We Help Churches Find Great Staff Members

(and staff members find great churches)

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churches
job seekers
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Finding candidates for your church is easy.

Finding candidates for your church can be hard.

Attract the right candidates

You know the drill. Not every candidate that applies for your opening will be a good fit. Most won't even be close. We pre-screen every candidate that applies to your opening and match them to your church's unique theology and culture. We assess their skills and personality. Then we present you with only candidates that are a good fit for your specific church.

Screen for a healthy
long-term fit

Most church staff members stay about three years. Yet according to recent studies, the most fruitful period of ministry starts around year five. Long-term ministry creates long-term impact. We work to ensure that the candidates we provide have the ability to serve at your church five years or more so that they can make a lasting impact.

Invest wisely in your church's future

Many churches don't consider outside expertise during their search process because of the added expense. Our unique model enables you to tap into our hiring and ministry expertise at a reasonable and justifiable price. Whether you are a church of 100 or 10,000, we can be a wise stewardship investment in the future of your church.

The Five Essentials of a Healthy Long-term Church Staff Fit...

In our work with churches over the years, we have identified five different areas that need to match up in order for your next hire to have ‘long-term, healthy fit’ potential.  Miss on any one of these five, and the chances for longevity of your new staff member goes down significantly.  Misalignment on two or more of these areas are the things that bad hires are made of. 

THEOLOGY

Does this person believe the same as us on both core and secondary issues?
how to assess for theology

CULTURE/DNA

Will this person be a good fit for our community, church, and culture?
how to assess for culture/dna

PERSONALITY

Does this person play well with others?  Are they likeable?
How to assess for personality

SKILLS

Does this person have the talents and abilities we need to do a good job?
how to assess for skills/abilities

CHEMISTRY

Will this person fit on our team? Do we want to do life AND ministry together?
how to access for chemistry

What is the Chemistry experience like?

Chemistry was both a huge help and blessing to Central through this search process. Central was looking for a unique combination position – Worship and Communications – in a church that is multi-generational and is striving to be multi-generational. Chemistry worked hard to understand Central, our staff, and our dreams. Chemistry was upfront with us that this search could take time. They were honest with us during the entire search. They kept us updated, answered our questions, and prayed for us.

When they presented CJ to us, we very quickly saw that he possessed a unique collection of skills that fit our needs and he has a love fro the church across the generations. CJ is bringing fresh energy to us that fits who we are and is challenging us to take greater steps in our vision of connecting, equipping, and sending. If you are looking to find new staff, please have a conversation with Chemistry. Finding the right staff is not easy. With Chemistry’s involvement, Central has been able to find a pastor who is excited about both the church and the community we are called to serve. Central has benefited from working with Chemistry. I believe they will be a blessing to you as well.
Lloyd Grant
Senior Pastor - Central Baptist Church - Sioux City, IA
My new position at River Valley is an exciting Godsend opportunity for me and my family in my journey in full-time worship ministry. To be able to lead and coordinate teams in a way that develops future worship leaders and bands is the perfect skill set in how God has gifted me over the years leading up to this position at River Valley. I can sense already that the Lead Pastor will be a great mentor and pastor over me and my family. There is tremendous vision and focus for future gospel-centered impact in the community around River Valley. I am blessed beyond measure to be able to come on board as their next Worship Pastor.

Chemistry Staffing's process is very unique and raises the bar in connecting candidates with long term healthy ministry opportunities. I appreciate the thorough interviewing before even being presented to a church as a candidate. I had four interviews with Chemistry Staffing before being presented. There were, honestly, no other ministry head-hunter/church staffing groups that I have worked with this year that even came close to the depth of interviews Chemistry Staffing performed with me. I felt completely at ease going into my first interviews at River Valley.

In this entire process with Chemistry Staffing these past several months I have learned that steadfast patience is key when finding a long-lasting fit for me and my family. The process is well worth the wait and truly provides a much healthier experience though you may have a few extra interviews and evaluations compared to other groups out there. I will recommend this process with Chemistry Staffing to all my friends in the ministry field seeking their next place of full-time ministry.
Stephen Bunger
Worship Pastor Successful Candidate at River Valley Church - Bastrop, TX

Here are some of the great Churches we've worked with

Let's start the conversation...

