Executive Search
·6 min read
When Is Your Church Ready to Hire an Executive Pastor?
Is your church ready to hire an Executive Pastor? Learn the leadership signals that indicate readiness and why clarity before the search matters most.
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Love + Lead · Insights for Senior Pastors & Executive Teams
Clarity Before the
Most Important
Decisions.
Research, reflection, and practical wisdom for church leaders navigating executive hires, team alignment, and leadership transitions. Grounded in Gospel-centered leadership formation.
Chris Folwell
PhD Candidate in Gospel-Centered Executive Leadership
Master of Theological Studies · Theology
Founder, Love + Lead
Pillar Topics
Three Areas of Deep Focus
The Research Foundation
Why Gospel-Centered Formation Matters for Executive Leaders
My PhD research explores a tension I have observed consistently in my work with church executive teams: executive leadership in the church is often developed with a strong emphasis on operational effectiveness, while the integration of Gospel-centered theological formation remains underdeveloped.
Much of the leadership literature available to church leaders, even within explicitly Christian contexts, draws from management theory and focuses on systems, structures, and measurable outcomes. Formation is typically discussed in pastoral or discipleship contexts, while leadership is framed in organizational terms. The result is leaders who are effective in execution but underdeveloped in theological depth and spiritual discernment.
The content on this site is an attempt to bridge that gap and offer frameworks that are both organizationally sound and theologically grounded, for leaders who refuse to treat those two things as separate goals.
"The issue is not simply that formation is missing, but that it is disconnected from the operational realities of executive leadership."
Chris Folwell
Section 2: Reframing the Literature-Informed Research Problem, 2026
Recent Insights
From the Research & Practice
Executive Search
·7 min read
The Love + Lead Hiring Process: Why We Start With the Church's Story
The Love + Lead search starts with the Lead Pastor's story, not a resume. Understanding church culture first produces executive placements that last.
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Executive Search
·6 min read
Why We Always Search Internally Before Posting Externally
Internal hires stay longer and ramp faster. For churches, the case is stronger still — internal candidates already carry the theological DNA of the mission.
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Executive Search
·5 min read
The Intake Form: Assessing Theological and Cultural Fit Before the Interview
Theological and cultural misalignment is often present from day one but never surfaced. The Love + Lead Intake Form reveals it before the interview, not after.
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Executive Search
·6 min read
The First Ninety Days: Building the Partnership After the Hire
The hire is not the finish line. The first 90 days are when the Lead Pastor–Executive Pastor partnership is built or broken. Most churches underinvest here.
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Leadership Formation
·8 min read
What Gospel-Centered Executive Leadership Actually Looks Like in Practice
Gospel-centered leadership is more than a phrase. Explore what it looks like in practice: how it shapes decisions, handles failure, and develops teams.
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All 13 articles are organized across three pillar topics.
About the Author
Chris Folwell
Founder, Love + Lead · We Love Clarity
PhD Candidate · M.T.S. · Gospel-Centered Executive Leadership
Chris is the founder of Love + Lead, a leadership development initiative that helps pastors and Christian leaders integrate spiritual leadership with the executive responsibilities of guiding healthy organizations. His work includes staff placement, executive team coaching, leadership roundtables, and consulting with Senior Pastors navigating significant organizational decisions.
He holds a Master of Theological Studies in Theology and is a PhD candidate in Gospel-Centered Executive Leadership, studying how churches cultivate Gospel-shaped executive leadership within multi-staff church teams.
His approach is relational, deliberate, and grounded in the conviction that the most consequential leadership decisions require clarity before they require a candidate.
Visit weloveclarity.com
Free Assessment
Is Your Church Ready to Begin an Executive Search?
Ten questions. Five minutes. A clear picture of where your church stands before you begin one of the most consequential hiring decisions you will ever make. Developed from the Love + Lead search framework.
- Identify the gaps most likely to derail your search
- Assess your leadership culture before writing the job description
- Understand what a high-capacity hire will require of your team
- Receive a personalized readiness score and reflection
- Your results go directly to Chris for a personal follow-up
Free. Five minutes. Chris reviews every result personally.