Why Non-Competes and NDAs Dont Belong in the Church

Non-competes and NDAs have no place in the church. As bold as that sounds, this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast with Todd Rhoades, co-founder of Chemistry Staffing, unpacks why these legal agreements could be more damaging than protective in a ministry setting. We tackle head-on the controversial issue of implementing corporate legal safeguards in a spiritual environment, discussing how they can stifle growth, foster suspicion, and even conflict with the very essence of a pastor's calling.

Join us as we explore five compelling reasons why trust, openness, and the gospel's core message of sharing should guide church practices over restrictive legal measures. Discover how non-competes and NDAs may interfere with pastoral duties, lead to costly legal battles, and create an unhealthy atmosphere of secrecy. If you've faced these issues in your own ministry or are simply curious about their implications, this episode promises valuable insights and a fresh perspective.

Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hi there, welcome to this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes, I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and as we get started this week we're going to look at kind of an interesting topic. We're calling it the ministry muzzle why non-competes and NDAs really most times should not belong in the church. And actually in a couple of weeks we're going to talk about nondisclosure agreements, ndas, and how you actually are not supposed to have those in any church or business anymore as there's new laws against that. But today we're going to talk topic sparks a lot of controversy in ministry circles. You hear it a lot of times. When there's a kind of a scandal at a church or a moral failure or something that you know, when churches lose a lot of people, all of a sudden they start talking and they all find out that they can't say a whole lot because they've got either a non-compete or, most likely, a non-disclosure agreement. It's very controversial. Now these types of agreements have been pretty common in the corporate world and from a company standpoint, they're designed to protect the company's trade secrets. They're designed to prevent employees from jumping ship and going to other competitors and taking all that knowledge with them. But that's business, we're not in business, we're in ministry, we're in the church. Are they appropriate in the context of the church? At Chemistry Staffing?

Speaker 1: 1:28

We have a pretty strong stance on this issue and we believe non-competes and NDAs really should not have a place in the church. And here's why Five kind of overarching reasons. Man, I could make probably a week of podcasts on each one of these, but let's just go through these really quickly. Five main reasons why we're not big fans of NDAs and non-disclosure agreements and non-compete clauses and all of those kinds of things. Number one is the gospel is it's meant to be shared. The very essence of our faith is, at least it should be all about spreading the gospel, not restricting it. Okay, so non-complete agreements and non-compete agreements a lot of times can stifle growth by preventing pastors and staff from using their gifts and talents in other churches. Now, of course, people can be nasty and people can. We don't want somebody to leave our church and start a new church two blocks down the road and take a bunch of people with steal a bunch of sheep. That's not ever a good thing either, but NDAs and non-competes really are not going to solve that problem. 98% of the time I always tell people have an open hand. The gospel is meant to be shared. That's the very essence of what we're trying to do here. So that's the first one.

Speaker 1: 2:47

The second one is trust is paramount and ministry, if anything, if anything, should be built on trust, it should be ministry Non-disclosure agreements. They create an atmosphere of suspicion and secrecy and they undermine kind of the open communication and collaboration that are essential for a healthy church. And these agreements are put into place usually upon hire, so you're placing that even before the person starts their first day. Hey, we need you to sign this and it doesn't portray an attitude or an atmosphere of trust. So trust needs to be in your ministry DNA, okay. Reason number three pastors are called, they're not contracted. Okay, pastoral calling, pastoral ministry is a calling, it's not just a job. And these NDAs, these non-competes, can really interfere with a pastor's sense of calling. These non-competes can really interfere with the pastor's sense of calling and it can limit their ability to follow God's leading at times. So really, these two types of agreements a lot of times are cover your butt, legal ease to cover the church's butt. And if there's trust and the gospel is paramount, then we really think that churches shouldn't have to do that.

Speaker 1: 4:06

Number four is just legal challenges. Enforcing non-compete agreements in the church context can be legally complex, it can be costly and it can lead to unnecessary conflict and division, even in the worst case. I don't know that. I've heard I'm sure there have been that I've not heard of, but I've not heard of anybody actually trying to legally enforce a non-compete agreement. And for you to do that it's going to be public and it's not something that you're going to want to take your own church through. The consequences of that legal challenge might be worse than whatever happens by somebody going off and going against that non-compete agreement. By somebody going off and going against that non-compete agreement, okay.

Speaker 1: 4:46

And then number five I just mentioned it negative perception Churches that use these agreements. They're going to risk being perceived as controlling and distrustful and more concerned about protecting their own turf rather than advancing the kingdom. And that's going to be an internal and an external perception. Internally, if you try and enforce one of these agreements with a former staff member, it's not going to look good for you as a church. But outside the church, wow.

Speaker 1: 5:14

I've read some blistering comments about churches that have had these non-disclosure agreements, non-compete clauses and contracts. When things go sour and people start telling what they had to sign. It's also an external, very negative perception to the church. Now hear me out here. I understand the concerns that some churches have about protecting intellectual property Absolutely you have to do that. Concerns about preventing pastors from taking congregants with them when they leave Absolutely you have to be concerned about those things. But again, the gospel and trust is just really paramount and if those things happen, it's because those two things have been breached. So there's probably a bigger problem than one person or a bigger agreement have been breached. So there's probably a bigger problem than one person or a bigger agreement.

Speaker 1: 6:09

There are better and healthier ways to address these issues, and that's one is just to be healthy and trust and stay on your gospel mission so that these things don't rear their ugly head. When they do, it's a matter of looking at what the underlying, much deeper issue is. The underlying, much deeper issue is. So here's our advice Instead of relying on restrictive agreements, focus and this is hard work on building a positive and supportive church culture, one where staff feel valued, where they don't want to leave, where they feel appreciated and empowered, and foster open communication. When there's conflict, address it constructively, address it early and really create that shared sense of ownership in the ministry. So here's your bottom line for today Non-competes NDAs are not only unnecessary most of the time in the church concept, but they also can be really harmful to your church's health and to your reputation.

Speaker 1: 7:07

So let's church, let's choose trust over control and collaboration over competition, and the freedom of the gospel over the fear of losing our trade secrets. It's hard, it's hard, and I understand why churches feel like they need to do this, but in the end I just don't think it's worth it. So that's my two cents. You may disagree. I'd love to hear your comments on it, though you can reach out to me anytime. I'd love to hear your comments on today's podcast, on anything with non-competes NDAs. Maybe you've been under one, maybe you're under one right now and you're like oh, my goodness, what do I do? Love to hear from you, love to hear your story, love to hear your feedback. You can do that to me anytime. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. All right, thanks so much for joining us today. Tomorrow we'll be back right here every day, monday through Friday, for the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Have a great one.