The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Ministry Relay: Passing the Leadership Baton
Ever wonder why so many ministry transitions go sideways? The answer might make you uncomfortable: too many leaders grip the baton until their knuckles turn white.
Leadership isn't meant to be a solo marathon. Throughout scripture, we see a clear pattern of intentional handoffs—Moses to Joshua, Paul to Timothy, Jesus to his disciples. Yet in modern ministry, we've glorified the idea of running alone, staying in position as long as possible, and maintaining tight control. This mindset not only exhausts leaders but prevents churches from experiencing the fresh vision and energy that thoughtful succession brings.
When you hold the baton too long, everyone loses. Emerging leaders get discouraged and leave. Church momentum stalls. Your legacy becomes defined not by how well you built, but by how poorly you transitioned. The warning signs are clear: persistent fatigue despite adequate rest, leadership that feels more like management than growth, and capable leaders waiting in the wings for opportunities that never come. These aren't signs of failure—they're natural indicators that it's time to start succession conversations.
Healthy transitions don't happen overnight. They require clear articulation of mission and values, ongoing honest conversations (not just announcements), public affirmation, and private empowerment. The most successful church successions begin years before the actual handoff occurs, allowing time for proper preparation of both the departing leader and the congregation. Remember, leaving isn't failure—it's faithfulness to God's next call. Your obedience isn't measured by how long you stay, but by how well you prepare others to carry the mission forward.
Ready to start thinking about your church's leadership future? Whether transition feels decades away or increasingly urgent, having experienced guides can make all the difference. Reach out to us at podcast@chemistrystaffing.com to explore how we can help you develop a succession plan that honors your ministry and sets up the next generation for success.
Have questions or comments? Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com
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Too many pastors treat ministry like it's a solo marathon, but it's actually a relay. In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, we're going to explore why leadership handoffs are essential for a healthy, sustainable ministry and what happens when you grip the baton a little sustainable ministry. And what happens when you grip the baton a little bit too long. So, whether you're approaching retirement or transition or just trying to raise up new leaders, today's episode is for you. Hi there, my name is Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistrystaffingcom and I'm your host right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. What if the biggest threat to your church's future is your refusal to let go? Too many leaders and ministry leaders think finishing strong means holding on, but in a relay race, that mindset loses the race. So today we're going to unpack why healthy churches thrive when leaders know how and when to pass the baton. We a lot of times talk about this as having a succession plan. So stick around, because that's what we're going to be talking about today, and one decision could determine your ministry's long-term impact. Okay, let's start here. Ministry is a relay, not a solo marathon. We've glorified the idea of running the race alone. A lot of pastors just have to. They're solo pastors or they just feel like they need to do things on their own. But the New Testament church wasn't like that at all, and the New Testament church wasn't built by solo runners. It was built by teams who handed off leadership intentionally, and they didn't hold it with a closed fist. Look at Paul. Paul passed leadership to Timothy. Moses passed it to Joshua. Jesus passed ministry to his disciples. None of them tried to cross the finish line alone. So today, if your mindset is I started it, so I should finish it, you may be sprinting past the very people God is calling you to equip and to hand things off to. Let's talk a little bit about the cost of holding on too long. I see this quite often. It has real consequences. Holding on too long causes confusion. It can weaken your church's momentum and your momentum as a leader. It often also discourages emerging leaders as well. Your team can stop growing if they sense that there's no place for them to lead and, even worse, if they wait too long, they'll just leave. Not out of rebellion, but because he held it tight-fisted. The grip was never loosened.
Speaker 1:Leadership is not just about carrying the baton. It's also knowing when it's time to let somebody else run for a little while. So how do you know when it's time to pass the baton? How do you know? Let me give you three different things that I think might help you if you're trying to figure out. Okay, is it time to start even having a conversation about succession, or start even having a conversation about when to pass the baton?
Speaker 1:Three ways, three warning signs, or three signs that it's time to at least start having a conversation. Number one you're just too tired. You're just tired, but you're afraid to admit it. You no longer feel that stretch of growth. You feel like you're just managing things and emerging leaders are knocking. You've got them, you've got some people around you. They're knocking on the door, but you just haven't opened the door.
Speaker 1:So passing the baton doesn't mean that you're quitting. It means choosing legacy over control. It means choosing stewardship over ego. Sometimes that's hard, but it's true. Set up the next runner so that they can do well, don't just drop the baton. And here's what a healthy standoff looks like Clear articulation of the mission and the values and having ongoing conversations, not just announcements. Anybody can make an announcement, but working through the actual conversations is the really hard part and getting public blessing and empowering the person you're handing it off to privately, just giving them empowerment. So many leaders drop the baton when they finally burn out. And let's normalize what we can With this totally. It's just natural that at some point you've got to pass the baton. Let's try and normalize the passing rather than making it as big a deal, as sometimes. What we make it out to be Leaving isn't failure, it's faithfulness. God doesn't just call us to ministry. Sometimes he calls us through it. So your obedience isn't measured by how long you stay, but how well you transition. At the end. A relay doesn't cheer the person who ran the longest. A relay team doesn't cheer the person that ran the longest. They cheer the team that finished with unity and purpose. So where are you at? Maybe you're nowhere close to thinking it's time to pass the baton. Maybe you've been thinking this for months, maybe even years, and you just haven't done anything about it.
Speaker 1:This is one of the things that we do, I think, really well at Chemistry Staffing is we work with a good number of churches that are working through this succession plan. We work with pastors, we work with boards, we work with congregations. Everybody comes into it with their own interest and interest at heart, and we've been through this before with other churches. Most of the time this is going to be your first time that you've ever had to pass the baton. In some ways, you don't know what you don't know. And same for your board. This might be the first time that they've gone through a change in leadership, just having some outside eyes and ears, somebody to kind of walk you through and help you set up the guardrails, because these things can be tricky at times.
Speaker 1:But it's never too early. I always say this it's never too early to start having the conversation. It's usually not too early to start having the conversation. And, side note, we like to work with pastors and churches two, three, even five years out front to develop that plan. The longer the plan normally, the better it ends up going and the long-term success of that succession plan goes well into the future. So if you're in the middle of a transition or thinking about one, you want to take the next step. You want to talk to me or somebody on my team at Chemistry? Reach out to me, podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I'd love to hear from you and podcast at chemistrystaffingcom and we'll set up a time and just kind of hear your story and see if there's any way that we can help. All right, we are here every day on the Healthy Church Staff podcast. I hope you'll join me again here tomorrow. Have a great day you.
