Are you looking for a list of the best church staffing companies? You’ve come to the right place!
You have an opening. It’s an incredible opportunity that comes with some real challenges.
The hiring process can be overwhelming at times. It takes so much time and energy to hire the right candidates. If you don’t make a hire, your current team can struggle. If you make the wrong hire? That can be a costly mistake that hurts your church for years. The right hire will be a catalyst for growth and health in your church.
Church Staffing Companies vs. Online Job Board: What’s the Best Option for Your Church?
When hiring for your church, you’ll likely choose between a staffing agency and an online job board. Both can help you find candidates, but they serve different needs.
Church Staffing Companies: Hands-On Support
Staffing agencies provide a personalized approach, with consultants who understand your church’s culture and hiring goals. They handle tasks like screening resumes, conducting interviews, and even offering onboarding or transition support. This saves time and ensures alignment with your mission, though it comes at a higher cost.
Online Job Boards: The DIY Approach
Job boards can be a budget-friendly option, offering a platform to post jobs, search resumes, and reach a broad pool of candidates. However, you’ll manage the entire process yourself, including screening and interviews, which can be time-intensive, and you may not always get high-quality candidates through this process. Additionally, the screening and interview process can be extremely time-consuming, so you need to make sure your team has the capacity to take on the search themselves at this time.
Which Should You Choose?
- Staffing Agencies: Ideal for high-stakes roles or when you need expert guidance.
- Job Boards: Best for smaller budgets and churches with the time to handle hiring in-house.
The right choice depends on your resources and priorities, but both can help you build a strong, mission-aligned team.
Why Choose a Church Staffing Company for Your Search?
Hiring the right individuals for your church staff is one of the most important and impactful decisions you’ll make as a leader. Your staff forms the backbone of your ministry, supporting everything from pastoral leadership to administration and technology. A healthy, well-aligned team can propel your mission forward, while a poor fit can lead to challenges that disrupt the church’s growth and effectiveness.
The search for qualified candidates isn’t just about finding skilled professionals—it’s about identifying people who are deeply committed to the mission of the church and who align with your culture and values. However, balancing these factors can be incredibly demanding and time-consuming, especially for leaders who are already stretched thin.
This is where church staffing services come in. These organizations specialize in matching churches with candidates who are not only highly qualified but also equipped to thrive in ministry environments. By leveraging their expertise, churches can streamline the hiring process and build a cohesive team more effectively.
But is partnering with a church staffing service the right choice for your church? Let’s explore the benefits and drawbacks to help you make an informed decision.
Why Many Churches Choose Staffing Services
- Expertise in Church Culture: Church staffing services understand the unique dynamics of ministry roles, from worship leaders to executive pastors. They focus on more than just resumes—they help you identify candidates who align with your church’s DNA and long-term vision.
- Time-Saving Process: Let’s face it—hiring is time-consuming. These services take on the heavy lifting, including vetting candidates, assessing culture fit, and narrowing down the pool to those who truly meet your criteria.
- Access to a Broader Network: Staffing firms often have access to extensive networks of ministry professionals, which can be invaluable for reaching the right candidates, especially for specialized roles.
- Customized Search Solutions: Whether you’re hiring for a senior pastor, family ministry leader, or administrative role, church staffing services offer tailored solutions to match your specific needs.
The Drawbacks to Consider
- Cost: Engaging a staffing service often comes with a financial investment, which may not be feasible for smaller churches or those with limited budgets.
- Loss of Personal Connection: Some leaders prefer to handle the hiring process internally to maintain a more hands-on approach and ensure alignment with the church’s mission.
- Not a Guaranteed Fit: While staffing services aim to provide a perfect match, no process is foolproof. Cultural and personal dynamics can still create challenges after a hire is made.
Is a Church Staffing Service Right for You?
The decision to use a staffing service depends on your church’s unique situation. If you’re facing a high-stakes hire or lack the resources to conduct an exhaustive search, partnering with a staffing service could be a strategic choice. On the other hand, if you have the time and capacity to handle the process in-house, you may prefer to keep the search personal.
