Best Todd Rhoades Podcasts (2025)

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Red Flags You’re Ignoring in Your Staff Search 9:17

Play Pause

4h ago9:17

9:17

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses identifying common red and yellow flags during the church hiring process. Emphasizing the importance of addressing these warning signs, the episode covers practical tips to avoid hiring mistakes and ensure effective team compatibility.• Understanding the difference between …

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The Danger of Hiring from Within (Too Quickly) 6:46

6h ago6:46

6:46

The podcast episode discusses the potential pitfalls and strategies for successfully hiring from within a church. Despite seeming like a safe choice, internal promotions can have unexpected negative impacts if not handled carefully. The episode provides insights into making informed decisions when promoting familiar faces to staff roles.• Internal …

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Don’t Hire Just Because You’re Panicking 8:12

12h ago8:12

8:12

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the pitfalls of hiring during times of panic rather than desperation. He explores the differences between the two and emphasizes the risks associated with panic hiring, such as overlooking non-negotiable criteria and making short-term decisions that could impact the organiz…

1
Stop Convincing Yourself They're Qualified 7:20

1d ago7:20

7:20

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the pitfalls of desperate hiring and emphasizes the importance of sticking to non-negotiable criteria when hiring. He provides advice on recognizing red and yellow flags in candidates, trusting your instincts, and resisting pressure to fill roles hastily, to ensure you buil…

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When You Shouldn’t Hire (Even If You Really Want To) 7:51

2d ago7:51

7:51

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses when churches should avoid hiring new staff members. He emphasizes that more staff isn't always better and provides five critical questions to contemplate before deciding to hire. These include ensuring a clearly defined role, not using hiring to avoid difficult conversatio…

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When Culture Is the Problem (Not the People) 7:09

8d ago7:09

7:09

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the underlying issue of church staff underperformance and turnover, emphasizing that the root cause often lies not in the people but in the church culture. Rhoades explains how toxic culture manifests in unnoticed, ongoing conflicts, lack of honest feedback, secretive decis…

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It's Time to Rehire for That Role 6:55

7d ago6:55

6:55

In this episode, Todd Rhoades discusses the implications of delaying the rehiring process in churches. He highlights the hidden costs and burnout associated with not promptly filling vacant staff roles. Todd provides guidance on recognizing when it's time to initiate rehiring to maintain a healthy ministry environment.• Delaying rehiring can lead t…

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The Most Overlooked Role on Your Staff 5:53

9d ago5:53

5:53

This podcast episode emphasizes the vital role of middle managers, including volunteers, in church leadership. Host Todd Rhoades highlights how these individuals serve as a crucial link between senior pastors' visions and practical implementation, often going unrecognized. The episode offers strategies to support and empower these pivotal roles, un…

1
You're Waiting Too Long to Make the Hire 6:49

12d ago6:49

6:49

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the risks of delaying the hiring process in the church environment. While thoughtful consideration during hiring is important, excessive delays can result in losing top candidates, frustrating team members, and stalling church ministries. Rhoades provides insights on balanc…

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The Weakest Link on Your Staff Might Be You 7:00

12d ago7:00

7:00

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses how senior church leaders might unknowingly become bottlenecks in their ministry. He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing leadership behaviors that can hamper team dynamics, such as micromanagement and lack of clear communication. Todd advocates for trans…

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When to Fire Someone on Your Church Staff 9:22

16d ago9:22

9:22

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the difficult topic of terminating a church staff member, emphasizing the importance of clarity and timing in such decisions. He highlights the need for thorough discernment, effective communication, and compassionate execution to maintain the health and morale of the churc…

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The Staff Conflict Playbook 7:36

17d ago7:36

7:36

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades outlines a practical four-step playbook for managing conflict within church staff teams. The episode emphasizes that conflict is inevitable in passionate teams, but it can be constructive if managed well. Rhoades provides a framework to address and navigate conflicts effectively…

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Hiring for Potential, Not Perfection 8:13

18d ago8:13

8:13

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses why churches should consider hiring staff based on potential rather than perfection. The episode covers key points about shifting the hiring mindset, identifying potential in candidates, and effectively supporting their growth once hired. Rhoades emphasizes the importa…

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What Your Hiring Metrics Are Telling You (That You're Ignoring) 7:12

