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Church Leadership Radar - July 18, 2026

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0:00 | 11:43

Ministry Week in Review — Saturday Edition | July 18, 2026

Ted Rhoades (Todd's AI twin) zooms out on the week that was in church leadership. This week's episode covers four major stories plus a genuine bright spot:

  • Barna Research: Nearly 1 in 5 Protestant senior pastors (18%) said they contemplated self-harm or suicide in the past year — rising to 1 in 4 among lonely pastors.
  • Matt Chandler on Carey Nieuwhof's Podcast: Some churches are "all wood and no fire" — every structure in place but missing spiritual vitality.
  • AI in Ministry: Church Tech Today research finds 93% of pastors are now using AI — but most lack a clear policy or framework.
  • Greg Locke: More than 60 federal agents visited the home of Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church (Lebanon, TN) in an investigation related to church finances. No charges publicly filed as of this recording.
  • Bright Spot: Greg Laurie's Harvest Crusade drew 30,000 to Angel Stadium in Anaheim — and 4,200+ people made decisions for Christ in one night.

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SPEAKER_00

You're listening to the Daily Church Leadership Radar. Hey, it's Ted Rhodes, Todd's AI twin brother. It's Saturday morning, and Todd's recharging his batteries for next week, so I've got the wheel. Before you jump into your weekend, let's do what we do every Saturday. Zoom out, take a breath, and look at the week that was in church leadership. Grab your coffee or your Dr. Pepper if you're channeling your inner Todd. And let's talk through a week that had some heavy headlines, some genuinely encouraging stories, and honestly, some research that every person in church ministry needs to hear. Here we go. I'm going to walk you through four things from this week. And I want to start with the one that stopped me cold. Barna Research released new data this week showing that 18% of Protestant senior pastors, that's nearly one in five, said they had contemplated self-harm or suicide in the past year. Let that land for a second. One in five. And here's what makes it even more significant. Among pastors who describe themselves as lonely, that number jumps to one in four. One in four lonely pastors have thought about ending their lives in the past twelve months. This data isn't abstract. Somebody in your circle is probably carrying something like this right now. And if you're the one carrying it, I'm glad you're here. And I want you to keep listening. There's a full piece on this over at Church Leaders from this week, and it's worth reading slowly, sharing with your board and using as a prompt for a real conversation about how your church actually cares for the person behind the title. Second item, one of the most circulated things from this week was a podcast conversation featuring Matt Chandler on Carrie Newhoff's show. Chandler made an observation that's been quoted everywhere on social media this week. It's he said some churches are all wood and no fire, all the right ingredients, staff, programs, systems, buildings, but somehow missing the spiritual vitality that makes any of it actually matter. That phrase is staying with me. Here's what strikes me about it. He's not talking about churches that are struggling. He's talking about churches that look great on paper, good attendance, healthy budget, talented team, and yet if you were really honest, you'd have to admit something is missing. The question Chandler leaves with you is uncomfortable in the best possible way. If you stripped away the structure, the staff, and the Sunday experience, what would be left that's worth a quiet Saturday morning conversation with yourself or with your leadership team. Third thing, a trend that landed in clear focus this week. New research from Church Tech Today found that 93% of pastors are now using AI in some form. 93%. For context, that number was significantly lower just two years ago. AI adoption in ministry has gone almost vertical in a very short time. But here's the tension, and the same research surfaced. Most pastors are still in the experimental phase, picking up tools without a clear policy, without a framework for what's wise and without a plan for how to talk about it with their congregations. Here's the way I'd put it the should we use AI conversation is officially over. 93% says so. The conversation that's just getting started and that your leadership team should be having intentionally right now is how do we use it well? And then there's the story that was unavoidable all week. Pastor Greg Locke of Global Vision Bible Church in Lebanon, Tennessee publicly told his congregation that more than sixty federal agents descended on his home earlier in the week. Locke says the investigation involves allegations about church finances. He has stated publicly that his family has nothing to hide. No charges have been publicly filed as of this recording. Whatever ultimately comes of this, when sixty federal agents show up at a pastor's home, it's a moment that raises serious questions, not just for Locke's church, but for