How to Find Ministerial Staff (feat. Greg Comp)

Check out RENEW.org's Jobs board: https://jobs.renew.org/  Get early access to all of the 2025 RENEW Gathering Breakout Tracks: https://reallifetheologypodcast.supercast.com/  Visit RENEW.org for great resources on Disciple Making and Theology.  Today’s episode will help us understand how to effectively find, attract, and integrate ministerial staff through modern strategies and interim solutions for enhanced church leadership transition. In this episode titled "How to Find Ministerial Staff," Greg Comp, a retired vocational minister, provides a detailed guide on effective strategies for churches to find ministerial staff.  Greg discusses his experience with Next Step Church Services and Renew.org, delineating the collaborative efforts in helping churches connect with suitable pastoral candidates. He highlights the challenges that churches face today due to outdated word-of-mouth and traditional networks that have largely become ineffective. He emphasizes the strategic value of having an interim pastor to guide churches through transitions, pointing out the benefits of intentional versus unintentional interim leadership. He argues that many churches have an inflated view of their attractiveness, which can deter candidates in a competitive pastoral marketplace. He calls for churches to make a paradigm shift rather than just seeking a quick personnel change. Greg also lists various interim solutions for churches in between pastors, such as rotations of current staff, weekend supply preaching, and part-time interim pastors. He shares insights on the challenges and inefficacies experienced with these approaches and advocates for intentional interim pastorship as the best practice. Specific tools and resources are discussed, including steps to create online postings for ministerial positions that attract high-quality candidates. He advises keeping these postings simple and focused on the church and community profiles while deferring detailed qualifications and responsibilities until later in the process. Greg further elaborates on how Renew.org's job board functions, illustrating how both churches and candidates can leverage it to find matches suitable for their needs. He underscores the importance of keeping listings current and compelling to stimulate interest and facilitate conversations. In conclusion, Greg re-emphasizes the value of interim pastors, describing their role in conducting health assessments of churches to identify areas needing improvement before a new permanent pastor is installed.