Shows
The Healthy Church Staff PodcastYour Leadership Mindtraps - The Mental Obstacles Killing Your ImpactThis episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, hosted by Todd Rhoades, tackles the mental traps that challenge effective leadership. These traps include perfectionism, people-pleasing tendencies, and the need for control. Rhoades offers practical steps to overcome these traps and emphasizes the importance of prioritizing effective leadership over perfect leadership.• Mental traps are bigger hindrances to leadership than workload.• Common traps include perfectionism, people-pleasing, and control issues.• Perfectionism leads to unnecessary work and delays.• People-pleasers fill their schedules with others’ priorities, avoiding difficult conversations.• Control issues result in micromanagement and stifled innovation.• Effective leadership requires breaking free from these mental traps.• Soluti...
2026-01-1307 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe January Comparison Trap - When Other Churches' Success Stories Steal Your JoyThis episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast addresses the issue of church leaders comparing their progress to others on social media, particularly around the new year. Todd Rhoades encourages listeners to focus on their unique circumstances and the small, impactful moments in their church community rather than chasing the successes of others. He emphasizes that faithfulness isn't always flashy and that God's assignment for each leader is significant. Rhoades concludes by suggesting leaders write down unshared victories to remind themselves of their unique contributions.• Church leaders often feel inadequate due to comparison with others on social media.• January marks peak...
2026-01-0906 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastChurch Staff Goals That Actually Stick - Avoid January BurnoutIn this episode, Todd Rhoades discusses the challenges of goal setting in ministry, contrasting it with corporate practices. He emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and focusing on directional rather than destination goals in ministry settings. Rhoades encourages listeners to focus on faithfulness, character, and flexibility when dealing with unforeseen interruptions, which are common in ministry work.• Challenges of goal setting in ministry versus corporate environments.• Importance of directional goals over destination goals.• Focus on building relationships and discipleship, not just metrics.• Plan for interruptions as part of the ministry process.• Encouragement to make goals 'Wednesday proof' to endure real-world challenges...
2026-01-0707 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastGod May Surprise You More Through the Unplanned Than the StrategizedIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades emphasizes the importance of leaving room for surprises and divine interruptions in church planning. While strategic planning and organization are essential, giving space for unplanned God moments can lead to unexpected blessings and adjustments. Rhoades draws from biblical examples to illustrate how deviations from personal plans often lead to significant outcomes, suggesting that flexibility might hold greater value than strict efficiency in the new year.• Importance of leaving margin for surprises in planning• Biblical examples of God interrupting personal plans• Balancing strategic planning with openness to divine interventions• Flexibil...
2026-01-0204 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastYou’re Not Starting Over — You’re Starting DeeperIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades talks about changing perspectives on the New Year within church ministry. Rather than viewing January as a return to zero, where ministry leaders might feel the same fatigue and drama as years before, Todd suggests recognizing these experiences as growth opportunities. He emphasizes that everything learned from the past year contributes to spiritual and personal development. Entering 2026 shouldn't be about starting over but building on what has been internally planted. Todd encourages listeners to acknowledge God's work within the past year and to write down key lessons, fostering a...
2025-12-2904 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastYour Invisible Ministry Still MattersIn this Christmas Eve episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades emphasizes the significance of unnoticed, behind-the-scenes ministry work. He uses the example of anonymous figures in the Christmas story, like the stable owner who made room for Mary and Joseph, to highlight how quiet acts often play pivotal roles in God's work. Rhoades encourages church staff to recognize the eternal impact of their invisible contributions, asserting that every small effort helps set the stage for divine encounters, even if they go unrecognized by others.• Podcast focuses on unnoticed ministry work.• Examples from the Christmas story illustrate the impa...
2025-12-2405 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastGod With Us… Even in the ChaosIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the presence of chaos during the Christmas season, especially for ministry leaders. Drawing parallels between modern-day holiday chaos and the chaos surrounding the nativity story, Todd emphasizes that God often enters and exists within our disorder, rather than away from it. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on chaotic areas in their life and consider how God might be present in those moments.• Discussion on experiencing chaos during the holiday season, especially in ministry.• Comparison of modern holiday chaos to the nativity story's chaos.• Emphasis on God entering chaos rather...
2025-12-2305 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastWhat If Your Waiting Is Sacred_In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades explores the concept of waiting, not as a passive state of frustration, but as a sacred practice. He highlights the biblical figures Simeon and Anna, who exemplify active, hopeful waiting. Rhoades discusses how waiting is a significant aspect of leadership and discipleship, challenging listeners to view it as a formative period rather than wasted time. He encourages reflection on personal and ministry-related waiting, urging a shift in perspective to see it as an opportunity for deep spiritual growth.• Sacred vs. passive waiting• Biblical examples of Simeon and Anna• Waiting as par...
