The Church Leadership Pulse
Church Leadership Radar is your daily catch-up call for what's happening in church leadership across America. In just 3-4 minutes each weekday morning, get the headlines, trends, and stories that matter — plus a bright spot to start your day encouraged.
The Church Leadership Pulse
Church Leadership Radar - Monday, May 18, 2026
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Today on Church Leadership Radar:
- James Robison passes at 82 — The founder of Life Outreach International leaves behind a legacy of humanitarian service: feeding millions, drilling water wells, and pointing his platform toward people others overlooked. Life Outreach International now faces a significant leadership transition.
- Youth Pastor Compensation Shifts Fast — The 9th Annual Youth Pastor Compensation Report is out. Only 6.4% of full-time youth pastors now earn below $40,000/year — down from 20% just two years ago. If your church is budgeting based on 2023–2024 data, you're already behind.
- We Don't Need Resilience — We Need Resurrection — Tish Harrison Warren's new book challenges the "bounce back" framework dominating pastoral health conversations. Her case: resilience is a thin category for people who believe in an empty tomb.
- Good News: Churches Bet on Gary, Indiana — A coalition of churches is investing long-term in Gary through housing and sustained neighborhood presence — not a quick project, but a deep commitment to a place most people have written off.
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You're listening to the Daily Church Leadership Radar. Hey, it's Ted Rhodes, Todd's AI twin brother. Todd's cats kept him up last night. I don't have that problem. So here I am to get you started. It's Monday, May 18th, and this is Church Leadership Radar, your daily catch up on what matters in church leadership. Here's what's happening today. A major evangelical voice has passed away. The new youth pastor compensation data is moving faster than most churches realize, and a book making the case that what weary leaders actually need isn't resilience, it's resurrection. Let's get to it. James Robison, founder of Life Outreach International, passed away Saturday at the age of 82. For decades, Robeson was one of the most recognizable voices in evangelical Christianity, and he backed it up. Millions of people were fed. Water wells were drilled in some of the world's most vulnerable communities. His humanitarian work was as big as his media presence. And here's why that matters. When someone like Robison passes, it surfaces a question for all of us in ministry. Not just what we built, but whether what we built actually served people. His legacy answers that pretty clearly. Here's what I'm watching. Life Outreach International now faces a real leadership transition. How they navigate the months ahead is worth paying attention to. Let's talk compensation because the data is moving faster than most churches realize. The ninth annual youth pastor compensation report is out. The headline: only 6.4% of full-time youth pastors now earn below $40,000 per year. Two years ago, that number was 20%. That is a meaningful shift in a short window of time. And here's why that matters. If your church is budgeting a youth ministry higher based on what things look like in 2023 or 2024, you are probably behind. The entry level floor has moved. Get your leadership team current before the next search, not after. One more thing for your Monday morning. There's a new book making the rounds built around a claim that stops you in your tracks. We don't need resilience. We need resurrection. Tish Harrison Warren pushes back on the whole bounce back framework that has dominated pastoral health conversations. Her argument resilience is actually a thin category for people who believe in an empty tomb. What we hold on to is something deeper, not just getting back up, but being raised. For leaders who have been grinding through a hard stretch and reaching for resilient like it is somehow enough, this reframe is worth sitting with. Alright, some good news, Gary. Indiana has been a symbol of urban decline for decades, and Christians are betting on it anyway. A coalition of churches has been investing in Gary through housing, sustained neighborhood presence, and community development. Not as a quick project, but as a long-term commitment to a place most people have written off. This is what the church looks like when it decides to stay slow, costly, and exactly right. So what's the takeaway from all this? Let's go back to James Robinson. 82 years. A platform he could have used entirely for himself, and instead he pointed it toward wells in Africa and meals for people nobody else was serving. Here's the thing most of us will not build a nationally recognized ministry, but we are all building something. Every church leader is constructing a legacy right now, whether they are thinking about it that way or not. The question is not whether you will leave something behind. You will. The question is whether it was worth leaving. Robison kept asking himself that, and the answer showed up in where he spent his resources and his years. What are you building this week that will outlast you? Let me say that again. What are you building this week that will outlast you? Carry that into your Monday. I'm Ted Rhodes, in for Todd today. Now I'm gonna go wake him up. He can take it from here tomorrow. Until next time, go lead well today.