Life After Ministry
PODCAST
Turning transition into transformation.
Reclaim Your Identity
Redefine
Your Assignment
Rediscover Your
Calling
Listen to the Life After Ministry podcast on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Episode 77 - Leaving Without Losing Continuity (featuring Chuck Proudfit)
What if the biggest lie Christian leaders believe is that ministry only happens inside church walls?
When pastors and nonprofit leaders transition into the marketplace, many feel like they’ve stepped out of calling and into something lesser. But that assumption may be the very thing limiting the Church’s influence.
In this episode, we talk with Chuck Proudfit about faith at work, succession challenges, leadership continuity, and why Christians must rethink the sacred-secular divide.
This conversation reframes work as worship and challenges leaders to build legacy that outlives them.
Episode 76 - The Wilderness Is Not a Detour (featuring Dustin Kleinschmidt)
Most ministry leaders expect relief after stepping away.
What they don’t expect is the wilderness to begin after the resignation.
In this honest conversation, Dustin Kleinschmidt shares how years of crisis leadership, misaligned values, and unresolved grief led to burnout, anxiety, and a deep reckoning with faith.
Rather than rushing toward resolution, Dustin invites leaders to reconsider what the wilderness is actually for.
This episode reframes suffering, challenges Christian shortcuts around pain, and offers language for leaders who feel stuck between obedience and disappointment.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you missed God or why healing is taking so long, this conversation meets you right where you are.
Episode 75 - The Transition I Planned…The Transition I Got (featuring Jim West)
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.
Episode 74 - The Year-End Transition Checklist
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.
Facing Life After Ministry can feel hopeless, but it doesn’t have to be.
Whether you've stepped away from the pulpit by choice, or circumstances have forced a change, it's a monumental shift that leaves many wondering, "What's next?" If you're at this crossroads, you may feel alone, overwhelmed, and unsure about the road ahead.
We want you to know that you're not alone in this transition. There's not just life after ministry - there's a chance to thrive.
Sharing is caring.
Listen to an episode and help us spread the word by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
“Just listened to Matt and Marilee unpacked their own story in episode one. So generous, honest, and invitational. Thanks for meeting a "gap" in the ministry world, and by that I mean the shattered heads and hearts wandering the land like Christendom's own take on the Walking Dead. I pray this resurrects many, opens eyes for their families and communities, causing an increase in empathy among God's people.”
- Scott White
David, Former Pastor
"I felt lost after leaving the ministry. This podcast showed me a way forward."
Sarah, Ex-Missionary
"Life After Ministry Podcast was a lifeline during my transition. Now, I'm thriving in my new chapter!"
The Struggles of Transitioning
Stepping away from pastoral service can be a lonely journey filled with uncertainties. What will your new identity be? How do you make sense of the changes? The stakes are high - but you don't have to navigate this alone.

