Recruiting and Keeping Teachers
Roberta Hestenes
Recruiting is a ministry of discernment. It is the holy act of helping others discover their gifts and discern God's will.
—Roberta Hestenes Some years ago I was responsible for recruiting someone to oversee a pastoral care program involving over two hundred adults. It was a big job, and I was looking for a couple who could commit a great deal of time and energy to the program. I prayed about this problem literally for months, wondering who would be willing and able to take on such a challenge. Eventually I sensed the Lord pointing me to Bill and Terri, a couple in their late thirties. I stopped them in the hall at church one Wednesday evening and said, "I have a new opportunity for ministry in mind for you. Would you be willing to meet and discuss it?" The following week, they and I sat down together in my living room, and I laid out my proposal. I spelled out the importance of the program to the life of the church and told them all the reasons I felt they were the right couple for this ministry. "I'm not going to sugarcoat this job," I added. "It's going to be tough." And I carefully sketched in all the downsides I could think of. The church staff was already stretched too thin, so they wouldn't get much in the way of help or additional resources. The hours would be long, and the job largely thankless. Yet the opportunity was significant. I was beginning to think I had oversold the downside when Bill and Terri looked each other and then at me and grinned. "In the car on the way over here," Bill said, "we were wondering what sort of job you had in mind. And we said to ourselves, 'If this is another one of those Mickey Mouse church jobs, we don't want it.' But you've given us something that really counts! We'll do it." "Well, wait ...
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