19d ago7:12

7:12

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, Todd Rhoades discusses the importance of tracking specific hiring metrics to improve church hiring processes. He emphasizes the need for churches to pay attention to key metrics such as time to fill, candidate drop-off rate, number of qualified candidates, and offer acceptance rate. Understanding…

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The Quiet Staff Member Who’s Already Halfway Out the Door 5:11

20d ago5:11

5:11

In this episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast, host Todd Rhoades discusses the subtle signs of disengagement among church staff members and how to address them before it's too late. He emphasizes the phenomenon of 'quiet quitting' where staff members slowly lose connection without overtly resigning. Rhoades shares strategies for spotting dise…

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You Fired the Wrong Person 7:54

23d ago7:54

7:54

Have you ever made a staffing change that was supposed to solve everything, only to discover weeks later that nothing improved? That sinking feeling might be a sign you've addressed a symptom rather than the root cause. When terminations miss the mark, the aftermath can be devastating for your church team. Trust crumbles as staff members wonder who…

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Why Your Job Description Is Chasing Away the Right People 5:36

24d ago5:36

5:36

Have questions or comments? Send to [email protected] Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. - - - - - Is Your Church Hiring? If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help. Are You Looking for a New Min…

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When the Trust Falls Apart 8:01

25d ago8:01

8:01

Trust erodes silently in church staff teams through small, consistent breaches like withholding information, avoiding hard conversations, and inconsistent leadership. When trust breaks down, staff members disengage, play defense, and create a culture of suspicion that undermines the church's mission and effectiveness. • Trust is your team's emotion…

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The Leadership Culture Your Staff Can’t Thrive In 6:51

26d ago6:51

6:51

Church culture is defined by how your team experiences leadership every day, not just through perks or events, and toxic leadership environments can slowly push away great staff members despite their calling. • Constant urgency where everything feels like an emergency • Avoiding necessary hard conversations • Celebrating success while ignoring burn…

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The Candidate You Let Get Away 7:02

27d ago7:02

7:02

When great candidates disappear from your church's hiring process, it's rarely about salary or location. Top-tier ministry candidates evaluate your church's communication, vision clarity, and culture before deciding whether to continue pursuing a role. • Churches lose candidates through long gaps in communication • Vague or inconsistent messaging a…

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Silent Alarm: Stop Trying to Rebuild Alone 7:00

30d ago7:00

7:00

Todd Rhodes concludes the Silent Alarm series with a crucial message about the danger of trying to rebuild church staff pipelines alone. The most resilient churches recognize that rebuilding ministry is too important and complex to be carried solely on one leader's shoulders. • Too many church leaders are recruiting, interviewing, evaluating, onboa…

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Silent Alarm: The Interim is Not a Pause Button 8:59

1M ago8:59

8:59

The interim period between church staff members isn't just dead space to endure—it's a strategic inflection point that shapes your church's future. Todd Rhodes explains how this critical time either heals what's broken or hides it deeper, with no neutral middle ground. • Churches often treat staff transitions like a pause button while redistributin…

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Silent Alarm: The 1997 Church Isn't Coming Back 8:45

1M ago8:45

8:45

The church of 1997 isn't coming back, and that's actually good news for ministry leaders willing to adapt their staffing approach. Many churches are still hiring for positions that made sense decades ago, using outdated strategies, and wondering why they're struggling to gain traction in today's rapidly changing ministry landscape. • Culture shifts…

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Silent Alarm: The Quiet Quitters of Ministry 10:19

1M ago10:19

10:19

We're exploring why promising ministry leaders are quietly leaving church jobs without returning to ministry elsewhere, examining this growing trend that's draining the church leadership pipeline. This "invisible exodus" includes gifted mid-career leaders who still love Jesus but find ministry unsustainable for various reasons. • Five key reasons f…

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Silent Alarm: We Don't Have a Hiring Problem - We Have a Discipleship Problem 10:28

1M ago10:28

10:28

Your staffing problem isn't really about hiring—it's about discipleship. Most churches have shifted from raising up leaders internally to importing candidates, creating a leadership development vacuum that threatens the future of ministry. • Churches have forgotten that disciple-making is leadership development • The pipeline for ministry leaders i…

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Silent Alarm: Why Even 'Healthy' Churches are Struggling to Hire 9:39

1M ago9:39

9:39

Even healthy churches with solid theology and stable leadership are struggling to fill open staff positions due to fundamental shifts in the ministry landscape. The talent pool of potential church staff has shrunk dramatically, creating intense competition for fewer candidates who are more selective than ever before. • Church health is no longer a …

