April 2015 – A survey by Vanderbloemen Search Group, a church staffing service, reveals that church growth is greatly dependent on effective leadership, but many church staff persons are unhappy with their jobs.
Looking at over 600 participating churches, one out of two staff members say they do not believe their church’s staff is effective. Additionally, 51% of staff and 26% of lead pastors are open to new employment.
Interestingly, larger churches with relatively few staff in comparison to the number of people attending have more effective staff and experience faster growth. Churches with only one full-time staff member per 100 or more people in attendance average almost 10% more growth than churches with lower staff-attendance ratios. In churches with over 3,000 attending, one staff member might engage 47 volunteers compared to one staff person leading 16 volunteers at a church of less than 500.
