--- title: Before You Make That Sunday Announcement, Have You Talked to Your Staff? description: Stop blindsiding your staff with public announcements. Learn the simple leadership habit that protects morale and strengthens your church team. image: https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hubfs/blog-images/featured/featured_218.png --- [Skip to content](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/before-you-make-that-sunday-announcement-have-you-talked-to-your-staff#main-content) [![cropped-chemistry\_logo\_homepage-342x95](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hs-fs/hubfs/cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95.webp?width=342&height=95&name=cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95.webp "cropped-chemistry_logo_homepage-342x95")](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/) - [How We Help](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/what-we-do/) - [How We Help Candidates](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [How We Help Churches](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/church/) - [Our Team](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/team/) - [Our Mission & Strategy](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/what-we-do/) - [Churches](https://chemistrystaffing.com/church) - [Hire New Staff](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/2021-churches-new-staff-hiring/) - [Free 30-Minute Church Consult](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Chemistry Solutions – You Don’t Have to Do Ministry Alone](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/solutions/) - [Final Fit Assessment](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/final-fit-assessment/) - [Senior Pastor Succession](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/succession/) - [Job Seekers](https://chemistrystaffing.com/candidate) - [Add My Resume / Profile](https://chemistry.fyi/kwq) - [Current Openings](https://chemistrystaffing.com/jobs) - [Free Resume Assessment](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/free-resume-self-assessment/) - [Step-by-Step Job Search](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/cjb) - [How Chemistry Can Help](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [Resources](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate/) - [Free Playbooks & Downloads](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/resources/) - [Chemistry Blog](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/) - [2024 Youth Pastor Compensation Survey](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/resources/2024-yp-compensation-survey/) - [Contact Us](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Candidates](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/candidate-contact-page/) - [Churches](http://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) - [Find a Job](https://chemistrystaffing.com/jobs) - [My Church is Hiring](https://www.chemistrystaffing.com/lets-talk/) # Before You Make That Sunday Announcement, Have You Talked to Your Staff? Stop blindsiding your staff with public announcements. Learn the simple leadership habit that protects morale and strengthens your church team. ![](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hubfs/blog-images/featured/featured_218.png) Imagine you're a children's director sitting in Sunday's service when the pastor steps to the microphone with a smile. 🎧 Listen to this episode: "Starting next month, we're adding a Wednesday night program for families. Our children's team is going to do an incredible job with this." The congregation applauds. A few people turn around and smile at you. You smile back, giving a little wave. But inside? Your stomach just dropped. This is the first you've heard about it. You're already mentally scrambling—volunteers, curriculum, budget. You're thinking about the Wednesday evenings your family thought you'd be home. And now, because it's been announced publicly, everyone assumes you have a plan. That's an uncomfortable place to put someone who depends on you. If you've never experienced this as a lead pastor, ask your staff. I guarantee at least one of them has a story about learning their new responsibilities from the stage. And it's a story that still stings. ## The Leadership Habit That Changes Everything Today I want to talk about a simple leadership habit that sounds almost too obvious to mention: **Before you announce a change that affects someone's responsibilities, talk with that person.** I know, I know. You're thinking, "Todd, don't waste my time with the obvious." But here's the thing—it's surprisingly easy to skip this step when you're excited about an idea. And I've worked with enough church staffs to know that many pastors and leaders get so caught up in their vision that they genuinely forget about the communication step. They forget to make sure everyone's in on the decision and on board with what's coming. ## Why Smart Leaders Still Make This Mistake Maybe your leadership team has spent several weeks discussing adding a new service. You've worked through the reasons, considered the options, weighed the pros and cons. You've reached a decision. The board has approved it. In your mind, this is practically old news. By Sunday, you're ready to celebrate. But your campus pastor hasn't been part of those conversations. Neither has the worship pastor who needs to recruit another team. Or the children's director who needs to find twelve more volunteers to staff a whole other service. You've had weeks to process the decision. They get about eight seconds before someone asks them how it's going to work. That gap really matters. It helps explain why an announcement you considered exciting might land very differently with your staff. You've been living with this decision, turning it over in your mind, getting comfortable with it. They're hearing it for the first time in the same moment as the congregation—except they're expected to have answers. > **James 1:22** - "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." > > Application: Hearing without understanding or preparation leads nowhere. We must help our teams move from listening to doing—and that requires proper communication. ## The Two Conversations Your Staff Needs ![Episode visual summary](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/hubfs/blog-images/whiteboards/whiteboard_218.png) There