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The Minister Hiring Process™

Thank you for your interest in our Minister Hiring Process. This is the process we advocate in our self-driven search training program. It is at the heart of what we do and if followed correctly can be the key to better results for you in your minister search.


The Need

Have you been asked to help with the search for a new minister? If so, you probably have a lot of questions such as: 

  • Where do you start? 
  • What sort of steps should you take in the search process? 
  • What do the elders need to do? 
  • How do you form a search committee? 
  • How do you find the best candidates? 
  • Are there any resources out there that can help us?

We created The Minister Hiring Process™ to help you answer these questions and avoid the pitfalls that most congregations encounter when searching for a new minister.

The Process

The Minister Hiring Process™ was based on search models used over the last 30 years in the business and academia worlds for the hiring of senior executives and university officials. Minister Match took these models and adapted them to the unique nature of hiring a minister within the churches of Christ. The result is a proven 5 phase process designed to help you:

  • Create a focused and driven search process
  • Form a representative search committee
  • Clearly define what you want in the next minister
  • Develop outstanding candidates
  • Create a highly interactive environment where the candidates and committee really get to know each other
  • Reduce the risk of a candidate rejecting your offer
  • Increase your odds of making a fantastic long term hire

Resources

To help you learn more about the Minister Hiring Process we have created a series of publications, webinars and training seminars. When you are ready to learn more:

  • Download the "Minister Hiring Process - Overview" using the link shown on the top right of this page.
  • Order a copy of The Search Committee Handbook

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The Role of the Elders in the Search Process

A successful minister search begins with clear, effective leadership from the elders of the congregation. In this 60 minute webinar we explore the minister search process from an elder’s point of view. Specifically, we cover:

  • The importance of making the right hire;Elder1
  • An overview of the Minister Hiring Process™;
  • The role of the elders in a search;
  • Defining the position;
  • Forming a search committee;
  • Supporting and equipping the search committee;
  • Creating a “Charge” for the committee;
  • Working with your committee;
  • Receiving the Nominee; and
  • Crafting the job offer.

Attend this webinar BEFORE you start your search!

Price - Free!

Target Audience - The elders of the congregation (hopefully as a group)

Timing - Webinars are conducted by appointment at a time that is convenient for your elders.

Signup Now

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The Search Process Workshop

What is the cost of a bad hire or a failed search?

Since there are tremendous amounts of time, effort, and resources expended in the search process, it makes sense to conduct your search in an efficient and effective manner that increases your odds of finding a long term minister. Avoid the most common pitfalls by providing your search committee with a custom designed workshop to improve how your congregation identifies and selects its candidates.

This on-site, half-day workshop presents a step-by-step guide to the Minister Hiring Process™ and helps the committee lay the foundation for a successful search. The workshop can be tailored to the appropriate audience as well as to the target for the search process (i.e., pulpit vs non-pulpit ministers).

In addition to the topics discussed in the Search Committee Webinar, we typically cover advanced topics such as:

  • Wrapping up the Planning ProcessWorkshop1
    • The Job Description
    • Writing effective ads and where to place them
    • The Congregational Survey
    • The Candidate Questionnaire
  • Handling internal candidates
  • Developing a recruiting plan
    • Identifying networking sources
    • Building a prospect list
    • Practicing the “cold call”
  • Writing better interview questions
  • Details of the Selection Process

Bonus #1 - 10 Free copies of the Minister Search Handbook - The Step-by-Step Guide to Hiring Your Next Minister. -- A $250 value.

Bonus #2 - As part of this workshop, the committee receives unlimited access to the tools and templates section of the MinisterMatch.com website. This toolkit is full of the checklists, letters, agendas, sample forms, and sample questions that will help ease the workload on the committee and ensure the success of your search. -- A $450 value.

Price - $2,500.00 plus travel.

