Christ? How do you reach people outside the faith and outside the church? Build your staffing structure around that strategy.

2. Hire ministry leaders rather than ministry doers. In the church, you’ll never have enough money to hire the people you need to do ministry. The temptation is always to hire the person who is getting it done, but you really need to hire the people who can more capable of building the team.

3. Whenever possible, hire from within your church. They’re more likely to embrace the vision, values and strategy of your church. You’ll probably also have a better sense of how they’ll fit with your existing team.

4. But don’t assume the inside person is the best person. I’ve witnessed plenty of inside hires that didn’t work out. Outsiders may be helpful when you need a shift in philosophy or strategy. Outsiders may be helpful when you need experienced leadership. Outsiders may be helpful when you need a specialized skill. You have to weigh every situation and role individually to discern the right next hire.

5. Include multiple voices in the selection process. Include supervisors, peers and folks that will serve under the new person. If it’s a specialized skill, invite leaders from other churches to participate in the interviews. You might ultimately be the person who makes the hire, but it’s always better to have other people interact with the candidate to determine if there are any red flags.

6. Revisit your structure on a regular basis. This applies whether you are growing, declining or plateaued. In times of significant growth, you may need to do this every year or two.

7. You have to get the “right” people in the “right” roles. And this will change over time. God designed the body of Christ to embrace spiritual gifts to fulfill our mission. Any time we have people operating outside of their gift mix, we are minimizing the potential ministry impact.

8. Pay close attention to chemistry and connection with your vision and strategy. This is huge. It’s very unlikely that you’ll ever have to fire someone because they don’t have the capacity to get the job done. If you have to let someone go, it’s more likely to happen because they don’t fit with the rest of the team or they don’t embrace your vision and strategy.

9. Maintain a healthy staffing ratio. Try to target one full-time equivalent staff member for every 100 people who attend your church. That includes pastors, directors, housekeeping, administrative assistants and anyone else you pay. To calculate full-time equivalents, add up the total hours that your part-time staff works each week and divide by 40. Then add that number to the number of full-time staff. Trying to maintain this ratio will force you to think volunteers before staff.

10. Pray and listen. You’d think this one would be a given, but I’m amazed at how many times leaders downplay Holy Spirit promptings, gut feelings, that voice in your head or however you want to describe that sense that someone is or isn’t the right fit. Pay attention to those checks that cause you to second-guess. Again, this is why it’s so important to have others involved in the process to help discern the intangibles.

That’s my list. Based on your experience, what would you add or subtract from this list?

(Tony originally prepared this article for Catalyst Monthly. It’s appeared here before, but has received so much traffic, we decided to post it again. If you’d like to reach out to Tony directly, you can contact him at tony@vanderbloemensearch.com)

We are thrilled to announce another major upgrade to our firm’s team!

Preston Mitchell has joined our firm full time as an Executive Search Consultant.

Preston and his wife were one of 30 families that founded Fellowship Church and subsequently hired a young preacher named Ed Young to lead them. From there, the church went on an amazing ride, growing to over 20,000 in attendance. Throughout the church’s history, Preston has been a key player. He was one of the first staff members at the church, and has been a key member of the senior leadership team for over 20 years, serving in many capacities, including Executive Pastor. He was also integral in helping establish and grow the C3 network of churches that are affiliated with the ministry of Fellowship Church.

Preston brings 21 years of ministry experience in a high growth environment to our firm. While there, he was charged with building great teams, hiring and shaping great staff, and delivering results. His record of service at Fellowship is pristine, and the talent and insight he has gained in team building and staffing is among the best in the church world.
William Vanderbloemen says, “When you think of the great churches in the US, Fellowship comes to mind. When you think of the key leaders at Fellowship, Preston is right there. There are few churches that have seen growth and networking like Fellowship. Preston’s experience helping run a high growth, creative church will prove invaluable to our firm’s ability to deliver great staff to growing churches. We continue to be amazed at the team God is putting together at our firm, and cannot wait to see how God uses Preston in our work and ministry to the Kingdom.”

When asked about joining the firm, Preston responded by saying,

“It’s a thrill and an honor to join the Vanderbloemen Search Group. After 21 years of leading and serving in the local church, God has called me to a different task; to use my passion and experience to benefit churches and pastors across America and the world by helping great churches find key staff. The Vanderbloemen Search Group offers a tremendous staffing experience to churches of all types and sizes. I feel like the firm and I are a perfect match.”

Preston will be centered in the firm’s Houston office. He and his wife Dedo are in the process of moving now, and will be settled in Houston in the coming weeks. You can contact Preston by emailing him at preston@vanderbloemensearch.com

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps growing churches find great staff.

by William Vanderbloemen

If you’re a preacher, you’ve probably had the Monday blues before. Big day on Sunday, big bummer on Monday. In fact, Monday is our biggest day for receiving resumes.

Last Monday, we posted a resource on dealing with the low spot that Monday often is for preachers. I was floored at the response. The post ended up being one of our most popular posts.

It seems we hit a nerve.

So for the next two Mondays, we will be posting more thoughts about how to deal with the low spots. Here are two action steps for you to consider. I hope it helps, and would love to hear your thoughts on how to beat the Monday blues.

Do NOT work on next week’s message until Tuesday.

It’s way too tempting to second guess your Sunday work, jump right into analysis, and then to drawing up the next message.

I’m told that most NFL coaches don’t watch game film until a day has passed. Most great golfers take Monday off. Completely. Are you taking real time away from developing preaching?

My running shoes last about 400 miles before they begin to wear out. Then Dad showed me a trick. If you alternate pairs of shoes every other day, the midsoles of each pair has time to recover. The result: my shoes now last about 600 miles per pair when I rest them.

Your preaching/studying muscles are no different. Rest today, and you’ll be a better preacher tomorrow.

Don’t miss your workout on Sunday afternoon or Monday.

There’s an old saying in recovery programs that goes something like this:

“Sometimes you have to drag your rear end out of the ditch before your head will follow.”

Getting the body well often precedes the mind and emotions coming around.

Countless studies have show that exercise motivates. One study found that when a group of people suffering from mild to moderate depression exercised (i.e. strength training, running or walking) for at least 20 to 60 minutes 3 times a week, they were significantly less depressed 5 weeks later. The benefits were immediate and were maintained for these participants as long as they kept on exercising.

So this Monday, get out the door and walk or run.

You may not feel like getting out there. Here’s an old trick I’ve used on myself for years:

I would head out Monday morning and used to have to lie to myself saying, “I’m only running 10 minutes, then I’m quitting.” Turns out, I never had to quit once I was out the door and moving for 10 minutes. And I almost always felt better after my run. By releasing some stress, and some endorphins, you will likely kick your body out of the funk Monday can bring.

In the end, the good news about Monday blues is that Tuesday always comes. Hang in there. It will probably be better tomorrow!

Enjoy:

by William Vanderbloemen

After 15 years in ministry, and thousands of turns stepping up to preach, I know the dirty little secret preachers carry:

Sunday night is often a major emotional bummer. Monday is often worse.

For a long time, I thought it was just me. I would find myself emotionally down on Sunday night. Even more listless on Mondays. What was wrong? Maybe I was moody. Maybe I expected too much from Sundays. It doesn’t make sense. Why would the hours following our biggest, most fun day of work be a bummer?

Then a friend of mine shared a study he had found on public speakers, particularly those who were motivational speakers. The study theorized that people who spend their time getting revved up for a public talk spent so much energy on stage that afterward there was almost always a time of emotional letdown. Turns out, a whole lot of other studies have the same conclusion.

I don’t know whether the studies are valid, but I know that the theory sure seems to resonate. Just hearing about it freed me up. I wasn’t weird or messed up. I was just experiencing what many other preachers do:

The Post Preaching Blues.

Now that I spend all my time doing executive search helping churches with staffing, I don’t preach as much (except for clients), and I don’t have those post Sunday blues. But I do set aside more time than normal to pray for and reach out to my friends and clients who spent their day serving a local church.

I’ve also spent a good bit of time studying what can be done to help preachers and church workers get through the Post Sunday Blues. Over the next several Mondays, I will be sharing key learnings I’ve found that seem to work well.

This week’s key: Take a deep breath, and realize you might be down because you did a great job.

If you’re feeling down on Sunday night or Monday, it is likely that you’re down because you were really, really up on Sunday morning. In other words, you left it all on the stage, and you did your job!

When friends hit a doldrum in preaching and ask me for advice, I often point them to Wesley’s famous prayer before preaching, “Lord, set me afire, and let the people watch me burn.” I tell them to preach their next sermon as if it were their last. Problem is, if you really do leave it all on the stage, there’s nothing left to take home.

Did you know that Billy Graham used to lose tens of pounds every time he went out on the road for crusades? He writes about the physical toll of preaching in his autobiography, Just As I Am.

Next time you’re feeling down after services, realize it may just be a result of doing a really great job, and take it easy on yourself.

“Back To School, Back to Work”

We hope it causes you to smile, and maybe even helps your message this week.