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Silent Alarm: The Myth of 'Just Find the Unicorn' 8:13

1M ago8:13

8:13

We tackle a harmful church hiring myth: the fantasy of finding the "unicorn" or perfect candidate with impossible qualifications at a modest salary. While churches wait for this mythical person, positions remain open, current staff get overloaded, volunteer morale drops, and the congregation suffers. • Churches waste months or years holding out for…

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Silent Alarm: The Pain You Don't See on Resumes 7:20

1M ago7:20

7:20

Ministry staff are carrying unprecedented emotional weight from difficult experiences, and hiring churches must learn to address the pain behind every resume to build healthy teams. • The last five to six years have been incredibly difficult for ministry staff • Many candidates have experienced being ghosted, micromanaged, caught in power struggles…

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Silent Alarm: The Disappearance of Mid-Career Leaders 8:11

1M ago8:11

8:11

We're facing a growing crisis in church staffing—the quiet disappearance of mid-career ministry leaders who should be stepping into senior leadership and mentoring younger staff. This exodus creates a dangerous vacuum where churches lose experienced leaders in their 30s and 40s who have accumulated valuable ministry wisdom. • Mid-career leaders rep…

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Silent Alarm: The Pipeline is Quietly Breaking 8:22

1M ago8:22

8:22

The church staff pipeline in the US is quietly cracking beneath us, systematically changing in ways that threaten our future leadership. This episode introduces Todd Rhodes' new book "Silent Alarm" which addresses the diminishing flow of qualified, healthy, experienced candidates in the church hiring pool across all roles. • The pipeline of leaders…

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The Courage to Lead When It's Easier to Coast 7:28

1M ago7:28

7:28

The most dangerous season in leadership might be when everything feels fine, leading to comfortable coasting rather than courageous direction. Leadership fatigue often comes not from crisis moments but from the slow, steady grind of keeping everything afloat when courage is needed to disrupt stagnation. • Warning signs of leadership coasting includ…

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How to Know if Your Church is Scaring Candidates Off 9:28

1M ago9:28

9:28

We explore why promising candidates often disappear during the church hiring process and how to stop unintentionally scaring away top talent. Your hiring process communicates volumes about your church culture, and candidates assume how you hire is how you lead. • Disorganized processes communicate disorganized churches and staff • Today's candidate…

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You're Not Burned Out. You're Bored. 7:13

2M ago7:13

7:13

Ministry leaders often confuse burnout with boredom, but these conditions require completely different solutions. Recognizing the difference can help you take the right steps to reignite your passion and purpose in ministry. • Burnout is about depletion while boredom is about stagnation • Warning signs of boredom include scrolling during meetings, …

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The Staff Meeting You Should Probably Kill 7:22

2M ago7:22

7:22

Not every meeting adds value, and some are actively damaging your church staff's energy, creativity, and morale. We examine which staff meetings you should eliminate and what to replace them with to boost team productivity and happiness. • Three telltale signs of toxic meetings: nobody prepares, people stop contributing, and staff leave discouraged…

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Rural Harm Reduction with Michael Harney 58:10

2M ago58:10

58:10

Michael Harney from Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP). Intersecting Stories: HIV, Drug User Health, and Vulnerable Communities.This four-part series aims to amplify the voices of communities impacted by HIV, while exploring the role of harm reduction in addressing health disparities. Each episode focuses on a different vulnerable populati…

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The Ministry Unicorn Myth 7:48

2M ago7:48

7:48

Many churches waste time searching for perfect ministry candidates that don't exist. This unrealistic quest for a "ministry unicorn" leads to extended vacancies, team burnout, and missed opportunities to hire promising leaders with potential to grow. • Churches often create impossible job descriptions seeking candidates with every qualification ima…

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Why You Shouldn't Be the Smartest Person in Your Staff Meeting 7:38

2M ago7:38

7:38

Pastors who need to be the smartest person in the room unintentionally silence their team and hinder collaboration, eventually causing creative staff members to leave or stop contributing. • Insecurity often drives leaders' need to have all the answers • Dominating meetings with answers tells staff "you're here to execute my brilliance" • When peop…

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What Ministry Leaders Can Learn from Emergency Room Nurses 6:50

