The Support Your Staff Says They Need (And You're Not Offering)

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the issue of burnout among church staff and what truly helps in addressing it. Recent Barna research highlights that mental and physical health support, rather than additional resources like conferences or curriculums, significantly aids burned-out pastors. The podcast emphasizes the importance of providing proper mental and physical support systems such as counseling and gym memberships, and encourages proactive dialogue to understand the actual needs of staff members. • Burnout in church staff is not solely a ministry problem but often linked to health issues. • Barna research indicates that mental and physical health support is most effective for combating burnout. • Traditional solutions like conferences and resources rank low in effectiveness. • Churches need to offer access to mental health care and promote its use without stigma. • Physical health care, including wellness stipends or gym memberships, is crucial. • Understanding staff needs through direct communication is essential.

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Transcript

When Good Help Does Not Help

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Your youth pastor comes to you and says they're struggling with burnout, so you do what good leaders do. You offer them access to that leadership conference. Maybe you point them toward a new curriculum or a resource library or a book that you think would help them. You remind them about the counseling budget if they really need it, and they smile and say thank you and walk away, but nothing really changes. And here's why nothing changes. You just offer them what you think helps, not what actually does. We're going to talk about some Barna research today that I think will help us in situations like these. Thanks

Barna Data On What Works

SPEAKER_00 0:49

for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at ChemistryStaffing.com, and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. In a recent Barna study, Barna asked burned-out pastors and church staff what actually helps? And what do you think the number one thing was? It was mental and physical health support. Counseling, therapy, gym memberships, health care access, the stuff that addresses the body and the mind, not just the ministry.

Why Training Ranks Last

SPEAKER_00 1:20

But that's not all. Here's the gut punch. Most churches aren't offering anything like that. Instead, we default to what we've always done. We offer more resources, more curriculum, more training, more conferences. And those actually, according to Barna, ranked at the bottom of the list for effectiveness. So a lot of times we're trying to solve a problem that they just don't have. So why do we keep doing this? I think because we think that burnout is a ministry problem. We assume if they just had better systems or better tools or better training, that burnout would go away. They'd be fine. But burnout isn't about lacking the right curriculum. It's about carrying too much for too long with no place to put it down. And honestly, it's about bodies that are exhausted and minds that won't shut off. It's about unprocessed grief. It's about unaddressed anxiety. It's about untreated stress. And we keep just handing them another book to

Normalize Counseling And Wellness

SPEAKER_00 2:20

read. Now, I know that your heart is good here. You're not ignoring this on purpose. You're not trying to give bad advice intentionally. But what I want to do today is help us to be honest about the gap between what we're offering and what actually will help move the needle. Because according to Barta, at least from their study, this is what your staff actually needs. They need mental health support. That's not a luxury anymore. It's a baseline care. And you might say, well, that's just a cultural thing, Todd. Back in my day, we didn't have any mental health support. And I get it, I get it. But this is something that is the reality in our culture today. And if your staff has health care, that's great. But do they have the time to use it? Do they have permission? Do they feel like they've got permission to see a therapist or a counselor without shame? Have you normalized counseling as a leadership tool, not as a your marriage is breaking apart, last resort type of an item? And physical health matters too. Burnout shows up in the body first. Some churches are covering gym memberships or wellness stiphons, others are building in a Sabbath rest, a real rest, not just a day off to catch up on errands. The point isn't to copy somebody else's playbook. The point really is to ask your staff what would actually help and then

Stop Spiritualizing Real Exhaustion

SPEAKER_00 3:45

offer it. Because a lot of times I think we're just afraid that we may uncover a real issue here. We're afraid that if we name the mental and physical toll of ministry, it'll sound like we're somehow weak or that we're not trusting God enough. So we spiritualize it. We just say, pray more, lean into your calling. That's what we did back in my day when I first started ministry. It's almost like the worse it got, the harder you the more you leaned in because dang it, God had called me to do this. And he never said it would be easy, so I'm just gonna buckle down and do it. And that's just not the way it works today. Actually, Jesus cared about bodies. He fed people, he rested, he withdrew. Paul told Timothy to stop drinking only water and take a little wine for his stomach, right? The Bible does not separate the spiritual from the physical. We're the ones that are doing that. And right now, in our culture, it's costing us a lot of times our best people. So here's what I want you

Two Next Steps And How To Reach Me

SPEAKER_00 4:48

to hear. Here's the bottom line for today. Your staff doesn't need more curriculum, they need more care. Okay, so this week I'd love for you to do two things. First of all, ask your team directly what kind of support would actually help you right now. Don't assume, don't guess, just ask. And then second, pick one thing that you can actually offer in the next 90 days. Maybe it's access to counseling. Maybe it's a wellness stipend. Maybe it's protected rest. You can't fix everything, but you can close one gap. So start there. Your team isn't asking for the moon. And that youth pastor, when he comes up and tells you that he's tired and that he's burned out, they're actually looking for some help. And you have more power to offer help than you think. Maybe you need to have a conversation with this about somebody that's not on your team and just say, What do I do here? And I am offering that to you today. If there's any way that I can help your church, maybe it's in this area of church health. Maybe it's in what you can do to help provide support to your staff. I'd love to have that conversation with you, see if there's anything, any way that we can partner up with the team here at Chemistry Staffing in your church. Just reach out to me. Short little email, and I'll reach back out and we'll set up a time to talk. Just reach out to me at podcast at chemistry staffing.com. All right, that's it for today. I hope you have a great weekend. We're going to be right back here on Monday on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Got a great set of topics up next week, so you won't want to miss it. If you're not already subscribed, go ahead and hit subscribe wherever you're listening to this, and then we'll be notified so you won't forget to tune back in right here on Monday. All right, thanks. Have a great weekend. Good luck to you.