2025-12-2205 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastYou Might Be More Like Joseph Than You ThinkIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the theme of unsung heroes in ministry, highlighting Joseph from the Nativity story. Joseph, often overlooked, is portrayed as a model of silent, faithful service, much like many church staff who work diligently behind the scenes. Rhoades encourages listeners to see their hidden roles as sacred, reminding them that their efforts are crucial, even if unnoticed by others, as God sees and values their contributions.• Introduction to the Christmas series 'Unwrapped', focusing on unexpected aspects of the Christmas story.• Discussion on the overlooked role of Joseph in the...
2025-12-1607 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastWhen God Interrupts Your NormalIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades introduces the 'Unwrapped' Christmas series, examining often-overlooked aspects of the Christmas story that highlight how God works through chaos and disruption. Rhoades encourages listeners to see disruptions as opportunities for redemption, reflecting on how God's unexpected timing often leads to greater purposes. Listeners are invited to reflect on personal disruptions and consider them as invitations to witness God's work in tumultuous times.• Introduction to the 'Unwrapped' Christmas series• Exploration of overlooked aspects of the Christmas story• God's actions within chaos and disruption• Encouragement to view disruptions as invitations for rede...
2025-12-1506 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Staff Personality Problem You’re IgnoringIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the limitations of personality assessments and the importance of addressing deeper team dynamics in avoiding personality clashes that can harm workplace culture. He emphasizes that assessments alone don't create healthy teams, urging leaders to focus on behaviors and relational expectations. Rhoades offers strategies to manage team dynamics effectively and highlights the importance of empathy, maturity, and mission alignment in building successful teams.• Personality assessments alone are insufficient for creating healthy teams.• Unchecked personalities can result in destructive team dynamics.• Personality tests cannot determine emotional maturity or spiritual health...
2025-12-0807 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Soft Landing_ Helping a Staff Member Exit WellIn this podcast episode, Todd Rhoades discusses the complexities of transitioning church staff members out of their roles, emphasizing the importance of handling these situations with both clarity and care. He explains how poor off-boarding can damage both individuals and the organization, while a well-handled transition can preserve relationships and the church's reputation. Rhoades shares common pitfalls in the process and offers insights into how churches can implement a compassionate and clear off-boarding process that honors departing staff and supports their future endeavors.• The importance of handling staff transitions with clarity and care.• Common mistakes churches make include delaying conversations and...
2025-12-0410 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Staff Culture You're Accidentally CreatingIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades explores the crucial yet often unnoticed elements that shape church staff culture. He emphasizes the importance of intentional actions in creating a positive team atmosphere, outlining key strategies to align staff culture with organizational values. Rhoades provides practical steps to transform unintentional cultural habits into supportive and healthy environments within church staff settings.• Church staff culture is shaped by small, often unnoticed moments.• Unintentional culture, if not addressed, can become a liability.• Staff culture is formed in handling conflicts, promotions, failures, and celebrations.• Signs of an unhealthy culture include silence...
2025-12-0105 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Church You Have (Not the One You Imagined)In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the importance of being genuinely thankful for the church you currently serve, rather than longing for an idealized version of a church. He emphasizes that gratitude should exist in the present, recognizing the small miracles happening every day rather than just focusing on future goals. Todd encourages church leaders to embrace their current circumstances with gratitude, even amidst challenges and imperfections, and reflects on how such an approach could change their leadership perspective.• Reflection on gratitude during the Thanksgiving series.• Importance of being thankful for the current chur...
2025-11-2806 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Ministry That’s Still in You (Even When You’re Tired, Bitter, or Burned Out)In this Thanksgiving-themed episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the challenges of burnout and bitterness in ministry. He encourages listeners to view feelings of exhaustion and discouragement as signs of deep care rather than failure. Rhoades emphasizes the power of gratitude to rejuvenate one's ministry spirit, even when burnout is prevalent, and offers reflection questions to help listeners identify and appreciate moments of gratitude in their lives.• Addressing ministry burnout and bitterness during Thanksgiving.• Viewing discouragement as a sign of ongoing dedication, not failure.• Encouragement to use gratitude to rekindle ministry passion.• The importance of recogniz...
2025-11-2707 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Gratitude You Owe Your CriticsIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the unconventional aspect of gratitude, focusing on giving thanks for critics and those who may have misunderstood, underestimated, or even hurt you. He emphasizes that critics can play a significant role in personal growth and leadership development by exposing blind spots, refining motives, and teaching the importance of forgiveness and reliance on God. Rhoades encourages listeners to reflect on their critics as unintentional mentors who can foster deeper character development and spiritual growth.• Upside-down approach to gratitude, focusing on critics, not just supporters.• Critics can reveal blind spots and...
2025-11-2608 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastWhen God Feels Silent but Isn’t StillIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the theme of silence in leadership and faith, particularly when it feels like God is distant. Using the example of Elijah from the Bible, Todd emphasizes that God's silence is not indicative of his absence, but rather signals deeper work beneath the surface. The episode encourages leaders to reframe periods of silence as opportunities for growth and to consider giving thanks even when answers aren't evident.• Exploring the theme of silence in leadership and faith• Reference to Elijah's story from 1 Kings 19 as an example• Silence can indicate deeper work h...
