AJ Hamilton » Church Leadership Wisdom Planning

In 2005 I received the incredible offer of becoming Pastor Mark Driscoll’s executive assistant. I had been on staff at Mars Hill Church for four years already, serving in a variety of roles, ranging from administrator of our all-ages concert venue to youth director to bookkeeper. I had insight into nearly every aspect of church leadership up to that point, but it was nothing compared to the next season of serving Pastor Mark and seeing where God was taking this church through the pulpit ministry.

Uncertain expectations 

Prior to becoming Pastor Mark’s assistant, my interaction with him was limited to a handful of personal conversations, attending staff meetings he chaired and, more importantly, sitting under his pulpit ministry for four years, along with my wife and children (and seeing the Bible opened up in ways I hadn’t previously in my many years as a member of other churches). Still, I had no idea what would be most helpful to Pastor Mark as his assistant. Instead of dropping me into the position to figure it out as I went, Pastor Mark prepared a document for me, without which I would not have had a smooth transition into my new role and or been helpful to him as his assistant.

A well-defined new role

What Pastor Mark presented to me was a sixty-five-page document. He detailed his spiritual gifts; professional resume; priorities in his life, home, and work; workflow techniques he personally utilized; church growth articles; homework for me in order to grow in my understanding of assisting in general; and the first iteration of a job description. In addition to explaining his ministry, he explained what would be my ministry.

Preparing the pastor and assistant to be fruitful together 

As I get opportunities to talk to pastors struggling under the weight of church leadership and/or planting, the topic of utilizing an assistant comes up often. In an effort to help, Pastor Mark and I created a questionnaire to walk a pastor through identifying his mission and communicating it in such a way that an assistant can be fruitful as they seek to provide the help that is needed.

Pastor Mark created that original sixty-five-page document for me, but most pastors have not taken the time to work on their ministry because working in their ministry is monopolizing their time. So this questionnaire is prepared in such a way that a current assistant can interview their pastor and hopefully after a few meetings begin to see the needs their pastor has for them to fill.

Life Organization Questionnaire

Pastor’s Role

• What is your personal resume so I can see what you have done? 
• What are your spiritual gifts in order of strength? 
• What spiritual gifts are you certain you do not have?
• What do you consider your top seven priorities, in order? 
• What theological distinctives, if explained about your role, would help clarify matters for me?
• What is your job description?
• Please list the various aspects of your job (e.g., preaching, teaching, counseling, leading, administrating).
• What ministry and/or other work do you have beyond the local church? 

Pastor’s Needs

• Where do you need the most help getting and keeping yourself healthy and fruitful?
• What are the main pain points in your life right now (e.g., email, phone, meetings, health)?
• How is ministry negatively affecting your family and home life?
• How long have you had your current contact information (e.g., phone, email) and how many people have them? How often are you getting interrupted, including evenings and weekends?
• Please list the most painful and difficult people I need to know about and why they made the list.
• Who should be on your priority list of people allowed access to you? 
• Are there questions you repeatedly receive for which a template response could be drafted?
• What projects are currently in process that if prioritized would particularly serve you?
• What staff relationships can I develop to minimize your need to inform, lead, or correct them directly?

Scheduling

• What are your weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual rhythms (e.g., vacations, sports seasons for your kids, travel)? 
• Can you please give me your ideal week? 
• Could you speak into my ideal week?
• What systems do you want for accountability (e.g., never meeting with someone of the opposite sex alone, or with an angry critic alone, or traveling alone)? 
• Where do you do most of your work and is that most effective (e.g., home, office)? 
• When would you like me to take vacations? In conjunction with or opposite of yours?

Assistant’s Role

• What things will make you unhappy and strain our working relationship?
• What will get me fired?
• What will get me put on probation?
• How do you want me to keep in step with you (e.g., weekly meal, meeting, email, phone call)?
• What has worked for you with previous assistants, and what hasn’t worked that you want to see changed for me?
• How can I raise questions and concerns in a positive and respectful manner?

Resources

• What blogs, books, podcasts, articles, and such have been the most influential to you?
• Which sermons or writings of yours are crucial for me to understand in order to serve you best?
• What ministry leaders do you know that excel in utilizing an assistant from whom I could learn?
• Are there any specific biblical character studies I should do?
• Are there any other resources you want me to review?
• What other guiding principles do you have for me?

 

Pastor Mark’s current research and executive assistants, Crystal Griffin and Nathan Burke, contributed to this post. We hope this questionnaire allows the Gospel to be proclaimed by better-equipped pastors and their assistants.

 

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