What is a church staff intake form?

A church staff intake form is a tailored discernment instrument built from the clarity work done in the initial Senior Pastor conversation. It surfaces theological conviction, cultural alignment, and leadership style in depth, and is given to strong candidates during their initial interview as a discernment tool rather than a screening tool.

How do you assess theological fit in a church hire?

Theological fit goes beyond doctrinal agreement. It includes theological temperament, how a candidate handles ambiguity, how they approach conflict, and how their formation shapes their leadership. The intake form is designed to surface these dimensions before the interview, not after.

Why do strong candidates disengage from church searches?

Ambiguity is one of the most common reasons. When candidates are not given clear communication, defined timelines, or honest feedback, they interpret the silence as a signal about the church's organizational health. The intake form and structured process reduce ambiguity and build candidate confidence.

The Church Staff Intake Form: Assessing Theological and Cultural Fit Before the Interview

One of the most common challenges in church hiring is this: theological and cultural misalignment that was present from the beginning but was never surfaced during the search process. The candidate said the right things in the interview. The references were strong. The resume was impressive. But the deeper questions about how their theology shapes their leadership, how they handle authority, and how they relate to the Senior Pastor's vision were never asked with enough care to reveal the misalignment that would eventually surface.

The Love + Lead Intake Form is designed to address this before it becomes a problem. It is developed in collaboration with the Senior Pastor (or the supervisor the new employee will report to) and is designed specifically for the role being filled and the culture of the church doing the hiring. It is not a generic questionnaire. It is a tailored instrument built from the clarity work done in the initial Senior Pastor conversation and team meetings.

Strong candidates receive the Intake Form during their initial Zoom interview with Love + Lead. This is intentional. The form is not a screening tool designed to eliminate candidates. It is a discernment tool designed to generate the right conversations. Once the results are submitted, they are shared with the Senior Pastor along with the candidate's resume. The Senior Pastor then has the information needed to evaluate not just what the candidate has done, but how their theology and character align with the church's identity and mission.

The Intake Form typically explores several categories.

The first is theological conviction: not just doctrinal positions, but how those convictions shape the candidate's approach to leadership, conflict, and the development of others. The second is cultural alignment: how the candidate describes their relationship to authority, how they handle disagreement with supervisors, and what they need from a Senior Pastor to do their best work. The third is leadership style: how they describe their own strengths and limitations, what they have built, and what they have learned along the way. For a deeper look at how theological fit is assessed beyond doctrinal statements, see Beyond the Doctrinal Statement: Assessing Real Theological Fit in Church Hires.

When the Senior Pastor or supervisor senses that a candidate is a strong fit based on the Intake Form results, Love + Lead helps arrange the next meeting. The additional steps from that point are determined in collaboration with the church's HR team. The process is designed to be clear to all involved, because ambiguity in a search process is one of the most common reasons strong candidates disengage.

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 significant hiring decisions you will ever make. Developed from the Love + Lead search framework.