3 Reasons Church Leaders Shouldn't Hire Consultants

When considering whether or not your church should hire a consultant, there will always be reasons why you "shouldn't." Hopefully, my experiences will offer some insight and balance your decision-making.

I worked with many consulting companies personally and professionally over the years as communications director in a large church. But gaining approval to hire an outside consultant did take some convincing. I understood why it felt like a weighty decision each time we faced an opportunity to gain an outside perspective.

When considering whether or not your church should hire a consultant, there will always be reasons why you "shouldn't." Hopefully, my experiences will offer some insight and balance your decision-making.

You got this — you can do it yourself.
We completed our new church building in 2010. After rebranding in 2017, it was time to update our facility to better align with our refreshed brand. I recommended we hire an interior designer with specific expertise in commercial buildings. But some on the team asked, "Can't we do it ourselves? How hard could it be? We have people in the church who are good with interiors."

After further discussion, leadership approved funding enough to "explore the possibilities." After meeting with the interior designer, it became even more apparent that we didn't know what we didn't know. Updating a commercial space this size was not a simple project, nor was it synonymous with updating a residence. While we made all the decisions, we needed a guide with expertise.

The internet has produced a lot of instant experts in almost everything. But just because you think you "can" do something doesn't mean you actually can — or should. Don't just "learn enough to be dangerous." Expertise and skilled guidance have value.

A skilled church member is willing to donate their services.
You get a phone call from a church leader telling you to follow up with a church member who's offered their skilled services at no cost. It seems like a no-brainer. But beware... it can present unintended and unforeseen challenges!

Our church wanted to install a new interchangeable signboard by the road to promote events and activities. A church member who owned a sign company offered to build and install the sign at no cost. Of course, we said, Yes, please do!" And he did.

After the sign was complete, my department became responsible for the sign content. It wasn't too long before we discovered a problem: condensation was forming on the inside on rainy or humid days, completely obscuring the sign. After I explained the situation, the sign maker decided to install fans to keep airflow moving through the signboard.

...in the era of DIY, things tend to be more complex than they appear, take longer to accomplish, and become more expensive in the long run when we attempt to do them ourselves.

Unfortunately, it didn't work. After a year of back and forth, trial and error, we found a solution that solved the problem. How much time, not to mention mental energy, was devoted to this project, I cannot tell you. But I was frustrated and wanted it to be over. Had we hired this person, we could have handled the situation professionally.

While these arrangements have the best of intents, they can put those on your team — both staff and church members — in potentially awkward circumstances. Hiring an expert, whether or not they are a church member, honors the professional for their expertise and establishes the context of the relationship.

If you hire a church member, set expectations with a written contract in some form, offer to pay them for their work, and invite them to consider a discount for their services as a donation. These arrangements almost always work better!

Hiring a consultant doesn't feel like good stewardship.
Have you ever bought an inexpensive power tool, only to learn it was just a cheap imitation of an actual functioning piece of equipment? How many times have you heard the quip, "you get what you pay for"?

The last two points lead to this third one. Saving money by doing a project yourself or giving it to a seeming expert because they're a church member who's willing to do it for free seems like a wise financial decision. But in the era of DIY, things tend to be more complex than they appear, take longer to accomplish, and become more expensive in the long run when we attempt to do them ourselves. 

If you're a senior pastor who needs to hire an administrative professional to assist with mission-critical tasks, how and why is expertise essential? In this case, you would want the best you could get at the best price you could afford. Apply this thought process to your more extensive projects and improvements.

In deciding whether to hire an outside expert for a church project or accomplish it internally, church leaders tend to evaluate based on cost alone. But the price is only half the equation. A good steward should ask about the return on investment to determine its actual value.

Measuring return on investments — or ROI — is a sound stewardship principle. Remember the sign debacle I mentioned in the last section? A couple of years after we finally fixed the condensation problem, we removed the signboard structure altogether. It just wasn't worth the time it took to design, print, and install the interchangeable signboards. 

A Coaching Experience That Worked
A local church hired ChurchCom Solutions to help them improve their communication process. Results of a congregational survey showed that while their congregants felt well-informed, their system and workflow felt cumbersome, fragmented, and complex. It was no longer sustainable, but they didn't know how to improve it.

As we walked through our coaching relationship, what needed to change became evident. We worked together to introduce a new, simplified workflow with innovative tools to support it. They invested in improving communication with their church family. The return? The process is better and more straightforward, consistent, and efficient. They're in a healthy rhythm.

We all get stuck sometimes. When you are sick, you can search for a home remedy online. But while that might work for the small stuff, there are times when an expert is needed. It might seem like good stewardship to go it alone, but the better, more financially sound approach may be to hire an expert to guide you.