2M ago6:50

6:50

Ministry today resembles an ER room more than a boardroom, requiring church leaders to adopt skills similar to emergency medical professionals to navigate chaos effectively while preventing burnout. • Learning proper triage - treating the most urgent issues first rather than reacting to the loudest voices • Understanding that compassion means prior…

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The Lie of the Calling Card Resume 6:57

2M ago6:57

6:57

Have questions or comments? Send to [email protected] Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. - - - - - Is Your Church Hiring? If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help. Are You Looking for a New Min…

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Your Ministry Team Isnt a Family... Its a Jazz Band 6:47

2M ago6:47

6:47

Calling your church staff a "family" might be undermining your team's effectiveness by normalizing dysfunction and avoiding necessary accountability. A better metaphor might be a jazz band, where diverse talents work together with rhythm, trust, and excellence toward a shared mission. • Families often tolerate dysfunction in the name of loyalty • T…

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What the Enneagram Isn’t Telling You About Your Church Staff 7:53

2M ago7:53

7:53

Personality assessments like the Enneagram can provide valuable insights into how staff members process the world, but they fail to reveal character issues that often emerge under pressure. Todd Rhodes explores why churches must look beyond personality typing to build truly healthy teams. • The trap of putting people in boxes based on their persona…

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The Addiction to Momentum_ Why Some Churches Cant Stop Running 10:03

2M ago10:03

10:03

Church leaders often confuse constant motion with progress, using momentum to mask deeper issues that need addressing. Slowing down isn't failure—it's a faithful choice that allows space for healing, growth, and sustainable ministry that Jesus himself modeled. • Momentum feels like growth but can actually be directionless motion • Constant activity…

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The Real Cost of Putting the Wrong Person in the Right Role 9:19

2M ago9:19

9:19

Have questions or comments? Send to [email protected] Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. - - - - - Is Your Church Hiring? If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help. Are You Looking for a New Min…

1
The Church Staff Role No One Wants (But Everyone Needs) 9:13

2M ago9:13

9:13

Have questions or comments? Send to [email protected] Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. - - - - - Is Your Church Hiring? If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help. Are You Looking for a New Min…

1
The Succession Plan Youre Afraid to Write (But Your Teams Already Wondering About 10:37

2M ago10:37

10:37

Every leader has an expiration date, and creating a succession plan is a spiritual responsibility that demonstrates wisdom rather than weakness. Great leaders prepare for their eventual departure, ensuring their ministry continues seamlessly when they're no longer present. • What would happen if you disappeared tomorrow - would your church staff kn…

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The Real Reason Your Meetings are Useless (And No One Will Tell You 7:37

2M ago7:37

7:37

Most church meetings suffer from silent dysfunction—they're over-controlled, under-prepared, or merely performative, leaving staff secretly wishing they were emails instead. We crack open this uncomfortable truth and provide practical solutions to transform your team gatherings into meaningful, productive experiences that staff actually want to att…

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What Ministry Leaders Can Learn from Marriage Therapists 7:23

2M ago7:23

7:23

The key to better ministry leadership might be borrowing wisdom from an unexpected place - the marriage therapist's office. We explore three powerful insights from counseling that can radically improve how church leaders listen, lead, and love their staff and congregation. • Learning to listen to understand, not just respond - pushing past our "fix…

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Why High-Capacity Volunteers Sometimes Make Terrible Staff 8:54

2M ago8:54

8:54

Turning your best volunteers into staff members can either be a dream come true or create significant challenges when expectations don't align. This transition often fails because the intrinsic motivation of volunteering gets replaced by the obligations of employment, creating an identity crisis for the previously celebrated volunteer. • High-capac…

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The Hidden Cost of Being The Fixer on a Church Staff 8:26

2M ago8:26

8:26

We explore the hidden emotional toll experienced by "the fixer" on church staff teams - that go-to person who handles every crisis but rarely receives support themselves. This episode unpacks how well-intentioned problem-solvers often become emotional dumping grounds, leading to burnout and potential ministry casualties if left unchecked. • Most ch…

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How Ministry Leadership Is More LIke Farming than Fishing 7:45

2M ago7:45

7:45

Have questions or comments? Send to [email protected] Be sure to subscribe to The Healthy Church Staff Podcast wherever you regularly listen to podcasts. - - - - - Is Your Church Hiring? If your church is searching for a new staff member, reach out to Todd for a conversation on how he might be able to help. Are You Looking for a New Min…