In a church plant, no one can be a specialist.

In the early days of Grace Community Church, I did many things I wasn’t necessarily trained or qualified to do. That was even truer in my first church plant, which started smaller, but I suspect it’s true of every church plant. This has been the case for all of our staff. They’ve had to fill roles not assigned to their specific job description.

Specialists concentrate on what they do best.

Generalists, while they may have a specific job title, handle multiple tasks; some better than others.

At Grace, we’ve hired people for specific jobs, but we’ve had to ask everyone to do tasks which weren’t necessarily in their “job description”.

• Our groups pastor helped launch our second campus.
• Our family pastor helps with worship planning.
• Our worship pastor helps with our website.

As the church grows, you may hire more specialists, but honestly, we are living in a day where generalists are more needed than ever. To me, someone’s value to the team increases the more tasks he or she can complete, or they are willing to try.

If you are looking to add to your church staff . . . consider those who can and are willing to handle multiple roles.

Have you had to handle multiple tasks in your position?

Ron Edmondson is Lead Pastor of Grace Community Church in Clarksville, Tenn.
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