We tackle a harmful church hiring myth: the fantasy of finding the "unicorn" or perfect candidate with impossible qualifications at a modest salary. While churches wait for this mythical person, positions remain open, current staff get overload...

Ministry staff are carrying unprecedented emotional weight from difficult experiences, and hiring churches must learn to address the pain behind every resume to build healthy teams.• The last five to six years have been incredibly diffi...

We're facing a growing crisis in church staffing—the quiet disappearance of mid-career ministry leaders who should be stepping into senior leadership and mentoring younger staff. This exodus creates a dangerous vacuum where churches lose experi...

The church staff pipeline in the US is quietly cracking beneath us, systematically changing in ways that threaten our future leadership. This episode introduces Todd Rhodes' new book "Silent Alarm" which addresses the diminishing flow of qualif...

The most dangerous season in leadership might be when everything feels fine, leading to comfortable coasting rather than courageous direction. Leadership fatigue often comes not from crisis moments but from the slow, steady grind of keeping eve...

We explore why promising candidates often disappear during the church hiring process and how to stop unintentionally scaring away top talent. Your hiring process communicates volumes about your church culture, and candidates assume how you hire...

Ministry leaders often confuse burnout with boredom, but these conditions require completely different solutions. Recognizing the difference can help you take the right steps to reignite your passion and purpose in ministry.• Burnout is...

Not every meeting adds value, and some are actively damaging your church staff's energy, creativity, and morale. We examine which staff meetings you should eliminate and what to replace them with to boost team productivity and happiness.

Many churches waste time searching for perfect ministry candidates that don't exist. This unrealistic quest for a "ministry unicorn" leads to extended vacancies, team burnout, and missed opportunities to hire promising leaders with potential to...

Pastors who need to be the smartest person in the room unintentionally silence their team and hinder collaboration, eventually causing creative staff members to leave or stop contributing.• Insecurity often drives leaders' need to have ...

Ministry today resembles an ER room more than a boardroom, requiring church leaders to adopt skills similar to emergency medical professionals to navigate chaos effectively while preventing burnout.• Learning proper triage - treating th...

Calling your church staff a "family" might be undermining your team's effectiveness by normalizing dysfunction and avoiding necessary accountability. A better metaphor might be a jazz band, where diverse talents work together with rhythm, trust...

Personality assessments like the Enneagram can provide valuable insights into how staff members process the world, but they fail to reveal character issues that often emerge under pressure. Todd Rhodes explores why churches must look beyond per...

Church leaders often confuse constant motion with progress, using momentum to mask deeper issues that need addressing. Slowing down isn't failure—it's a faithful choice that allows space for healing, growth, and sustainable ministry that Jesus ...

Every leader has an expiration date, and creating a succession plan is a spiritual responsibility that demonstrates wisdom rather than weakness. Great leaders prepare for their eventual departure, ensuring their ministry continues seamlessly wh...

Most church meetings suffer from silent dysfunction—they're over-controlled, under-prepared, or merely performative, leaving staff secretly wishing they were emails instead. We crack open this uncomfortable truth and provide practical solutions...

The key to better ministry leadership might be borrowing wisdom from an unexpected place - the marriage therapist's office. We explore three powerful insights from counseling that can radically improve how church leaders listen, lead, and love ...

Turning your best volunteers into staff members can either be a dream come true or create significant challenges when expectations don't align. This transition often fails because the intrinsic motivation of volunteering gets replaced by the ob...

We explore the hidden emotional toll experienced by "the fixer" on church staff teams - that go-to person who handles every crisis but rarely receives support themselves. This episode unpacks how well-intentioned problem-solvers often become em...

We tackle the uncomfortable reality of women hitting glass ceilings in church leadership, even in organizations that preach equality and respect. This episode explores why churches often say they value female leaders while keeping them stuck in...

Church staffing often prioritizes Sunday celebrations over everyday discipleship moments. We need to rethink how we build ministry teams that can thrive not just during mountaintop experiences but also in the valleys where real ministry happens...