Before You Go - Leaving With Integrity

This episode focuses on the necessary steps for leaving a ministry role with integrity and character, emphasizing how those final moments can define a leader's legacy. By stressing the importance of clear communication, maintaining confidentiality, and embodying integrity, we provide guidance for those navigating their transition.

• Importance of leaving with integrity and character 
• Clear communication about resignation and reasons for leaving 
• Maintaining confidentiality to protect trust and relationships 
• The impact of legacy in ministry and how it’s shaped by departure 
• How emotional reactions from colleagues can affect transitions 
• Encouragement for listeners to reach out for support 
• Call to action for accessing Wade Hodges' book, "Before You Go"

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Transcript

Leaving a Ministry Role With Integrity

Speaker 1 0:09

How you leave a ministry role says just as much about you as how you served in your ministry role . Whether your transition is smooth or messy , your integrity is on display . And that's what we're going to talk about today Diving into key steps to leave well your church job , with character and honor and zero regrets . It's really important , so I hope you'll stick around here on the Healthy Church Staff podcast today . My name is Todd Rhodes . I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and we have been talking this week about how to leave a ministry role well and when you leave your current church , it's about more than just logistics . It's about your character , and we're working through Wade Hodge's book called Before you Go , and Wade reminds us that leaving with integrity means finishing well and maintaining your witness as a leader , and that's what we're talking about today is leaving with integrity . It's really , really important . I've seen far too many leaders leave their church and lose their integrity , so let's talk about it . How do you leave with integrity ? First of all , we've talked about this this week . It comes up in every episode this week it's already Wednesday . Communicate clearly and honestly , be transparent , as transparent as you can about your reasons for leaving , while maintaining respect for all those parties that are involved . Avoid any gossip or blame , but try and be transparent as transparent as you can without blowing things up , okay , but when it comes to how you do this and how you leave with integrity , here's something I think that's really , really important and I just mentioned it and that's maintaining confidentiality . You know , protect the trust of those you've worked with by keeping sensitive information private , not just during the transition , but even after you've left . This is not the time to throw people under the bus . This is not the time to one-up somebody . It's not the time to take credit or time to put somebody down or talk against someone . You shouldn't ever do that , but especially that doesn't sound right . And you shouldn't ever do that , but especially that doesn't sound right , especially during a transition , because things can blow up and things will blow up , and if you don't maintain confidentiality , guess whose integrity is going to take a hit ? It's going to be yours .

Speaker 1 2:39

Legacy is a word that I don't particularly like in church world , although as human beings , we want our work to continue . My guess is , if you're leaving your church , that you've had some good days there and that you've accomplished some good things for the kingdom and chances are you want to and you might use this word , you might not you want to keep your legacy intact . You want to be remembered for the role that you had at your church . So , whether that's a good thing or a bad thing , I think it's something that we all work through and deal with and , from a legacy standpoint , I just want to talk about integrity today . If you lose your integrity we already talked about confidentiality , but if you lose your integrity during this process , you will not be remembered well . So your actions in these final weeks and these final days will reflect and could potentially change how people feel about you and think about you if you don't leave well , and it could ruin years of reputation . So here's what I want you to think about today Integrity .

Speaker 1 3:58

We've all heard this definition before . Integrity is who you are when nobody's looking . I've heard it say you know , if you're in the middle of the country and I live in the country you know and there's a stop sign , you know there's nobody coming to you . You'll still stop . That's integrity , right ? Well , living well is a testament to your character and to your faith , and it's really incredibly important that you leave your role with integrity . So if you're going through transition , I would just ask you how are you doing ? How are you doing there ? I'd love to hear how you're doing . You can send me an email podcast at chemistrystaffingcom .

Speaker 1 4:37

But where are you challenged in this area ? There are going to be as soon as you announce your resignation or that you're moving on , there are going to be some people that are unbelievably sad . It's going to be like grieving the death of a loved one because you're moving three states or 30 miles away or to a different church across town . Some people are going to grieve . A lot of people are just going to be indifferent , and that might bother you , but they were probably indifferent long before you announced you were going somewhere . And then there are going to be some other people that , honestly , are going to be a little bit happy . They're going to breathe a sigh of relief and say whew , todd's leaving .

Speaker 1 5:22

I still remember I think I've shared this on the podcast before , maybe I haven't when I put in my resignation at one church after the board meeting . It was about 20 minutes after the board meeting . I was talking with some of the people that were disappointed , that were grieving that I was leaving , and I walked past a doorway of one of the offices and there was one of our board members in there sitting back in his chair with his feet on the desk , and I heard him say , finally . And I heard him say finally . You want to know how that rubbed up against how I wanted to leave with integrity . It was everything I could do to keep walking and not go back . And you know , give this guy a little peace of my mind , because he'd been to burn my saddle too . He wasn't the reason I left , but he wasn't one of the reasons I was excited about staying either .

Speaker 1 6:14

So just know that I kind of rambled there with a story , but just know that when you do make your announcement , when you are in transition , there are going to be and you may not even see them coming . You might not even know where they're coming from . It might be a total surprise . It might be somebody you didn't expect , it might be a situation you didn't expect , but there's going to be something that's going to come your way . I'll almost guarantee it . There's going to be something that comes your way . It's going to be really hard for you to take the high road , okay . It's going to be really hard for you to keep your integrity and I'm just telling you do it , take the high road . It is very , very stinking important that you leave well , don't burn bridges and leave well . It's a tough time and if there's any way that I can help you , maybe you're right in the middle of it and you're like Todd man .

Speaker 1 7:05

You've been reading my emails , evidently because you know exactly what I'm going through . Pop me an email , tell me what you're struggling with Podcastatchemistry , where I'm going through . Pop me an email , tell me what you're struggling with podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . You know , sometimes it's good just to have somebody that you can kind of bounce some ideas off of or just kind of commiserate with , and I'm happy to be that person for you . So reach out to me anytime . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom , if you like what you're hearing .

Speaker 1 7:28

On the podcast we talk about all different kinds of things related to church staff and what's interesting to church staff . Our goal here is to make you and your church staff healthy in your ministry . So if you're liking what you're hearing you're kind of digging it don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss any future episodes . We're here every day , monday through Friday . Also , if your church is looking to make any staffing changes , hires , fires . That's really my day job . That's what I like to do and that's what I give my life and ministry to . You can visit chemistrystaffingcom Also . Reach out to me . Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom . I'd love to help you however I can and help your church however I can .

Speaker 1 8:11

And then , finally , if you are wanting to get a free copy of this book that we've been talking about , it's written by Wade Hodges . It's called Before you Go , just pop me an email . Podcasting at chemistrystaffingcom . It's packed with wisdom for exactly what you're going through , because Wade's been there and done that . He's seen the good , the bad , the ugly , and he wrote it all in a book . So if you'd like a copy of that , just pop me

Maintaining Integrity While Leaving Ministry

Speaker 1 8:35

an email .

Speaker 1 8:35

All right , thanks so much . I appreciate you taking the time to spend it with me today . It was a choice that you made and I'm so thankful for that . And just remember today that living with integrity it's not easy . If it was easy , everyone would have integrity . But leaving with integrity is not about just the impression you leave behind . It's really about honoring God . And if you want to have a good legacy , if you want to leave behind and have people think well of your ministry there . You need to leave with integrity , finish well and trust that God will guide your next steps . All right , take care , I'll see you again tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Step Podcast .