Identifying and Developing Campus Pastors
The capacity and competency of a Campus Pastor is one of the most critical factors in the success of any multi-site strategy. The position is a unique one, and identifying and developing Campus Pastors can be challenging. But when it is done with clarity, strategy, and intentionality, it can be one of the most important investments a church will ever make.
In order to develop great Campus Pastors (CP), the first steps are to define the traits to look for and the competencies to train.
TRAITS TO LOOK FOR
IDENTIFICATION |
These are internal qualities, the raw materials, that make someone a viable candidate to be developed into a CP role. The presence of these traits tells us that this is a person to consider placing into our CP pipeline. The absence of these traits tells us that this person will likely not become a successful CP regardless of how we develop them.
DEFINE THE TRAITS YOU’RE LOOKING FOR |
Aim to develop a list of the 5-7 most important traits to look for. This forces us to prioritize and wrestle with what is truly nonnegotiable vs. what is just “nice to have.”
A few questions to ask to help surface the traits that will be most important in your culture:
What are common characteristics of leaders who have been successful here?
What are common characteristics of people who have struggled here?
What were they missing?
What pressures, challenges or hardships will someone face in a CP role?
What traits will help them cope with those?
What kind of person will thrive in our specific model?
If we’re using a highly autonomous multisite model, we may look for leaders with more charismatic or entrepreneurial qualities.
If we’re pursuing a highly centralized model, we may look for leaders who demonstrate stewardship or reliability.
What would be direct or indirect disqualifiers for a CP candidate? Examples:
Direct - A recent moral failure
Indirect - An uninvolved or unaligned spouse
Indirect - Not enough time spent in our culture
What internal qualities are “lead measures” for the external competencies that the role requires?
If communication is an important competency to train, then influence or approachability might be underlying traits that help us develop communication.
If management is a key competency, then emotional intelligence may be an important trait that helps us develop a good manager.
COMPETENCIES TO TRAIN
DEVELOPMENT |
These are the functions and skills that an effective CP needs to master in order to thrive in their role. These are not prerequisites to become a candidate or to be put into a CP pipeline. If they have the traits we’re looking for, we can develop the competencies they need to do the job well.
CREATE A DEVELOPMENT PLAN |
Aim to identify the 4-5 key functions of the CP role. What are the things that a CP must do on a regular basis to be successful? Once you’ve defined the core competencies for a successful CP, you can design an ideal development plan for those in your pipeline.
An effective development plan should include diverse and robust training methods (academic AND experiential, principles AND practicals), clear accountability (regular checkpoints for evaluation, feedback and coaching), and transparent processes for promoting a candidate into a CP role or off-boarding the candidate out of the pipeline when necessary.
