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
Generational Differences in Church Staff
Why do older church staff members thrive while younger staff struggle to find their footing? Join me, Todd Rhoades, on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast as I unravel the intriguing generational dynamics at play within church teams. Drawing from the latest 2024 Church Staff Health Assessment, we’ll explore the stability and fulfillment experienced by those aged 45 to 64 contrasted with the unique challenges faced by their 18 to 34-year-old counterparts.
Through heartfelt insights and practical advice, I urge church leaders to recall their own early ministry days and the significance of receiving that first opportunity. We'll discuss strategies for creating supportive environments where both seasoned and young staff can flourish, and reflect on the mutual growth that comes from bridging generational gaps. Tune in to learn how to foster a thriving, harmonious church staff team.
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Hey everyone, todd Rhodes here. Thanks for joining me today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. I'm one of the co-founders over at Gumsfruitsstaffingcom and today we're continuing our series. We've been doing it this week, we will continue next week on some of the high level findings from our church staff health assessment for 2024. It just released this week. We will continue next week on some of the high-level findings from our Church Staff Health Assessment for 2024. It just released this week. You can download your free copy at chemistrystaffingcom slash staffhealth. It's absolutely free.
Speaker 1:And today we're talking about generational differences in church staff. It's no secret that each generation brings its own set of values and strengths and challenges to the table. But how do these differences impact the overall health of our church staff teams? And that's what we're going to unpack a little bit today. Here are a couple of the high-level findings, top-level findings from our assessment this year, and you may find these to be surprising. You may find them not to be surprising. You may find them not to be surprising, but the first one is older staff members are thriving. Our assessment found that staff members aged 45 to 64 are generally thriving in their roles and they seem to have found a rhythm and stability in their ministry work, and they are the stable ones. They are the ones that have paid their dues. They are the ones that have suffered through the. They've lived through the honeymoon period and suffered through the period that follows that. They're the ones from a different generation that feel a strong calling to specifically local church ministry and, in general, if you're a staff member aged 45 to 64, we found that there are exceptions, but most are doing really well. They're thriving fairly well.
Speaker 1:The adverse, though, is also true. Younger staff are facing challenges. In contrast, younger staff members, particularly those aged 18 to 34, which I know 18 is really young, but absolutely 18 to 34, they're facing more and more difficulties. As a matter of fact, the most difficulties they report feeling much less fulfilled in their work, their full-time and part-time ministry work at a church, and they're more likely to consider leaving their roles. Matter of fact, turnover for these 18 to 34-year-olds is much higher, much, much higher than the 45 to 64-year-olds.
Speaker 1:Okay, so, these generational differences aren't just about age. They're about experience and about expectations and the unique challenges that each group faces. Older staff members might have more experience navigating the ups and downs of ministry. They've gone to the School of Hard Knocks. They've had their ups and downs, while younger staff members, they're still finding their footing, and the key is to recognize that these differences exist. Number one and number two find ways to support each group effectively.
Speaker 1:We need to create an environment in our churches where all generations can thrive. We all say that we want to do that, but it's much harder to actually do. We need to learn from each other. We need to grow together. This is something that's near to my heart, because there are a good number of just incredibly sharp young people that have been totally beat up by churches, and I just want to implore you as a church do not allow your church to be one of these churches that kind of chew up and spit out young staff people. These are people that many of whom God has called to ministry and they need our support.
Speaker 1:And one of the things I feel like I'm really sharing from my heart here today, one of the things that I share with churches and senior staff quite often, is to remember back to when you started in ministry. Remember to when you were probably young maybe college age, maybe even in high school where you felt that God called you to ministry. I want you to remember how that made you feel. And then I want you to remember that first made you feel. And then I want you to remember that first church that took a chance on you, the first church that said you don't really have the experience that we're looking for. You're rough around the edges, all of us. Somebody took a chance on us, somebody allowed us to come onto their staff and to be a part of their staff, and some of us had a really great first church staff experience. Some of us had horrible church staff experiences when we were younger, but the way that you treat and the way that you mentor or influence these younger generations that are the future of our church's leadership is incredibly important.
Speaker 1:What I would like to encourage you to do today is think about ways that you can improve. Maybe you've got some young people on your team that are struggling. How can you bring them along and support them effectively? First of all, maybe you just need to pair up some older, more experienced staff members with some of your young staff just to find a good mentor. Maybe they just need a good coach, a good mentor, and maybe you've got somebody on your team or maybe a volunteer. That would just be absolutely great for that. Maybe you don't and you're just like Todd. I need somebody that can coach and mentor my younger staff person. Reach out to me podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. We've got excellent church coaches that can coach and mentor younger team members and they would love to help you out with that. But this can provide younger staff with that valuable guidance and support while giving some older staff the opportunity to invest in the next generation. So that's the first thing. It's just maybe it's formal, maybe it's informal some type of a mentorship or coaching program.
Speaker 1:Secondly, encourage intergenerational collaboration. That's a big mouthful, but create opportunities for staff of different ages to work together on projects. If you're a seasoned leader, make yourself available to those younger people and create those open spaces for dialogue. They have a lot that they can learn from you. But guess what? I'm guessing that you've got some stuff that you can learn from them, particularly in unpacking how they think, how their generation thinks, and how to reach their generation, because it's different than how to reach your generation. So here's your bottom line for today these generational differences. They can be a challenge, nobody's disputing that, but they can also be a tremendous asset if we approach them with a bit of intentionality and some grace. So here's your call to action we approach them with a bit of intentionality and some grace. So here's your call to action Sometime this week, identify ways that you can encourage a younger person on your team.
Speaker 1:If you have a younger person on your team, it could be as simple as a mentorship, pairing or a collaborative project. It could be as simple as taking them out to lunch once a month and building into them. It could be reaching out to chemistry to find a coach or a mentor that you can hire to bring them along the way if you're not able to do it yourself. But let's learn from each other and, as we do, absolutely, you will build a stronger and more unified ministry team. All right, that's it for today's Healthy Church Staff podcast. I hope you've enjoyed it. We will be back again next week with another week of unpacking some of what we learned in this year's Healthy Church Staff assessment. You can download it again at chemistrystaffingcom slash staff health.
