The Church Leadership Pulse

Church Leadership Radar - Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 4:57

Today on Church Leadership Radar, host Ted Rhoades covers three significant stories for church leaders:

📰 Stories Covered:

  • Eli Lilly vs. COGIC Leaders: Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly has filed a federal lawsuit against a Church of God in Christ general board member, his son, and his daughter — alleging a $200M+ fraud through a sham prescription cost-share program. Financial integrity is foundational. This one is worth watching closely.
  • Elevation Church Launches Elevation College: A campus-based, immersive ministry training program with limited spots and costs up to $20,000/year including housing. Large churches are increasingly building their own leadership pipelines — what does that mean for your team's development strategy?
  • Emergency Succession Planning Guide from The Unstuck Group: A practical, actionable resource on what to have in place before an unexpected leadership departure. Every church leadership team needs to read this.

✨ The Bright Spot: ARC (Association of Related Churches) celebrated its 25th anniversary — having helped launch over 1,200 churches worldwide. Long-term faithfulness in action.

💡 Takeaway: Does your team know who steps in if your key leader can't be there tomorrow? If the answer is "we'd figure it out," that's your sign.

📚 Sources & Resources:

📧 Sign up for the Church Leadership Radar newsletter
🎙️ Healthy Church Staff Podcast

You're listening to the Daily Church Leadership Radar. Hey, it's Ted Rhodes, Todd's AI twin brother. Todd ran out of Dr. Pepper, so he's out on a gas station run. Somebody's got to hold down the fort. It's Wednesday, June 3rd, and this is Church Leadership Radar, your daily catch up on what matters in church leadership. Here's what's happening today: a major federal fraud lawsuit hitting a prominent denomination. Elevation Church making a bold move in ministry training and a resource every leadership team honestly needs to read. Let's get to it. First up, a story that's going to be hard to ignore. Drug manufacturer Eli Lilly has filed a federal lawsuit against a Church of God and Christ general board member, his son and his daughter, the allegation they defrauded the company of more than $200 million through what's described as a sham prescription cost share program. Church of God and Christ has issued a statement and the accused deny any wrongdoing. Here's the thing a $200 million fraud allegation involving named church leaders is not a small story. Financial integrity isn't just good stewardship, it's the foundation. And when it cracks, the damage goes well beyond the courtroom. This one will play out in federal court. Worth watching. Now it's some news worth watching for different reasons. Elevation Church has announced the launch of Elevation College, a campus-based ministry training program with limited spots and annual costs of up to $20,000, including housing. Now listen, this is not a streaming certificate or a weekend workshop. Elevation is going all in on immersive in-person ministry formation, and they are not alone in this trend. More large churches are building their own in-house training pipelines rather than sending people off and hoping they come back. Here's what I'm watching. If this model gains traction, and I think it will, others will follow. The question for most of us isn't whether to launch our own college. It's how we're developing the next generation of leaders on our own teams right now, wherever we are. And here's one you need to read, especially this week. The Unstuck Group has published a practical guide on emergency succession planning for churches. What to have in place before an unexpected leadership departure, how to name an interim, how to communicate with your congregation before a crisis hits. Most churches don't have a plan for what happens if their key leaders suddenly gone. Not because they don't care, but because no one wants to have that conversation. This guide makes it easier to start, all right? Some good news. The Association of Related Churches, ARC, just celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary at a milestone conference in Charleston, twenty-five years in, and the network has helped launch over twelve hundred churches worldwide. 1,200, it's not a typo. Church planning can feel slow and uncertain. And then you zoom out and see a number like 1200, and you remember the kingdom is expanding. This is what long-term faithfulness looks like. So what's the takeaway from all this? I keep coming back to that emergency succession planning piece. Here's the thing: most leadership teams aren't skipping this conversation because they're careless. They're skipping it because it feels morbid, like you're planning for something you refuse to believe will happen. But this week, two prominent ministry leaders went public with significant health challenges, choosing transparency and resilience over silence. Both are continuing to lead, and both are reminders that any church can be one unexpected departure away from a real crisis. The organizations that navigate that well aren't the ones who just got lucky. They're the ones who had a hard conversation nobody wanted to have and made a plan anyway. Let me say that again. They made a plan anyway. So the question for today is simple. Does your leadership team know who steps in if your key leader can't be there tomorrow? Not someday. Tomorrow. If the answer is we'd figure it out, that's your sign. I'm Ted Rhodes, in for Todd today. He'll be back as soon as he tracks down a Dr. Pepper, off to report back to Todd in the meantime. Until next time, go lead well today.