Ministry PTSD: When Your Church Staff Carries Wounds from Previous Churches

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades addresses the concept of 'ministry PTSD,' referring to the invisible wounds church staff might carry from past experiences. These past difficulties can shape how they respond to change and interact within their current roles. Todd discusses the importance of recognizing these wounds, creating a culture of healing, and building trust to support church staff effectively.• Discussion on 'ministry PTSD' and its impact on church staff behavior.• Church staff may carry invisible wounds from previous church experiences.• Past experiences influence current reactions, such as defensiveness or withdrawal.• Creating a culture of healing and psychological safety is crucial.• The importance of recognizing ministry PTSD and taking corrective actions.• Engaging with staff about their past experiences helps build understanding and trust.• Healthy churches are built by allowing wounded staff to heal, not by hiring only unblemished staff.

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Transcript

Naming Ministry PTSD

How Past Wounds Show Up At Work

Healing Through Safety And Consistency

Shift Your Leadership Approach

Practical Conversations To Build Trust

Final Charge And Tease For Tomorrow

SPEAKER_00 0:08

So you're in a staff meeting discussing a new initiative, and you notice that Sarah immediately tenses up when you mention any kind of change. And Mike starts being defensive and making defensive comments about being heard. And Jennifer, on the other hand, just goes quiet and just checks out completely. And you're thinking, what's happening? What just happened? This wasn't even controversial. This wasn't even a topic that thought there would be any kind of pushback on. Here's what you might be seeing: what I call ministry PTSD. It's the invisible wounds that your staff maybe brought from their last church. Some of that sound familiar? We're going to talk about it today, right here on the podcast. My name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at Chemistrystaffing.com, and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Talking about ministry PTSD today, and it could be that what happened to your staff before is happening in your meetings now. Let's talk about that. This is a reality that a lot of leaders just miss. Your staff didn't arrive as blank slates. They came in, usually, unless they're fresh out of college, they came in with some invisible scar tissue. Maybe it was from the pastor that micromanaged everything. Maybe it was from the board that at their last church that blindsided them with criticism. Could be that it was a church that promised support and then just disappeared. And the toxic culture they barely escaped somehow gets brought in to your current church and into their current role. And those wounds don't just disappear because they got a new job. So let's talk a little bit about how this, what I call ministry PTSD shows up. Okay. It could be one of those scenarios like what we talked about at the beginning of the podcast. It could be a worship pastor who just over-explains every single decision. It drives you crazy because this person just over-explains everything. Could be because the last question his the last church that he was at or she was at questioned absolutely everything. Maybe it's the admin who hoards information. They keep it tight vested. They don't share any more than what they need to. But that could be because transparency got weaponized before, and she just determined, hey, I'm not gonna go there. Maybe it's the youth pastor who just won't take any risks. That could be because innovation got them fired the last time. Maybe she did something a little innovative, and the pastor of the church board just said, Nope, you're out. Could be that it's the executive pastor who automatically assumes the worst. And it could be because good intentions turned into betrayal in their last role. Now listen, this isn't about making excuses or walking on eggshells around damaged people. Not at all. Not at all. We want to, though, do create space for healing. Okay? If you name it directly, your culture will get better. So name it directly. Some of us have been hurt by the church before. Those experiences shape how we show up here. Hey, we want to be different, but it takes time. Create that psychological safety through your consistency in your leadership. Do what you say you're gonna do. When you say when you say something that you're gonna do it. Address any broken promises immediately. And don't let small trust breaks become big trust breaks. You need to give permission for people to heal slowly. Hopefully, you knew about some of this hurt when you hired them, but sometimes it just shows up. And you need to remember that healing isn't linear or convenient. Some days, it'll be fine. Other days, man, something maybe what we talked about in that staff meeting, something will just trigger them. And you need to know that this is normal. Okay, it's not a character flaw. So, how do you make this culture shift? Because a lot of churches just need to, first of all, recognize that this PTSD exists, and then once you recognize it, how do you take corrective action? First of all, stop being defensive all the time, at least personally. Start asking, hey, what happened to make you feel this way? And that might not be in a meeting, that might be on a one-on-one. Maybe you stop rushing past their hesitation. Maybe you start proving safety that they're safe in their role through your actions. Because here's the thing about ministry PTSD: it doesn't disqualify somebody from great ministry. Matter of fact, some of your best staff members are going to carry these wounds. They just need a leader who understands. And they need a leader who will build trust and rebuild trust one interaction at a time. That's what they need. So here's the bottom line for today. Your staff's past church experience are sitting right there at your conference table, whether you acknowledge them or not. This week, have a conversation with a staff member about the previous church experience. You don't have to be overt about it, but everybody likes talking about their experiences and talking about themselves, right? So ask them not to dig up gossip or gather dirt, but just to understand what shaped them. Ask, what did you love about your last role? What would you never want to repeat? Listen without trying to fix anything, because what you're going to find, and if you and me were sitting in a room and you asked me to tell you my ministry journey, there are some touch points that probably not very many people know that have totally affected the way that I do ministry. So you won't know if you don't ask. So those staff members, make sure you just take some time, maybe just with one this week, to ask them, you know, about their past church or their ministry history. Or this is a favorite question I like to ask you. Just tell me about how you got into ministry. Tell me about your calling. How do you why are you doing this? You could be doing anything. You're talented, you're gifted, you could be doing anything. Why are you doing what you're doing? Why are you working in a church and why are you working in this church? Healthy teams aren't built by hiring people without wounds. They're built by creating cultures where wounded people can heal. All right. Well, thanks for listening. Hope you'll come back tomorrow. Tomorrow we're going to talk about. I know we just did a series on succession, but tomorrow we're going to talk about when's the last time you thought about who could step into your role if you weren't there. It's an interesting conversation that not many of us want to have, but we're going to have it right here tomorrow. Hope you'll join me right here on the healthy church death. Have a great day.