Growing Your Ministry Through…Interviewing

It has been almost 9 months since we last talked about how to interview volunteers. Rather than reiterate what I’ve already written, I want to focus on something a little more specific: interviewing volunteers for ministry growth.

I typically see 2 types of interviews conducted for church ministries: those that look for a specific type of person and reject all else (the “exclusive interview”) and those that don’t care who they get (the “inclusive interview”). What I prefer to see is the “prayerful interview”, one that is focused on an overall fit rather than skills or need.

The Exclusive Interview

The exclusive interview is often seen in high-skill areas, such as IT, Web, Worship/Music, and Media/Video. These are the interviews where people of all types that often have a minimal interest and right heart get pounded by questions regarding TCP/IP, CSS level 2, obscure musicians, and how many short films they’ve produced. These interviews are often, but not always, intimidating for those that don’t fit into the top 1%. These ministries suffer from lack of volunteers, putting more pressure on those that do fit the high skill level to serve even more than they should.

The Inclusive Interview

The inclusive interview checks for a pulse or other signs of life, and willingness to give more time than they really have. They don’t check for skills, though they will do a background check if required. Often, these ministries are focused on “survival” and rarely retain their volunteers for long periods of time, causing knowledge to be lost and cycles of reinventing the wheel or doing it the way we always have.

The Prayerful Interview

The third type is a balance between the two other interviews, the prayerful interview. This kind of interview performs the following steps:

1. Prior to the meeting, the interviewer prayerfully seeks guidance regarding the ministry needs and for guidance regarding the candidate
2. Prior to the meeting, the interviewer prepares a list of job roles that the candidate will be offered, identifies any necessary skills for each one, and considers what she is looking for in this candidate
3. During the meeting, the interviewer asks important questions to determine length and depth of their salvation (spiritual maturity), how they arrived to select their ministry (calling), and what skill(s) best fit the ministry (capabilities). The interviewer may also briefly discuss the ministry, its mission/vision, and the job roles available and time investment expected
4. After the meeting, the interviewer reviews and prays over the meeting and seeks guidance. Reference and background checks may be conducted at this point for high-security or childcare-related ministries
5. Finally, the interviewer extends an offer to the candidate or offers another ministry that may be better suited, conducting a face-to-face introduction/handoff to the other ministry leader

Notice that no where have I mentioned spirtual gifts tests, personality profile tests, or anything remotely close. While these types of tests may be helpful for those uncertain of their calling in life, they should in no way influence an interview. They are tools for the candidate, not the leader. Sometimes people pick a ministry due to interest or God-given calling that is beyond their normal skills or comfort zone (aka being “stretched”). Prayer, above all else, is the most essential test to confirm an interview. If you don’t have a healthy prayer life to enable you to confidently seek the Lord for this decision, you need to deal with this before you begin to add new people to your ministry!

Now, go interview for your growing ministry!

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