A couple of weeks ago we announced our partnership with First Baptist Church in Dallas in their search for an Uptown/Downtown pastor, today we are pleased to share we have also been retained to assist them in finding their new Young Married’s Pastor.

One of the cornerstones of downtown Dallas history, First Baptist Dallas took residence almost 140 years ago. As they serve the Lord by loving others well and standing firm on Biblical truth, their influence isn’t limited to six city blocks. Senior Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress hosts the weekly television and radio program, aired on 1,200 television and over a dozen radio stations around the world. The church body has committed to making visitors feel warm and welcomed, and providing an excellent level of teaching and community. First Baptist Dallas is currently in the middle of a $123 million building project that will renovate its current facility, embracing both its historic past and progressive future as a landmark on the Dallas skyline.

First Baptist Dallas offers diverse opportunities for its members to connect and grow through age and life-stage groups, although it’s primary medium for adult discipleship is through their historic Sunday School program. Services at First Baptist range from traditional to contemporary.

The Young Married’s Pastor reports to the Minister of Education and will communicate to all ministries, staff, and membership of First Dallas. He will have a committed and growing relationship with Christ. The successful candidate will thrive in a large, multi-faceted and growing church. By connecting with the congregation, he will increase the weekend attendance in Sunday School and Worship attendance. He will model a Godly lifestyle of spiritual leadership and humility. He will be able to embrace accountability and posses a high level of interpersonal skills. A formal education is not a predetermining factor in the selection for this position but an advanced degree in biblical studies, seminary training or divinity is strongly preferred.

Dallas, Texas, is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in America with a low cost of living and an urban center known for its arts, restaurants, and entertainment. The Dallas/Fort Worth metro area has four professional sports teams.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is excited to announce that we have been retained by
Coastal Church in Vancouver, BC – Canada, to assist in finding their new Executive Director.

In a hotel on Robson Street in April 1994, Coastal Church in Vancouver, BC, began its outreach to the community. As miracles happened and people began finding Christ, a community of believers bonded together to continue the work Christ was doing. Only a few months later, three home groups met weekly and Sunday services were taking shape.

Pastors David and Cheryl Koop shepherded the church over the course of the next year. Sunday services launched in September 1995 with a group of forty passionate Christians. Seven years later, Coastal Church relocated to its current building and is currently reaching over 1500 people a weekend. This spirit-led church is young and vibrant, committed to living transformed lives and reaching others with the Gospel of Christ and engaging in intentional relationships with each other.  Weekends are family-oriented and contemporary, with a come-as-you-are welcoming spirit that greets everyone as they enter the door.

Vancouver, BC, is a harbour city located in the Lower Mainland of Canada. It’s the third-largest metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada with over 2,100,000 residents. Vancouver is known as an urban centre with nature, film, and tourism ranking as their most viable industries. Vancouver has been named one of the most livable cities in the world for five years.

The Executive Director role assists the Senior Pastors in providing leadership for the ministry of Coastal Church so that it fulfills its defined mission, accomplishes its multi-site vision, and reflects its core values. The successful candidate must have a demonstrated relationship with Jesus Christ and lives with integrity, humility, and Biblical principles. He or she must be strong in strategizing and executing processes for assimilation, human resources, and finances. The candidate will have a proven track record of collaborating with others and communicating in a multistaff setting. He or she should be a gifted teacher, leader, and is able to connect multi-generationally.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

This month our friends over at Church Executive asked us to write a guest post on some of the latest trends that we are seeing played out in the Kingdom. Many of you know Church Executive as one of the leading business and management magazines for large Christian Churches. We of course took them up on their offer and shared with them 6 Trends in Staffing. In the article William writes about everything from fundraising, to hiring from outside as well as from within, to social media. We believe you will find at least some portion of the article helpful, regardless of the size of your organization.

We encourage you to take a look at the article online, or even subscribe to receive physical copies of the Church Executive here:

It’s Friday. Sunday’s coming. And for preachers, that’s sometimes anxious news, because in three days, you better have a good message to share.

So every Friday, William posts an illustration from his desk to yours. If it’s helpful, use it. We’d love to lighten the load for preachers!

Click here to see this week’s illustration.

Here are two staffing stories I hear over and over in churches. One on the front end of employment, and one on the back end. Both almost always end poorly:

“Most churches hire too quickly, and fire too slowly.”

Situation 1. “We’re bleeding families. We’ve got to have a student pastor now!” And so the church hires the first person who has a tattoo, can bang chords on a guitar, seems to have the hip factor, or has grown a youth group in a previous church.

Or….

Situation 2. “You know, if we let him go now, there are going to be some serious ripples. He’s really good friends with a lot of people in the church, and the cost will be high.” And so the church either does nothing, or – my personal favorite – moves the employee to another job/department hoping the problem will go away.

I’ve come to believe that the speed and pace that you make your staffing decisions is a pretty good indicator and predictor of your church’s health.

Unfortunately, I’m seeing a clear pattern:

Most churches hire too quickly, and fire too slowly.

That’s part of the reason the efficient, yet measured executive search process we use at Vanderbloemen Search Group continues to get great reviews from our clients in the church world (yes, that was a shameless plug).

Of course, both phenomenons can be easily explained.

Quick hires are usually the result of an intersection between a long vacancy in a position, and a decent looking candidate rising up suddenly. Churches trust the person quickly, because that’s the nature of church, and move forward at warp speed.

Firing too slowly is often a direct result of our belief in the power of people to change. In the church world, that’s sort of what we trade on (at least I hope you do). Never say never, we can find a way to make it work, churches don’t fire people. Insert whatever mantra you like. But waiting on a change that may or may not happen costs churches time, energy, money, and in the end, slows the ability of the church to reach and build up people.

Hiring usually happens too quickly. Firing, too slowly.

Would you agree or disagree?

For an excellent resource on this phenomenon, order the panel discussion Willow Creek has provided among Bill Hybels, Henry Cloud, Carly Fiorina, Patrick Lencioni, and David Ireland, titled “Hiring, Firing, and Board Meltdowns.”

We are thrilled to announce that Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to serve The Church Without Walls in Houston find a Minister of Christian Education. The Church Without Walls is one church in 3 locations with over 20,000 members representing over 16,443 families in the Houston area. On an average weekend The Church Without Walls hosts over 7,300 attendees. Under the leadership of Founding Pastor Ralph Douglas West, The Church Without Walls is devoted to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, the study and application of God’s Word, and global outreach.

The new Minister of Christian Education is responsible to develop, execute, and coordinate a multigenerational (nursery to senior adult) discipleship and Christian Education strategy across all campuses. Specifically Pastor West describes this person as someone who structures Christian Education, trains teachers, and develops curriculum.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

We are honored and excited to announce that Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to help First Baptist Church in Dallas, TX find an Uptown/Downtown Pastor Campus Pastor. Led by Senior Pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress, First Baptist Church of Dallas is a legendary church in the Southern Baptist Convention, with a grand heritage and an eye toward an even better future. In November of 2009, First Baptist’s Church Planning and Development Committee proposed moving forward with the largest funding campaign ever undertaken by a church to build an expansive, 21st century campus.

The Uptown/Downtown Pastor for First Baptist Dallas will serve as an inspiring, authentically biblical, and relational Pastor for those living and working in the Uptown/Downtown neighborhoods of Dallas. This pastor will have a particular strength in connecting with the urban demographic of the church, which tends towards Young Married, Young Married with young children and Empty Nesters.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

We are excited to announce that Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to help The Journey in St. Louis find a Campus Pastor to join their team. Led by pastor, Darrin Patrick, The Journey is part of the Acts 29 network of churches with an aggressive mission to Love God, Connect People, and Transform St. Louis and the World.

The Journey is a diverse interdenominational church founded in 2002 and has grown to over 2,500 people each weekend. As one church with many locations, The Journey’s passion is to engage every aspect of people’s lives with God within the neighborhoods in which they live. The Journey currently has four campuses throughout the St. Louis area with additional campuses planned in the near future.

The new Campus Pastor will architect and execute strategic activities for their campus in congruence with the overall Journey strategy.  This includes leading and coaching staff and key volunteers, leading evangelistic and outreach strategies, as well as relationally connecting to the congregation and local community.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

People often ask me: “What’s the common thread among your clients?”

Best I can figure, they are bound by a common business and leadership savvy.

But I noticed recently that there’s one program that the majority of our clients use: Financial materials from Dave Ramsey.

It was a pleasure to sit down with Dave this week and catch up. I’m sure you will find value in his comments and hope you enjoy this interview.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches and Christian organizations find their key staff. We work with churches and organizations of all sizes, but searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the unchurched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should you need assistance in any type of search,  feel free to contact us.

In his latest book, “How the Mighty Fall,” Jim Collins talks about why great companies often fail. In my executive search work with large churches, and my work as a pastor, I have found that Collins’ research on companies has incredible parallels between not only churches, but also individuals who fall.

Collins has identified 5 stages on the path to failure. They are listed below with my brief synopsis, commentary, and questions you (or your church) might use to prevent a fall. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this soon to be hot topic.