Target Audience - The Search Committee

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The Role of a Search Committee Member

The simple fact is that most congregations fail to provide their search committees with any real training about how to do their job. In this 60 minute webinar we provide search committee members with a realistic overview of the task before them and provide practical instruction about how to proceed through the process. This introductory webinar will cover:

  • The importance of making the right hire;SearchCommitteeMember1
  • An overview of the Minister Hiring Process™;
  • The role of a search committee member;
  • The importance of confidentiality;
  • Planning the search;
  • Developing a candidate recruiting strategy;
  • An overview of the selection process; and
  • Fulfilling your “Charge” from the elders.

Attend this webinar as you start your search!

Price - Free! (for a limited time)

Target Audience - The Search Committee

Timing - Webinars are conducted by appointment at a time that is convenient for your committee.

Signup Now

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Get Started with Training and Coaching

If you represent a church, search committee, or non-profit organization and would like to find out more about our services, please fill out the form below. A representative from our firm will contact you shortly and walk you through our process as well as what an engagement with our firm looks like.

If you are an individual looking for career coaching, please take a look at our resume writing and career coaching resources. Please do not fill out the form below.

Testimonials

The process was well marketed and we were provided ample information to help explain the steps to the congregation.  The book that accompanied the information was very valuable and I referred to it often during the process.  As the search team ...
Bill Gaw - Search Committee Chariman, Waterford Church of Christ
I was grateful for the guidance of Minister Match through the complex and time-intensive search process. John was responsive, supportive and knowledgable. Communication was excellent and flexible around my availability as a volunteer search ...
Brandon Clark - Youth Minister Search Committee Chairman, Mesa Church of Christ
From my standpoint as one of the elders, I can say we were pleased with the process, and feel the time and money spent was well worth it. We felt we received excellent service from your firm, and because we were among the first to use your service ...
Bob Perkins - Elder, Sunset Church of Christ
Minister Match was kind to me, followed up really well, and tried to be as helpful as possible. I believe they give a lot of attention to the candidates and care about their part of the process.
Kerry Williams - Minister, Waterford Church of Christ
We had a very good experience with Minister Match.  This was not the first time we had searched for a minister, but it was the first time we used a search firm.  Our experience with Minister Match was a complete success.  In previous searches, we ...
Jim Holway - Minister, Sunset Church of Christ
Minister Match helped us hire a new minister in half the time we took for our previous hire.  We used the Minister Match process which helped us build a consensus of what we wanted.  Minister Match's network then helped us to build an ...
Tom Long - Search Committee Chairman, South Fork Church of Christ
We would like to thank you for your efforts to make the minister hiring process simple and well defined. The congregation here has not been through the minister hiring process in sixteen years and had little experience left for trying to do so. We ...
Jim Burdette - Elder, Frederick Church of Christ
Minister Match connected me with a church, had the details for every aspect of the process already taken care of, and communicated well. It was a very easy process, and now I am a youth minister in Miami, Florida!  I was very impressed with the ...
Sam Wilson - Youth Minister, Sunset Church of Christ
It was a great process for me. Minister Match did a good job of keeping confidentiality in collecting information, and the communication process was very clear. The staff was very easy to deal with and very helpful. Overall the experience was very ...
Joel Soumar - Youth Minister, Mesa Church of Christ
We would not have been exposed to the large number of qualified candidates without the resources and expertise of Minister Match.  The search process was very organized and accomplished very efficiently with the program and schedule provided by ...
Ken Fox - Elder, Mesa Church of Christ

Contact Information

Minister Match
410 South Lowe Avenue
Cookeville, TN 38501

ABC Blocks

Your congregation has just hired a minister, and it seems like they are the perfect fit. Congratulations! There is one more step to the process, though, and it is just as important as the process of finding the right minister. You might have heard people refer to how the “first hundred days” of someone’s job usually sets the tone for their entire career with that organization. The same is true with ministers. Just as your congregation is going through a major transition, so is your new minister. The first few months of a job are a stressful time, and it is the job of the elders and search committee to help your new minister through their transition.

We refer to this as the “On-Boarding Stage.” Since the “first hundred days” is so important to the rest of a minister’s career with your congregation, we believe this stage is one of the keys to reducing minister turnover in the church. In this post, we want to talk about a few of the things that a new minister needs from their congregation during this transition period. We will refer to them as the ABC’s of the On-Boarding Phase.