{"id":844503,"date":"2025-01-30T05:00:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T11:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?p=844503"},"modified":"2025-01-29T18:11:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T00:11:13","slug":"12-concerns-and-burdens-church-staff-members-have-shared-with-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/12-concerns-and-burdens-church-staff-members-have-shared-with-me\/","title":{"rendered":"12 Concerns and Burdens Church Staff Members Have Shared with Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

I most often work with lead pastors when I consult with churches, but I do spend time with staff members, too. I also have church staff members among my students at <\/span>Southeastern Seminary<\/span><\/a>. As I work with staff, here are some concerns staff have expressed to me over the years:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
      \n
    1. Lacking time with senior leadership<\/b>. Staff often struggle when they have no more time with the senior leader than the typical layperson does. They often long for more one-on-one time.<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Lacking clear role expectations<\/b>. Staff aren\u2019t always sure what\u2019s expected of them, even if they have a job description. They\u2019re sometimes held accountable for more than what\u2019s in that description.<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Having few friends, especially among other staff<\/b>. Staff families seldom spend time together. Staff themselves are sometimes at odds with each other, especially in struggling churches.<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Living in a ministry silo<\/b>. Others make decisions that affect their ministry without discussion or dialogue. Calendaring events becomes competition rather than cooperation. The silo gets lonely.<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Ministering with few funds<\/b>. Some churches find salary money by decreasing ministry funds. Thus, they hire personnel but provide little money for them to do the work they are called to do.<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Perceiving they have no voice<\/b>. Some staff believe no one in authority listens to their ideas or concerns. They eventually just keep their thoughts to themselves.<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. Wrestling with their own calling<\/b>. That\u2019s particularly the case when a staff member has begun to feel a burden to preach more often.<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Having no \u201csafe\u201d place to be honest<\/b>. I often hear these concerns of staff members simply because staff believe they have no other place to go with their burdens.<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Receiving poor salary and\/or benefits<\/b>. Some staff are struggling with paying their bills. They want to serve with joy, but the burden of taking care of their family is heavy.<\/span><\/li>\n
    10. Desiring affirmation<\/b>. Most staff appreciate a \u201cpat on the back\u201d occasionally. Even little gestures like a public \u201cthank you,\u201d a lunch invitation, a drop-by visit, or a small bonus can go a long way toward building a strong team.<\/span><\/li>\n
    11. Competing for volunteers<\/b>. Because most churches do not have a strategy to enlist and train workers, staff often compete for the same workers.<\/span><\/li>\n
    12. Seeing and hearing too much<\/b>. Too many staff members wrestle internally because they have listened to leader and staff language, overheard jokes, and watched actions that are less than Christian.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      As you read this list, I encourage you to pray for your church\u2019s staff members. If you\u2019re a lead pastor, take some time to bless your staff today.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I most often work with lead pastors when I consult with churches, but I do spend time with staff members, too. I also have church staff members among my students at Southeastern Seminary. As I work with staff, here are some concerns staff have expressed to me over the years: Lacking time with senior leadership….","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":844505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"0","publish_post_category":"1","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[193,1,183,195,184,175,192,177,14796,180,196],"tags":[20149,20150,20151,76,19054],"class_list":["post-844503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-administration-and-finance","category-church-answers","category-communications","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-discipleship","category-grow","category-how-to","category-lead","category-monday-wednesday-featured","category-outreach-and-evangelism","category-staff-and-organizational-issues","tag-12-concerns-and-burdens-church-staff-members-have-shared-with-me","tag-church-staff-members","tag-expectations","tag-leadership","tag-ministry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n12 Concerns and Burdens Church Staff Members Have Shared with Me | Church Answers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I most often work with lead pastors when I consult with churches, but I do spend time with staff members, too. 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