New Resource Helps Churches Care for Staff

Thrive, the congregational support agency of the CRCNA, has released a new resource called Employment Essentials to help churches navigate the challenges of staffing. Churches are unique workplaces that have to find a balance between the spiritual callings of their staff and human resources best practices. 

Because of this tension, Thrive’s consultants have often seen conflicts or confusion arise in employment matters. From deciding whether to hire new staff due to growing numbers in membership, to dealing with a messy split, Employment Essentials is designed to provide clear, accessible guidance in these areas and to help prevent conflicts that are becoming common.

Without clear policies and shared expectations, churches can find themselves unprepared for moments of transition or conflict. In many cases, simple oversights—such as missing job descriptions or unclear reporting structures—have led to frustration, hurt feelings, and even division within congregations.

“It’s a challenge for churches to be both spiritual communities and employers. Council members do the best they can by pulling resources from their own workplaces or the internet, but those resources don’t always fit church polity and context,” said Sean Baker, ministry consultant with Thrive. “That’s why Thrive wants to put the most relevant information at the fingertips of leaders—to make it as easy as possible for them to get the core functions of employment right—so that their staff can be free to serve and lead.”

The Employment Essentials resource includes six text-based guides: Sustaining Essentials, Hiring Essentials, Calling Essentials, Endings Essentials, and Crisis Essentials. Together these guides cover the full employment journey:

• Sustaining Essentials offers an annual audit checklist to help churches take stock of employment practices and to ensure that important elements are not overlooked (e.g., job descriptions, reporting structures, staff meetings).
• Hiring Essentials and Calling Essentials outline the steps needed to hire a nonordained staff person or to call an ordained minister (e.g., checking references, setting pay and benefits).
• Endings Essentials guides churches through the delicate process of concluding a person’s employment, whether that’s a pastor retiring or a staff member being let go (e.g., severance, exit interviews, farewells).
• Crisis Essentials helps churches prepare for and respond to employment challenges that can derail leadership teams and divide congregations (e.g., communication protocols, abuse prevention, handling complaints).

Several churches were invited to review Employment Essentials before it launched. Pastor John Medendorp of New Era (Mich.) CRC said, “I thought the guides were all very helpful and straightforward. I like the checklist format and the links to supporting documents. These are definitely going to be helpful to churches in the future, as long as they are easy to find!” He added that, in the review process, a change to seeing pastors as both called and hired has made for “a helpful reframing.”

Thrive encourages pastors, councils, and other leaders to explore Employment Essentials and share it with all who may benefit.

Employment Essentials is available at crcna.org/ChurchStaffing.