STAGE 1: HUBRIS BORN OF SUCCESS

God elevates a person, church, or company because of their humility and ability. But soon, success becomes a set of blinders that keeps people from thinking seriously about their possible failure.  Think of how none of the churches of Revelation exist now. How Rome fell. The list could go on and on.

Ask yourself: When is the last time you prayed for humility? How do you (or your church) do your gut checks against the blinders of success?

STAGE 2: UNDISCIPLINED PURSUIT OF MORE

God elevates a people or person for their excellence in an area. The person/church begins to take on new disciplines that they are either ill-equipped to do, or have no business doing. Think of how Solomon “diversified his portfolio” by taking 700 wives. Think of how the fall of nearly every general in history is taking on a multi-front war.

Ask yourself: What are the one or two things I (or my church) should use my skills for? Am I focusing on those things, or wandering into something new just so I can “grow bigger?”

STAGE 3: DENIAL OF RISK AND PERIL

A person/church is failing, but there’s still enough health to “explain away” the problems and believe that things are fine. A major symptom: shut down of dialogue. Think of how the kings of the Bible clamped down as their kingdoms drifted from a God-mission. Another major sign: blame-shifting.

Ask yourself: Are lines for honest dialogue more open, or less open than they were a year ago? When is the last time I personally accepted responsibility for specific problems?

STAGE 4: GRASPING FOR SALVATION

Fearful, reactive behavior begins to permeate the falling individual/church/company. Think of how Saul was plagued with reactive behavior and paranoid persecution of David as his throne crumbled. Nearly every failing individual/church/company enters a stage where the leader believes they can save the organization by frenetic work, rather than a return to the original disciplines that bore excellence

Ask yourself: Is your current plan for the future based on what you are gifted at doing, or what you are afraid might be happening? Are you being proactive, or reactive with your life and mission?

STAGE 5: CAPITULATION TO IRRELEVANCE OR DEATH

Enough losses mount that hope fails, the person (or church) that’s failing raises the white flag. Once hope is extinguished, failure is inescapable. Sometimes this takes the form of relentless negativity, strong stands against all that is evil (rather than a call for hope). If attitude determines altitude, this is the point where the mind of the failing sets a course for a crash landing.

Ask yourself: If you asked those around you to label you (or your church), would they call you an ambassador of hope, or a prophet of doom?

A REASON TO HOPE:

In the midst of all failures studied, Collins found that there are some companies who can turn the ship around and, that they share a common marker: they didn’t avoid problems, but found a way to hope in the middle of despair, and comeback to even better levels of success after setbacks.  It is almost as if Collins implies that those who are truly successful are able to hope against hope, and find a way to bring life to what was dead.

Now that sounds a little bit like Easter to me. And it gives me hope. Take a hard look in the mirror. Then look to the Risen Savior and know there is a hope for your future.

If you would like to learn more, read and watch exclusive interviews reviewing the book here, or order the book and read for yourselves.

(this post is “from the vault” – previously published. It remains one of our most favorite reads).

We are pleased to announce that the Vanderbloemen Search Group has been retained to help Mission Community Church outside Phoenix, AZ, to conduct an executive search for their new Teaching Pastor.

Led by Pastor Mark Connelly, Mission is one of the fastest growing churches in the United States. Only five years ago, the church had around 500 regular attenders. Today, Mission currently welcomes over 4500 attendees each weekend, and that is during the slow summer season. September attendance is conservatively projected at 6000 attendees.

What does God require?

….do justice

…love kindness

…walk humbly

Built around a vision for living out Micah 6:8, Mission is committed to an externally focused, missional community with specific goals for making a difference in the world. View an introduction to their vision here.

The successful candidate will naturally share that vision, be equipped to teach in that vein with high effectiveness. Teaching will support the teaching ministry of the Lead Pastor, and regular weekend opportunities are planned for the new Teaching Pastor. Additionally, the Teaching Pastor will oversee the Marriage and Family ministries of the church, which represents a major facet of their Spiritual Development initiatives.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

WV. What are your primary responsibilities?
NS. Launching CBC online which is our Online campus, as well as oversight of our multiple Facebook Pages and Twitter account.

WV. What is the average CBC online experience attendance look like?
NS. We launched the online Campus about 10 months ago and we average about 6-7K people logging in each week. We have an average of 100 countries represented every week and to date we have had attendance from every country in the world except for 12.

WV. What exactly is CBC online?
NS. It is our online service where we broadcast 1-2 Worship songs along with the weekly message. We also have live chat that people can log into through their Facebook accounts. We currently have 4 channels and we just recently launched a Spanish channel that has allowed us become much more effective in the South and Central America. We also broadcast our music online 24-7, in a coffee shop style space that allows people to log on and chat as well as listen to the great CBC music.

WV. What does your typical day look like?
NS. I don’t know if there is such a thing as a typical day, but generally I log in and check the prior days stats, make sure that our volunteer teams are checking up with new online believers, check in with the folks that are managing the our Facebook and twitter accounts, I also meet with our media team to see what updates to our online content we are going to be making.

WV. How have you implemented FB and Twitter with the Online Experience?
NS. For the most part we centralize everything that we are doing online with our Facebook Fan Page, this acts as our central hub for communication. We make unique videos specifically for Facebook, we also do things like ask questions to the community. Currently we have over 40K fans on Facebook, and interestingly enough we actually have more fans in the Philippines now than we do in the US.

WV. What is the best piece of advice that you can give churches that are looking to create a social media or online presence?
NS. Take the step and start somewhere, start with a Facebook page or Ustream.com. Initially utilize the free online resources. Once we started our Facebook page, our fellow staff members got on and really promoted it and it really grew and took off. It wasn’t a perfect ting at first, but we have molded it and perfected it along the way. You don’t want to put a poor product, but sometimes you can refine and polish things so much that they never get released, there is the need for some experimenting initially.

Community Bible Church just released a new video that highlights some of the “Wins” that they have achieved through their Online Campus during it’s first year. We hope you enjoy:

 

(this was originally written in 2010, and continues to be a popular post)

Is the economic downturn getting you and your staff down?

How do you as a leader motivate your team in a climate that is deflating a lot of people?

Why are some churches thriving and not just surviving?

As I travel the world doing executive search, I get a pretty good look under the hood of some of today’s healthiest, largest churches. Perhaps the biggest difference maker I see among the churches that are not just surviving this recession, but thriving through it is the leader’s ability to motivate. True motivation – not just a pep rally, calls on the deep parts of the soul.

The most powerful motivator I know is clear, compelling, concise vision. If you don’t have one, get one. Now.

Economic downturns cause people to look down. Vision causes people to look up.

Economic downturns cause people to look down. Vision causes people to look up.

To lift their minds to a higher, more holy plane. As a leader, lifting your team’s eyes out of the world and to the holy is both your unique responsibility and your most powerful motivator. People will walk through fire for Groschel. I’ve seen them after his all staff meetings. Nothing will slow them down. And for every thriving church I see, I can show you a white hot vision.

You might say, “William, everyone knows this one.” Plato once said, “The greater part of instruction is being reminded of the the things you already know.”

Does your team need a reminder of their vision? Many churches I see are facing their first year ever of lower receipts, down attendance, or budget cuts. And all too often, those indicators can quietly become our motivators, rather than vision. The really gritty leaders are able to ask the hard question, “Are we driven by numeric indicators, or a God given vision?”

Economic downturns cause people to look down. Vision causes people to look up.

Lots of staff meetings I attend involve a time to tell stories of victory, but we all too often those victory stories are numbers driven. Winners lift their team out of those details to a higher plane, and they do it regularly. What stories could you tell to elevate your team’s thinking to a longer, higher, more vision oriented mindset? When is the last time you cast vision to your staff?

What will you do to cause your people to look up?

Follow William on Twitter @wvanderbloemen

Follow Jon on Twitter @jonacuff

You can find Jon’s new book  Quitter, on Amazon.com

In the meantime here is a trailer for the book:

Find Quitter, on Amazon.com

by: Tony Morgan

A friend in ministry recently asked me what questions church leaders should be asking. I thought about the types of questions I try to help answer when I’m working with them in the church consulting or coaching relationships. Here are the first questions and some bonus thoughts that came to mind:

1. When was the last time I heard from God? Am I doing what he called me to do? This is the “Acts 6″ question. Acts 6 is a great reminder that it’s possible to be doing the ministry of God without doing the ministry God has called us to do.
2. What should our church be known for in this community? For a moment, ignore anyone who attends your church. What does the rest of the community know about your church?  That’s a better reflection of whether or not you’re really accomplishing your vision.
3. Are we really focusing our time, money, leadership, prayer behind the things that will produce life change and community impact? If not, there’s a good chance that “fairness” is driving these decisions. Fairness never produces revolution.
4. Is our church growing both spiritually and in numbers? Churches that are stuck and not bearing fruit hate this question. As I’ve shared before, I don’t believe healthy churches are necessarily big churches, but healthy churches aregrowing churches.
5. Is there a clear path to help people take steps in their faith with the ultimate goal of them becoming fully-devoted followers of Christ? Having a vibrant Sunday worship experience is only one component of that. I’m amazed at how many churches haven’t really established a discipleship strategy beyond Sunday morning.

