The Strength of the Second Chair: Why XPs Are Your Best Crisis-Prevention Asset

This episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast emphasizes the crucial role of second chair leaders such as executive and associate pastors in maintaining the health and stability of a church. The host, Todd Rhoades, highlights the importance of empowering these leaders to act as truth tellers and crisis preventers by giving them the authority to speak openly and be involved in decision-making processes.• Second chair leaders play a vital role in crisis prevention within churches.• These leaders include associate, executive, children's, youth, and student pastors.• Second chair leaders have a unique perspective and can notice issues before they escalate.• Empowering second chair leaders to speak the truth is essential for church health.• Investing in and developing second chair leaders should be a priority for churches.• Churches benefit from a leadership team rather than a solo act by the senior pastor.

Have questions or comments?  Send to podcast@chemistrystaffing.com

Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts.

- - - - -

Is Your Church Hiring?
If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help.

Are You Looking for a New Ministry Role?
If you are open to a new church role in the next few months, add your free resume and profile at ChemistryStaffing.com.

Transcript

Who Counts As Second Chair

The Hidden View Of Cracks

Empowered Truth Tellers In The Room

The Weight Second Chairs Carry

Invest Authority And Succession

New Book And Getting Help

Tomorrow’s Topic And Subscribe

SPEAKER_00 0:09

If you want a crisis proof in your church, let me suggest that you don't start with the senior pastor. Start with the second chair, your executive pastor, your associate pastors, the people leading behind the spotlight. They see what nobody else sees. All the eyes are always on the senior pastor. But your second chair leaders, they know what everybody else knows. And in church after church, they're the ones who are either preventing the fall or they watch helplessly while the fall happens. We're going to talk about that and second chair leaders and their importance today, right here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. My name's Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over Chemistry Staffing, along with my good friend Matt Steen. All right, today we're talking about second chair leaders. Four things I want to share with you about second chair leaders. And just think of a second chair leader as anybody that's not the top dog, right? The senior pastor. Okay, second chair leaders can be the associate pastors, they can be executive pastors, they could be children's and youth and student pastors. Second chairs overall have the best view of what's really happening. They're going to see things that the senior pastor doesn't see. They're close enough to see the cracks, but often they're not empowered to speak into those cracks. They notice when the senior pastor starts falling away, even before the senior pastor knows. They notice when the feedback stops being welcomed. They notice when the culture of your church starts shifting. The question is Do your second chair leaders have you given them permission to say something? That's important. The second chair leader can be the truth teller that nobody else will see. Board members meet quarterly a lot of times. Staff see what leadership wants them to see. But the second chairman, they're right in the room and they can say the hard things if they're empowered, if the culture will allow it, and if they're not afraid of losing their job. The healthiest churches I've seen have executive pastors and second chair leaders who have real authority to push back, not as threats, but as trusted partners. So give them that ability to speak in. Number three, second chairs and second chair leaders often carry the weight that nobody else sees. All the eyes are always on the senior pastor. But second chair leaders, they're the ones that are translating all that vision into the execution. They're the ones that manage those things that the senior pastor won't or can't or just doesn't do. They're the ones that ones that clean up the messes that they didn't make. And they often, the second chair leaders, are often the ones that carry the emotional load of a team that's afraid to talk to the top. So if your XP is burning out, that's a leading indicator. Pay attention to that. And point number four, invest in your second chair like your church depends on it. Invest in your second chair like your church depends on it. Because if I can be honest with you, it does. Give your second chairs authority, not just responsibility. Give your second chairs a voice in decisions, not just in the execution of the decisions that the top person makes. Let your second chair people challenge you without any kind of fear of retaliation. Develop them as successors, not as subordinates. The strongest churches are led by teams, not by solo acts. So here's your bottom line for today. That second chair leader, and you might have one at your church, you might have a dozen at your church. But the second chair leader isn't just support staff. They really are your crisis prevention system. They're the ones that have your back and they want to have your back. Invest in them. If you're a second chair leader or you're a senior leader who wants to build a healthier partnership, I'd love to help. I've got a brand new book that I just published. It's called When the Church Falls. It talks about all of these kinds of things about how to build healthy cultures where truth gets told and leaders stay grounded. And you can get a copy, if you'd like, at When The Churchfalls.com, the website When the Churchfalls.com. I'd love for you to take a read and send me some feedback. You can always reach out to me at podcast at chemistry staffing.com. I'm always here to help you. And if there's any way that I can or anybody on our team here at Chemistry Staffing can help your church, hiring and firing and compensation, all different kinds of things, anything related to healthy, building a healthy church staff, any kind of conflict that you have, we'd love to chat with you and see if there's a way that we can help and partner with you. So you can reach out to me anytime, podcast at chemistry staffing.com. All right, that's it for today. We're back again tomorrow with a brand new episode. I hope you'll join me again tomorrow. Tomorrow, let me see. We are talking about, oh, this is gonna be a fun one. You're gonna want to come back. Subscribe if you haven't subscribed already. We're talking about when your church budget gets cut mid-year. Hopefully that's not your situation, but it might be. And if not, come and listen to the conversation. See you.