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.
Episodes
640 episodes
Ministry PTSD: Leading Staff Who've Been Hurt by the Church
This podcast episode explores the concept of 'Ministry PTSD,' a condition seen in church staff members who carry emotional wounds from past negative experiences in ministry environments. The host, Todd Rhoades, discusses how these invisible wou...
The Faithful Few: The Pastor's Summer Advantage You're Missing
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades encourages church staff to see the summer 'slump' as a prime opportunity to build and strengthen relationships with the most committed members of their congregation. Instead of v...
The Faithful Few: Programming for Presence, Not Attendance
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the common issue of reduced church attendance during the summer months, often referred to as the 'summer slump'. Rather than focusing on retaining those who are absent,...
The Faithful Few: Your Most Committed People Are Ready for More
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the concept of a 'summer slump' in ministry, where volunteer attendance drops during June and July. However, he emphasizes that summer also reveals those who are truly ...
The Faithful Few: Why Smaller Groups Create Deeper Disciples
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the positive potential of smaller group sizes in church settings, especially during the summer months. He challenges the common perception that larger groups equat...
The Faithful Few: Stop Apologizing for Summer Ministry
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses how church leaders often apologize for lower summer attendance, viewing it as a negative rather than seeing the committed attendees as valuable. He suggests shifting th...
When Your Staff Member Becomes the Church Influencer
This episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast addresses the challenges and dynamics that arise when a church staff member gains significant influence or a personal platform, particularly through social media. Host Todd Rhoades explores the impl...
When Your Church Staff Becomes a Refugee Camp
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses how churches often become centers for healing trauma rather than fulfilling their mission. He emphasizes the importance of hiring individuals who have processed their pain...
The Innovation Graveyard: Why Your Great Ideas Keep Dying at the Same Spot
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the systemic barriers in churches that stifle innovation and offers strategies to overcome them. • Churches often have an invisible system that stifles innovation, not ...
Why Your Church Staff Needs a Failure Resume
This episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, hosted by Todd Rhoades, discusses the importance of embracing failure to foster innovation and growth within church staff cultures. By normalizing failure, teams can learn effectively and create a ...
The Monday Morning Dread: When the Weekend Ministry Success Doesn't Feel Great on Monday Morning
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, co-host Todd Rhoades addresses the 'success trap' ministers often face: the disconnection between ministry success and personal job fulfillment. He discusses the emotional discrepancy from th...
When Your Elder Board Micromanages Your Ministry Staff
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the challenges of micromanagement by church boards and provides strategies for establishing healthy boundaries between church staff and boards. He emphasizes the impo...
Why Your Worship Pastor and Senior Pastor Keep Clashing
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the common issue of communication gaps between creative and strategic church staff members. He emphasizes the importance of understanding different brain types—creative ve...
When Your Church Staff Becomes a Revolving Door
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the issue of high staff turnover in churches and how it is not just a matter of bad luck. He explores the hidden costs of turnover and provides actionable strategies to bu...
Crisis Mode Is Not a Leadership Strategy
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the pitfalls of living in crisis mode as a leader and offers strategies for healthier leadership. He differentiates between urgent and important tasks, emphasizing th...
The Benefits Package Your Church Can't Afford Not to Offer
In this episode, Todd Rhoades discusses creative, low-cost benefits that churches can offer to attract and retain staff without matching corporate salaries. He emphasizes the importance of investing in staff through professional development, menta...
The Generational Handoff: When Your Church Has Too Many Chiefs and Not Enough Indians
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, the host discusses the challenges of unclear authority within church leadership and the impact it has on staff. The episode emphasizes the need for clear delineation of roles and authority to...
Ministry FOMO: When Other Churches' Success Makes You Question Your Calling
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades addresses the challenges of comparing one's church ministry to others, particularly via social media. Highlighting the dangers of 'FOMO' (Fear of Missing Out), he discusses how t...
The Permission to Plateau: When Good Enough Is Actually Good
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the pressures of achieving church growth metrics and the importance of valuing stability and depth over numerical goals. He emphasizes that maintaining a healthy, stabl...
The Sacred No: When Saying No to Good Things Becomes a Ministry Skill
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the concept of opportunity costs in church leadership. The focus is on the pressure to say 'yes' to every opportunity, even when it aligns with values, leading to missi...
The Art of the Ministry Pivot: When Your Role Evolves Faster Than Your Job Description
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the evolving nature of church ministry roles, highlighting how responsibilities often expand beyond initial job descriptions. Employees might inadvertently become overw...
The Unofficial Therapist Problem: When Everyone Expects You to Fix Their Problems
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the critical importance of setting boundaries for ministry staff, particularly when it comes to handling personal crises within their congregation. Todd explains how pa...
The Part-Time, Full-Time Expectation Problem
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades addresses the common issue of part-time church staff being given full-time responsibilities. He highlights the disconnect between paid hours and actual work expectations and su...
The Communications Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
This episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, hosted by Todd Rhoades, addresses the critical topic of communication within church teams. Rhoades highlights how poor communication can cripple staff effectiveness and lead to misaligned prioritie...
The Strategy Meeting Where Nothing Gets Decided
In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the common issue in strategic planning meetings where much is discussed but little is decided. Referred to as 'discussion theater,' these meetings often fail due to confus...