Minister Match did an excellent job connecting me with a congregation that I would not have known about otherwise. Don Viar did an excellent job representing my concerns to the search committee and did an excellent job communicating their concerns and process to me. I found that I was able to trust Don to faithfully mediate between the congregation and myself to bring about a successful process for both parties.
Minister Match
410 South Lowe Avenue
Cookeville, TN 38501
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.