Leading While Hurting: Showing Up When You’re Struggling

What do you do when your soul is limping but the sermon still needs to be preached? In this vulnerable episode of Ministry Mix, Phil and Richard open up about what it’s like to keep leading when you’re tired, grieving, burned out, or just broken. They share honest stories of preaching through pain, shepherding with a heavy heart, and discovering how Jesus meets leaders not after the storm—but in it.

If you’ve ever had to lead while hurting, you’re not alone. And you’re not disqualified.

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership doesn’t stop when life gets hard—but it should get more honest.
• You don’t have to pretend to be okay to be effective.
• Hurting doesn’t make you a bad leader—it makes you a human one.
• God often ministers through us while He’s ministering to us.
• Authenticity in pain opens doors that polish never could.

Practical Soul-First Leadership Tips:

• Admit when you’re hurting—to yourself and to someone else.
• You can bleed and still bless. Jesus did.
• Find small ways to rest even when retreat isn’t possible.
• Don’t lead from your wounds, but don’t hide them either.
• God can still use you—especially when you feel weak.

In this practical episode of Ministry Mix, Phil and Richard walk through 10 ways to better understand the place where you live and lead. Whether you're planting a church, revitalizing a congregation, or just trying to be a more thoughtful neighbor, knowing your city is a key part of effective ministry.

From demographics to diners, prayer walking to property tax data, this episode gives leaders a real-world framework for discovering the rhythms, pain points, and potential of their community.

If you want to stop guessing and start engaging—this one’s for you.

10 Ways to Understand Your City:

1. Drive with Intentionality – Pay attention to neighborhoods, signage, businesses, and cultural markers.
2. Eat at Local Spots – You’ll learn what people love, talk about, and value.
3. Study Demographics – Use census data, city websites, and school stats to know who’s there.
4. Walk and Pray – Nothing replaces being on the ground with your eyes and heart open.
5. Visit City Council or School Board Meetings – Hear what people are fighting for and against.
6. Study What’s Being Built – Growth tells a story: housing, retail, parks, and schools all have meaning.
7. Follow the Money – What gets funded gets attention. Study city budgets, grants, and investments.
8. Talk to Longtime Residents – They carry memory, nuance, and pain newer folks miss.
9. Listen to Local Podcasts or Facebook Groups – See what people are celebrating, complaining about, and rallying around.
10. Look for Spiritual History – Ask where God has moved before and what spiritual strongholds remain.

Bonus Application Tips:

• Create a shared document to collect findings as a team.
• Map what ministries and churches already exist.
• Pray, “God, help me see what You see.”

In this episode, Phil Gifford and Richard Pope swap stories about the odd jobs they’ve worked—from lifeguarding and grease trap cleaning to bouncer gigs and debt collection. But it’s more than fun stories—they pull leadership and ministry insights from each experience. Whether you’re scrubbing toilets or selling copiers, there are spiritual lessons everywhere.

Key Takeaways:

• Train for the unseen: Phil shares how lifeguarding taught him to prepare for emergencies that may never come—yet be ready when they do. Ministry leadership is the same.
• Humility is leadership currency: Cleaning grease traps and scrubbing toilets helped Richard value servant leadership and never ask someone to do something he wouldn’t do himself.
• Conflict is better prevented than managed: A stint as a bouncer taught the value of addressing issues early—before they explode. This translates into proactive church leadership and relational health.
• Always deliver truth with grace: Richard’s debt collection job reminded him how tone and posture matter—especially when delivering hard news in ministry.
• Every job can be a gospel opportunity: From meat markets to copier sales, Phil learned to notice what hurts and bring Jesus into the story with empathy and boldness.
• Bad leadership leaves a mark: Phil’s short-lived envelope-stuffing gig reinforced the importance of clarity, kindness, and equipping volunteers before expecting results.

Practical Tips:

• Don’t underestimate the spiritual value of your past jobs—use those lessons in how you lead and disciple others.
• When equipping volunteers, be clear, kind, and thorough—never assume they “just know” what to do.
• Embrace the hard or “low” tasks. They cultivate humility and open doors for trust.
• Ask “What hurts?” when talking with someone far from Jesus—it often opens a door to gospel conversations.
• Address conflict early, and always with the tone of grace.

In this practical episode, Phil Gifford and Richard Pope dive into six essential tips for holding baptism services that are meaningful, mission-focused, and joy-filled. Whether you're a lead pastor or part of a church team, this conversation is packed with real-life stories, helpful strategies, and a few tangents along the way.

