Ministry Placement Network

Frequently Asked Questions

Core Values

What are the core values associated with Ministry Placement Network (MPN)?

• Excellence in everything
• Building alliances, networking and partnerships
• Exhibiting positive influence with ministries and churches
• Informed risk taking
• Creativity, innovation and pioneering
• Maximizing personal and professional development
• Participating in a variety of learning
• Investing in the ministries of God-called leaders
• Raising the leadership bar with churches

 New System Descriptions

What is Ministry Placement Network?

• Ministry Placement Network  (MPN) is the ministry placement system of Converge Southwest and Converge Worldwide, connecting ministry leaders and churches through an effective system of materials and processes that matches the needs of a church with gifts, beliefs and experience of ministry leaders.

Why did Ministry Placement Network come into existence?

• Leadership is a significant key to the health of churches. When you have the right leader in the right place at the right time, church growth can and does occur. The MPN provides a uniquely professional system, along with materials, that effectively matches ministry leaders and the ministry needs of churches. It is based on the premise that effective ministry matching results from analysis of comprehensive information.
• The Ministry Placement Network is a spiritually sensitive process that also utilizes current technology and provides assistance in optimal matching procedures for both churches and ministry leaders.
• Ministry Placement Network began January 1, 2002 and replaced the former placement process of CWW.

What are the advantages of MPN for ministry leaders?

• Enrollment with the system is online and eliminates multiple data entry.
• Each enrolled ministry leader will have opportunity to seek placement wherever they choose.
• Each minister will receive basic assessment as part of the enrollment to provide an improved mission match with churches seeking ministry leadership.
• Immediate results are available electronically upon completion of the information process.
• Enrollment with MPN is necessary only once to provide initial information. MPN will securely store your data. Future updates are executed online as your ministry career progresses.

What are the advantages of Ministry Placement Network for churches?

• The church is able to enroll online for faster processing.
• Immediate results are available from the congregational survey with built in programming in the computer-based survey.
• The church will have access to an increased number of candidates based on a national search.
• The church receives basic assessment as a part of enrollment to provide an improved mission match with ministry leaders seeking placement.
• The church has the opportunity to choose a minister who is compatible with the church’s present and future needs.
• All the profiles a church receives are in the same format for easier evaluation.

New System Procedures

Who initiates entry into Ministry Placement Network?

• Either a ministry leader or a local church may begin the process by contacting CSW to receive information and/or order a unique Ministry Placement Network Serial Number.

How does a Ministry Leader enroll with Ministry Placement Network?

• Decide to get involved in the matching system
• Order your kit online at: http://www.swbc.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=d71fc48369881f331a82f472e17b4903
• Contact Jennifer at 888-999-7922 or Jennifer@convergesw.org when you have purchased a church or leader kit so we can ensure prompt shipment
• Follow instruction sheet which accompanies your individual Ministry Placement Network Serial Number.
• Complete Ministry Leader Profile and Ministry Match Inventory
• Submit your results and mark your profile as “Active.”  You are then automatically considered for potential matching with churches in the system.
• Email CSW (Jennifer@convergesw.org) to let us know that your Ministry Leader Profile and Ministry Match Inventory are submitted and “Active.”

How does a church enroll in the Ministry Placement Network?

1.  Contact CSW.

• Information (Brochure & FAQ’s) is mailed or emailed to the church.
• Schedule an onsite presentation by the CSW District Executive Minister with your church leaders to overview the MPN process (60 – 90 minutes).
• Church leaders approve the MPN pathway.
• Church establishes a Pastoral Search Committee.
• Church contacts CSW and places an order for Ministry Placement Network Church Profile CD’s (2) and Ministry Match individual Serial Numbers for Search Committee, paid Ministry Staff and Leadership Board   (Deacons, Elders or Executive Committee).

2.   A CSW MPN Coach meets with Church Pastoral Search Committee to go over process orientation and overview.

3.   Search Committee organizes itself and follows detailed step-by-step process through the six MPN stages:

• Organization Stage
• Information Stage
• Collection Stage
• Selection Stage
• Candidate Stage
• Arrival Stage 

Additional materials will be provided to the church Pastoral Search Committee.  Additionally, coaching is available on an “as needed” basis. Scheduling must occur through the CSW office. The six stage process takes from 25 weeks to 24 months for Senior/Lead Pastor positions.

What are the costs for Ministry Placement Network?

How much will it cost a Ministry Leader to enroll in Ministry Placement Network?

• The fee for a Ministry Leader to receive, complete, submit, and activate their MPN Profile and Ministry Match is $99.  This fee includes free unlimited updating of your personal profile.  Simply sign on and make any updates desired . . . there is no additional cost.  You are also automatically enrolled in the MPN national database of potential candidates.

What is included when a Ministry Leader enrolls in MPN?

• Ministry Leader Profile – A comprehensive collection of personal and professional information.
• Ministry Match Inventory Tool.
• Inclusion in the national database.
• Free unlimited updating of your Ministry Leader Profile online.
• Gallup StrengthsFinder 

What other costs might I incur? 

• After the first year, you will have an active maintenance fee of $10 per quarter or an inactive maintenance fee of $10 per year.  
• Should you choose to inactivate, there will be a reactivation fee of $60 whenever you wish to become an active candidate again. As always, updating your Ministry Leader Profile is complimentary anytime, whether you are active or inactive.

Once I’m called to a ministry what happens to my active or inactive status?

