PODCAST EPISODE 295: NO MUD, NO MESS – EXITING STAFF WITH GRACE AND GRIT

Jul 22, 2025 | Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, People Leaving, Transition

Last week, we unpacked key ideas for building a church hiring playbook. This week, we turn to the less exciting — but equally critical — side of the people equation: a church firing playbook. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to staff transitions and trying to...

LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT PODCAST EPISODE 260: IMPLEMENTING A SUCCESSION PLAN

Oct 29, 2024 | Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Transition

One of the most vulnerable times in an organization’s life is when it is transitioning from its current senior leader and passing the baton to the next one. In today’s episode John and Jim explore a high-level plan for a senior leadership transition. They answer two...

LEADING FROM ALIGNMENT PODCAST EPISODE 259: ARE YOU OVERSTAYING

Oct 22, 2024 | Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Transition

Churches can experience two extremes when it comes to lead pastors: pastors who leave prematurely, or pastors who hang on too long. In today’s episode we unpack four powerful questions and four practical steps to help leaders discern if a necessary ending is nearing....

PUTTING THE GOOD IN GOODBYE: A HEALTHY CONVERSATION ABOUT THE COMINGS & GOINGS OF CHURCH PEOPLE WEEK SEVEN: WHEN A STAFF MEMBER LEAVES

Aug 24, 2023 | Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, People Leaving, Transition

Sometimes those who’ve left our churches at some point decide to come back. Last week we learned how to handle that gracefully. In today’s post we talk about another type of leaving as we evaluate Chapter 7 of Putting the Good in Goodbye. We’ll walk through a process...

PUTTING THE GOOD IN GOODBYE: A HEALTHY CONVERSATION ABOUT THE COMINGS & GOINGS OF CHURCH PEOPLE WEEK SIX: WHEN PEOPLE COME BACK GO

Aug 17, 2023 | Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, People Leaving, Transition

In last week’s post we dug deep. Dredging up the feelings of processing departures can be emotional and exhausting. Hopefully you found some peace and tangible tools in our dive into Chapter 6. This week we continue to Chapter 7 of Putting the Good in Goodbye . . ....

PUTTING THE GOOD IN GOODBYE: A HEALTHY CONVERSATION ABOUT THE COMINGS & GOINGS OF CHURCH PEOPLE WEEK FOUR: PUTTING PEOPLE IN THEIR PLACE

Jul 27, 2023 | Calling, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, The Church, Transition

Welcome back to Week Three of Putting the Good in Goodbye . Hopefully, you’ve had some time to evaluate the questions we posed last week, specifically: What am I doing here? If you know beyond a shadow of doubt you’ve been called by God to ministry and you’re...