Congrats on Hiring that Intern or Resident! What Should Change Monday? Three Questions for You.

One of the huge benefits of a church leadership program is the idea of a two-year job interview. You get continued evaluations to determine chemistry, competence, and fit on your team. You get the opportunity to coach and influence this person from the earliest days of their ministry.

It’s that time of year…spring-ish…heading towards Easter and their internship or leadership residency is coming to a close in just a few months. It’s time to make an offer for full-time ministry for them to join your team. Is this a finish line or a starting line? It’s both! And we should honor both of those milestones in this new leader's life.

Congratulations! They did it. You did it. What are the questions to ask to avoid the pitfalls of making a great situation potentially bad?

Here are three questions to ask:

// What changes Monday? Friday they left as a “leadership resident” or “intern.” Monday they’ll walk in as a full-time staff pastor. Howare you going to onboard them? Are you going to make assumptions or are you going to use your normal process of onboarding new full time staff?

Potential answer with a question: Pretend like they moved cross country and you have never met them before. How would you be orienting them to this role? Assume nothing.

// What should we do to ensure that we view this person differently? Does everyone on your team now understand that they are no longer what they were, but they are now something different?

Potential answer: All rites of passage are designed to strip individuals of their original roles and prepare them for new roles, and this ministry transition is no different. There needs to be something of a setting apart or a ceremony on the staff team. It doesn’t have to be grand, it does have to be stated in front of everyone. As the leader you will more than likely have to have some individual conversations with those who’ve been engaged in this process and align expectations.

// Do they have new expectations of themselves? Monday should be different in how they view their role.

Potential answer: Is there a new job description that clearly states 30/60/90/180 day goals? Their should be new expectations for them to step in to. If they’re awesome, they’ve potentially grown bored as a ministry resident and desire a new challenge. Remember every one should be just a little in over their head and should be pushing themselves towards growth.

As always if you need help with these or other questions of developing the next generation please REACH OUT