Love + Lead
All Insights & Articles
Research, reflection, and practical wisdom for Senior Pastors navigating executive hires, team alignment, and complex church staffing decisions. Every article is grounded in Gospel-centered leadership formation and real consulting practice.
Where to Begin
Three Common Starting Points
Considering a Search
Is your church ready to hire an Executive Pastor?
If you are wondering whether the time is right, start here. These articles will help you discern the signals and understand what a well-run search looks like.
Building the Team
How do you build a Gospel-centered executive team?
If you are focused on developing the leaders you already have, these articles address the formation, accountability, and structure that makes executive teams work.
Complex Hires
Navigating a hire that requires more than a job posting?
If you are in the middle of a search that feels uniquely difficult, these articles address the dynamics that make certain hires different and how to approach them well.
Three Pillar Topics
Where Would You Like to Start?
Complete Article Library
Every Article, Organized by Topic
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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7 min read
The Love + Lead Hiring Process: Why We Start With the Church's Story
The Love + Lead search starts with the Senior Pastor's story, not a resume. Understanding church culture first produces executive placements that last.
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6 min read
Why We Always Search Internally Before Posting Externally
Internal hires stay longer and ramp faster. For churches, the case is even stronger: internal candidates already carry the theological DNA of the mission.
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5 min read
The Intake Form: Assessing Theological and Cultural Fit Before the Interview
Theological and cultural alignment matters deeply in church hiring. The Love + Lead Intake Form helps surface it early, before the interview rather than after.
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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 Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor partnership is built. Most churches underinvest in this season.
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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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7 min read
Accountability With Warmth and Clarity: A Framework for Church Leaders
Many churches struggle with accountability or make it feel confrontational. This framework reframes it as an act of care, the posture that builds genuine team health.
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7 min read
Leading Without Becoming the Bottleneck
As churches grow, gifted Senior Pastors can unintentionally become the decision-making bottleneck. Moving through that pattern requires more than delegation. It requires a shift in identity.
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6 min read
The XP and COO Partnership: Building the Engine Room of a Large Church
The Executive Pastor and COO partnership is the engine room of a large church. Learn how to build the communication norms and shared ownership that make it work.
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6 min read
Hiring a Youth Pastor for a Large Church: What the Search Process Gets Wrong
The experienced Youth Pastor pipeline is narrowing as the best are promoted to executive roles. Here is how large churches can adjust their search strategy.
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5 min read
Why the Best Church Staff Candidates Aren't Looking for a Job
The best church staff candidates are rarely on job boards. Passive candidates consistently outperform active ones. Reaching them requires a relational, not transactional search.
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7 min read
Beyond the Doctrinal Statement: Assessing Real Theological Fit in Church Hires
Two candidates can hold identical doctrine and still be misaligned. Learn to assess the theological temperament that actually shapes leadership and conflict.
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6 min read
How to Structure a Search Committee That Actually Works
Many search committees are built to manage risk and ensure representation. The most effective ones are built to pursue the right person, and those are very different goals.
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Not Sure Where to Start?
Take the Executive Search Readiness Assessment
A free ten-question reflection tool designed to help Senior Pastors identify where they are in the executive search process and which resources will be most helpful right now.
Take the Free Assessment
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 significant hiring decisions you will ever make. Developed from the Love + Lead search framework.
- Understand where your church is strong and where more preparation would help
- Reflect on your leadership culture before writing the job description
- Consider what a high-capacity hire will need from your team to thrive
- 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.