(This is a portion of an article recently appeared on Tony’s site. For the full article, and the final 6 questions, check out Tony’s blog ).

Tony Morgan is an author, pastor, speaker, consultant, and Jedi of all things strategic.

We are proud to have him as a Ministry Partner in our firm. Thanks for the contribution Tony!

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is excited to announce our partnership with Woodmen Valley Chapel in Colorado Springs, CO in their search for a new Senior Associate Pastor.

Founded in 1979 as a nondenominational evangelical fellowship of believers, Woodmen Valley Chapel strives to be an authentic community where people can experience God, be encouraged in their spiritual journey, and empowered for services as they entrust a legacy to others.  Currently running around 6,000 average weekend attenders, Woodmen Valley has a strong outward focus with over 10% of their budget dedicated to support God’s work beyond the walls of the Church.

Woodmen Valley Chapel is looking for a Senior Associate Pastor that will be part of the Executive team at the church and be responsible to champion and implement the vision of the Church. The Senior Associate Pastor will be responsible for coordinating, communicating, keeping accountable and evaluating the staff members for whom he is responsible. The Senior Associate Pastor will report directly to the Senior Pastor, provide leadership for the Rockrimmon Campus, and oversee all Family Ministries from birth through Collage/Next Generation Ministries, as well as Pastoral Care and Legacy Ministries.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

By Tammy Kelley

It is inevitable that as a leader you’re are going to need to have conversations with staff members that center on their poor performance or on a work habit that is interfering with the results of their job. They may arrive late for meetings, turn in poor quality work, not meet agreed upon deadlines, or not have the knowledge to do their job properly. It is your responsibility to help your staff members perform to the best of their ability and to do this you must sometimes have a difficult conversation with them.

No one likes to have these conversations, but they are necessary if you want to achieve the desired results. Planning out what you want to say in advance will ensure the effectiveness of your conversation.

The bottom line is that we want to give staff every opportunity to succeed. My motto is “no surprises” – meaning if we need to transition someone off our staff team for ineffective performance – then I want to make sure that we have given them opportunity in advance to correct their performance. It is not appropriate for someone to hear that their job is ending because of their poor performance and for them to say “I had no idea I was not performing well.” Also having a proper process in place will help provide a layer of protection to your church if a terminated staff member would try to take legal action.

Keys to an effective performance improvement conversation

• Prepare! Do your homework and get all the facts before meeting with the staff member. Do not base your discussion on second hand information or assumptions. Get the facts.
• Focus on the problem behavior – not the staff member. The problem is a behavioral issue, not a personal one. The conversation should be about inappropriate or ineffective behavior which impacts performance and the organization.
• Involve the staff member in the discussion - Don’t just talk at her/him. They will “buy in” to solutions that they create far more quickly than your solutions.
• Be crystal clear. This is a serious issue requiring change. Be direct, specific and do not talk in generalities, especially when talking about the consequences.
• Document the conversation. Write down details of your conversation and keep a separate file for each person you are having performance improvement conversations with.

Step One: Candid Conversation

State exactly what the problem is and what impact it’s having.

State specific consequences if this problem continues to exist and reinforce the impact on the team and other staff and volunteers.

Allow the staff member to help develop an action plan for improvement. Encourage them to come up with their own solution but be prepared to help them shape the specifics of the plan.

Reinforce their commitment and close.

**If after having the above conversation you are not seeing improvement in the staff member’s performance in the agreed upon timeframe then follow through with the remaining steps.

Step Two: Verbal Reminder

Schedule a meeting with the person to review the conversation from step one.

Step Three: Verbal Conversation and Written Reminder

In this meeting the staff member receives a written document that outlines the points of your earlier conversations. It should be signed by both the staff member who is under performing and the manager. Generally the person is giving 30 – 60 days depending on the situation to improve their performance. It should be clear in the written document that if improvement is not made then the staff member’s role will end. It is strongly recommended to have a third person in the room with you for this conversation.

Step Four: Transition

If there has not been adequate performance improvement then it is time to transition the person off staff or into another role depending on the severity of the performance gap.

One last word of advice – Do what is right- tell the truth. As leaders we are entrusted with the stewardship of dollars and lives. We are kidding ourselves if we think that avoiding honesty is the best thing for the person or our church.

Hiring has been quiet since 2008, but as the economy begins to recover, the search and competition for talent is on the uptick. At our firm, we are seeing a rapid increase in the inquiries for new talent and the number of searches we are launching are well above those of last year (and even last quarter).

“Where would you absolutely love to work, and what does that place offer that your current job doesn’t?”

While work in the church and ministry world is primarily driven by a sense of God calling people to a position, smart leaders are doing all they can to make sure they are creating a workplace that attracts new talent and retains the best of the current team.

What can the church learn about attracting and keeping talent? Here’s a key question to ask from the staff of The Corporate Executive Board.

“Where would you absolutely love to work, and what does that place offer that your current job doesn’t?”

Top businesses are always asking that question. They are constantly measuring how attractive they are as an employer. Here are four key questions to consider about your workplace (many thanks to the Corporate Executive Board for spurring on the thought surrounding these questions).

1.     Do you recruit talent with the same vision casting that you recruit people into the Kingdom? When an employer can create congruence between the vision and mission of the church and the recruiting strategy for talent, there’s a much higher likelihood of winning and keeping talent. The best recruiting churches I know have a white hot vision for people far from God. When they recruit staff, they point to the eternal impact that their employment will bring. By the same token, if your church isn’t white hot with vision, don’t promise a big vision to recruits. You’ll lose them fast.

2.     Do the benefits and rewards offered here reflect what our team members value? I will never forget getting a Christmas “bonus” from one employer: a really bad processed ham. Pure intentions. Terrible judgment. Too often, employers reward folks in ways that don’t match value. For instance, studies show that most employees under 35 would prefer more flex time over a modest raise. Do you know your people? Do you study the team and try to find out what will be a reward they will value?

3.     Are you cheerleading for your ministry to the right audience? Great hires happen both from inside and outside the organization. Don’t fall into the trap of only recruiting from one or the other!

4.     Are you measuring your ability to recruit and retain talent? I can ask most of my clients what their attendance was for Easter, and I will get answers like, “Somewhere around 10,458,” or “About 1231.” But if I ask those same clients, “What is the average time it takes to fill an open position,” or “How many open positions do you carry on average,” or “what is the average tenure for a new hire from the outside/inside” I get far less precise answers. Really smart hiring groups keep close tabs on these and other key questions. What are you doing to track your data surrounding talent attraction & retention?

People come and people go. God calls people for different times and seasons. But in the middle of a season when hiring is on the uptick, I see smart leaders making real efforts to attract and keep the very best people possible. What are you doing? What have I left out?

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is excited to welcome Gail Mayes to our team. Prior to joining the firm, Gail worked for five years at a Northern Virginia based behavioral analysis and financial research firm founded by former Central Intelligence Agency employees. As a Research Associate, Gail became an expert on conducting secondary source research and background investigations on C-level officers for high-profile investor clients. Also during this time, Gail developed the network analysis skills necessary for company and management competitive intelligence. During her time as an Associate Project Manager, Gail conducted thousands of telephone interviews for management and company competitive intelligence reports for hedge fund and private equity investor clients. During period of her time as an Associate Project Manager, Gail was often working on projects also covered by major news outlets (mergers and acquisitions, Congressional legislation and management turnover) and typically reported to her clients more accurate intelligence and earlier than the news media. Gail graduated with a B.S. double major in Psychology and Sociology from Grace College, Winona Lake, IN.

Now, as an Associate Project Manager at Vanderbloemen, Gail is excited to combine her interviewing and due-diligence skills with her love for the Kingdom. Gail has an extensive network in the Fellowship of Grace Brethren Church, Mid-western Non-Denominational Churches and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Gail is an avid baseball fan (go Orioles!) and enjoys reading, traveling and farmers markets. In the fall, you can find Gail tailgating at Notre Dame football games with her husband Jason. Jason and Gail attend Lincoln Square Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL.

By William Vanderbloemen

Craig Groeschel and I met a good while back. I was a pastor leading a large, established mainline church. I’m sure he thought I was weird. He was a pastor who had left the mainline and was trying a new approach called video church. Honestly, I thought he was a little weird.

Some things never change…but little did I know that Craig thinks weird is a compliment! Craig’s new book, “Weird: Because Normal Isn’t Working,” captures a whole lot of the thought and drive behind Craig’s mindset. It’s one of those books that will cause you to think differently.

During my most recent trip to LifeChurch, we had a chance to visit about the book and Craig was then gracious enough to answer some questions for me. I think you’ll find his answers insightful, and that you’ll really enjoy the book.

WV – Most people would hate to be called weird, but you seem to like it. Explain.

