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.

• Burnout is often the result of long-term erosion, not one failure
• Healthy systems can’t sustain you in an unhealthy environment
• The wilderness often begins after the role ends
• Spiritual bypassing keeps leaders disconnected from their real pain
• Value misalignment creates invisible but constant friction
• Healing doesn’t mean closure or clarity
• God’s presence in the wilderness matters more than getting out of it

• 00:00 – Dustin’s ministry journey and early formation
• 03:30 – Crisis leadership and long-term erosion
• 06:20 – When sustainability quietly disappears
• 09:30 – Why good systems still fail in toxic environments
• 11:20 – Entering the wilderness after resignation
• 15:20 – Spiritual bypassing and emotional honesty
• 18:30 – The Exodus, expectations, and disappointment with God
• 24:00 – Living faithfully without resolution
• 28:15 – The Wilderness Way: book, workbook, and music

If you’re in the wilderness and looking for faithful companions along the way, explore The Wilderness Way and Ministry Transitions. Together, they offer resources to help you live honestly with God in hard seasons and engage Scripture with deeper historical and spiritual clarity. Learn more at https://thewildernessway.com and https://thejewishroad.com.

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 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.