Things are changing for me...
- 7 days ago
- 5 min read
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After 21 years at The Pentecostals of Alexandria, Ryan Franklin sits down for a deeply personal episode to share a major life and leadership transition. Ryan reflects on the people, lessons, struggles, growth, and calling that shaped his journey at POA while also sharing why he recently accepted a new role with the United Pentecostal Church International PRG division as VP of Strategic Leadership.
This episode is about more than a move or a new title. It is about calling, grief, faith, leadership health, and learning how to embrace what is next without dishonoring what was. If you are navigating transition, uncertainty, or a new season in your own life and leadership, this conversation will encourage you.
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Transcript
Welcome to the Christian Leader Made Simple podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Franklin, an executive coach and the vice president of strategic leadership and operations for Pentecostal Resources Group and the United Pentecostal Church International. If you're leading in ministry or business, you likely know how easy it is to get scattered, lose focus, and start feeling ineffective. I've been there myself, which is why I created the Christian Leader Self Assessment. It's free, and in just 10 minutes, it'll show you exactly how to gain clarity and confidence as a leader. Go to ryanfranklin.org or click the link in the description to take the assessment today.
Now, let's dive into today's episode.
Today's episode is a little different than normal—no guest, no interview, no major teaching framework. I just wanted to sit down and talk to you personally for a few minutes about a major transition that has happened in my life in leadership. This is a little emotional for me because over the last 46 years—and 21 years working full time—so much of who I am today was formed through my time at the Pentecostals of Alexandria, the POA.
I was born into POA in 1979. In my teenage years, I grew there spiritually; I deepened myself during those years. I grew relationally, developing many deep relationships. I also grew as a leader over the years, learning some really hard lessons and experiencing incredible victories. I walked through burnout there and experienced healing. My family was shaped there; my children were raised there.
When you spend over four decades somewhere, it becomes more than a church—it becomes part of your identity and story. So many people at POA have invested in my life: pastors, friends, leaders, staff members, church members—people who believed in me when I was immature and inexperienced and just trying to figure leadership out.
Looking back over the last 21 years of working full time at POA fills my heart with deep gratitude. POA gave me opportunities that shaped my life forever.
I want to make one thing very clear: I'm not leaving a place that I dislike; I'm leaving a place that I deeply love. This transition is not rooted in frustration, conflict, or offense—in fact, it's quite the opposite.
The transition is really about my calling. Over the past several years, something has continued growing inside me—a burden for leadership health; a burden for pastors and leaders carrying heavy loads while trying to stay spiritually healthy, emotionally healthy, relationally healthy—and still remain effective.
That burden eventually turned into Christian Leader Made Simple—the company I began building—which includes the Christian Leader Blueprint, the Christian Leader Community coaching program online, this podcast, coaching relationship groups, and many conversations with leaders around the world.
Through all of that, I sensed God expanding the assignment He had given me—but the way He did it totally caught me off guard.
Recently, I accepted a new role with the United Pentecostal Church International at their headquarters in St. Louis within the PRG Division (Pentecostal Resources Group) as Vice President of Strategic Leadership and Operations.
Even saying that out loud feels a little surreal. I don’t hang my hat on titles—I don’t even like titles—but I know they are important to an organization.
Our family will be transitioning to the St. Louis area as we step into a completely new season of life.
If I can be vulnerable for just a moment: I have excitement and grief—and yes, they can coexist. I'm excited, hopeful, thankful—but also grieving.
Healthy leaders can grieve what was while still embracing what’s next.
Sometimes people assume that if God is leading you into a new season, you’ll feel zero sadness about leaving the old one behind—but that’s not reality.
Any meaningful season leaves fingerprints on your heart—and POA has definitely done this for me.
There are relationships at POA that mean the world to me; routines and rhythms that feel deeply familiar; comfort here; history here; safety here.
Calling sometimes requires letting go of comfort before full clarity arrives—and that's where faith comes in.
I don’t really have a polished vision of what’s ahead yet. Honestly, there’s probably more uncertainty ahead than I'm used to or comfortable with—and I'm okay with that because I have significant peace in my heart.
Throughout my life I've learned God often shows us just the next step before revealing the full roadmap; right now we’re walking forward one step at a time.
What I do know is this: I believe deeply in helping leaders become healthier and more effective. Pastors need support teams; leadership health matters; emotional intelligence matters; self-awareness matters; healthy rhythms matter—and above all else, the Kingdom of God deserves healthy leaders who can lead for the long haul.
I'm incredibly excited about continuing this mission on a much broader scale—and this podcast is not ending.
Christian Leader Made Simple is not ending—the burden remains on my heart. If anything, this next season will be an expansion of what God has been doing in me.
To everyone who has supported me over these last seven years of building Christian Leader Made Simple—from pastors to friends to family to listeners—thank you.
To those who have listened to this podcast, joined my community, attended group sessions, trusted coaching conversations with me, encouraged me during hard seasons or simply prayed for me and my family—thank you.
I carry tremendous gratitude for you and am so excited about what lies ahead.
I don’t fully know every detail of this next chapter yet but one thing is certain: God has been faithful every previous season when I've put Him first—and He will be faithful in this one too.
Thank you for listening today on this unusual episode of The Christian Leader Made Simple Show. God bless!
Copyright © 2026 Ryan Franklin. All rights reserved.
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