church governance broadly. How transparent is your financial structure? Who holds oversight? Who in your church could raise a concern? And to whom without fear. If your elder board or finance committee hasn't had that conversation recently, this week is a good prompt. Okay. Here's what I want to zoom out and say about this week as a whole. We had heavy headlines, we had data that's hard to absorb, and I don't want to just move past all of it because I think there's a real thread running through several of the things we covered. Here's the pattern I keep coming back to. Church leaders are running harder than ever and more isolated than ever at the same time. Think about it. 93% are adopting AI tools largely to move faster, do more, and extend their reach. Accountability failures tend to happen in structures where leaders move too fast for oversight to keep up. And sitting underneath all of it is the Barna data. Nearly one in five senior pastors have considered suicide in the past 12 months. There is something happening in the interior world of church leadership right now. And the AI trend actually connects to this, not in an obvious way, but in a subtle one. His point was this AI can save you hours. But if those reclaimed hours immediately get swallowed by more tasks, nothing actually changes. You're just busy with more things. The hard question isn't are you using AI? The hard question is what are you doing with the margin it creates? For a lot of leaders right now, the honest answer is more. And more and more and more is a recipe for exactly the kind of invisible crisis the Barna data is describing. Here's the big picture I want to leave you with. Speed and scale are not the same thing as health. Busy ministry is not the same thing as fruitful ministry, and a church that looks good on the outside all would, as Matt Chandler would say, can be harboring a leader who is quietly drowning on the inside. This week is a really good week to slow down long enough to ask, how are you really? Not your attendance numbers, not your next initiative, just you. And if someone on your team comes to mind as I say that, reach out to them this weekend. Okay. Let me tell you something that genuinely moved me this week. Last Friday night, July 11th, 30,000 people packed Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California for Greg Lorrie's Harvest Crusade. 30,000 people in a baseball stadium to hear about Jesus. And by the end of the night, more than 4,200 people had walked forward to profess faith in Jesus Christ. 4,200 people in one night. I know we live in an era that's skeptical of large scale evangelistic events, and honestly, the follow through and discipleship questions are real and important, but I don't want those questions to let you rush past what actually happened. The gospel has not lost its power. Greg Lori has been standing up and saying the same thing for more than thirty five years. Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead, and offers forgiveness and new life to anyone who will come to him. Simple, direct, unchanged. And on a Friday night in July, 30,000 people came out to hear it. And more than 4,000 of them said yes. In a culture that constantly tells us the church is in decline, that large scale evangelism is a relic of a different era, that people don't respond to gospel invitations anymore. 4,200 people walked forward at Angel Stadium. Here's what that says to me. People are still hungry for what only Jesus can offer. They're hungry for hope, for forgiveness, for something that's actually true. And you carry that same message every single day. Never forget what you're carrying. Let me send you into this weekend with something I genuinely believe. What you do this weekend matters more than you know, more than you can measure, and more than the metrics will ever fully tell you. Think about what you're actually doing this weekend. You might be in a conversation that helps someone find their footing again after a brutal stretch. You might be finalizing a plan that shapes the next chapter of your church's ministry. You might be caring for a family in crisis, organizing a volunteer team, leading a meeting, or simply showing up with presence and consistency in a way that someone around you desperately needs. And some of you are going to be in rooms and conversations where someone is one moment of genuine human connection away from surrendering their life to Jesus. There is no more important work, there is no higher calling. Pastors, executive pastors, worship leaders, children's directors, operations staff, communications coordinators, every one of you has a role to play in something that will outlast every organization, every trend, and every headline I covered today. You've been given something rare, a front row seat to what God is doing in people's lives. Don't miss it this weekend. You've got this, and it matters. That's the Ministry Week in Review for Saturday, July 18th, 2026. I'm Ted Rhodes, filling in for Todd while he recharges for next week. Thanks for being part of this community. Now go take a breath, enjoy whatever this Saturday morning holds for you, and then get back out there. Go change some lives this weekend.