2025-11-2505 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Gift You Didn’t Want (and Still Wouldn’t Choose)In this Thanksgiving special episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades encourages listeners to explore gratitude beyond the typical blessings. By reflecting on biblical examples and personal stories, Rhoades challenges the audience to find thankfulness in difficult, unexpected situations that lead to personal and spiritual growth.• Introduction of a five-part Thanksgiving series focusing on unconventional gratitude.• Encouragement to appreciate transformative experiences disguised as burdens.• Discussion of biblical examples, including Joseph's and Paul's hardships.• Reflection on Jesus's suffering as a transformative gift.• Personal anecdote on embracing challenges and unexpected outcomes.• Challenge to listeners to identify and be thankful for unwanted gif...
2025-11-2405 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Ministry Role That Shouldn’t Exist AnymoreIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades addresses the issue of outdated 'legacy roles' within church staff organizations. These are roles that were once useful but no longer contribute effectively to the church's current mission. Todd discusses how to identify these roles and provides steps for refreshing or removing them to better align with future needs.• Legacy roles refer to outdated staff positions created to meet past needs but are now ineffective.• Such roles can cause misalignment, confusion, and gaps in execution.• It's crucial to assess job descriptions and roles that haven't been reviewed in over f...
2025-11-2107 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Staff Member Who’s Quietly DisengagingIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the concept of 'quiet quitting' — when staff members disengage subtly from their roles without direct communication. It emphasizes the importance of spotting subtle signs of disengagement and suggests strategies for re-engaging such staff before they leave the organization. Todd provides insights into maintaining healthy staff dynamics by fostering open communication, addressing unmet needs, and reconnecting staff with the church's mission.• Quiet quitting is often marked by subtle signs of disengagement.• Disengaged staff usually stay out of the spotlight and avoid causing conflicts.• Common signs include lack of contribu...
2025-11-2006 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastWhy Churches Ghost Candidates (and How to Stop It)In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades emphasizes the importance of preventing ghosting by churches during the hiring process. Ghosting candidates can severely damage a church's reputation and trustworthiness. Todd provides insights into why ghosting happens and how to establish better communication practices to honor candidates and maintain integrity.• Ghosting candidates is damaging to church credibility and individual reputations.• It results in frustration and feelings of disrespect and mistrust for candidates.• Candidates become messengers about their negative experience, affecting wider community perception.• Common reasons for ghosting include long hiring processes, avoidance of tough conversations, and indecision.• Churches s...
2025-11-1908 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastMinistry Overcommitment Is Wrecking Your TeamIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the detrimental impact of chronic overcommitment in church ministries. He emphasizes that constantly saying yes to every request leads to exhaustion, misalignment, and burnout. Rhoades offers strategies for establishing healthier, more sustainable church cultures by recognizing margin as a necessity, not a luxury. He encourages leaders and staff to critically evaluate commitments and prioritize rest to maintain spiritual and relational health.• Chronic overcommitment leads to exhaustion and burnout• Over-commitment is not a virtue but a warning sign• Many church staff members juggle multiple roles, leading to decreased qualit...
2025-11-1807 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Silent Killers of Church Staff CultureIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses common issues that undermine church staff culture. He highlights silent killers such as unresolved conflict, lack of clarity, passive-aggressive behaviors, and fake unity. Todd emphasizes the need for addressing these issues proactively to prevent a toxic environment. Key strategies include acknowledging problems, having difficult conversations, and promoting genuine communication to maintain a healthy team dynamic.• Silent problems in church staff often emerge over time.• Unresolved conflict and lack of clarity can rot team dynamics.• Passive-aggressiveness and fake unity impede team health.• Avoiding issues can result in loss of moral...
2025-11-1306 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastThe Crisis Hire That Broke Your TeamIn this episode, Todd Rhoades from the Healthy Church Staff podcast discusses the pitfalls of hiring staff under pressure, often referred to as 'panic hires.' He emphasizes the importance of resisting the immediate urge to fill staffing gaps hastily, as it can lead to long-term negative consequences for church culture and leadership credibility. Todd offers practical advice on stabilizing the ministry with interim solutions while taking time to make thoughtful hiring decisions.• Avoid panic hires despite feeling overwhelmed by staffing shortages.• Urgency can distort clarity, leading to poor hiring decisions.• Crisis hires can result in staff resentment, culture clashes, and lo...
2025-11-1207 minThe Healthy Church Staff PodcastSacred Cows Are Eating Your BudgetIn this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the concept of 'sacred cow' roles in churches—positions that persist out of habit rather than necessity. These roles were relevant in a previous season but may no longer align with the church's current mission. Rhoades urges listeners to evaluate these roles, considering whether they should be retired, redeployed, or maintained. He highlights strategies like zero-based budgeting to help in reassessing staffing structures in alignment with the church's mission and resources.• Sacred cow roles are positions that feel untouchable but may no longer serve the church's mission.• These...
2025-11-1106 min