At the end of the day, building a thriving church staff is about finding people who are not just talented but also passionate about your mission. Whether you choose to work with a staffing service or go it alone, investing in the right people is an investment in the future of your church. If you don’t make the right hire for your church, it can significantly damage your church’s growth and unity!
The Best Church Staffing Companies to Build an Incredible Team
Are your ready to hire a church staffing company to help you find your next pastor or ministry leader? The number of church staffing companies has grown significantly in the last few years! This guide will help you discern which church staffing company might be a good fit for your church.
Here’s the list of the best church staffing companies out there today.
1. Lead412 Church Staffing
Lead412 can help you find great leaders for your team! The church staffing team at Lead412 specializes in staffing searches specifically for churches. Need a vital role on your team filled by the right candidate? Our extensive interview process ensures that you hire the right person to help your team reach the next level. Whether you need a new senior leader, a ministry director, or a support staff member, you’ve come to the right place.
What sets Lead412 apart from other staffing companies?
- Personal Touch: We are highly engaged with you in the process from the moment we start working with you. We visit your church and provide regular updates during the whole process. We also offer several coaching sessions to churches after making their hires to ensure that the new relationship starts off well.
- Church Assessment: We offer free consulting for churches who need help assessing their staffing needs and/or their financial ability to add new staff members. This ensures you are set up for success before beginning your search.
- High Level of Care: We walk with your church to make sure we find the right fit for you, while also walking with the candidates to ensure that the position, church, and area would be a good fit for them as well.
- High-Quality Placements: We have an extensive interview process in order to ensure that we deliver the best candidates for your consideration.
- Affordability: Because we are a small, boutique staffing company, we have reduced overhead costs and can pass on those savings to our partner churches. This puts more money into your budget for ministry! Also, we give significant discounts to churches who use our services more than once.
- Special Attention: We take on a limited number of clients in order to ensure that we can look closely at your needs and find just the right candidate for your team. As our client, you get the attention you deserve.
If you are looking for an excellent church staffing company that is extremely affordable, don’t hesitate to reach out. There are some excellent church staffing companies out there, but the costs can be prohibitive for many churches, which is why Lead412 offers the most affordable search rates on the market right now. Reach out to Lead412 and discover how you can find your next important hire soon!
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and learn more about Lead412 Church Staffing here.
The rest of this list will be alphabetical – there are some amazing companies on this list, so enjoy looking through the options for church staffing companies!
2. Agora Search Group
The Agora Search Group is an executive search firm dedicated to recruiting top-tier pastors, leaders, and executives for complex and high-impact roles across various sectors.
Their approach begins with a deep dive into your organization:
- Taking the time to understand the unique needs of the position
- Crafting a compelling strategy and narrative
- Conducting an exhaustive search to identify the most qualified and aligned candidates.
You can learn more about the Agora Search Group here.
3. Context Staffing
Context Staffing exists to help churches hire leaders. They work with individuals seeking ministry opportunities and churches searching for the right candidates, offering a clear and intentional process to make those connections happen.
Here’s how their search process works:
- Initial Call: An introductory conversation to understand your needs and explain their process.
- Kick-Off Meeting: A deeper dive into your church’s culture, vision, and goals.
- Building a Profile: Crafting a detailed role and candidate profile.
- Marketing Launch: Promoting your opening to attract top talent.
- Proactive Recruiting: Actively searching for qualified leaders.
- Vetting Process: Screening and evaluating potential candidates.
- Candidate Phase: Presenting finalists and walking you through next steps.
You can learn more about Context Staffing here.
4. Chemistry Staffing
Chemistry Staffing, co-founded by Todd Rhoades and Matt Steen, takes a unique approach to church staffing by focusing on long-term health and alignment for both churches and candidates. Their team of experienced coaches works to help churches attract the right candidates, screen for a strong long-term fit, and make wise investments in their teams.
Through their work, they’ve identified five essentials for a healthy, lasting staff fit: theology, culture/DNA, personality, skills, and chemistry. Without alignment in these areas, they’ve found that new hires often lead to short-term placements or cultural challenges.