Are you getting ready to start the search process at your church? Or maybe you’re in the midst of a search that needs a little extra help? Let’s talk. We’d love to hear your story and see if there’s a way that we can help find your next long-term ministry staff member.
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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: THEOLOGICAL FIT

As you talk with potential staff members, it’s important the you make sure that they are a good fit for your church theologically. 

  • How do your church’s open-handed and close-fisted theological issues line up with the candidate’s views on these issues?
  • On close-fisted issues, non-alignment needs to disqualify the candidate from your search, but you should also be exploring the open-handed issues to ensure that they will not cause a low-grade frustration between you and your new hire.

When not thoroughly aligned, cracks many time begin to show within 12-18 months of the hire.  

At Chemistry Staffing, our process pre-screens every potential candidate on major and secondary theological issues and compares the results with your church’s theological beliefs. This instantly identifies areas of disagreement or issues that warrant additional discussion before the hire.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: Culture/DNA

Every church has a different culture and DNA. Small-town churches have a different feel than city churches. And most Baptist churches have a different ministry philosophy than Pentecostal churches.  Finding a candidate that matches your church’s (and community’s) distinct ‘way’ of doing ministry is key to finding a healthy, long-term fit.

  • What type of church culture is the candidate coming out of and how does that compare to your church?
  • An honest assessment of your culture will help ensure that you do not bring someone on the team that will chafe at the way you do things from day one.

Every candidate that applies for your staff opening at Chemistry Staffing is asked a series of culture and DNA questions to see if they have the potential to be a great fit at YOUR church.  It is not uncommon for a candidate to be a tremendous fit for your church theologically but be a total mis-match when it comes to your church’s culture and ministry philosophy.  Identifying areas of misalignment early in the process will help insure you don’t make a common hiring mistake.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: PERSONALITY FIT

Every church and every church staff member has a personality. Too many churches make hires based on a first impression: “Do I like this person?”  But there is much more that likeability that determines whether or not a candidate will be a great fit at your church.

  • A hard-charging, type-A personality in a type-B church will not end well.
  • Knowing how your church is wired and comparing that to the candidate will help you discern whether someone will be able to stay for the long-term.

It’s extremely important to get to know your candidate well BEFORE you make an offer to come on your staff.  Introducing your candidate to key staff and volunteers in different social and church settings can help you determine how well a candidate will fit with your church’s and staff’s personality.

At Chemistry Staffing, our personality assessment sees if there is great potential for personal connectedness and affinity or if the candidate has personality traits that may clash with your team and church in the long-run. Our assessment also flags potential problem areas that can be addressed during the interview process.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: Skills/experience FIT

Skills and experience is one of the easier things to assess.  Resumes and interviews can pretty easily uncover a candidate’s past experience, education, and innate abilities.

We often remind churches that the goal of your search is not to find “Jesus with a guitar”. Keeping realistic expectations is important. (It’s impossible to find someone, for example, with an MDiv, 20 years of experience, and 32 years old!)

Here are some key questions to ask:

  • Has this candidate demonstrated the required skills of the position, or are they ready to step into a bigger role?
  • Digging into a candidate’s skill set will keep you from setting someone up for failure.

Hiring the right person is sometimes a mix of evaluating past successes and future potential.

At Chemistry Staffing, we’ll work with you to find the right mix of skill and experience you’ll need for the success of this role. We can help you navigate each candidates potential strengths and weaknesses. Our pre-interview skills and abilities assessment helps us find candidates that meet the expectations and requirements of the role.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: CHEMISTRY FIT

Many times you’ll know if a you have made a personal connection with a candidate within the first ten minutes. But hiring based on your first-impression of a ‘chemistry’ match can be a huge mistake.

Chemistry should be the final test for whether or not a potential candidate will do well serving on staff at your church. Here are some key questions to ask:

  • Is this someone that you will enjoy working with for the next five years?
  • Would you feel comfortable inviting this person over to your house on a Tuesday night for BBQ?

Determining the level of chemistry a candidate has with your team saves you from incredibly awkward work environments.

But hiring based on chemistry alone can be a dumpster fire when you find that the person you’ve fallen in love with also shares key theological or philosophy of ministry differences.

When a church hires Chemistry Staffing to help with their staff search, we assess for the first four critical areas (theology, culture/dna, personality, and skills/experience). Once a candidate aligns in those four areas, we urge our churches to dive into the ‘chemistry’ question. Most churches will know instinctively if a candidate possesses the ‘chemistry’ it will take to be a healthy part of their team.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!