CG –For my whole life, I pursued normal. One of my biggest goals was to “fit in.” When I started studying scripture, God led me away from normal to a life of “weird.” Instead of pursuing the normal values of this world, with God’s help, I’m pursuing His will. The better I get to know God, the more different I become.
After becoming a Christian, one girl in college was making fun of me for being weird and told me I should meet another girl who was equally as weird (and “overboard for God”). That’s how I met Amy. We’ve committed to a life of weird.

WV – Can you put some skin on that for me? What does a weird life look like and why is it better than normal?

CG –Well, to put it simply, the God-kind-of-weird is better because “normal” isn’t working—at least certainly not in the culture we live in. For example…

• When it comes to finances, what is normal? Normal is debt, worry, tension and fear. Simply put, normal is broke.
• When it comes to our schedules, normal is overwhelmed, stressed and burned out.
• When it comes to relationships, divorce is as normal as a marriage that lasts.

According to Jesus, most people are on the broad road with the crowd. They find comfort in the crowd. But those on the narrow road—the different—are the ones who truly find life.

WV – Most of our readers are church leaders. What’s one weird principle they can take to work with them today?

CG –If you look at what’s going on in church and the world today, you’ll quickly see that normal isn’t working. In fact, it never really has. Take a look at church history and you’ll see that the real Kingdom breakthroughs happen when church leaders break from normal to try something new, something weird. Peter preaches to Gentiles, and the Gospel spreads. Martin Luther gets a Bible in the hands of the people, and a Reformation happens. John Wesley takes the message of Christ outside the church into the open air, and revivals start. It’s convinced me that to reach people no one is reaching, we’ll have to do things no one is doing. Our ministries may be called weird, but hopefully God will call them effective.

WV –Let me close by saying, this guy is the real deal. Our firm has the chance to serve a whole lot of great pastors, and Craig is one of the best I have met. He’s a good man, and is spending his life trying to make a faithful witness. It’s always an honor to find other weird people to work with him at LifeChurch, and I think you’ll find that this book will help you know one of the great pastors of our time.
Thanks Craig, for being weird.

Many if not most of our clients are multi-site churches. If you’ve been around for a while, you know just how stunning this is.

It wasn’t too long ago that multi-site was a new idea, a new phenomenon, and one that people wondered about. “Will this last? Is it just a flavor of the month in church growth?”

News flash: Rock and Roll is here to stay, and so is multi-site church.

In fact, I believe it’s been around a really long time. Back when the Catholic Church was expanding into new territories, it had to invent a model for consistency in worship among all of it’s new “campuses” (read, parishes). Their solution? A Missal, or a book of common prayer that every congregation used each Sunday. To me, that sounds like a printed version of a video sermon cast.

While the idea may be old, the trend for today is new and raises a ton of modern day questions.

“How do we pick a site?” “How do we launch a site?” “What strategy works?”

Fortunately, there’s a new resource out that answers a whole lot of those questions.

125 Tips for MultiSite Churches is a new resource from our good friend Jim Tomberlin.

In case you don’t know him, Jim is the Yoda on the subject of all things multi-site. He has led a megachurch, then spearheaded Willow Creek’s first multisite efforts, a campaign that ended up getting a lot of US churches thinking about multi-site. His tweets consistently add insight into new trends in the multisite world.

We don’t use our site to push products. We don’t get a dime for referring this resource to you.

But we know that most of you are either in or will be in multi-site churches, and believe this resource will add real value to you.

with technology, staffing, campus location

How do I know what I should try to do next?

There are lots of career advice books out there that can help, but nearly all of them contain a common question in response.

What would you do for free?

If money were not an object, what would you do for no pay at all? Chances are, you won’t be able to land exactly that job. But if you can answer that question, and follow your passion, you’re on the path. And if you can line up your passion and your strengths, you’ll be highly employable.

Ultimately, if you can find a way to align your passion, your strengths, and a need in the world, you’ll not look for a job for a long, long time.

Ask yourself the question today, ”What would you do for free?”

Great interviews hinge on one key component: great questions. And most great and wise people are always on the lookout for good questions. Have you ever noticed how often the Bible says, “Jesus answered them by asking a question….”

Most churches we have studied have about a 50% success rate with their hires working out over the long haul. Interviewing the right way is a real difference maker in improving the likelihood of a long term match between candidate and church.

“You can know a man’s wit by his answers. You will know his wisdom by his questions.”

Among most of the top executive search consultants in the world, the trend in interviewing these days is toward a form of questions called “behavioral competency.” Questions center around a candidate’s ability to articulate their work in their most recent jobs. Many psychologists who write on this say that this method is the single best way to get to the root and true acumen of a candidate.

Below are what the Vanderbloemen Search Group consider to be four great topics/questions for assessing behavioral competence. They’re not original; – very few good questions are.

And they’re not just helpful in your work. If you tag on the phrase “in my spiritual life” to the end of each question, you’ll see that these can be great measuring sticks for your own spiritual development. If you’re looking for a job, walk through these and prepare yourself to answer them. If you’re running a business or church, you may want to put these on file for future interviews.

1. What constructive criticism have you received in the past that surprised you the most?

2. Tell me about an initiative that you conceived and were responsible for executing. What challenges were expected? What challenges did you not foresee, and how did you overcome them?

3. Describe the cultures of your last few job or church settings, how they differed, and which one fit you best.

4. Tell me about a time when you had to get people with different viewpoints to the same level of understanding.

We hope that this post and future posts resource you and your ministry with tools to go to an even higher level as an organization.

by Tony Morgan

(Tony is a Ministry Partner on our team. He frequently writes about church trends on his site, TonyMorganLive. A more expanded version of this article can be found here.)

It probably won’t surprise you to know that I don’t think there’s a magic formula for finding that right person to fill this type of role at every church. The “right” person at one church may be completely the wrong person at another church.

For example, if your multi-site strategy includes trying to replicate everything exactly the same at every campus, you probably don’t want a strong visionary leader. Instead, you need more of a manager. If, on the other hand, you need someone to act more like a church planter to help shape the ministry in a different community than your current campus, then you probably need someone who is more entrepreneurial. You don’t want primarily a person who is always waiting for specific instructions from the top leadership team on what to do next.

That said, I think there are a handful of common characteristics you need to prioritize when finding your next campus pastor. The right campus pastor will:

1. Embrace the DNA of your church. Every church is unique. Your campus pastor needs to both embrace and champion your mission, vision and values. That’s why it’s best if whoever you’re sending out to lead your next campus has had some time to learn who you are as a church.
2. Communicate well. It doesn’t matter if your teaching is on video. The ability to communicate is still essential to this role. Two big things the campus pastor has to talk about are vision and money. If they can’t do that well, they are the wrong person for the role.
3. Relate well with people. This is especially true for churches using video teaching. No matter who is teaching content, someone needs to pastor people. A purely theologian-type or administrative-type, as an example, will not succeed as a campus pastor. Ideally you will find someone with the “Woo” or “Relator” strengths to connect with people.
4. Lead through volunteers. There are only a handful of churches in the country that can afford to hire a staff to make ministry happen at a new campus. The rest of us have to find a strong leader who can build teams of volunteer and empower lay leaders. The most common theme I hear among multi-site churches is that the lack of success at a campus is a direct reflection of a lack of leadership.
5. Make it happen. Good campus pastors are driven. You don’t have to kick them in the pants to motivate them. If anything, you’ll need to encourage them to take a break and slow down. Good campus pastors know that multi-site comes with unique challenges, and they’re motivated by that. You need someone who can look problems in the face and trust that they’re going to do whatever it takes to deliver results.

Read the rest of the story, and find a sample Campus Pastor Job Description by visiting Tony’s site.

by William Vanderbloemen

Think back to the first big Valentine’s date you can remember. If you’re like me, you were on best behavior. My mother drilled manners into me, and I was on top of them for the big date.

I remember how Mom rode us pretty hard about manners as a kid. One of the things I remember her saying is, “Manners are a difference maker.” She told me that If you’re trying to date a girl, manners might make the difference.

I also remember her saying, “If you’re interviewing for a job, and it comes down to you and one other person of equal skill, showing the right manners and respect might be the difference maker.”

Mom wasn’t in executive search, but on this point, she could have been an industry expert.

I cannot tell you how many times common courtesy wins the day in interviewing. Candidates who take time to write a thank you note are not easily forgotten. Churches who take time to send a great candidate’s spouse a note (or even better, flowers!) have a quick leg up on other potential hiring churches.

As the world gets more and more quick, connected, brief, and glib, if you’re either hiring or interviewing would do well to remember that taking time for simple courtesies might differentiate you from the pack.

Next time you’re in the hiring process, think back to how you tried to treat that first Valentine’s date. Treat the other party with that respect and courtesy. It might make all the difference.

We think it’s worth a few minutes of your time. For those who are affected, it’s a good change! And when you come up against a legal issue in your church or ministry, we strongly recommend you give this firm a call. A whole lot of people (including us) have found them to be the best.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Recently, I ran across a post on body language during interviews. Since we are always studying interviewing, psychology, and the like, I read it right away.

Nicole Williams offered some interesting insights on ways your body language might hurt you during an interview. Here are the five items she listed, with my brief commentary.