• That is entirely up to you. Here are the options: 1) If you choose to go inactive, your name will not be visible to any other ministry opportunity at any time for any reason. You may update your Ministry Leader Profile at any time without a charge even if you are inactive. You will be charged a $60 reactivation fee when you reactivate your file. 2) If you choose to remain active, your profile will be available to churches where you have a match.  It is up to you whether to pursue those or not. You will be assessed $10 per quarter for active status, or $10 per year for inactive status.

Can I enroll with the system even though I am not ready to move? 

• Yes. There are a range of responses available to indicate how soon you would like to be actively pursued as a candidate. You can indicate that you are not actively seeking a new ministry position but might consider a ministry opportunity if there was a good match.

What assistance is available for a pastor who has been available for an extended period of time but has not yet been placed? 

• Further assessment and ministry recommendations are available for an additional cost. Furthermore, when additional evaluation is recommended or desired by a ministry leadership candidate, CSW is prepared to recommend more intensive assessment tools that are available. These processes are offered at an additional cost.

 Costs for Churches Ministry Placement Network

How much will it cost a church to enroll with Ministry Placement Network?

• The cost for a church to register is based upon the size of the congregation.  The Church Profile is composed of the following tools:
  • Church Member Questionnaire
  • Church Profile CD’s (2) (A completely revised notebook is coming soon)
  • Church Report – Top matches of the Ministry Leader Profiles in the system, matching the church's profile.
• Fees are based on average worship attendance from preschoolers through adults: 
  • Up to 75 . . . . . . . . .  $195
  • 76 to 150 . . . . . . . . .$295
  • 151 plus . . . . . . . . . .$395
• MPN products are available for purchase online at: http://www.swbc.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=d71fc48369881f331a82f472e17b4903
• Please contact Jennifer at 888-999-7922 or Jennifer@convergesw.org when you have purchased a church or leader kit so we may ensure prompt shipment

Ministry Match®

What is the Ministry Match®? 

• Ministry Match® is a personal evaluation tool developed by Bob Gilliam, a national church consultant, and Stan Johnson, a web developer in vocational ministry for 30 years.  Together they have consulted with hundreds of churches. Ministry Match® is a multiple-construct assessment tool that clarifies many different aspects of who you are as a person. It is designed to help you understand yourself more completely as a person who has been gifted by God to serve Him in a particular ministry or job situation. We believe that until a person discovers how God has uniquely made them, and where He wants to use them, they will not feel fulfilled. Ministry Match® was created to help accomplish just that. It takes a little over two hours to complete and consists of 427 questions that can be answered with a range of scores from 1-7. There are two types of Ministry Match® evaluations: Lay and Professional. The cost is $12 for the Lay version and $40 for the Professional version.
• MPN products are available for purchase online at: http://www.swbc.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=d71fc48369881f331a82f472e17b4903
• Please contact Jennifer at 888-999-7922 or Jennifer@convergesw.org when you have purchased a Ministry Match® kit so we may ensure prompt shipment

What was behind the development of this tool?

• The questions that started us thinking about this assessment were, "Why do people have such a hard time figuring out what to do with their lives?" and "Why do pastors and churches so often think they are doing what God wants only to later find out they weren't?"  In the research we interviewed many individuals, pastors, and churches, and one dynamic continued to show itself regardless of education, gender, nationality, or age: A general lack of confidence in people as to how to validate their ministry strengths and what to do with them! In addition, the research from churches showed that most churches don't know how to assess the strengths of pastoral candidates or how to match those strengths with their own needs.  The solution was the creation of Ministry Match® to help sort out and work through the important facets of a ministry leader’s personality and its impact on their relationships and ministry functions. God created people like jewels – multifaceted and complex. That's why it's important to look at each aspect of strength individually, and then to look at the whole picture to see what the "puzzle" looks like.

How helpful do you feel this process is? 

• Wherever you decide to minister, we believe you will find this process very helpful in locating the type of ministry position you’d most enjoy. The process can provide you not only with several options for positions you would work best in, but also with information regarding what your own strengths are and what type of people you need around you in order for you to function best. In addition, the Ministry Match® process provides insight into why you relate to certain people the way you do, why you struggle to get along with some people, and what you can do about those struggles.

What’s the bottom line for finding the right ministry position for my life?

• Approach to Ministry: How do you approach ministry? How do you solve problems?  What part are you motivated to play in a project? How proactive or responsive are you in your relationships with others or on the job? How do you relate to other people? 
• Ministry Gifts: What are your God-given strengths? What are you naturally good at?  Ministry Values: When you approach a task, what types of things are important to you? What is it that you want to have happen as a result of your efforts? What things motivate you, and what things de-motivate you?

How was Ministry Match® developed? 

• The conceptual framework was developed at the local church level rather than with individuals or testing instruments. The goal was to start with information that a trained consultant would need to know about a staff member that would measure and correlate with effectiveness in ministry. Data and items from other reliable and validated testing instruments were considered. Constructs were adopted, dropped as well as added as necessary. Therefore, Ministry Match® was shaped in a "real" setting as opposed to a theoretical, scientific, educational or clinical environment.  Additionally, the combined experience of more than 15 denominational leaders from CWW and its District Executive Ministers contributed to and helped develop the Ministry Leader Profile and questionnaire.

How reliable is Ministry Match®? 

• The national percentile scores in Ministry Match® were developed by collecting originally over 300 sets of Ministry Match® from church staff members throughout the United States. Ministry Match® was subjected to Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient scale with the alpha error at the .05 significance level. This assessment has utilized the psychometric principles of other tools used in the field of psychology, such as, personality, achievement, aptitude, interests and proficiency. This analysis tool has been widely used in North America.