Church staff searches made better. We help churches find great staff members. Looking for a new staff member? Chemistry's proven process can assist you in finding a healthy long-term fit. Open to a new ministry role? Submit your resume free.

Every great hire has two sides.

We work both of them, so churches and candidates each get a healthy, long-term fit.

Upload your resume and we’ll get to know you. It’s free, it’s confidential, and we only introduce you to churches that actually fit who you are.

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We’re former pastors who match your church with pre-assessed candidates. 125 points of data on every one, so you hire the right person the first time.

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25,000+
Ministry candidates in our network
80+
Churches in active searches right now
125
Points of data on every candidate
Since 2017
Serving churches and candidates
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Churches and candidates say it best
★★★★★

"I have been through the pastoral search process several times, both with a traditional search committee and with another major search firm. Chemistry Staffing's process is by far the best."

Mat Bowen
Pastoral candidate

"Their exercise for creating a church profile will help you define exactly who you need, and they did a great job matching us with the perfect candidate. They were always available and helpful. Our church will use them again."

Angel Cartagena
Chesapeake Church

"Chemistry Staffing was thorough, both on the church side and the candidate side. They took time to hear our hearts and vision, and to match us with the right candidate that will hopefully be a long-term team player."

Spencer Keroff
Church search team

Trusted by churches across the country
River Valley ChurchRiver City Assembly of GodChesapeake ChurchEternal Church

The Five Essentials of a Healthy Long-term Church Staff Fit...

In our work with churches over the years, we have identified five different areas that need to match up in order for your next hire to have ‘long-term, healthy fit’ potential.  Miss on any one of these five, and the chances for longevity of your new staff member goes down significantly.  Misalignment on two or more of these areas are the things that bad hires are made of. 

THEOLOGY

Does this person believe the same as us on both core and secondary issues?
how to assess for theology

CULTURE/DNA

Will this person be a good fit for our community, church, and culture?
how to assess for culture/dna

PERSONALITY

Does this person play well with others?  Are they likeable?
How to assess for personality

SKILLS

Does this person have the talents and abilities we need to do a good job?
how to assess for skills/abilities

CHEMISTRY

Will this person fit on our team? Do we want to do life AND ministry together?
how to assess for chemistry

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: THEOLOGICAL FIT

As you talk with potential staff members, it’s important the you make sure that they are a good fit for your church theologically. 

  • How do your church’s open-handed and close-fisted theological issues line up with the candidate’s views on these issues?
  • On close-fisted issues, non-alignment needs to disqualify the candidate from your search, but you should also be exploring the open-handed issues to ensure that they will not cause a low-grade frustration between you and your new hire.

When not thoroughly aligned, cracks many time begin to show within 12-18 months of the hire.  

At Chemistry Staffing, our process pre-screens every potential candidate on major and secondary theological issues and compares the results with your church’s theological beliefs. This instantly identifies areas of disagreement or issues that warrant additional discussion before the hire.

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: Culture/DNA

Every church has a different culture and DNA. Small-town churches have a different feel than city churches. And most Baptist churches have a different ministry philosophy than Pentecostal churches.  Finding a candidate that matches your church’s (and community’s) distinct ‘way’ of doing ministry is key to finding a healthy, long-term fit.

  • What type of church culture is the candidate coming out of and how does that compare to your church?
  • An honest assessment of your culture will help ensure that you do not bring someone on the team that will chafe at the way you do things from day one.

Every candidate that applies for your staff opening at Chemistry Staffing is asked a series of culture and DNA questions to see if they have the potential to be a great fit at YOUR church.  It is not uncommon for a candidate to be a tremendous fit for your church theologically but be a total mis-match when it comes to your church’s culture and ministry philosophy.  Identifying areas of misalignment early in the process will help insure you don’t make a common hiring mistake.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: PERSONALITY FIT

Every church and every church staff member has a personality. Too many churches make hires based on a first impression: “Do I like this person?”  But there is much more that likeability that determines whether or not a candidate will be a great fit at your church.

  • A hard-charging, type-A personality in a type-B church will not end well.
  • Knowing how your church is wired and comparing that to the candidate will help you discern whether someone will be able to stay for the long-term.

It’s extremely important to get to know your candidate well BEFORE you make an offer to come on your staff.  Introducing your candidate to key staff and volunteers in different social and church settings can help you determine how well a candidate will fit with your church’s and staff’s personality.

At Chemistry Staffing, our personality assessment sees if there is great potential for personal connectedness and affinity or if the candidate has personality traits that may clash with your team and church in the long-run. Our assessment also flags potential problem areas that can be addressed during the interview process.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: Skills/experience FIT

Skills and experience is one of the easier things to assess.  Resumes and interviews can pretty easily uncover a candidate’s past experience, education, and innate abilities.

We often remind churches that the goal of your search is not to find “Jesus with a guitar”. Keeping realistic expectations is important. (It’s impossible to find someone, for example, with an MDiv, 20 years of experience, and 32 years old!)

Here are some key questions to ask:

  • Has this candidate demonstrated the required skills of the position, or are they ready to step into a bigger role?
  • Digging into a candidate’s skill set will keep you from setting someone up for failure.

Hiring the right person is sometimes a mix of evaluating past successes and future potential.

At Chemistry Staffing, we’ll work with you to find the right mix of skill and experience you’ll need for the success of this role. We can help you navigate each candidates potential strengths and weaknesses. Our pre-interview skills and abilities assessment helps us find candidates that meet the expectations and requirements of the role.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!

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FIVE ELEMENTS OF A GREAT HIRE: CHEMISTRY FIT

Many times you’ll know if a you have made a personal connection with a candidate within the first ten minutes. But hiring based on your first-impression of a ‘chemistry’ match can be a huge mistake.

Chemistry should be the final test for whether or not a potential candidate will do well serving on staff at your church. Here are some key questions to ask:

  • Is this someone that you will enjoy working with for the next five years?
  • Would you feel comfortable inviting this person over to your house on a Tuesday night for BBQ?

Determining the level of chemistry a candidate has with your team saves you from incredibly awkward work environments.

But hiring based on chemistry alone can be a dumpster fire when you find that the person you’ve fallen in love with also shares key theological or philosophy of ministry differences.

When a church hires Chemistry Staffing to help with their staff search, we assess for the first four critical areas (theology, culture/dna, personality, and skills/experience). Once a candidate aligns in those four areas, we urge our churches to dive into the ‘chemistry’ question. Most churches will know instinctively if a candidate possesses the ‘chemistry’ it will take to be a healthy part of their team.

Free 30-Minute Search Consult for your church

Questions about the search process?  Ask us anything!