1.     Gesturing wildly – this is true for preachers preaching as well. Preachers, I dare you watch your sermons….in fast forward. That one tip changed my whole delivery style

2.     Touching Your Face – It’s a total myth, but some folks hiring believe that if you touch your face frequently, you’re lying.

3.     Sitting Up A Little Too Straight – your mom will be proud, but will your hoped-for boss want to spend their workday with someone too formal?

4.     Folding Your Hands – Another lovely pose mom taught me, but one that comes off as fake. Does anyone choose to sit this way?

5.     Leaning Back In Your Chair – the message sent – “I don’t care about your furniture.” Not a good one.

You can read the whole article at FindAChristianJob, a relatively new job board in the church sector.

I don’t make a practice of looking at job boards. Frankly, most of the time they don’t work for the types of searches we do. But I happen to know these guys. In fact, I’ve known them a good long while and had lost touch with them until their recent launch of the site. They’re good folks who know communication and have a heart for the Kingdom.

There are times when a job board can be helpful, and I know that if I were going to use one, it would certainly be these guys.

It’s an exciting day for us!

The Vanderbloemen Search Group and HelpStaff.me are joining forces to provide a better and broader offering of staff services for churches.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group’s specialty has been finding top staff for churches in high- level leadership positions. HelpStaff.me, under the leadership of Justin Lathrop, has seen enormous success in finding staff for clients, particularly mid-level staff. Our joint effort means we are equipped with networks and processes to help ANY church find ANY staff person they need. We now have an offering for every level of your team.

Over the coming months, you’ll begin to notice the results of this new relationship . We are even more committed and better equipped to build the Kingdom by helping staff the Church. It’s an honor to serve you and our Savior in this way, and I’m more excited than ever about the future of our work.

Anticipating Great Things,

-William

I’ve done some training under Patrick Lencioni. Patrick is an established organizationalconsultant and has authoredmultiple books focused on helping organizations reach their full potential. He has a theory that I have tested and found to be true – he says that:

All successful organizations share two qualities: they are smart and they are healthy.

An organization demonstrates that it is smart by developing intelligent strategies, marketing plans, product features, and financial models.

An organization demonstrates that it is healthy by eliminating politics and confusion resulting in higher morale, lower turnover and higher productivity.

Over the past several years I have applied this smart and healthy theory to churches and individual leaders that I have worked with as a consultant. I have found that the churches and individuals who consistently create healthy and smart practices seem to be more dynamic, thriving, alive and productive.

Here are just a few of the smart and healthy practices that I have observed:

They have organizational clarity. The teams of smart and healthy ministries are intentional, thoughtful and aggressive when communicating and make sure their actions match their words. They also understand that –Flexibility is the antagonist of clarity. Too much flexibility in an organization creates fuzziness.

They embrace a culture that leverages relationships. Smart and healthy churches and church leaders embed trust and truth into the culture. Game playing is not tolerated. Leaders establish trust by probing to understand how their team is really doing, and they divulge information about their own lives.

They understand that “people trust truth”.  Even though it is much easier to avoid telling the hard truths to people, it is their responsibility and the most God honoring thing to do. Leaders who really love people and want them to grow are able to lead honest bottom line conversations.

Is your church smart and healthy? Would your staff and volunteers agree with your answer? Where could you improve?

by William Vanderbloemen

How should Senior Pastors interact with their Board? How should the Board interact with their Pastor?

It’s a classic question we get asked a lot as we do executive searches, so we are taking a few weeks to post some insights we have gained from merging our constant study of corporate best practices, our biblical study, and our church experience.

Today’s question:

What is the most important function of a church board?

Some boards believe they best help the church and Pastor by alleviating the Pastor’s management duties. Oftentimes, these boards see themselves as guardians or custodians of the church. which can quickly lead to micromanaging.

Other boards see themselves as friends of the Pastor, who are there to protect the pastor at all costs. There’s no micromanagement under this model, but it can lead to “rubberstamping.” Another hidden result is that the Pastor is left with little or no counsel for help with weighty decisions.

So which model is right?

A recent study conducted by Heidrick & Struggles with the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business identified several key factors that help boards and CEO’s interact. We’ve done a little bit of translating from corporate practices:

High Functioning Boards Define Success Differently – Success isn’t measured by (a) the board managing the company or (b) the Board getting out of the way. Success is measured by the Board’s ability to help the CEO make fast, wise decisions.

It’s true of boards and their CEO’s in the corporate world, where the best companies are able to combine wisdom with agility to make good, fast decisions in a quickly changing world. In today’s post-Christian culture, the church doesn’t have time to move slowly. Agility wins, but it must be agility coupled with wisdom.

Most church boards are in place for accountability, which certainly needs to be a function of a governing board of overseers. But if you look at the biblical model for Elders, the fast paced growth of the church in Acts, and the healthiest churches around today, you’ll see a common thread:

High functioning boards focus their time on helping inform the Pastor so he can make better, quicker, and wiser decisions. Such boards are also committed to staying out of the management of day to day activities.

Rick Warren once told me, “William, people ask me all the time what “vision” is. I tell them that vision isn’t the ability to see the future. Nobody can see the future. Vision is the ability to see what’s going on right now, and act with agility and wisdom.”

If you were to list the functions of your church board and put each of those functions into either a basket labeled Agile Discernment or a basket named High Management, which basket would be more full?

If you were to list the criteria for choosing your church’s Board, how high does “the gift of wisdom and discernment” rank? How high does a commitment to agility rank?

We’ve come to believe that wise, agile boards are a major conduit God uses to build a winning church. When a commitment is made to focus on this function, the Pastor gains counsel, the Board functions in their gift set, and the church is equipped to act quickly with a visionary momentum that will help the Kingdom win.

William Vanderbloemen is the Founder and CEO of the Vanderbloemen Search Group. He has served for over 15 years in churches, including posts as  Senior Pastor of churches ranging from 500 to 5000. He has also served for four years in human resources, succession planning, and executive search

Here’s what Michael Chanley says about why hiring a Kids pastor can be harder than you think:

repost from Ministry-To-

Churches face a difficult task when searching for paid staff. Many Senior Pastors will admit the hardest role to fill on their staff is that of a Children’s Pastor. The challenge can even be more daunting when seeking a “leader of leaders” to grow your Family, Next Gen, or Children’s Ministry.

Here are a few of the 5 challenges when searching for the right person:

1. Are they the right fit for your unique church culture?
2. Will they create a safe environment for the children in your church?
3. How do you determine if the new hire has the leadership skills needed for the job?
4. What happens if we hire the wrong person?
5. How are we going to find the time to do a proper search?

It’s a daunting challenge… and, let’s face it, the risks are tremendous.

What’s the Typical Process?

Imagine this, you enlist several volunteers to begin the search. Perhaps they are elders or deacons in your church? The search committee is already committed to their families, full time careers, lay ministry at church, and now… they are going to squeeze into their busy schedules one of the most important tasks of the church: finding the right person to lead.

The deck is stacked against them from the start…

• How many hours will they invest in their search… will they give it the attention it deserves?
• How well equipped are they for finding someone with the right stuff to lead your ministry?
• How long will it take for them to complete the search process?
• Where will they find potential candidates and how will they screen them?

Sound familiar? Click here to share your stories about the process.

Why Not Get Some Help?

If your church or organization is facing the many challenges of hiring a Family, Next Gen, or Children’s leader, let me urge you to make the right decision… don’t do it alone.

Try connecting with others in the children’s ministry community. Ask around on CMConnect. It’s a free online community, is a social network of almost 7,000 Children’s, NextGen, and Family pastors.

If you’re really  serious about finding the right person, check into a professional service. I can connect you with the Vanderbloemen Search Group. I’ve seen their network’s proven results. Just email me and I can tell you more Michael@vanderbloemensearch.com.

By William Vanderbloemen

In golf, they say that you can never win a tournament on the first day of competition, but you sure can lose it. In baseball, they say that you can’t win in the first inning, but you sure can lose.

In interviewing, you probably won’t win a job because of your resume, but you sure can lose it.

Resumes are a doorway to the next step in a job search. No more, no less. The longer I review resumes, the more I see some common stumbling blocks that could easily be avoided.

1. Don’t try to make your resume look cool. Plain vanilla never hurt anyone in resume writing. I don’t need to see logos, four-color prints, or multiple pictures. I’ve never seen simple elegance lose in a resume. I have seen busy become bothersome.
2. List what you have done first. Too often, I see statements of “philosophy” or lists of spiritual gifts at the front of a resume. I suppose that’s a nice principle, but what I really want is a snapshot of what you have done at your previous jobs.
3. Don’t require me to be on the Internet to read your resume. There is a growing trend of listing resumes online, including vimeo channels, You Tube, and blogs on resumes. Cool bells and whistles for sure. But at the end of the day, simplicity wins in resumes. Links are good, but the requirement to be on line (like pointing me to a blog with your resume), limits circulation capacity.
4. Keep your file size down. Excessive file size in a resume (north of 2MB) is a real problem. They take forever to download, a long time to print (and a lot of ink), and end up being a real hassle. The last thing you want is for your first impression to be a hassle.
5. Don’t go on and on. One or two pages, maximum. We receive resumes from some really accomplished people. You would be surprised at how brief successful people are with their resume. Brevity may be the soul of wit, but it’s also the essence of effectiveness in resume writing. As one of my colleagues says, “Be brief. Be bright. Be gone.”
6. Don’t forget to spell check. You’d be surprised, but I really must list this one. A resume is a brief glimpse into your sense of professionalism. Sloppy spelling & grammar = sloppy work ethic.

