The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
The Mid-Career Ministry Refresh_ When You're Too Experienced to Start Over But Too Restless to Stay Put
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You've been doing ministry for 12 years, and if you're honest with yourself, you're pretty good at your job. Actually, maybe really good. People respect your opinion, you know where everything is, you can handle most problems with your eyes closed. But lately you've been scrolling LinkedIn a little bit too often or staring at job boards. Going over to churchstaffing.com and wondering, what you're not burned out, you're not angry, you're just maybe just a little bit restless. Does this sound familiar? We're gonna talk about it today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks so much for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes, and you're listening to the podcast here. Thank you. And I'm not sure how you found me or how you found the podcast, but I'm glad you're here. All right, we're gonna talk today what I like to call the competence paradox. Okay, because here's what nobody tells you about getting really good at ministry. Expertise sometimes can feel like a prison or become a prison. You've accumulated knowledge and relationships, you know everything about your church, you've got that instant uh institutional memory right up in your head. You know how to navigate all the politics and the difficult people, you know how to deal with your staff, you know how to solve all the recurring problems. Uh, but that same expertise sometimes just makes you feel stuck. Uh, because here's what happens when you master a role. Uh you get into this drift pattern. It's the drift uh into this ministry almost like an autopilot. You start solving tomorrow's problems with yesterday's solutions. You used to have that creative spark that used to drive you, and that creative spark all of a sudden just gets buried because you don't need the creative spark anymore because you've got the competence to back up your decisions. Maybe you catch yourself saying, We tried that before, more than what if we tried this? And over time, with competency and expertise, the role that once stretched you now fits maybe a little bit too comfortably. And the scary part is everybody else sees you as the expert who has it all figured out. Now listen, there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with being good at your job. There's nothing wrong with showing some expertise and as we say, knowing where all the bodies are buried. But expertise without growth isn't stewardship, it's just maintenance, and that's probably what you're feeling. So, what I'm gonna recommend for you today, if you're feeling like this, is maybe a short little brief refresh strategy. Okay? Here are some ideas. Here's your first option. Maybe you can expand your current role sideways. Sideways, what's that mean? Let me tell you. Let me explain it a little bit. What think about it. What is adjacent to what you currently do that could stretch you again? Okay. What is adjacent? You're not currently doing it, but you could. And it it's an unknown area. You're not used to doing it, so it could stretch you a little bit. So that's option number one. Option number two, maybe become the mentor that you wish you'd had. Your expertise isn't just for you, it's for the next generation. So take on that young staff member, that person that's really can maybe looks up to you as a mentor, maybe they're not, to formalize that relationship. But build into somebody young because that will reinvigorate some of those feelings in you again and get you out of that maintenance mode. Here's the third option: take on the project that everybody else is avoiding. Okay. You're like, I've been here a long time. I don't want to take on those projects, and there's a reason why everybody's avoiding them. I get it. I get it. But maybe use your credibility to tackle something that really does matter, but it just seems impossible. That's why no one has tackled it yet. That can reinvigorate you and refresh you like you haven't been refreshed for a long time. And maybe lastly, maybe you start working on your succession plan. Maybe you start along with the one suggestion was building into somebody young. Maybe it's time to train somebody to do your job so well that you can evolve into whatever is next. Maybe it's something else at your church, maybe it's something else altogether. But creating your succession plan, a long-term plan, can really help refresh and reinvigorate you. Here's a bottom line for today, though. Your restlessness is not a character flaw. A lot of times we feel like we're restless and something's wrong. It's just God stirring you toward greater impact. And your church needs people like you who refuse to coast on past success. You don't have to choose between throwing away your expertise and staying exactly where you are. Alright, so here's the challenge. If you're feeling this way this week, here's what I would love for you to do. I want you to have one honest conversation with whoever you report to. Maybe it's your board member, maybe it's your senior pastor, about what kind of growth that you're craving. What is in your heart? Where are you stuck? What do you feel like you need to do? Don't ask for a new job. Just ask for input on how to evolve into that job, how to evolve the job that you currently have. Because here's the deal, right? Your expertise, because you've been doing it so long, because you know what's going on, your expertise, your expert experience and your expertise is an asset, not an anchor. All right, so that's it for today. I've felt like this at different points during my ministry career. I'm sure there are some that are listening right now that are feeling the same way. I'd love to hear from you. Reach out to me anytime, podcast at chemistry staffing.com. And if there's any way that I can help you or your church uh with uh hiring staff in this brand new year 2026, uh this is gonna be a year where a lot of people transition and a lot of churches hiring uh this year. So a lot of movement this year. If there's any way I can help you or your church navigate that, reach out to me podcast at chemistry staffing.com. All right, that's it for today. I hope you'll join me back again tomorrow. I'm here every day, Monday through Friday, right here on the Healthy Church Death Podcast.
