In their Own Words : Launching Residency

by Kristin Miller, Director of Resident Development & Coaching

A conversation with Senior Pastor, Ed Martin of Community Christian of Sharpsburg, GA in July 2018 began like many that Leadership Pathway has with senior leaders. Ed was discouraged by what his favorite college and seminary were producing, was frustrated with their internship experiences, and wanted his church to take leadership development to a new level.

He and his team decided it was time for their church in a suburb of Atlanta to begin residency. Meanwhile, God was preparing a young future leader in Ohio who was also taking his time to make a decision.

John Martin (Campus Pastor & Outreach Director) and Steve Clark (Campus Pastor & Discipleship Director) have since taken the reins on leading their Worship Resident, Joel. John, having served as the Worship Pastor, oversees Joel as his supervisor, while Steve focuses on leadership soft skills and wellness as Joel’s coach. Both are integral to Joel’s development.

Below, in their own words, they describe how launching a residency has shaped their thinking.

I’m (Steve) a read-the-instructions kind of guy, so I thoroughly read the Leadership Pathway materials and asked lots of questions. These are some specific thoughts we learned and began to value in this process:

1 It’s not about what a resident can do for us but what we can do for them.

2 We had to anticipate and embrace our roles as a supervisor, coach, and PARENT.


3 The younger the resident, the more prescriptive we may will need to be. 


4 Early on, we should expect the resident to come to a place where they want to quit, and if they don’t come to that point, then we’re probably not challenging them enough.


5 If we are not able to prepare and help our residents choose full-time ministry, we have failed.


6 Having a resident has made us better as a staff.

7 Having a resident has helped us put some things in place that we should have done before. I liken it to those of us who clean the house when we know the housekeeper is coming.

8 Our resident is currently our youngest staff member, and it has been very helpful and enlightening having his perspective. 

9 One very specific payoff that I must share is that we tried to give our resident an area of a new ministry that he could build from the ground up. His focus was to be on social media and increasing its presence.

10 In what I consider divine timing when the COVID crisis hit, our resident’s work in that area could not have been more important for the demands of that time! I gratefully quoted Esther 4:14 to him for his ministry that was invaluable for such a time as this.”

11 The investment in a young leader is just that - an investment

Residency can transform your team as well. Go HERE to connect and learn more.