What mistakes are we missing?

Jay Mitchell has joined the Vanderbloemen Search Group as a full time Executive Search Consultant. Jay served for nine years as the Executive Pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (where John Ortberg now serves as Senior Pastor), and most recently as a senior staff member at Church Communications Network (CCN), the leader in bringing high level training into churches across the country.

In his church work and at CCN, Jay worked with and delivered content to over 20,000 churches, and developed outstanding networks of people and leaders. He has developed a reputation for delivering excellence, and will be expanding our ability to do searches in churches, but also in parachurch ministries and Christian publishing and recording. Jay has been a key asset wherever he has served. He has joined three organizations during a high growth phases, and has increased both growth and excellence in each of those arenas.

When I asked for his references, he sent me George Barna, Lee Stroebel, and John Townsend (Henry Cloud’s co-author). We are blessed to have someone with Jay’s talent and network join our team, and I am eagerly anticipating great things as a result.

If you would like to contact Jay, email him at jay@vanderbloemensearch.com, or call him at 757.784.2174

It’s been fun building the firm’s infrastructure and team over the last several months as we experience and plan for continued growth. If we can help you make a connection, please feel free to contact us directly.

What would it be like to ask them what key learning could be a Game Changer for your life and ministry?

That’s what will happen on September 9th when The Nines goes live on the Internet.

In one day, you can hear over 100 of the best church leaders, six minutes each, each one talking about Game Changers.

And it’s all free.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is pleased to be a sponsor of this event. Lots of the speakers are clients and friends of ours. It will be on our computers all day. It should be on yours. And if you want a premium registration (goodies included), you can get a discount by entering “VSG” in the promotional code upon registering.

Thanks to Leadership Network for putting this together, and bringing great teaching to us, in short format, at no cost, and in our homes. You guys are great to know and call friends.

Register today

We are all interim pastors.

Unless we are the pastor when our church closes, or we happen to be the pastor when Jesus returns, we are all only in our churches for a temporary stay. And I believe the most critical task for a church leader is to do all he can to secure the long-term future of the church.

Today, a fabulous resource for churches looking at a transition releases.

I’m recommending that every one of our clients read, Transition Plan

Bob Russell, the previous pastor at Southeast Church in Louisville, KY has written an account of the hand off that he, Dave Stone (the current pastor) and the church leadership planned. Their story is perhaps the best known story of a successful transition, particularly in a larger church.

While every church has different needs, and every transition plan should be hand crafted around their particular situation, this book is a must read.

Why? Because we are all interim pastors. And the call to care for Christ’s church extends beyond our temporary stay.

What is your church doing to plan for the next chapter? We’re constantly learning, reading stories, and working on tailor made transition plans and would love to hear your story.

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PS – A while back, my colleague Tony Morgan interviewed me about the need for succession planning in churches. More and more frequently, our firm is getting calls from churches asking us to help plan and execute the transition from one pastorate to the next. Read the interview, and if you all need help crafting your own plan, contact us. We’d be happy to visit with you.

Resumes should be clear and concise, but they must also be compelling. And the single most compelling thing you can tell me is that you will bring a return on the investment of my money.

Every hire in an organization is an investment of capital. In the church world, that’s capital that comes out of offering plates and widow’s cupboards. Particularly in a lean economy, this makes every hire at the same time questionable and precious.

So how can your resume justify you as a good investment of precious resource? There’s an old adage in management that says, “the best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

“the best predictor of future performance is past performance.”

Showing me your prior successes will encourage me to believe in your future success. It’s almost a Jerry McGuire way of “showing me the money.” Try incorporating the following into your resume, and it will become a competitive advantage for you:

1. Show me the ways you have met or exceeded the expectations of your job.

2. Show me an initiative you started or helped lead

3. Tell me the results of your leadership

4. Show me something you did that you weren’t asked to do.

5. Show me the ultimate profit margin in church work.

When you show me these things, you are essentially showing me the money. If you will remember that every hire is an investment, and show how you are a good investment, your resume will stand out, and may even be a difference maker in the hiring process

A while back, the phone rang. It was a super talented candidate in ministry who wondered if I had a few minutes for career counseling:

“William, how do I ask for a raise without losing my job?”

Great question from a great guy. He loves his church and his job, but really needs to know if there’s any chance of providing for his family a little better. So what’s a guy to do? Ask the wrong way, and you’re on the wrong side of the boss. You might even end up with no raise and a cardboard box.

We talked for a while, but the bottom line of our talk was two fold:

Do your homework and remember who’s the boss.

During my work as a senior pastor, in human resources, and now in executive search, I’ve come to believe that these two points are key to effectively asking for a raise.

Homework

Doing your homework before the meeting can make all the difference:

1. More than anything, study and rehearse how and why you deserve a raise. What value have you added to the organization? How is the mission of the church better off because of your participation on the team. Be prepared to clearly and efficiently articulate why you are making a difference.
2. Benchmark your salary for your job. Before you go into a meeting to ask for a raise, you need to know if you deserve one. There are numerous resources online that can help you understand where your pay falls into the national averages.
3. Talk to colleagues. Church salaries can be particularly tricky to get an online average pay, as the “industry” is rather unique and there are often jobs that don’t fall into one neat category.
4. Learn your organization. The longer I work at helping churches and ministries find staff, the more I realize that every church pays differently. Some are below market and proud of it. If that’s your situation, you should set lower expectations for a raise. While you shouldn’t expect to know what everyone in your organization makes, you can probably get a general idea with a few sensitive quesitons.
5. Learn how and when to ask. Timing can be everything. Many churches have an employee handbook that will outline how and when raises and bonuses are given.

Respect

The Bible reminds us to respect those in authority over us. That includes your boss, even if you don’t like him. Compensation meetings can be your prime opportunity to show respect (without being fake). Never forget who the boss is. Meetings that back your supervisor in a corner will usually end poorly.

1. Do all you can to honestly seek your boss’ approval before you ever get to the meeting. See Michael Hyatt’s must read piece on this.
2. Make a list of ways you have helped the organization, especially ones that are not in your job description. What initiatives have you undertaken that weren’t necessary? What are you doing that you were never asked to do?
3. Show your passion for your job. In donor development, we always say that “dollars follow vision, not guilt.”  Show your boss how much you believe in what is happening at your church, and how much you want to be a part of what’s going on. Raises follow those who are sold out to the vision of the church.
4. Avoid the pity party. Just as you cannot guilt people into long term generosity, you cannot guilt your boss into a raise. Usually, just the opposite is true. A pity party forgets that your boss is your boss, and plays on his emotions. It usually causes bosses to see employees as needy at best, and a liability at worst.
5. Never, ever say “If I don’t get a raise, I may not be able to stay here.” At this point, the employer is no longer the employer. You have essentially held your boss blackmail. Most bosses, if they are smart, will take you up on your offer to leave the organization.
6. Be specific. With a well researched opinion, be prepared (if asked) to give a reasonable amount of increase that you believe you deserve. Don’t be guilty of “not having because you never asked.”

I hope this helps you, and would love to hear your stories, opinions, or additions to this list. What would you add to the conversation?

- William

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

“This was the first time a search firm has been able to help us identify the right candidate for a senior leadership role. I am grateful to William for his partnership with Willow on this important search.” Greg Hawkins, Executive Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church.

Helping Willow find just the right person for this role was an honor and a unique challenge. Willow Chicago is located right in the middle of the city. The atmosphere is a highly unchurched, and many who live there are skeptical of organized religion. Ministry there requires a local knowledge, love for the city, and a unique approach. Navigating the urban, unusually diverse environment, working with city officials, locating space for events, and navigating the use of an historic theater are just a few of the myriad of complexities that required Willow to find a world class leader for the new leader of Willow Chicago. The Campus Pastor reports directly to Bill Hybels, and will work closely with Executive Pastor Greg Hawkins. Finding the person with the right leadership skills who also knows, understands, and can fit in and broadcast the Willow DNA was essential in the search.

When asked about the search process, Greg Hawkins said,

“William was very professional, listened carefully to what we were looking for and did a very thorough search. He surfaced several good candidates, one of which we hired to lead our downtown Chicago campus. This was the first time a search firm has been able to help us identify the right candidate for a senior leadership role. I am grateful to William for his partnership with Willow on this important search.” Greg Hawkins, Executive Pastor, Willow Creek

Jon Klinepeter has been selected as the new Campus Pastor of Willow Chicago, and begins his work this summer. Jon comes to Willow most recently from his ministry in Minneapolis at the Upper Room church. He has a deep love for and understanding of downtown Chicago, as well as a high degree of familiarity with the Willow DNA. And on top of all that, he’s just a class act. It’s been a pleasure getting to know him. We would encourage you to follow him and the important ministry Willow is doing in the middle of a global city. It’s unlike anything else they are doing, and Jon’s job is a big one. Pray for him and for Senior Pastor Bill Hybels as they work together to make an impact and launch a movement in the center of Chicago.