Why would you consider choosing Chemistry Staffing? They are:
- Solely focused on serving churches
- Fully virtual process to save time and costs
- A detailed assessment with 125 data points for each candidate
- Affordable flat-rate pricing with no travel expenses
- A team of coaches with real-world ministry experience
Whether you’re hiring, restructuring, planning for senior pastor succession, or navigating staff transitions, Chemistry Staffing offers resources to guide you. They also provide a free 30-minute consultation to explore your staffing needs and pricing. Learn more about Chemistry Staffing here.
5. Froot Group
The Froot Group is a specialized church staffing company dedicated to helping churches of all sizes—small, medium, and mega-churches—find the right candidates for key ministry roles. With a focus on building strong partnerships, they work closely with each church to understand its unique culture, needs, and vision for leadership.
What sets Froot Group apart is their niche focus on worship ministry and family ministry positions. Although they are a smaller company, their personalized approach allows them to give individual attention to each search, emphasizing long-term fit and alignment with the church’s mission. From churches seeking to strengthen their worship environments to those prioritizing growth in family and children’s ministries, Froot Group is equipped to guide organizations toward making their best hire. Learn more about the Froot Group here.
6. NL Moore & Associates
NL Moore & Associates understands that every church and faith-based organization has its own unique culture, challenges, and opportunities. These factors aren’t just details—they’re critical to making the right decisions, especially during leadership transitions. Why? Because as the saying goes, “culture eats strategy for lunch.”
Your organizational culture impacts everything. When it’s healthy and prepared, even significant transitions—like the departure of a long-tenured leader—can be moments of growth, celebration, and new life. But if the culture is unprepared or struggling, the process can feel more challenging and drawn-out.
NL Moore’s approach is designed to help you navigate these pivotal moments with clarity and confidence. They offer tools, insights, and experience to inform your options, guide your decisions, and ensure your journey through change is thoughtful, intentional, and successful. If you’re heading into a critical season of transition, their team is ready to partner with you. Learn more about NL Moore & Associates here.
7. The Shepherd’s Staff
The Shepherd’s Staff, established in 2006, is a church staffing service that prioritizes understanding your unique needs before recommending candidates. Their goal is to find a great fit for your team by dedicating time to getting to know you and thoroughly vetting potential hires.
In addition to their standard search process, they can also work alongside your search committee during the hiring process.
Their services include:
- Retained searches
- Discovery assessments
- Creating opportunity profiles
- Training your search team
- Guidance on releasing staff
- Candidate vetting
- Succession planning
For detailed pricing, you’ll need to contact them directly, but they emphasize transparency and provide a clear, upfront fee with no hidden costs for their services. Learn more about The Shepherd’s Staff here.
8. Slingshot Group
Hiring for a church or nonprofit can be a complex process, especially when you’re trying to find someone who’s not just qualified but also a great fit for your team and mission. Slingshot Group works specifically with churches and nonprofits to help navigate this process.
Their approach to staffing is structured into three main stages:
- Preparation – Gathering key information through a ministry questionnaire, an onsite visit, and developing a position profile.
- Process – Searching for and connecting with candidates, conducting interviews and evaluations, and presenting qualified applicants.
- Placement – Supporting the offer process, completing background checks, and preparing for the new hire’s first 90 days (if needed).
In addition to staffing, they also provide services like succession planning, coaching, staffing assessments, and compensation consulting.
If you’re exploring solutions for your church or organization, Slingshot Group could be a resource worth considering. Learn more about the Slingshot Group here.
9. Vanderbloemen Search Group
If you’ve been in church leadership for any amount of time, chances are you’ve heard of Vanderbloemen, one of the biggest names in church staffing and leadership consulting. Founded by William Vanderbloemen, who brings 15 years of pastoral experience alongside corporate and executive search expertise, the organization has become a go-to resource for ministry professionals.
What makes Vanderbloemen isn’t just a church staffing company – they provide leadership resources through their podcast, blog, newsletter, and more. They provide practical insights on a number of topics, including HR best practices, hiring, firing leadership development, and team dynamics.
Vanderbloemen works with a very wide range of organizations, from churches and schools to nonprofits and value-driven businesses. Learn more about Vanderbloemen here.
10. ChurchStaffing.com
Let’s shift gears and talk about resources that function more like church directories than traditional staffing agencies. Church Staffing is one of the most well-known platforms in this space, offering a large database for both job seekers and churches looking to hire. The site makes it easy to search for ministry roles by job title, category, state, or denomination.