are really two critical conversations that need to happen before any public announcement that affects your team. ### Conversation #1: The Decision Itself Whenever possible, involve the people responsible for carrying out a change *while you're still considering it*—even before the decision has been made final. Why? Because they may know something you don't. Your children's director may fully support a Wednesday program *and* also know that several key volunteers are already stretched thin. Your campus pastor may agree that another service is needed but see a scheduling conflict you haven't considered because it's not on your radar. Their questions can make the decision better. Their insight can save you from problems you didn't see coming. Now, I'm not saying that involvement means every staff member gets a veto. That's not what I'm advocating for at all. Sometimes leadership has to make a difficult call. Sometimes confidential information limits who can participate in the decision-making process. But even when someone can't help make the decision, they still need a direct conversation before they're expected to explain it publicly. ### Conversation #2: What This Means for You The second conversation is more personal and practical: **What does this decision mean for you?** This is where you sit down with the affected staff member and walk through: - Here's what's changing - Here's why we're making this change - Here's what we've decided - Here's what we still need to figure out Then—and this is crucial—give them room to respond. They might ask: "What should I stop doing to make time for this?" Or "Who's responsible for recruiting the volunteers?" Or "When my team asks why we're changing direction, what can I tell them?" These are all reasonable questions from someone trying to do their job well. Don't take them as attacks. Don't interpret them as resistance or lack of vision. These are the questions of a responsible leader who wants to execute well. And if their response is quieter than you expected, give them a little room. Some people are processors. They may need time to understand something you've already been thinking about for a month. ### Red Flag Warning A quick heads-up in the hallway thirty seconds before the service will **not** accomplish what you need. From your perspective, you've checked the box. From the staff member's perspective, that's not enough lead time and definitely not enough detail. ## When the Damage Is Already Done Because when staff members are surprised publicly, the difficulty doesn't end with the announcement. After the service, a volunteer walks up and asks, "So, how's this going to work? What do you need from me?" Now your staff member has to either explain a decision they barely understand or acknowledge that nobody even told them. "You know, that's actually news to me too." Either way, you've made it harder—not easier—for them to lead. You've undermined their credibility and taken some of the shine off your vision. You may not have intended that. You may have simply assumed somebody else had filled them in. But you can't assume. > **Proverbs 4:20-21** - "My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart." > > Application: Clear, intentional communication matters. God's pattern shows us that important messages require attention, retention, and repetition. ## How to Own It and Fix It If this has happened on your team, you need to own it directly: "I should have talked with you before I announced that. I put you in a difficult position, and I'm sorry. Let's work through what you need to know, and let's make sure this doesn't happen again." Then actually change the process for next time. ## A Practical Place to Start This Week Here's something you can do right now: Look through this Sunday's announcements and ask yourself, *"Whose responsibilities are affected by each of these?"* Usually the answer is no one—most announcements are informational. But when you identify an announcement that does affect someone's role, that's your cue to check: - Do those people understand what's changing? - Have they had a chance to ask questions? - Do they know what they're expected to communicate? - Do they have what they need to move forward? If the answer to any of those questions is no, you've got a conversation to schedule before Sunday. ### This Week's Action Items - **Review your announcements** before Sunday and identify who they affect - **Schedule conversations** with anyone whose role will be impacted - **Give enough time** for questions, processing, and preparation - **Ask yourself:** "What does this person need to know to lead well after this announcement?" ## The Bottom Line This isn't rocket surgery. It's basic leadership and basic respect for the people who serve alongside you. Before you announce a change that affects someone's responsibilities, talk with that person. Give them the information they need. Give them time to process. Give them a chance to ask questions. Your vision will be stronger for it. Your staff will be more equipped. And you'll build the kind of team culture where people feel valued, not blindsided. That's worth the extra conversation every single time. --- **What about you?** Have you experienced this from either side—as the person making the announcement or the person hearing it for the first time from the stage? I'd love to hear your story and what you learned from it. Send your thoughts to [podcast@chemistrystaffing.com](mailto:podcast@chemistrystaffing.com). Listen to the full episode of the Healthy Church Staff Podcast for more insights on building healthy communication patterns with your team. ### [![Todd Rhoades](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/883a0d42581424e9bbe7c77dccfeed6b) Todd Rhoades](https://blog.chemistrystaffing.com/author/todd-rhoades) Todd has invested over 30 years in serving churches, having served as a worship pastor for over 15 years, a church elder for more than a decade, and in various ministry leadership roles in both the business and non-profit sectors. As the original founder and developer of ChurchStaffing.com, Todd fundamentally changed the way thousands of churches search for pastors and staff on the internet. Todd is a graduate of Cedarville University, and lives in Bryan, OH with his wife, Dawn. 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