Ministry Interviews

Art and Science

Making good ministry hiring decisions is both an art and a science.

On the subjective side, you have to discern whether a candidate has the intangible likability, relational skills and emotional intelligence to succeed in ministry. On the objective side, you have to be satisfied that a candidate can execute on the plan with the requisite skill, integrity, energy and team chemistry.

Ministry interviews are unique in their requirement that both the interviewer and the candidate seek God’s will throughout the process. Since calling is essential for any ministry hire, both parties must exercise spiritual wisdom, discernment and prayer at every turn.

Initial Phone Calls

After initial resume screening, the first two candidate steps in a ministry interview process often include an initial phone call and a formal phone interview.

The interviewer does most of the talking on the initial phone call, and candidate questions are usually limited. A typical initial phone call follows this pattern:

Introduce the church and community.
Preview the ministry department and team.
Profile the position.
Understand why the candidate is interested.
Ask basic questions to roughly rate the candidate.
Ask the candidate to pray about the opportunity.
Confirm the candidate’s desire to enter the process.

Consider using a rating system to score ministry candidates on the first phone call. This mitigates against becoming too attached to a particular candidate too early in the process (the “halo effect”). It also helps prevent emotion from driving your hiring decision.

Initial Phone Call Rubric

Formal Phone Interviews

If the candidate is interested, and scores well on your rubric, then the second step is a formal phone interview. This is an important moment to have a prolonged first conversation with the candidate. It’s usually the first opportunity to ask significant questions about the full range of issues that determine ministry effectiveness.

James Emery White’s 5 C’s remain the gold standard for evaluating potential staff members:

Called – Is the candidate called to ministry, your position and your church?
Character – Does the candidate exhibit a habitual pattern of integrity?
Competence – Does the candidate have the essential skills needed to get the job done?
Catalytic – Does the candidate bring energy and create activity to make things happen?
Chemistry – Is the candidate likable and a team fit?

Called

There are at least three types of calling on a minister’s life, and all three must align for the position you’re working to fill. Those calls include:

Vocational Ministry Call – A candidate’s initial calling to full-time, vocational ministry. Ask: When did this initial call occur? It’s also useful to discuss the candidate’s ministry journey—mentors, church experience, education and relationships.
Specific Call – A candidate’s specific call to a ministry area, such as students, children or worship. Ask: How has this specific call changed over time? And how has God confirmed this calling in your life?
Local Church Call – A candidate’s call to a local church. Each minister can affirm each of the calls that God has placed on their life to a specific body of believers. Ask: How did that happen for your current church? And why might God be giving you a release to pursue this new position at our church?

One of the most important questions in the interview happens here: Why do you want this position? There should be clarity and passion in the answer. It’s also important to dig deeper into the reasons and motivations for change, especially if the candidate is leaving a current church or ministry area to pursue a new one.

Character

Discern more about the spiritual qualifications for leadership at this stage. Among several considerations, discus the current state of personal spiritual disciplines in the candidate’s life. Ask about recent quiet times, Scripture reading and spiritual revelations. After this, it’s good to learn more about strengths, weaknesses, passions and blind spots. Ask: how self-aware is the candidate?

Competence

The competence discussion center on the candidate’s education and ministry experience. It’s useful to discuss the size and scope of ministry experience, as well as significant accomplishments and failures. Learn more about speaking abilities, leader development and ministry role contentment. In these conversations, recognize that self-awareness and thoughtful personal assessment is a hallmark of a self-assured, well-adjusted leader.

Catalytic Energy

Execution skills and ministry management are the fourth area of concern in the phone interview. This conversation answers the question: Does the candidate bring energy and create activity to make things happen? It’s insightful to hear ideas and initiatives the candidate has implemented from start to finish. And it’s especially important to learn how ministry scope—both qualitative and quantitative—has grown under the candidate’s leadership.

Team Chemistry

Team compatibility and culture alignment is the last area for discussion. This is a people, leadership style and team-fit conversation, with the baseline threshold: Do you want to spend more time with this person? Confirm basic behavioral tendencies and team fit with assessments like Insights Discovery, The Flippen Profile, DiSC, Clifton StrengthsFinder and Meyers-Briggs.

To summarize, ask candidates a series of questions in all five categories with a lengthy phone interview. The goal is getting answers to important questions about calling, character, competence, catalytic energy and team chemistry.

Phone Interview

Resources

“The Five C’s for Ministry Staff” by James Emery White