Articles on Staffing
Whether you have a staff of 3, 30 or 300, your staff leads the way in growing the church in your community. Having the “right people on the bus, in the right seats” is important for the health of your staff and church. Are you treating your staff right and helping them grow in their abilities and spiritual walk?
Kairos or Chronos? The Question Every XP Needs to Ask
There's a moment most Executive Pastors know well. The budget is ready. The team is (mostly) aligned. The calendar says now is the time. And yet something feels… off. The church isn't ready. The [...]
Is the Minister’s Housing Allowance Now a Bum Deal?
Synopsis This article tests the common belief that the Ministerial Housing Allowance is a major tax windfall for pastors. The process ran dozens of 2017 and 2025 tax scenarios, comparing pastors with similarly paid [...]
The Staff Member Most Likely to Quit Without Telling You Why
A few years ago, a church I served brought on a new operations leader based on a strong recommendation. He came from construction, where he had built a reputation for finishing projects ahead of [...]
Helping Your Senior Pastor Finish Well
One of the most strategic—and often overlooked—things you can do as an Executive Pastor is help your Senior Pastor get to the finish line well. I get a particular kind of phone call several [...]
The Executive Pastor’s Guide to FMLA: Managing Risk with Mission-Minded Stewardship
For the Executive Pastor, leadership is often a balancing act between the business of the church and caring for its members. Few things test this balance like the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). For [...]
Starting Scripts To Have Courageous—and Crucial—Conversations
This article was originally written as a follow-up to a talk called, Facing the Elephants with a room full of Executive Pastors at the XP-Seminar. But whether you lead a church, nonprofit, team, or [...]
5 Warning Signs of Leader Burnout
Burnout is a real risk for many pastors and ministry executives. In an effort to satisfy external or self-made expectations for advancing the Kingdom, leaders may consciously or unconsciously make tradeoffs against their holistic [...]
You’re the One to Start the Succession Conversation
How Executive Pastors Can Help Each Type of Senior Pastor Begin the Smart Succession Process There's a conversation happening in churches all across the country, or more accurately, a conversation that needs to happen [...]
How to Interview a Spouse
Over our 18 years, we have spent more money and time researching interviewing spouses than maybe any singular issue. If you win the spouse, you win the house! Come learn from our mistakes, and what [...]
Using Fletch’s Compensation Pyramid
An excellent Compensation Study needs methodology. I developed the XPastor Compensation Pyramid to provide rock solid methodology. Just as I use the pyramid in XPastor Compensation Studies I perform for various congregations, churches around [...]
Finding Real Encouragement: A Battle Plan for Your Soul
The enemy has a strategy, and it’s devastatingly simple. If he can get us discouraged, he can get us disappointed. If he can get us disappointed, he can get us distracted. If he can [...]
7 Transition Trends Every XP Needs to See Coming
Transitions are no longer occasional disruptions. They are becoming the defining leadership challenge of the next decade. Founder exits, board assertiveness, identity collapse, marketplace crossover, and rising leader isolation are reshaping what change [...]
Navigate Leadership Transitions
... with Clarity, Confidence, and Spiritual Wisdom Based on his extensive coaching experience with church succession and over 1,000 interviews with Senior Pastors and Successors, he has identified common missteps that can be easily avoided with [...]
How to Write a Resume That Church Leaders Actually Want to Read
I’ve read a lot of resumes over the years. Usually late at night, between meetings, or with a half-cold cup of coffee nearby. And here’s what I’ve learned: most resumes don’t fail because the person [...]
Internship Applications and Checklist
There are always lots of questions about paid and unpaid internships. Steven Goodspeed, Partner at My Church Law Firm has provided these two forms in Word format. The important question is one of compensation. In [...]
Setting Compensation
The free 2027 Salary Forecaster has just been released. With just about $3.7 billion in church data, it can give you all the salaries you need for setting fair compensation in your church. But [...]
“The Job Was Slowly Emptying Me”
Ministering as an XP, Dr. Nathan Baxter loved ten hours of his job. Those one-on-ones with staff fueled him; the rest of his responsibilities slowly emptied him. Naming that truth started a two-year journey [...]
Cost of Living
I often get emails that say: I’m in a high cost of living area. Should I be earning more because it costs more to live here? The question is a good one so let’s see [...]
Pastors, Directors & the Ministerial Exception
Each year, I see hundreds of positions with titles of Pastor/Director, such as Operations Pastor/Director or Student Ministry Pastor/Director. While it may be counterintuitive, whether the person has the title of Pastor or Director, the [...]
Signs Your Ministry Needs an HR Audit
Leading a ministry is a profound and complex calling. Your primary focus is on the mission: important topics like spiritual growth and community, but ministry leaders often overlook one of the most crucial pieces [...]
The Ripple Effect of Vacancies: Lessons from The Compass Church
Introduction Every church leader eventually faces the reality of a staff vacancy. A beloved pastor accepts a new call, a trusted leader retires, or unexpected life events create sudden change. In those moments, the [...]
Too Little, Too Late: The Succession Crisis No One Talks About
How churches unintentionally sabotage their future by delaying transition planning—and how to start now. Most churches wait too long to talk about transition, specifically succession. Momentum stalls, relationships fray, or a beloved leader quietly [...]
Retiring Your Staff Handbook: It May Be Time for a Rewrite
Your ministry is ever-changing. Staff changes, leadership changes, community changes—it is imperative your organization as a whole grows and changes as well. This should be reflected in all facets of ministry, but one often [...]
What Are the Odds You Will Finish Well?
I read a book in 1999 that posed this question: What are the odds you will finish well? I have never forgotten how it impacted me. I went on to develop a leadership coaching [...]