Skip to main content

Overview: Hiring Process (Non-Pastoral)

Status

Implementation status: UpcomingDraft adopted — full SOP and one-page quick reference live on this shelf as of April 2026.

Due:Target adoption: 2026-04-29Presented to the Servants Council for formal adoption under Bylaws Article II, Section B, Item 4(c)(9). Governs every non-pastoral paid hire at Mayflower Church until revised.

What’s in this book

  • Non-Pastoral Staff Hiring SOP — April 2026 — the full Standard Operating Procedure. Purpose and scope, seven guiding principles, roles and authority, the ten-stage process (Discern & Define → Recruit & Screen → Interview → Decide & Offer → Onboard & Evaluate), common pitfalls, and maintenance. Eight appendices include the Position Description template, Search Team charter template, interview question sets for all five interviews, scoring rubric, reference script, offer letter template, onboarding checklist, and 90-day review template.
  • One-Page Quick Reference — April 2026 — companion card for Servants Council meetings and staff onboarding conversations. Guiding principles, the ten stages grouped by phase, decision rights, and a typical 10–14-week timeline on one screen.
  • Overview (this page) — status, principle, Mayflower’s practice, references, open questions.

Principle (from Streamline)

Lukaszewski'Lukaszewski’s principleprinciple: (placeholder):the Non-pastoralmost important decisions a ministry makes are not what decisions but who decisions. A clear, repeatable hiring stillprocess requiresprotects theologicalthe alignment,congregation characterfrom evaluation,the emotion of urgency, the temptation to hire a friend without fit, and competencethe assessmentlasting —damage not justof a skillsmismatched screen.hire. ABetter writtenno workflowhire preventsthan ad-hocthe hireswrong that create later problems.hire.

Mayflower'Mayflower’s Current Practice

The

WeekSOP 8above is Mayflower’s practice as of theApril implementation.2026. PlannedThe work:Servants draftCouncil thecoordinates all non-pastoral hiring workflow,under defineBylaws theology/character/competenceArticle criteria,II, clarifySection decisionB, authority,Item review4(c)(9), with elders,the saveBoard of Finance confirming funding, the hiringBoard of Elders confirming confessional alignment of the top candidate, and a Search Team of 3–5 members running the day-to-day process document.under Duea Aprwritten 29,charter. 2026.Every candidate for every paid non-pastoral role follows the same ten-stage process, with the same questions at each interview, the same reference script, and the same scoring rubric. Where this SOP conflicts with the Constitution and By-Laws, the Bylaws govern. The Servants Council reviews the SOP annually each January.

Governance & Document References

  • Mayflower Church Constitution and BylawsBy-Laws — personnelMarch sections2026 (Article II, Section B, Item 4(c)(9))
  • Position Descriptions asManual role-specific— Church Secretary (§15), Director of Biblical Counseling (§16)
  • Decision-Making Framework (April 2026) — personnel tier P-3 references this SOP
  • Streamline: Healthy Church Systems — Lukaszewski (hiring criteriaand inputs“who” decisions)
  • The Guide to Healthy Church Operations — Ministry Brands (staff policies, background checks, onboarding)

Open Questions

  • Does
      a 21-day posting window work for all role types, or should bivocational / part-time roles have a longer window?
    Who is the default Search Team chair for routine openings (e.g., Church Secretary replacement) vs. new roles the church has finalnever held before? The SOP currently leaves this to Servants Council discretion per opening.Should Stage 5 pre-screen outputs (Advance / Hold / Decline) be archived with the Clerk, or only the hired candidate’s file? Recommended: keep the full pool record for one hiring authoritycycle forto non-pastoraldocument roles?equal process.WhatDoes theologicalthe affirmationsrubric areweighting required?Background(Character check40% policy?/ Competence 35% / Chemistry 25%) match the congregation’s practice? Review after the first two hires under this SOP.

    Page template: Principle + Mayflower Practice. Part of The Streamline Admin System, adapted from Michael Lukaszewski'Lukaszewski’s Streamline: How To Create Healthy Church Systems.Systems, with detail drawn from The Guide to Healthy Church Operations (Ministry Brands) and anchored in the Mayflower Bylaws (March 2026).

    Back to top