Stepping away from leadership is rarely just a strategic decision. It’s personal. Emotional. Spiritual. Especially for founders and long-term leaders who have poured their lives into a ministry.

In this episode, Jim West reflects on what it meant to hand off leadership of the Barnabas Group, a ministry he helped build and lead for over two decades.

Just weeks after that transition, Jim was diagnosed with cancer, forcing him into a season of surrender he never planned.

This conversation explores succession, identity, grief, and trust. It’s an honest look at what happens when God asks you to release what you love, and how unexpected seasons can become some of the most formative and meaningful of your life.

• Succession is not an emergency plan. It’s a discipleship issue.
• Founders often grieve more than they expect when they step away.
• A ministry continuing without you can be a sign of health, not failure.
• Forced stillness can protect both leaders and organizations.
• Identity untethered from role allows for deeper trust in God.
• Life after ministry can be fuller, not smaller.
• Transitions require guides, not just decisions.

• 00:00 – Jim’s path into the Barnabas Group
• 03:30 – Recognizing the need for succession
• 05:20 – Passing the baton and receiving a cancer diagnosis
• 07:40 – Watching the ministry grow without him
• 11:50 – Faith, cancer, and spiritual clarity
• 16:00 – Discovering life and ministry after leadership
• 27:10 – Advice for leaders facing transition

If you’re looking to come alongside ministry leaders in meaningful, practical ways, explore barnabasgroup.org. And if you or your organization are facing a leadership transition, visit ministrytransitions.com to book a confidential conversation and get support that protects people, preserves purpose, and plans wisely for what’s next.

Most ministry transitions don’t happen suddenly. They happen slowly, quietly, and later than they should.

In this season-ending episode, we reflect on the patterns Ministry Transitions has seen over the past year while walking with pastors, boards, nonprofits, and faith-driven organizations.

From delayed conversations to the quiet crisis of succession, this episode names the realities leaders often feel but rarely say out loud.

It’s an honest look at why transitions feel so heavy, why waiting makes them harder, and how support can change the outcome entirely.

This is not a forecast for what’s next. It’s a grounded invitation to name what’s already here and walk through it with wisdom, care, and courage.

• Most transitions happen later than they should, not because of neglect but misplaced protection
• Waiting does not make transitions easier. It makes them more expensive
• Succession planning is about stewardship, not replacement
• Ministry transitions extend far beyond the church into nonprofits and faith-driven organizations
• Many leaders engage support only after the ending has already occurred
• Leaders are often relieved, not resistant, when care is offered
• Support consistently changes outcomes for leaders and organizations

• 00:00 – When transition feels unfinished
• 05:20 – Why transitions are happening too late
• 11:10 – Succession as a silent crisis
• 17:30 – Ministry beyond the church walls
• 23:45 – Why people listen quietly
• 29:10 – What happens when leaders are offered support
• 35:40 – Why support changes outcomes

If you’re in a transition, leading others through one, or want to help someone who didn’t see this coming, visit MinistryTransitions.com to book a confidential call, explore resources, or give toward supporting a leader in transition. You don’t have to walk this alone.

At some point in ministry, we start confusing busyness for faithfulness. We tell ourselves that exhaustion is just the cost of obedience - that being needed, stretched thin, and constantly available somehow means we’re doing it right.

But deep down, we know something’s wrong.

In this episode of Life After Ministry, Matt Davis sits down with his longtime friend Andrew Hartman to talk about what happens when time becomes our boss. Andrew shares how his own burnout - marked by real physical breakdown - became the turning point that changed his relationship with time and work forever.

This isn’t a conversation about calendars or to-do lists. It’s about trust, limits, and the grace of learning how to stop before it’s too late. For anyone in ministry who’s running on empty, this one might be preventative - so you never have to live life after ministry.

• Being busy for God is not the same as being faithful to Him.
• Stress isn’t proof of calling; it’s often a signal of fear or misplaced trust.
• Burnout is your body’s declaration of bankruptcy - an invitation to reorganize your life.
• Ministry culture often rewards overwork, but Jesus modeled a rhythm of rest and presence.
• True stewardship includes managing time as a sacred resource, not an endless debt.
• Building trust with time begins by creating small, consistent commitment plans.
• You don’t have to burn out to be fruitful. The work of God is sustained by the peace of God.

• 00:00 – Matt and Andrew reconnect after 20 years
• 01:43 – When “busy for God” became burnout
• 05:18 – The body declares bankruptcy on stress
• 07:03 – Solving the time problem
• 09:21 – Is burnout a failure or a signal?
• 13:52 – Fear, faith, and our emotional relationship with time
• 17:24 – How “commitment plans” build peace
• 19:10 – Leading others in stewardship of time
• 23:48 – What life looks like on the other side of burnout
• 26:33 – Teams that heal their pace together

• Learn more, donate, or schedule a confidential transition call at MinistryTransitions.com
• Explore Andrew Hartman’s resources - free masterclass, coaching, and tools - at TimeBoss.us