The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
We're all about helping create a healthy, positive, and spiritually positive environment for church staff members and leadership teams.
The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
True North (Part 5)
Todd Rhodes concludes the True North series by reading Chapter Four of his modern epistle for church staff and workers, offering encouragement that even in difficult ministry seasons, God has not forgotten those He's called. The chapter provides powerful reminders about identity, healing, and the true measure of ministry success.
• Ministry is not a straight path but grace walks with you at every turn
• God's silence should not be interpreted as His absence
• Your identity as a beloved child supersedes your role as a leader
• Redemption doesn't require perfection but surrender
• Healing happens in community, not isolation
• Use your wounds to guide others toward hope
• People need authentic shepherds with real stories, not polished heroes
• Faithfulness has never been measured in fame
• Focus on building God's kingdom, not your own
• Success is measured by love, not just accomplishments
Download your free copy of the complete True North epistle at chemistrystaffing.com/truenorth. If you need help with church staffing, governance, or other ministry challenges, reach out to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com.
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Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders of OverChemistryStaffingcom and I'm your host here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. So glad that you're a part of the podcast today and that you're listening. Today we're finishing our series we've been doing all this week on True North. It's actually a short written work that I'm reading a chapter each day here on the podcast. It's a modern epistle for church staff and church workers and I hope you're enjoying it. I would hope that you would go back and listen, starting on Monday where I give a teaser as to how this project came about and what we're doing. But essentially we're taking the wisdom that we've learned together on these last couple of years on the Healthy Church Staff podcast 360 episodes what have we learned and how can we encourage each other? And today I'm going to read chapter four. It's a little different because I'm actually reading, but if you'll stick around until after I read chapter four, i's a little different because I'm actually reading. But if you'll stick around until after I read chapter four, I will give you a link to where you can go and you can download this whole True North modern day epistle. Okay, so let's today get started with chapter four.
Speaker 1:The work is hard. The road is long, but the one who called you has not forgotten your name. The road is long, but the one who called you has not forgotten your name. He saw you when you said yes and he sees you now. Even when you're tempted to walk away, you're not invisible. Your faithfulness is not forgotten. There is more going on than you can see. Ministry is not a straight path. It bends and breaks winds and waits, but grace walks with you at every turn. Do not interpret the silence of God as the absence of God. He is still writing the story, even when the pages feel blank. When you feel tired, lay your expectations down, but not your hope. When disappointment speaks louder than calling, listen again for that whisper that first called your name. You are not just a leader, you are a beloved child. You do not have to earn that love. You only have to return it. Some of your greatest ministry may come after your greatest pain.
Speaker 1:Redemption does not require perfection. It requires surrender. If you have failed, if you've burned out, if you've lashed out, given up or lost your way, know this. You are not disqualified from grace. Grace was built for moments like this. Healing is possible. Wholeness is still ahead.
Speaker 1:Restoration is not a shortcut. It's a road. Walk it slowly. Take someone with you. Don't heal in isolation. Let God rebuild what pride and pain or pressure once eroded. Don't waste your wounds. Use them to guide others toward hope.
Speaker 1:The people you serve don't need a polished hero. They need a real shepherd with a limp and a story Finish, not because it's easy, but because it's worth it. You may not get applause. You may not be remembered, but faithfulness has never been measured in fame. You may not be remembered, but faithfulness has never been measured in fame. Heaven keeps different scorecards.
Speaker 1:Stay rooted in truth, lead with grace, guard your heart. Teach the next generation not only what you know, but who you trust, and let them see joy in your journey, even when it's slow. Leave behind not just strategy but soul, not just systems but scars that have been healed. You are not building your kingdom, you are stewarding his. And one day, when your time is done, may the ones who follow not just say look what they built, but look how they loved. Guard the flame, pass the torch, trust the Spirit and let the church be better, stronger, wiser and more alive, because you said yes and kept saying yes, even when it was hard. Now to him, who is able to do immeasurably more than you could ask, imagine or orchestrate. To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. All right, so that finishes the true north, the modern epistle for church staff and church leaders that we've been digging into this week.
Speaker 1:I would love to put a copy of this in your hands. I think it'll be an encouragement for you, both in good times and in times when things in ministry just is really hard. So you can download a free copy of this right now if you haven't already. It's available free of charge at chemistrystaffingcom. Slash truenorth. Chemistrystaffingcom slash truenorth.
Speaker 1:I've spent a lot of my days in ministry working with individuals and churches, trying to help them become thriving and healthy, and if there's a way that I can help you, if there's a way that I can help your church maybe it's with staffing, maybe it's just with some issues or some problems or some governance things If there's any way that I can help you and your church, please feel free to reach out to me. You can reach me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, this has been a fun series, at least for me, a retrospective of what we've been on in our journey for the last couple of years here on the podcast. I hope you've enjoyed it as well and we'll be back here again after the weekend. Hope you have a great weekend. We'll be back here on Monday on the Healthy Chemistry Staff Podcast. I'm going to help you with the next step in your life.
