Rendle, When Moses Meets Aaron

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Rendle, Gilbert and Susan Beaumont, When Moses Meets Aaron: Staffing and Supervision in Large Congregations. Alban Institute, 2007.

Referenced in: Ministry Staff and Leadership Teams

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

The name Gilbert Rendle is synonymous with thoughtful, well-designed solutions to church leadership issues. He and co-author Susan Beaumont have combined to provide a very helpful volume. Do not let the term “large congregations” throw you off. Any church with a multiple staff is “large” in comparison to the average size of congregations. This book is full of instructions and reproducible tools on hiring, supervising, and evaluating church staff. It is especially good at helping senior ministers align staff with congregational mission through good management practices such as job descriptions, performance reviews, dealing with difficult behaviors, and coaching toward greater effectiveness.

From the Publisher

With the number of large congregations rising in the U.S., these congregations are increasingly dependent upon a greater number of staff to meet the needs of their diverse collection of members. As leaders of multi-staff teams, senior clergy must play the dual role of both Moses and Aaron—both visionary and detail-oriented leader—in order for their large congregations to thrive. They need to be skilled with the tools of human resource management, while at the same time setting a vision and inspiring both staff and congregation.

Unfortunately, until now there have been few resources for senior clergy who lead multi-staff teams. Working without adequate models and tools, senior clergy of large congregations often find themselves with passionate, dedicated staff members who are moving in different directions, competing over limited resources and attention. They end up with questions of how to evaluate the performance of staff and direct their efforts. They find themselves using time, attention, and resources to care for staff rather than using staff as a resource to care for the mission of the congregation.

Longtime Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle and Alban senior consultant Susan Beaumont have developed When Moses Meets Aaron to help clergy responsible for several-member staff teams navigate these unknown waters. They have taken the best of human resource practices and immersed them in a congregational context, providing a comprehensive manual for supervising, motivating, and coordinating staff teams. Rendle and Beaumont give both detailed and big picture guidance on hiring, job descriptions, supervision, performance evaluation, staff-team design, difficult staff behavior, and more. Their combined experience in consulting and training with staff and leaders of large congregations proves invaluable in this manual for today’s leadership demands.

About the Author

Longtime Alban senior consultant Gil Rendle is a United Methodist clergyperson with 15 years of parish experience. He also has extensive experience as a congregational and judicatory consultant. Susan Beaumont is a senior consultant with the Alban Institute and has been involved in the development of leaders and organizations for more than 25 years. She is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches, USA.

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