Characteristics of a Staff Leader

Staff team members of the church not only function as leaders and managers for our staff, but also serve as modelers of Christian leadership and living for our church. Biblically, we are more than those who make sure the work gets done; we demonstrate how Christ-exalting work looks as it gets done. As a staff team member, more than just a member of the church, you will be expected to lay down certain freedoms for the sake of representing God on an exemplary level. It is important for all the leaders within our church to be examples of godliness for our church, as outlined below.

When addressing biblical character, it must always be stated that Christian character originates from the transformational working of the Spirit of God in the heart and life of a born again Christian. Biblical qualification for leadership within the church is never a measure of worthiness of the Christian, but rather a confirmation of the working of God and an appointment to leadership within the church for a season. Our skill and conduct as church leaders comes from the overflow of hearts that are transformed by the gospel. The guidelines articulated here remind us what it looks like to model our faith and obedience to the Lord. They also help us strive for excellence in our work, maintain healthy working relationships, and promote a Christ-honoring work environment that is conducive to the effective ministry of the gospel and joyful participation in the body of Christ.

Living Above Reproach

Veritas staff team members are in a position of spiritual leadership and should feel a high level of responsibility for loving and leading those around them during their appointment to vocational ministry.

Each staff team member is expected to honor Christ in protecting the integrity and unity of the church through what we say and how we treat others on our team. Team members are expected to consider all lifestyle behaviors in light of their positions as spiritual leaders and how these behaviors might be seen by Christians and non-Christians.

In light of this, Veritas staff team members are to conduct themselves with sensitivity toward Christians and non-Christians so that our ministry and testimony may remain “above reproach” (Titus 1:6-9, Galatians 5:16-17).

Employees of Veritas never stop representing Veritas. Taking on this role extends outside of the workday. Veritas employees must be exemplary church members.

Godly Character

A leader in the church is required to be qualified according to the Scriptures. We require that all team members, at minimum, aspire to meet the biblical qualifications for a deacon. Every bit of maturity and faithfulness in our character is given to us by God. So, we view these character attributes not only as a qualification for leadership but also as a means of discerning God’s continued calling to these roles.

The following character qualities are a summary of biblical qualifications for serving the church (1 Timothy 3:8-13).

• Above Reproach, Dignified and Blameless (1 Timothy 3:8, 10)

• As a staff member at Veritas, you must have a reputation of conducting yourself in a dignified way. This is a quality that serves as a summary for all the other qualifications. It is important for the leader to have integrity.

• Not Double Tongued/Gossip (1 Timothy 3:8)

• As a staff member at Veritas, you will often find yourself in conversations, or around information of individuals who are suffering. You will hear and see things that individuals won’t want divulged. As a leader of God’s church, you must use wisdom and love as barometers for knowing when/how much to share with others (e.g. your supervisor, elders, etc.). A leader must maintain confidentiality to be trusted with information.

• Life Matches Doctrine (1 Timothy 3:9)

• As a staff member at Veritas your life needs to be an example to others. If you profess to hold “good doctrine” and yet your life models unwise choices and a lack of the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, etc.), then there is a problem. The gospel “trains us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:12).

• Not addicted to much wine/temperate (1 Timothy 3:8)

• As a staff member at Veritas, your calling to leadership is evidenced by Spirit-empowered restraint and moderation. Those accepting a role to lead in the church  must be controlled in good measure by the Holy Spirit, not by addictions or detrimental habits.

• Not greedy for dishonest gain (1 Timothy 3:8)

• As a staff member at Veritas you are called to be someone who is free from the love of money. You must not feel entitled to a standard of living, income, property, or leisure. You must be someone whose charity outshines your standard of living. As a leader you must be a pacesetter in giving, and strive to model contentment in the midst of a materialistic world.

• Husband of one wife (One woman kind of man/one man kind of woman) (1 Timothy 3:12)

• A staff member must be “one-woman-kind-of man/one-man-kind of woman.” Faithfulness to your spouse must be a practice that goes beyond sexual fidelity to honoring your marriage in all your conduct. You must practice wisdom, purity, and honor in relating to those of the opposite sex. You must practice the values of modesty as laid out in Scripture.

• Manage household well (1 Timothy 3:12)

• Staff members at Veritas must lead their children and their own households well. A prerequisite to providing management to the household of God, is to be able to manage your own household. You must lead your own family to be, or function within a family, that is a model of the redeemed community God desires from His Church.

We are dependent upon Jesus for our continual repentance and growth in character. This means that leaders are not expected to be perfect, but at a minimum, each staff member must aspire to maturity in these qualifications, invite the authority of the church community, its Elders, and leaders as a means of growth in them, and pursue them humbly and faithfully by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Competency

In order to steward the resources and mission that God entrusted to us at Veritas, it is important for all staff to have a high level of competency in executing their role. We seek staff leaders who skillfully operate out of the talents and abilities that God equipped them with, and who value growing and developing their unique abilities. God is honored and glorified when we live and work as we were created, and each aspect of our working is part of our worship. At Veritas, we hire qualified staff for each role and support further development of each staff member, for their joy, for God’s glory, and to realize our greatest contribution to the work of the mission.

Compatibility in Culture

At Veritas Church, we aspire to be known by the cultural distinctives listed below. Leaders in the church must experience agreement with our cultural distinctives and ministry philosophies in order to learn and model the DNA of the church for its members. This is what ties our church family together and makes us unique from other churches.  

Our Cultural Distinctives

• PLURALITY

• We collaborate and share leadership.

• ADVENTURE

• We live boldly and take risks for the cause of Christ.

• FOCUS

• We work to be great at a few things instead of trying to be good at everything.

• FUN

• We take God seriously but not ourselves.

• SECURITY

• We have nothing to prove and no one to impress

• NEXT GENERATION

• We are a multi-generational church that prioritizes reaching the next generation