Why “Staffing Down” Might Be the Smartest Move Your Church Makes This Year
In many churches, the moment growth accelerates, the instinct is to “staff up.” The thinking goes: If we add more full-time ministry staff, we’ll increase capacity and solve our bottlenecks.
Here’s the reality: having more full-time staff doesn’t always mean a greater ministry impact. In fact, sometimes the healthiest, most cost-effective, and culture-preserving move is to staff down, not by cutting ministry, but by rethinking how you resource it.
The Hidden Costs of Staffing Up
Hiring full-time ministry staff can bring about dedicated leadership, consistent presence, and specialized skills. But it also comes with hidden challenges:
-
- High fixed costs: Salaries, benefits, insurance, and professional development add up quickly.
- Role creep: Staff hired for one purpose often end up wearing multiple hats, diluting their focus.
- Cultural complexity: Every new hire changes team dynamics and culture. Without intentional integration, alignment can drift.
- Reduced agility: Large staff structures are more complex to pivot when the ministry’s needs shift.
The Case for Staffing Down
Staffing down doesn’t mean doing less ministry; it means structuring your team for maximum focus. Instead of defaulting to full-time hires, consider:
- Ministry Assistants: Part-time or volunteer roles that handle logistics, scheduling, and follow-up, freeing pastors to focus on shepherding and vision.
- Stipend Roles: Targeted, project-based leadership positions that give gifted lay leaders a taste of ministry responsibility without the long-term payroll commitment.
- Administrative Support: Skilled admins can multiply the effectiveness of your existing leaders by removing operational burdens.
Why It May Be Your Solution
- Focus on High-Value Work
When ministry leads are freed from administrative overload, they can invest more deeply in preaching, discipleship, and pastoral care. - Empower Lay Leaders
Stipend and assistant roles create a leadership pipeline. Emerging leaders can step into meaningful responsibility, often discovering a long-term call to ministry. - Preserve Team Culture
A lean core team communicates more effectively, stays aligned on mission, and can adapt quickly to new opportunities or challenges. - Stretch Every Dollar
The cost of one full-time salary can often fund several part-time or stipend roles, covering more ground and engaging more people in ministry.
A Practical Path Forward
If you’re considering this shift, here’s a simple process:
- Map the Energy Drains
Identify the tasks that consume your leaders’ time but don’t require their unique gifting. - Redesign Around Core Strengths
Keep your core team focused on vision, teaching, and relational leadership. - Build a Flexible Support Ring
Add assistants, stipend leaders, and admins to handle the rest. - Evaluate and Adjust
Review quarterly. Are you freeing up your leaders? Is ministry impact growing? Adjust your mix of roles as needed.
In a culture where bigger often feels like better, it takes courage to choose the leaner option. But leaner can mean healthier, more agile, and more mission-focused.
Final Thought
This isn’t about cutting corners—it’s about stewarding resources wisely. Churches that adopt a “staff down” mindset often find that they can accomplish more ministry with less overhead, while also developing more leaders within their congregation.
Written by Duke Matlock, Coach Invest Leadership Initiative
Sign up to receive my posts via email and get a FREE copy of The Five Enemies of Growth!