You’ll learn:

• How to capture and share baptism stories to inspire your church and community.
• Why it’s better to spread out baptisms instead of batching them all together.
• The importance of giving space but not waiting too long between decision and baptism.
• How to make baptisms a true celebration that mirrors heaven’s excitement.
• Why you should let others baptize and empower spiritual leaders beyond just the pastors.
• How to invite people to respond—both those watching and those being baptized.

Phil and Richard also get honest about navigating baptisms with kids, avoiding false conversions, and balancing theology with pastoral care.

Key Takeaway: Baptisms should be a regular, joyful, and mission-driving part of church life, not just an occasional event.

In this second part of our two-part conversation with Jim Collins, we pick up the story after his failed church plant in Tennessee. Now, Jim shares how God led him—slowly and graciously—toward planting again, this time in Las Vegas, Nevada. But this story isn’t just about “success.” It’s about soul-level transformation, submission to God’s process, and the deep lessons of leadership that only come through waiting, listening, and learning.

From new rhythms of spiritual health to wise counsel and assessment, Jim walks through how he and his wife approached this second attempt with humility, intentionality, and kingdom dependence. Whether you're in a season of rebuilding or preparing for what's next, this episode will encourage you to lead faithfully and stay rooted in the gospel.

Key Topics Covered:

• How to know if you're ready to try again after failure
• What healthy preparation looks like for church planting
• Why waiting is often part of God’s leadership development
• The role of assessment, training, and spiritual mentors
• How to build the right kind of core team
• Leading from a place of joy and surrender
• What makes ministry leadership sustainable over time

Key Quotes:

“God killed off the idol of being ‘the guy.’ I was finally ready to just be faithful.”
“Delays in ministry are not disobedience—they’re often obedience.”
“We weren’t launching a service to grow a church. We were living on mission to reach people.”
“Your greatest failure might become the thing you thank God most for.”

In this unfiltered and unscripted episode, Phil and Richard have a real conversation about why summer is one of the most strategic seasons for church outreach—and how your church or ministry can make the most of it.

Rather than settling for the “summer slump,” they share how their churches are leaning in with clear goals, creative outreach ideas, and intentional mobilization. From micro-events to digital reach, and personal invitations to park pop-ups, they explain how summer can be a season of growth, not just survival.

You’ll hear real strategies, some goofy banter, and a healthy reminder: good intentions don’t become faithful action without clear goals. Whether you’re dreaming big or just trying to do something with purpose this summer, this episode will help you get there.

In This Episode:

• Why most churches waste the summer—and how yours doesn’t have to
• Outreach goals that go beyond attendance (and actually excite your people)
• Why digital impressions do count as gospel outreach in 2025
• How to leverage summer events to build fall momentum
• Encouragement for ministry leaders to stay engaged and not grow discouraged

Memorable Quotes:

“Summer is for lead, not lag.”
“A good goal turns good intentions into faithful action.”
“Stop using Sunday attendance as your only metric for summer success.”

In this raw and encouraging conversation, Phil sits down with Jim Collins to talk about something we don't hear enough in ministry circles: failure. Jim shares his personal story of planting a church in Tennessee that didn’t go as planned—from launch dreams to a painful unraveling. But more than that, Jim reflects on the deeper lessons God taught him about leadership, calling, submission, and identity through that hard season.

Whether you’re a young leader eager to launch or a seasoned pastor navigating burnout or regret, this episode is a grace-filled reminder that failure isn’t fatal—and God is never done shaping us.

Key Topics Covered:

• The danger of launching without spiritual counsel
• How pride and ambition can masquerade as calling
• The difference between modeling and copying a ministry
• Why slowing down is not the same as disobedience
• What it looks like to find your identity after ministry “failure”
• Leadership lessons from real-world pain
• The importance of submitting to authority before leading others

Key Quotes:

In this episode of Ministry Mix, Phil and Richard ready up to bring you a Fortnite-themedguide to real ministry leadership. Whether you’ve built your share of ramps or have no idea what a "Loot Llama" is, this episode is for you.

What can Fortnite teach us about ministry? Turns out—a lot.

From failed solo pushes to sweaty wins and unexpected healing stations, we share 5 (plus a few bonus) leadership lessons that apply just as well to church planting and ministry teams as they do to Battle Royale:

• Don't lead alone – Ministry is better in squads.
• Winning teams talk – Clear communication changes everything.
• Adapt or lose – The game (and culture) is always changing.
• Have fun – Joy is a ministry essential, not a luxury.
• Better with friends – Celebrate wins and survive losses together.

Yes, we talk lightsabers. Yes, Richard got yelled at for playing until 3am. But we also hit on real, practical ministry advice.

Key Quote:
"If you're doing ministry alone, no one's there to revive you when you go down—and no one's there to celebrate you when you win."

If this episode made you laugh, challenged how you lead, or made you want to jump in a squad, leave us a review and share it.