Kevin Rhineheimer
Bridge Leadership: Having a stake before and after a leadership change
About The Episode
“The fear factor of a transition is real. And it will hit you. But you have to remind yourself that that is literally what the devil’s plan is to do to you. It’s to paralyze you. He wants nothing more than to get you on your heels and start to revert back. But the Gospel is going no no, if God is for you who can be against you? I got you. You need to walk forward in faith and be strong and courageous like Joshua.”
Meet Kevin Rhineheimer, Lead Executive Pastor from Mission Church in Gilbert, Arizona. Kevin has been on staff at Mission for over a decade and walked through two vastly different seasons of transition. In this episode he compares and contrasts the two transitions and talks about his role as the “bridge leader” of the local church.
Welcome to Episode 066 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.
Insights From Kevin Rhineheimer
Calling, Assignment, Season
- Calling – I had always had the sense that I would end up in ministry. If you aren’t called to ministry, it’s easy to back out when it gets hard.
- Assignment – I’ve had many assignments in ministry. Buying land, putting holograms on stage, etc. If you have the calling, it doesn’t really matter what the assignment is. You’re a part of the greatest calling in the history of the world.
- Season – Ministry is full of seasons. Seasons require boundaries. No season is ever wasted.
Learnings from a Healthy Transition and an Unhealthy Transition
- I knew I couldn’t control all the variables. So one of the questions was, “How much was I going to depend on God in this season?”
- The bible references “leadership” a handful of times. But the bible references “being a
- servant” over eight hundred times. So I was taught a lot about servant leadership and stewarding our community in this new interim leadership role.
- We implemented “heart check moments” with our staff. This was just a check-in with each other, two words of where our heart was at right then.
- I moved out of my office and into a couch in our central office space to show stability, a constant presence, and prioritized emotional check-ins with our staff.
Courageous Leadership
- Some of the greatest leaders in the OT were in a period of waiting. This was courageous leadership.
- “The fear factor of a transition is real. And it will hit you. But you have to remind yourself that that is literally what the devils plan is to do to you. Is to paralyze you. He wants nothing more than to get you on your heels and start to revert back. But the Gospel is going no no, if God is for you who can be against you? I got you. You need to walk forward in faith and be strong and courageous like Joshua.”
- “The worst thing you can do is to leave the story before it ends.”
How God Blessed You & Your Family, The Church, Your Community
- God showed up in a very personal way for me and my family.
- As the scriptures say, “God being as close as to your breath…” I felt that closeness – my marriage was protected, my kids were protected.
- I saw a core group of people come together
- Unity from our staff – I got to see the early church arise and come to life.
Lessons on Leadership
- Go slow – our world runs so fast. We don’t have to run as fast as we think we do. Leading from a place of Jesus requires silence, space to hear from him, daily scripture meditation, discernment, and keeping a sabbath.
- Six months may not be slow enough as you start to make changes in the church. Spend as much time as you need to get your foundation set properly. Always protect the absolutes.
- The best decisions you’ll ever make is when the church tells you it’s time. This requires massive relationship capital between you and your church.
- Roll together as a church. Unity takes work and intentionality.
- God is the God of time and timing. Give that to Him.
- Don’t let your personal preferences get in the way of what God wants to do.
Episode Links
Are you in Transition or have one on the horizon? We encourage you to check out more about our cohort work and get connected with us at: https://theascentleader.org/cohorts/
Who Is Kevin Rhineheimer
I am a Pastor with experience leading through difficult circumstances. My heart beat is staff health and desiring for God to build His church. Relational connection is my gifting which in return helps me understand the heartbeat of the church. I take leadership seriously and see it as a stewardship moment knowing I will answer to it one day. I have an active spiritual life which includes listening to the Holy Spirit guide and direct my life. I hold everything with loose hands and trust that God’s promises are true and for me. Out of those promises I lead with confidence. The biggest blessing in my life is being married to my wife, Erin. We’ve been married for 18 years and have 3 beautiful children together. They keep us on our toes and we love it! Our long term goal is to grow old together while traveling and eating while spending time together as much as possible. We truly are in love!
Sponsors & Partners
Thanks to our sponsor: Food For The Hungry.
Combine your church’s heart for the poor and Food for the Hungry’s global experience at fh.org/churches.
The Art of Leadership Academy – https://careynieuwhof.com/the-art-of-leadership-academy/
Quotes From Episode
“The fear factor of a transition is real. And it will hit you. But you have to remind yourself that that is literally what the devils plan is to do to you. Is to paralyze you. He wants nothing more than to get you on your heels and start to revert back. But the Gospel is going no no, if God is for you who can be against you? I got you. You need to walk forward in faith and be strong and courageous like Joshua.”
“The worst thing you can do is to leave the story before it ends.”
Listen to Recent Episodes
About the Host
Sean Morgan is a coach and speaker with a national reputation as a catalyst of fresh vision. His passion is to help ministries navigate obstacles and turn them into opportunities.
Throughout his career, Sean has pioneered initiatives impacting thousands of leaders across the country. He started out serving as Executive Pastor and CFO at New Life Church in northern California.
As host, Sean gives you access to amazing conversations, hard-won wisdom, and poignant insights from world-class leaders in intimate “living room” settings.
Your Host
Sean Morgan
Leaders in Living Rooms
Craft & Character
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