5 Questions to Regularly Ask Your Church Staff
The Importance of Frequently Checking In with Your Leaders
As the co-lead pastors of our church, Hannah and I do monthly check-ins (what we refer to around the office as “monthlies”) with all full-time ministry staff. For part-time staff, it's usually every other month.
Although documented, these are somewhat informal in nature and are a way to keep “short accounts” and check in on the overall health and wellness of the pastor, as well as to facilitate personal growth in their ministry.
These meetings are primarily for care, coaching, and tracking progress on previously stated goals.
Monthlies are 30-60 minutes and may vary in approach and scope from being purely social in nature (an informal walk or meal together checking in on the pastor), to setting and tracking goals, to prayer and spiritual care.
The content of the discussion is flexible and varies, but to help the staff member prepare and to guide our time together, we ask the following 5 questions (well, really more than five, so more like 5 areas of discussion).
Our 5 "Check-In" Questions
1. How are you feeling/doing (life and job) – spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally?
2. What’s one thing that’s been exciting and energizing for you as pastor? What’s one thing that’s been difficult or draining? (i.e., What are you loving? What are you not-so loving?)
3. Assessment of work and main areas of ministry (by staff member and supervisor): what’s going well and what can be improved?
4. What are some tangible goals (dates, numbers, completion, etc.) we can set?
Short-range (by next meeting or close)
Mid-range (2-6 months)
Long-range (6+ months)
5. Please tell us one way we can improve to better serve you and help you to thrive? Is there one thing you would recommend we consider doing differently? If you’d like, also tell us one thing we are doing well or that you like.
Last (but certainly not least!) question: How can we pray for you?
NEWSLETTER SIGNUP (blog post layout)
ABOUT JOSEPH
Pastor, Author, and sometimes pretends to be a scholar
Joseph (PhD, University of Birmingham) is the author of The Pentecostal Gender Paradox: Eschatology and the Search for Equality.
Since 2015, he and his wife have together pastored Oceanside Community Church on Vancouver Island, where they live with their four children.
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