When Moses Meets Aaron

Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations

Susan Beaumont, Gil Rendle

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Year: 2007
• eBook ISBN: 9781566996990
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

With the number of large congregations rising in the U.S., these congregations are increasingly dependent upon a greater number of staff to meet the needs of their diverse collection of members. As leaders of multi-staff teams, senior clergy must play the dual role of both Moses and Aaron--both visionary and detail-oriented leader--in order for their large congregations to thrive. They need to be skilled with the tools of human resource management, while at the same time setting a vision and inspiring both staff and congregation. Unfortunately, until now there have been few resources for senior clergy who lead multi-staff teams. Working without adequate models and tools, senior clergy of large congregations often find themselves with passionate, dedicated staff members who are moving in different directions, competing over limited resources and attention. They end up with questions of how to evaluate the performance of staff and direct their efforts. They find themselves using time, attention, and resources to care for staff rather than using staff as a resource to care for the mission of the congregation. Longtime Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle and Alban senior consultant Susan Beaumont have developed When Moses Meets Aaron to help clergy responsible for several-member staff teams navigate these unknown waters. They have taken the best of human resource practices and immersed them in a congregational context, providing a comprehensive manual for supervising, motivating, and coordinating staff teams. Rendle and Beaumont give both detailed and big picture guidance on hiring, job descriptions, supervision, performance evaluation, staff-team design, difficult staff behavior, and more. Their combined experience in consulting and training with staff and leaders of large congregations proves invaluable in this manual for today's leadership demands.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: A Framework for Thinking about Employment Relationships
• People Are Resources for Ministry
• Employment and Covenant
• The Importance of Outcomes
• Part 2: An Overview of the Performance Management Cycle
• The Critical Job Description
• Hiring Right to Manage Easier
• Supervision as Performance Management
• Delegation
• Helping Staff Negotiate Their Needs
• Performance Evaluation
• Part 3: Special Topics in the Supervisory Relationship
• Staff Team Design
• Staff Meetings
• Dealing with Difficult Staff Behavior
• Dealing with Poor Performance or Terminating Employment
• Disclosure in Difficult
• Staff Files
• Epilogue
• Notes