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Search Committee Report:

The following is a confidential report on several candidates being considered for our new Pastor.

Adam: Good man but problems with his wife. Also one reference told of how his wife and he enjoy walking nude in the woods.

Noah: Former pastorate of 120 years with not even one convert. Prone to unrealistic building projects.

Abraham: Though the references reported wife-swapping, the facts seem to show he never slept with another man’s wife, but did offer to share his own wife with another man.

Joseph: A big thinker, but a braggart, believes in dream-interpreting, and has a prison record.

Moses: A modest and meek man, but poor communicator, even stuttering at times. Sometimes blows his stack and acts rashly. Some say he left an earlier church over a murder charge.

David: The most promising leader of all until we discovered the affair he had with his neighbor’s wife.

Solomon: Great preacher but our relocation costs for all his wives are out of our budget.

Elijah: Prone to depression. Collapses under pressure.

Elisha: Reported to have lived with a single widow while at his former church.

Hosea: A tender and loving pastor but our people could never handle his wife’s occupation.

Deborah: Strong leader and seems to be anointed, but she is female.

Jeremiah: Emotionally unstable, alarmist, negative, always lamenting things, reported to have taken a long trip to bury his underwear on the bank of a foreign river.

Isaiah: On the fringe? Claims to have seen angels in church. Has trouble with his language.

Jonah: Refused God’s call into ministry until he was forced to obey by getting swallowed up by a great fish. He told us the fish later spit him out on the shore near here. We hung up.

Amos: Too backward and unpolished. With some seminary training he might have promise, but has a hang-up against wealthy people–might fit in better in a poor congregation.

Melchizedek: Great credentials at current work place, but where does this guy come from? No information on his resume about former work records. Every line about parents was left blank and he refused to supply a birth date.

John: Says he is a Baptist, but definitely doesn’t dress like one. Has slept in the outdoors for months on end, has a weird diet, and provokes denominational leaders.

Peter: Too blue collar. Has a bad temper-even has been known to curse. Had a big run-in with Paul in Antioch. Aggressive, but a loose cannon.

Paul: Powerful CEO type leader and fascinating preacher. However, short on tact, unforgiving with younger ministers, harsh and has been known to preach all night.

James & John: Package deal preacher & associate seemed good at first, but found out they have an ego problem regarding other fellow workers and seating positions. Threatened an entire town after an insult. Also known to try to discourage workers who didn’t follow along with them.

Timothy: Too young!

Methuselah: Too old . . . WAY too old!

Jesus: Has had popular times, but once his church grew to 5000 he managed to offend them all, and then this church dwindled down to twelve people. Seldom stays in one place very long. And, of course, he’s single.

Judas: His references are solid. A steady plodder. Conservative. Good connections. Knows how to handle money. We’re inviting him to preach this Sunday. Possibilities here.

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Isn’t it a good thing that God looks upon us differently than the world does?

What we are learning as a firm is that the really savvy churches and leaders are the ones that aren’t obsessed with speed of staffing, but quality. Thinking on this subject, we asked our Ministry Partner Tony Morgan for his thoughts. He says patience is required. Not just in the hiring, but also in getting a new leader going.

Read his reflections below. He’s pretty smart.

It Takes 12 Months

by Tony Morgan

“I just want to save you all the frustration right now. I’ve experienced it a few times in my life. I’ve watched others confirm it in their lives.

It takes 12 months in any new job to figure out the role.

I’m talking about leadership roles here. If you are a widget-fabricator, maybe it’s different for you. For those of us that transition into new leadership positions, though, it always takes a full year to find out what we were really hired to do.

In those 12 months, we get to figure out what the unspoken expectations are. We have the opportunity to determine how our uniqueness fits into the unique organization that now provides our paycheck. We have the chance to see how we relate and work beside the people on our team. It takes 12 months. Until then, we aren’t really adding true value. We’re just trying to survive.

This is why finding the right people before you offer the job is so important. This is why finding the right employer before accepting the job is so important. This is why keeping the right people in your organization is so important. Every time the position opens, we lose 12 months.”

(This is just part of Tony’s reflections on this subject. To read the full post and lots of other good things Tony has to say, check out the full article and his site here).

The church has become known for its transformation from a traditional church to a missional, outreach oriented congregation over the last several years. The average worship exceeds 850, many of which were previously unchurched. In the last 12 months, OFC has experienced 30% growth. The new Executive Pastor position has been created in light of this growth and in expectation of future growth. The church is in the process of opening its first satellite site, and is planning for future growth both at the home campus and through a multi-site model.

Interested applicants can directly apply for this position here: All correspondence is held in strict confidence.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches find their key staff. Searches for large, fast growing churches with a focus on reaching the un-churched has become an area of particular expertise for our firm. Should your church need assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact us.

Andy Stanley’s podcast from two weeks ago is one of those extra special lessons.

Andy lets us in on two secrets that he says took him forever to learn:

1. The less you do, the more you can accomplish.
2. The less you do, the more you allow others to accomplish.

Bullseye.

As your organization develops and continues to grow, your challenge will increasingly be to hone in on their strengths and delegate out their weaknesses.

Andy’s lesson is full of great action steps and points out 5 great learnings for leaders.

Rather than type more, we’ll do less, and just point you to the full podcast here. It’s 22 minutes worth spending.

In preparation for that move, Shawn Lovejoy contacted William Vanderbloemen and Tony Morgan about helping staff for the future. That led to several key searches for Mountain Lake at once.

The results have been good. Really good.

“God has really used William and his team in connecting people to our team with high character, capacity, and chemistry.” – Shawn Lovejoy

Shawn commented on the process, “God has really used William and his team in connecting people to our team with high character, capacity, and chemistry.” It wasn’t just about finding resumes, but finding the right matches for Mountain Lake’s DNA. Shawn continued, “William loves the Lord, loves the church, and is very connected to all the things God is doing in the church as a whole. He’s helped our church grow in all of these areas, because of our relationship with him. William and his team have even helped educate us on how to hire and lead high capacity teams and team members more effectively, during this process.”

The searches resulted in two key staff appointments from proven individuals with proven experience at nationally known churches:

Blake Stanley is filling a newly created position, Student & Teaching Pastor. Blake comes to the church with senior level teaching experience at Free Chapel, a church of over 10,000 pastored by Jentezen Franklin. Blake has taught before thousands, and led student ministries for years. His addition has already made a huge difference at Mountain Lake. He will oversee all Student Ministries, and be a regular teacher at main weekend services.

Mitch Corn has been named Executive Pastor for Children and Family Ministries. Children and family ministries has been a hallmark of Mountain Lake throughout its 10 year history. Now, that ministry is poised for an even greater future.. Mitch comes to Mountain Lake after a long run at Ed Young’s Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX, where Mitch most recently served as the leader over all Elementary Ministries.

William commented on the searches and appointments. “Watching this team come together was a real privilege for me. I just loved getting to know Mountain Lake, and believe in their ministry. It was also a blessing to get to know Shawn Lovejoy as well as I did through the process. He’s become much more than a client, and is now a dear friend. I believe that as the team comes together, you will hear more and more about the growth and effectiveness of Mountain Lake Church in reaching those far from God and bringing them to the Savior. Working on jobs like this is what makes me love getting to do what I do.”

William and the team at the Vanderbloemen Search Group have had the chance to help several churches with multiple hires and searches. The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps churches and ministries find their key staff. Should your church need help or have questions, please contact us.

• Your ideal list of references should be about four.
• Don’t just use people you used to work for. Include people who worked alongside you, and people who worked for you. We want a 360 of you as a person and a potential employee.

A great list of references will include:

• Previous supervisors
• Spiritual advisers or trusted friends
• Church members
• Former employees

Here are some questions we will likely ask your references.

1. What was [candidate's] biggest contribution to the job while working for/with you?
2. Have you seen [CANDIDATE] fail while leading a project? How did he/she address it?
3. Tell me about [CANDIDATE's] top spiritual gifts.
4. Have you seen [CANDIDATE] build teams? If so, tell me how.
5. If [CANDIDATE] died today, how would his/her work be remembered?
6. What is it like to work for [CANDIDATE]? What are his/her top strengths as a leader? Where could they be better?
7. In what type of church he/she most effective?
8. What do you think will be [CANDIDATE's] biggest challenge in the job they are applying for?
9. What is [CANDIDATE's] prayer life and spiritual discipline like?

You might keep this list to prepare your references for calls, or to use for your own reference calling. And as always, our firm is glad to help you in your own search process. Feel free to contact us.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a retained executive search firm that helps large churches and ministries find their key staff people.