A Strong Church Reputation Can Hide Staff Culture Problems

A long, respected reputation can make it harder for a church to admit its staff is struggling, because everyone has a reason to want things to be okay. In this episode, Tim McConnell, Lead Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, shares what he found beneath the surface of a well-known congregation and how an outside staff survey helped his team respond.

Click here to watch the full episode on YouTube.

About This Episode

Leaders will hear how a 154-year-old church moved from sensing something was off with its staff culture to measuring it, using the Best Christian Workplaces Employee Engagement Survey as an outside, anonymous read on staff health. It matters because surprise departures and quiet silos rarely announce themselves, and a hunch gives leaders little to act on. The shift McConnell describes is from hoping problems resolve on their own to naming them, building healthy conflict habits, and staying with the work even when early results barely move. McConnell has led First Pres since 2016, and according to the church’s survey reports, staff disengagement fell from 28.9% in 2023 to 2% in 2026.

Episode Highlights

03:39: Why a long-respected church can hide deeper problems — what a 1923 house taught him about pulling up the carpet

07:33: The question behind turnover — asking whether the right people are staying or going, and why he asked his elders to put staff health first

14:17: What the first engagement survey revealed — a result that surprised leaders, met with sorrow and then full commitment

18:38: Conflict training, breaking down silos, and a 15-minute Monday gathering for the whole staff — small rhythms that changed how people worked together

24:23: What changed — disengagement falling from 28.9% to 2%, and what he learned about unresolved conflict and creativity

Meet the Guest

Tim McConnell is the 15th Lead Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, serving since 2016. Before First Pres, he served as a campus minister, youth minister, and U.S. Army chaplain, and he was the inaugural Director of the PREACH Initiative at Taylor University. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia and is the author of Happy Church: Pursuing Radical Joy as the People of God (IVP). He grew up in Colorado Springs and returned to lead the church in his hometown.

Resources Mentioned

• Happy Church: Pursuing Radical Joy as the People of God by Tim McConnell (IVP)
• Best Christian Workplaces Employee Engagement Survey
  
  

Episode Transcript:

A full, word-for-word transcript of this episode is available here.

Next Steps for Leaders:

Listen with one question in mind: where might your staff culture look healthy from the outside while people quietly wear down? Take a few minutes to reflect on what you would want to know, and who could give you an honest, outside read.

Then share this conversation with a fellow leader who carries that weight, and subscribe to Called to Flourish so you don’t miss the next one.

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