Executive Search
“I have seen vanderbloemen's Process from the inside, and I was thoroughly impressed”
- Brodie Taphorn Pastor
Perfection is not something that Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC) strives for. In the words of Brodie Taphorn, a Pastor at UALC: “We aren’t a perfect church, just like a good family. A family isn’t good because they are perfect but because they are all working toward the same end.”
Columbus, Ohio, is ground zero for UALC. And from day one, their goal has been to create a church that provides programs for people from all walks of life to experience a worshipful interaction with Christ. From Military Care to Special Needs Ministry to addiction recovery and emotional support, UALC seeks to meet people where they are. No matter how messy someone’s story is, there is a community for each person at UALC to be loved and supported.
There is an important aspect that is often overlooked when it comes to having so many different types of ministries and communities; awareness. If a church fails to effectively communicate their ministries and events and fails to keep the congregation and community up to date, then how effective could the church be?
UALC found themselves asking this question, and they came to the conclusion that they needed someone who could focus solely on strategically communicating all the church’s offerings and ministries. They needed someone who could act as the church’s megaphone and keep the congregation and community around them informed. This person would own the communication of the mission and vision that the church put in place over 60 years ago.
When they were considering how to find this new church staff member, Brodie mentioned that he was “suspicious of his own biases,” meaning that he was unsure if he would be able to look at this staff member search as objectively as would be needed. This is a dilemma that many churches face when seeking to hire. Traditions and biases can interfere with hiring decisions quite often and many times go unnoticed.
By partnering with Vanderbloemen Search Group, Brodie and the UALC leadership ensured that they would make a hire based on who was best for the position, not a hire based on their own biases, presuppositions, or blindspots.
From finding and screening candidates to vetting and interviewing, Vanderbloemen acted as an objective guide as they navigated the minefields of making this new hire.
Upper Arlington knew what they needed to move their mission and vision forward. They knew what this person needed to accomplish in order to be successful. They just needed to make sure it was the right person to hold the reins.
By the end of the search process, it was clear that the person that was meant to hold those reins was Andrew Fuller. Andrew was uniquely qualified to fill this role, and most importantly, he was bought into the mission and the vision of UALC. With Andrew in place, Upper Arlington Lutheran can effectively communicate their ministry to everyone in need of hope, grace, change, and God’s love.
