The Whitworth Group

The Whitworth Group We pair great church staff with great churches, "fitly joining" those that God has called and qualified.

Twenty-five years.For most of us, today is a memory. We know where we were standing. We remember the phone calls, the te...
09/11/2026

Twenty-five years.

For most of us, today is a memory. We know where we were standing. We remember the phone calls, the televisions left on all day, the silence in the sky that week.

But for some people, today isn't a memory. It's a re-living.

The wife who set the table for one that fall and has set it for one every fall since. The kids who grew up on stories instead of a father. The firefighters and police officers and paramedics who went in when everyone else was coming out and the ones who came home carrying something they've never been able to put down.

For thousands of families, this isn't an anniversary on a calendar. It's the hardest day of their year, every year.

So we're praying today. For the families who lost someone. For the first responders and their families. For the ones still carrying the injuries, the visible ones and the ones nobody can see.

Would you take sixty seconds today and do the same?

Not a post. Not a share. Just a minute, wherever you are, for people you'll probably never meet.

That's a good use of a minute.

Every ministry job description describes Sunday.Almost none of them describe Tuesday ... the staff meeting, the unreturn...
09/10/2026

Every ministry job description describes Sunday.

Almost none of them describe Tuesday ... the staff meeting, the unreturned email, how decisions actually get made, what happens when something goes wrong, who has the real influence in the room.

That's the part a candidate is actually moving their family for.

And it's the part that's hardest to put in writing.

Pastors: if someone asked what a Tuesday at your church is really like, what would you tell them?

Wanting a change and being called to one are two different things.They can feel identical from the inside. Tiredness loo...
09/09/2026

Wanting a change and being called to one are two different things.

They can feel identical from the inside. Tiredness looks a lot like a nudge. A hard season looks a lot like a closing door. And a genuine call can show up looking suspiciously like restlessness.

The difference usually reveals itself with time, which is the one thing nobody in the middle of it feels like they have.

If you're somewhere in that, don't rush it.

Something to think about.

There's a story churches tell themselves when a staff member leaves: someone offered them more.Usually that's not it.Mor...
09/08/2026

There's a story churches tell themselves when a staff member leaves: someone offered them more.

Usually that's not it.

More often, something stopped fitting a long time before anyone said anything out loud. The role grew in a direction the person didn't. The church changed. The season changed. The person changed.

By the time it becomes a resignation, it's rarely a surprise to the one resigning.

Something to think about.

Labor Day.Most of the country has today off. Most pastors are already three days out from Sunday, half-thinking about a ...
09/07/2026

Labor Day.

Most of the country has today off. Most pastors are already three days out from Sunday, half-thinking about a message, a volunteer gap, and a conversation they need to have with someone on staff.

Ministry doesn't really do long weekends. The work follows you home because the people do.

If you're a pastor and you actually took today off .... good. That's harder than it sounds.

And if you didn't, you're not alone.

Something to think about.

Wanting a change and being called to a change are not the same thing.Sometimes they land in the same place. Sometimes wh...
09/04/2026

Wanting a change and being called to a change are not the same thing.

Sometimes they land in the same place. Sometimes what you're feeling isn't a calling at all ... it's exhaustion. Or a conflict you quietly stopped trying to resolve. Or a hard season that would follow you to the next church anyway.

That doesn't make the feeling wrong. It just makes it worth examining before you act on it.

The question I'd ask: am I moving toward something, or away from something? Both can be legitimate. But you should know which one you're working with before you move your family.

Something to think about this weekend.

The pressure to fill a position fast is real, and I don't think churches get enough credit for how real it is. Your staf...
09/03/2026

The pressure to fill a position fast is real, and I don't think churches get enough credit for how real it is. Your staff is covering extra ground. Ministries are running thin. Every Sunday the seat stays empty feels like something slipping.

But here's the math nobody runs in that moment: a rushed hire that doesn't fit costs you eighteen months, a painful exit, and a congregation that now watches the next hire with suspicion.

The empty seat was cheaper.

Move with urgency on the process ... return calls, keep candidates warm, don't let weeks disappear. Just don't rush the decision itself. Those are two different things, and churches tend to do the opposite of both.

If you've been through a hire that had to be undone, what would you do differently?

A résumé is a record of the past. A hire is a bet on the future.It'll tell you where someone served, what they built, ho...
09/02/2026

A résumé is a record of the past. A hire is a bet on the future.

It'll tell you where someone served, what they built, how long they stayed. All useful. What it won't tell you is what happens when giving drops, when a key volunteer leaves angry, or when the vision they inherited stops working.

That's the part that determines whether a placement lasts five years or eighteen months.

You don't find it by asking about their biggest win. You find it by asking about a season that didn't work and what they did next. The second answer tells you far more than the first one ever will.

Pastors, I'm curious: what's the one interview question you'd never skip?

Ask a pastor what's hard about ministry and almost nobody says the hours.They say the phone call they've been carrying s...
09/01/2026

Ask a pastor what's hard about ministry and almost nobody says the hours.

They say the phone call they've been carrying since Tuesday. The family in crisis they can't mention at dinner. The decision they know is right that half the room isn't going to like.

The work is manageable. Most leaders are genuinely good at the work. It's the weight that wears people down and it's the part nobody sees from the third row.

If that's your week right now, you're not doing it wrong. You're just carrying something real.

One question worth sitting with: who carries it with you?

"We just can't find the right candidate."I've heard that sentence from a lot of churches. And most of the time, the cand...
08/31/2026

"We just can't find the right candidate."

I've heard that sentence from a lot of churches. And most of the time, the candidates aren't the issue.

Here's what's usually happening instead: five people on the search team are picturing five different hires. One wants a builder. One wants a shepherd. One wants whoever can take the most off the lead pastor's plate. Nobody says that part out loud, so every résumé that comes in disappoints somebody.

That's not a candidate problem. That's a clarity problem. And no amount of applications will solve it.

The churches that move quickly are usually the ones that had the hard conversation before they posted anything.

If you've served on a search team, how long did it take your group to actually agree on what you were looking for?

Address

2109 West Market Street, Suite 100B
Johnson City, TN

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+14234057489

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