Your Ministry Resume Can't Hide Your Character Forever

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the importance of character over credentials in hiring for church staff. While resumes and references may secure interviews and jobs, it's character that determines long-term success. The episode emphasizes faithfulness, reliability, and integrity over temporary impressiveness and highlights the need to slow down the hiring process to focus on character assessment. • Resumes can mask true character short-term, but not indefinitely. • Character sustains gifting and is essential for long-term ministry success. • Churches often overvalue calling and undervalue consistency and character. • Ministry success is measured by faithfulness and reliability, not dramatic gifting. • Hiring processes should include thorough character assessments from multiple perspectives. • A good reputation is built on small, everyday actions and follows you throughout your career.

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Transcript

When A Great Hire Feels Off

SPEAKER_00 0:09

You hired someone with an incredible resume. Great references, strong gifting, clear calling, six months in. Fortunately, something feels off. The work is inconsistent, the attitude is shaky, the stories don't quite add up, and you're thinking, how in the world did I miss this? Here's the truth. You probably didn't miss it. The resume just bought them some time. And that's what we're talking about today on the Healthy Church Staff

Resumes Open Doors Character Keeps Them

SPEAKER_00 0:38

Podcast. Hi there, I'm your host, Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffing.com. This is what we do every day over at chemistrystaffing.com. So I'm excited to talk with you about resumes today. Resumes open door. Character keeps those doors open. Your credentials will get you the interview. Your gifting might land you the job, but it's your character that determines whether or not you last. And in ministry, you can hide behind a great resume for six months, maybe a year if you're really good at managing impressions, but eventually the real is going to show up. The way you handle conflict, the quality of your follow-through, how you treat people when nobody's watching. That stuff can't be faked long

Calling Isn’t The Same As Character

SPEAKER_00 1:28

term. And it gets a little tricky because we've created a ministry culture in many churches that overvalues calling and undervalues consistency. We get really excited about the person with the dramatic testimony, the one that can preach and lead worship and connect with students. We ask about their calling story and their passion and their vision, but we don't ask enough about their last three work situations, for example. How they handled being corrected, about whether or not they finished what they started. If people who work with them would hire them again. Calling does not equal character. We have been lied to, we've been told some whoppers of stories by people who supposedly were called by God to ministry. Now I'm not saying that gifting and calling doesn't matter. Absolutely, absolutely they do, but character is what makes gifting sustainable. You can be incredibly gifted and still be a nightmare to work with. You can have a clear calling and still be unreliable. So here's what you need to look

What Faithfulness Looks Like Daily

SPEAKER_00 2:44

for. Faithfulness over flash. Does this person do what they say they're going to do? Do they show up on time? Do they finish projects? Do they own mistakes? Are they kind to administrative staff? Do they follow through on the small stuff? Because if they can't be faithful in the small things, your church will suffer when you give them big things. And if you're the one being hired, believe me, your reputation is being built in those unseen moments. Every email you send, every meeting that you're late to, every promise that you promise but you break, every time you blame somebody else, every shortcut you take, it's all building a reputation. And in ministry, your reputation travels faster than your resume. Churches talk. References get called, LinkedIn messages get sent, and you might think you're starting fresh in a new church, but that character, your character is gonna follow you. Here's the good news you can build a reputation for both faithfulness and excellence. You don't have to choose between being kind and being competent. You can be excellent at your job and humble in your relationships. You can be driven and honoring at the same time. Ministry is a long game. It's a long game, people. And not the impressive hire, not the big launch, not the viral moment, but the steady, faithful saying, I can count on them type of a leader who's still here in five years, still doing great work, still growing, still leading well. That's the person that every church is desperate to find, and that's the person that you want to be as well. So here is my advice to

How To Hire Slower And Smarter

SPEAKER_00 4:28

you. If you're hiring, slow down. Check those references that nobody has given you. Ask about character, not just about competency. Talk to the admin who worked with them, the volunteer who served under them. If you're being hired, know that your reputation is your real resume. And if you're already on staff, the way you're showing up today is writing your next reference letter, whether you know it or not. Here's your bottom line for today. Your calling might get you the job, but your character determines whether you keep it and whether anyone will know after they hire you, and whether they'll hire you after they know about your character. So that's it for today. Your character is

Your Reputation Is Your Real Resume

SPEAKER_00 5:12

your real calling card, so build it well. This is what we really specialize on at chemistry staffing. It's the character, it's the competency, it's the theology, it's the culture fit, it's the personality, all of those things that we look to both on the church side and the candidate side, to try and bring together a really good fit, a good match for what we call a healthy long-term fit. And by that we mean someone that can be on your team, somebody that can be on your staff if you're a staff person and you're looking, church that you can serve in for the next five years. That's really where the ministry, the really deep, meaningful ministry starts around years three, four, and five. So maybe you need some help. You're like, Todd, we don't have a good track record at hiring, and we're getting ready to hire somebody else. Can you help us through it? We would love to. I'd love to have a conversation, hear your story, and see if there's a way that we can help you. We'd love to do that. You can reach out to me anytime, no pressure. Podcast at chemistry staffing. I'm here for you when you need me. So feel free to reach out whenever. Podcast at chemistry staffing.com. I hope this is helpful. We're here every day. Hope you're joining me again tomorrow, or here on the Healthy Church Death Podcast.