Despite this being an important role within churches today, not every church has this role within their staffing. You will usually see these kinds of jobs if the church has a school that they also run within the church. This could include things like a weekday pre-school or weekday elementary school that is somewhat standalone from the church but still run by the church. These Christian education jobs are going to primarily consist of the teachers within the school and the director of the school as well.
So, if you are a church looking to hire on some Christian education staff then you’ve come to the right place! We at JustChurchJobs want to help however we can and so we are going to run through a list of some interview questions that we think are important to ask your candidates to see if they are the right fit for you! So, let’s get right into it then, shall we?
What is your testimony?
We here at JustChurchJobs believe this to be the primary question to ask first and foremost no matter what role it is you are trying to fill within your church. A testimony is an individual’s life story of how they were before they came to Christ, when they came to salvation in Christ, and their transformed life after meeting Christ. Sharing a testimony requires vulnerability which is a key trait to have for any position in ministry and for sharing the gospel.
How would you incorporate Biblical principles into your teaching?
As a Christian educator, a candidates main and primary goal is to teach children while also using Biblical principles in how they teach. A candidate should be able to relay this to you and provide examples of how they would bring Biblical principles into their teaching and if they can provide examples of when they have done this in the past.
How would you handle a chaotic classroom?
This is a good question to ask a candidate as it will help you to gauge their problem-solving skills and how they handle stress. It’ll also give you good insight into their teaching and disciplinary style.
Do you have a teaching license?
This question should be a clear cut one. If you are trying to hire a Christian educator, it might create some issues. Hiring someone who has their teaching license demonstrates an individual’s credibility and experience. It would be better to hire someone who has the previous experience than someone who doesn’t.
How can you bring the gospel into your lessons?
While the school through the church is inherently Christian and has Christian values, that does not mean that every child or parent that walks through the doors is also Christian. As a Christian educator, they are working very closely with children every single day, probably more so than a Children’s pastor and as such have an opportunity to bring the gospel into how they teach to help spread and share the gospel. A candidate should know this and be actively thinking about how they can bring the gospel into their lesson plans.
How would you handle a difficult parent?
Along the same lines of constant interaction with the children of the school, any educator is also going to have constant interaction with the parents of the children as while the kids are at the school, the teacher is their guardian. Dealing with a difficult parent is much different than dealing with a difficult child and this question will show how they handle conflict that may arise in their work.
We at JustChurchJobs hope that this short guide has been helpful to you in giving you an idea of some questions you can ask your potential candidates and at the very least we hope that this has gotten you thinking about some questions of your own that you would like to ask!
We know that sometime high-quality candidates can be hard to find but the good news is, is that JustChurchJobs can help with that too! We are here to help in any way that we can!
