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The Support Your Staff Says They Need (And You're Not Offering) · The Healthy Church Staff Podcast

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your youth pastor comes to you and says they're struggling with burnout, so you do what good leaders do.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: You offer them access to that leadership conference.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you point them toward a new curriculum or a resource library or a book that you think would help them.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: And here's why nothing changes.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: You just offer them what you think helps, not what actually does.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to talk about some Barna research today that I think will help us in situations like these.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Todd Rhodes, one of the co-founders over at ChemistryStaffing.com, and you're listening to the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: In a recent Barna study, Barna asked burned-out pastors and church staff what actually helps?
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And what do you think the number one thing was?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was mental and physical health support.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Counseling, therapy, gym memberships, health care access, the stuff that addresses the body and the mind, not just the ministry.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not all.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the gut punch.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Most churches aren't offering anything like that.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, we default to what we've always done.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: We offer more resources, more curriculum, more training, more conferences.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And those actually, according to Barna, ranked at the bottom of the list for effectiveness.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: So a lot of times we're trying to solve a problem that they just don't have.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: So why do we keep doing this?
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I think because we think that burnout is a ministry problem.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: We assume if they just had better systems or better tools or better training, that burnout would go away.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: They'd be fine.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: But burnout isn't about lacking the right curriculum.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's about carrying too much for too long with no place to put it down.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And honestly, it's about bodies that are exhausted and minds that won't shut off.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's about unprocessed grief.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's about unaddressed anxiety.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's about untreated stress.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we keep just handing them another book to read.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I know that your heart is good here.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: You're not ignoring this on purpose.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: You're not trying to give bad advice intentionally.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Because according to Barta, at least from their study, this is what your staff actually needs.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: They need mental health support.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a luxury anymore.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's a baseline care.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: And you might say, well, that's just a cultural thing, Todd.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Back in my day, we didn't have any mental health support.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I get it, I get it.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: But this is something that is the reality in our culture today.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if your staff has health care, that's great.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But do they have the time to use it?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Do they have permission?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do they feel like they've got permission to see a therapist or a counselor without shame?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Have you normalized counseling as a leadership tool, not as a your marriage is breaking apart, last resort type of an item?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: And physical health matters too.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Burnout shows up in the body first.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: The point isn't to copy somebody else's playbook.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: The point really is to ask your staff what would actually help and then offer it.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times I think we're just afraid that we may uncover a real issue here.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So we spiritualize it.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: We just say, pray more, lean into your calling.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's what we did back in my day when I first started ministry.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And he never said it would be easy, so I'm just gonna buckle down and do it.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that's just not the way it works today.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, Jesus cared about bodies.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: He fed people, he rested, he withdrew.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Paul told Timothy to stop drinking only water and take a little wine for his stomach, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible does not separate the spiritual from the physical.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: We're the ones that are doing that.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And right now, in our culture, it's costing us a lot of times our best people.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want you to hear.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Here's the bottom line for today.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Your staff doesn't need more curriculum, they need more care.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this week I'd love for you to do two things.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, ask your team directly what kind of support would actually help you right now.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Don't assume, don't guess, just ask.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then second, pick one thing that you can actually offer in the next 90 days.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's access to counseling.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a wellness stipend.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's protected rest.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: You can't fix everything, but you can close one gap.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: So start there.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Your team isn't asking for the moon.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And you have more power to offer help than you think.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: 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?
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I am offering that to you today.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: If there's any way that I can help your church, maybe it's in this area of church health.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's in what you can do to help provide support to your staff.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just reach out to me.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Short little email, and I'll reach back out and we'll set up a time to talk.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Just reach out to me at podcast at chemistry staffing.com.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: All right, that's it for today.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you have a great weekend.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be right back here on Monday on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Got a great set of topics up next week, so you won't want to miss it.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: 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.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right, thanks.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great weekend.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck to you.