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
Staff Transitions in 2026 - Managing Post-Pandemic Church Changes
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Your youth pastor just resigned. What a great way to start the year. Great performance. He was loved by students. He had strong theology. But he came in and he told you, hey, Pastor, I am leaving the ministry altogether. I'm gonna go take corporate and to tell you the truth, it pays less than what I'm getting now. And but I just feel like this is what God wants me to do. And you just sit there, you're scratching your head, you're thinking, what in the world just happened? But in the last five to six years since that big event that happened those years ago, things have started to change. Things have changed. And you might be scratching your head thinking, what just happened? Why is somebody that was so good at ministry that fit in so well with our church, why are they leaving to pursue something that is not ministry? What happened to their calling? What just happened? Period. Here's what happened. And if this is happening to you, or if it's happened to you in the last five years, you might feel I like this is an isolated incident, but I'm telling you, it's not. Here's what happened. The game has changed, okay? And what people want from their careers and even their ministry careers, yes, their ministry careers. What people want from their careers has fundamentally shifted. And the pandemic did a lot, it messed with a lot of people in a lot of different ways. And ministry people and called people are no difference. Different things have fundamentally shifted for a lot. And most church leaders are still playing by the old rules. Chemistry staffing, I hear this all the time from churches, is that it's just different. We've not hired for five or six years, and it's so different. Does that sound familiar? We're going to talk about it today, right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for joining me today. My name's Todd Rhodes. I'm one of the co-founders over at chemistry staffing.com. All right, so let's name what's really happening here. Okay, I call it the new ministry math. Okay. Your staff isn't just asking, Am I called? Is this a place God wants me? Can I make a living here? They're asking, is this what I want to do with my life? Can I make a life here? And flexibility beats salary increases. And purpose beats prestige. And boundaries beat busyness. The old trade-off used to be I'll access accept less money for meaningful work. But the way that the game has changed and the mindset, not just in ministry world, but overall, particularly the younger you get, the old equation was accept less money for meaningful work, and the new equation is I want meaningful work and a sustainable life. And that means financially and everything else, right? And when churches can't deliver both, people start to walk. That is the new reality. So you're still hiring like it's 2015, where a ministry family sounds really good, or we'll guilt you into some overtime, or wear many hats. That translates into we don't respect role clarity anymore. Kingdom work requires sacrifice feels your family comes second, and people don't like that anymore. The church got away with that for many years. And the truth is, the reality is the best people aren't leaving because they lost their calling, they're leaving because they found their boundaries. And honestly, that's not a horribly bad thing. But we have to pivot as the church and as, yes, employers to be able to make sure that it's not just about being overworked and underpaid, because that just doesn't cut it anymore. Churches were able to get rid of get away with that for years. But I'm telling you, if you're still operating in that kind of a mindset that, hey, you're called and you'll do what you need to do, that's my generation. That's not the younger generation's mindset. So now listen, you're not wrong to expect excellence. Don't hear me saying that. You're not wrong for asking for commitment from your team. Don't hear me saying that. But the way that you show value has to be different and it has to evolve. Because what you really need is retention. The best way to have great staff is to keep the great staff that you have. They're so much harder to replace now than what they were five or six years ago. So here's what you need to do. You need to start those conversations about what flexibility looks like for each role. Todd, I shouldn't have to be flexible. I get it. I get it. But guess what? That's part of the game that's changed. And flexibility looks differently now. And what, particularly your younger staff members, even if they're called by God, even if they want to do what God wants them to do, they're still looking for flexibility that they weren't looking for five or six years ago. So ask your team, what ask your individuals, those that you think might be on the bubble, or the younger the staff member, have this conversation with them in this new year. What would make your role sustainable for you right here at our church long term? Ask that and create actual policies around time off, not just suggestions. Okay, and stop measuring commitment by hours in the building or how long you're in your office. Measure it by results and heart change and life change. And you need to promote people who model those healthy boundaries and make sustainable pace core value, not just a normal, a nice idea. Here's what's wild, okay? At least I find it wild. Churches that embrace this are actually getting better staff performance. When people aren't constantly stressed about that work-life balance that we're talking about, they will bring more creativity. And when they trust you to respect their boundaries, guess what? Even the younger guys and gals on your team, they will go the extra mile when it really matters. The irony? Giving people permission to have a life actually makes them better at their job. So here's the bottom line, here's the takeaway for today. The staff members who stay aren't the ones who need the job the most. Over time, the ones that stay are the ones who believe you value them as whole people. Alright, here's the challenge for this week. Have one conversation, just one. Have one conversation with each of your direct reports. Hopefully you don't have 20 direct reports, but this might be three or four conversations. Maybe it's one or two, maybe it's six or seven. But take some time to have one conversation with each of the people that report directly to them, to you, and ask them this. What's one thing? What's one thing, Joe, as a youth pastor, that would make you being a youth pastor here at First Baptist sustainable for the long term? And then be quiet. And actually listen. Don't defend, don't explain, just listen. Because what I think you're gonna find is that your people aren't asking for less responsibility. They're asking for a little bit more respect. And when you give them both and just sit back, you're gonna see some great things happen. Thanks for listening. Tomorrow, tomorrow, we're gonna be talking again about goals. I know we talked about goals yesterday, but I wanted to give you a couple more days because, hey, it's the first week of January. If you're already feeling the pressure or wondering why church ministry doesn't fit into those neat little goal categories, we talked about this yesterday, but we're gonna tackle it a little bit differently tomorrow. We're gonna talk about goal setting and what actually works in this menace, messy and beautiful world of ministry. So I hope you'll join me right here again tomorrow. Make it your habit. Maybe that should be your new year's resolution. I'm gonna listen to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast as much as I can. All right, I'll see you tomorrow right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks, have an absolutely great.