For job seekers, the platform provides a free account option, allowing you to post one resume at no cost. A basic membership also includes exposure on their partner site, Preaching.com, which can expand your visibility to potential employers.
For employers, Church Staffing offers flexible options for posting jobs. You can post a single job for one to three months or purchase bundles of three, six, or even 30 job postings. Each job post includes features like:
- Job Post Syndication – Reach a wider audience through their network of partner websites.
- Resume Database Access – Tap into over 85,000 resumes from job seekers across the country.
- Unlimited Applicants – Receive as many applications as you’d like during the posting period, with no restrictions or caps.
If you’re looking for a straightforward way to connect with potential hires—or find your next ministry role—ChurchStaffing.com is a resource worth exploring. You can learn more about ChurchStaffing.com here.
Do you have any companies that you think should be added to the list? Send us an email and let us know!
What to Know Before Hiring: Is a Church Staffing Company Right for Your Church?
Now that you’ve explored some of the top church staffing services, it’s time to decide if outsourcing your hiring process is the right move for your church. While these services offer significant advantages, there are a few key drawbacks to consider before making your decision. Let’s break them down.
1. Cost
Church staffing companies either charge a flat rate or a percentage of the salary for each position they fill. This can add up quickly, especially if you’re hiring for multiple roles. It’s essential to evaluate your budget and ensure you can cover these fees. Be sure to clarify pricing upfront to avoid hidden costs.
Additionally, factor in other expenses such as travel and interview costs for candidates or consultants. These extra line items can sometimes catch churches off guard.
2. Time Commitment
While staffing agencies save time in the long run by helping you find the right, long-term hire, there’s still an upfront time investment. You’ll need to meet with the agency, provide detailed information about your church culture, and clearly outline your expectations for the position.
Keep in mind, the hiring process can take 6-12 months or more, depending on the role and the pool of candidates. Patience and clear communication are key.
3. Location Challenges
Sometimes, the best candidates are already sitting in your congregation. Hiring internally can be a seamless option since church members are already embedded in the culture, connected to the mission, and rooted in the local community. Unlike external candidates, they don’t need to relocate or start fresh in a new environment.
However, if internal options are limited or the role requires a highly specific skill set, a staffing service may still be the best choice.
Is a Staffing Service Right for You?
Despite these potential challenges, church staffing services can be an excellent option, especially if:
- Your church lacks a dedicated HR department.
- You’re hiring for a specialized role or multiple positions.
- You’re navigating a significant leadership transition.
Weigh the costs, time, and fit for your church’s unique needs. By approaching the process thoughtfully, you’ll be equipped to make the best decision to build a thriving, mission-aligned team for the future.
How to Budget for the Cost of Hiring Church Staff
As church leaders, we all want to attract and retain great people—individuals who align with our mission, love our communities, and help lead with excellence. But in today’s economic climate, hiring and retaining top talent comes with a critical factor: budgeting for the true cost of living.
It’s no secret that inflation, housing costs, and other economic shifts have drastically impacted the cost of living in recent years. For churches, this means that hiring staff at outdated salary levels is no longer viable. If we’re serious about building and sustaining healthy, thriving teams, we need to budget with today’s realities in mind.
Looking for more resources on the topic of budgeting for church staff? You can check out more resources from Lead412 here.
Using a Church Staffing Company
Church staffing companies can be an invaluable resource for finding long-term solutions to your staff needs. On your own, it’s easy to feel the pressure to fill gaps quickly with the most convenient option. But partnering with a church staffing agency shifts the focus to a more intentional process—one that prioritizes finding high-caliber candidates who align with your church’s culture and mission.
With patience and a commitment to the process, you can build a team that has the DNA, culture fit, and skills to help your church thrive. The right hire isn’t just about filling a position; it’s about shaping the future of your ministry and creating a community that flourishes.
We hope this guide has given you clarity as you consider using a staffing service for your church. Blessings to you and your team as you navigate this important journey!
What makes Lead412 different that the other church staffing companies? It’s called the Lead412 Advantage – we help you find an amazing hire for an affordable price.
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and learn more about the Lead412 Advantage.
