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
The Gossip Trap on Church Staff
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Sometimes it doesn't start with no. It starts with a sign. Shared frustration or a well-meaning heads up. But left unchecked, gossip has the ability to rot a church staff from the inside out. Today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, we're going to talk about how gossip subtly erodes team trust and why it happens even in healthy churches and what leaders can do to reverse the damage before it takes root. Hi there, my name's Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at Chemistrystaffing.com. And I'm glad that you've joined me right here today on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Did you hear what she said in that meeting between you and me? I don't think he's up for this rule. We've all heard this kind of thing happen. Some of us have even said it. Most of us have even said it. But gossip can ruin a church, but it can also wreak havoc on a church staff. It's not just toxic, it can be contagious, and it will quietly kill your team if you don't take care of it. So today on the podcast, I wanted to do a little bit more of a deep dive on why gossip is a big deal and why it spreads and how to stop it and how root how and why rooting it out might be part of your team's biggest leadership win this year. Alright, let's start here because gossip is not always obvious. Okay? It hides under a lot of different cases, right? Of processing or sharing concerns. But the heart posture is what matters here. And you need to ask yourself, is this information helpful or is it harmful? Is this person present in the conversation? Are we seeking clarity or building a coalition? Gossip rarely self-identifies. It's really hard, especially in 2025, to say to call out gossip for what it is. Gossip's kind of an old word. It sounds like care a lot of times, but it corrodes trust with every whisper. There are a lot of hidden costs of gossip on your team. It's going to fracture your alignment, it's going to create side conversations that are going to fuel mistrust. It's going to make feedback feel really dangerous because you're always concerned somebody's going to talk about you behind your back. That's gossip, right? It can lower morale, especially with newer team members who are trying to find their footing. And staff eventually will spend more time navigating team dynamics than doing ministry because of gossip. And worse, the ones who you care most about often are the ones that get affected the most. So, uh Todd, how in the world do we build a gossip-resistant team culture in our churches? And this is a rocket surgery here, I know that, but you do need to lead by example, right? It has to start with you. You can't vent down sideways or to uninvolved parties. You have to equip your team with phrases like, have you talked directly to them about that yet? Let's bring that up at our next check-in. Or that feels like a conversation better suited for them than it does for me. If you're a leader, if you're a pastor, you probably have people coming to you all the time with their gripes and complaints and moans and groans about somebody. And sometimes you just have to be careful that you're not entertaining gossip. And you just need to say, hey, that really seems like it's a better conversation. Have you come to them yet? Also, it's good to create some in intentional feedback loops. Build a culture on your team, on your staff, where you can have these intentional feedback loops where you can build a culture of candor and kindness. And when gossip surfaces, you can name it gently but clearly. Call people up, not out. Because if you call people out, it's not going to help them not to gossip. I'm telling you right now. It's just not going to happen. All right, here's the final thought. Here's the big idea for today. Gossip does not thrive where trust and courage live. Let me repeat that. Gossip does not thrive. It cannot thrive where trust and courage live. The more that you name the value of direct and grace-filled communication, the less room that gossip has to grow. I'd love to hear from you. What's one healthy phrase that you've used, maybe personally, but maybe with your family, with your kids, with your spouse, maybe with your church and your staff, what's one healthy phrase that you've used to gently redirect a gospel, gossip moment? I'd love to hear. You can reach out to me anytime podcast at chemistry staffing.com. And if there's any way I can help your church with any kind of healthy staff initiatives, maybe it's a compensation study, maybe it's a hire of a new staff, or maybe you've got to let somebody go and you need to have some help through those conversations and what you need to do, reach out to me anytime podcast at chemistry staffing.com. I'd love to be a helpful resource for you, however, I can. All right, that's it for today. I will be back here right tomorrow on the Healthy Church Death Podcast.
