Steve Marr.org

Pastor Walter slumped into the armchair in his study, feeling devastated. It seemed that every leader in the church wanted to take a piece out of him. One of the elders had layered on the guilt for a list of tasks that he believed the pastor had neglected, another had called him lazy because he had missed a committee meeting. And he was still reeling from the out-of-control anger he had absorbed during a phone call from a member of the congregation.

"The best predictor of future performance of an individual is the persons past performance" according to Dr. Charles Ridley, former professor at Fuller Seminary. Many churches will collect and review many résumés, screen and interview candidates well but then offer a position without thoroughly checking references.

Should you hire a member of the congregation to work in the church office? That's a dilemma for any pastor or board, but it doesn't have to be a snare. As long as you hire based on sound principles, the outcome should be favorable.

Tom was the pastor of counseling in a growing suburban church. Because he wanted to protect the privacy and confidentiality of individuals in the congregation, who often came for counseling about marriage problems and other personal difficulties, he would frequently schedule appointments away from the church office. Often, these appointments would stretch to several hours, during which time he was absent from the office. Unfortunately, he also struggled with his personal time management, occasionally arriving late for appointments and appearing unorganized.