“It wasn’t until maybe four years into me leading the church that I really felt like, ‘Okay, now I have a good sense as to what it means to lead the congregation from here to there from a vision perspective.’” Meet Rich Villodas, lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church in Elmhurst, Queens.
“Every leader has to rethink vision for every new season. Mission is the north star, but vision can and should be something that changes over the course of your career.” In today’s episode, we bring in two of the great leadership voices in ministry to unpack the recent Carey Nieuwhof vision winnowing and inspire leaders on forging ahead in the New Year. Carey Nieuwhof and Brad Lomenick join Sean Morgan in a vulnerable conversation about Carey’s crisis of vision this past year and how church leaders can find encouragement if they too are unsure about the road ahead.
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“God uses so many types of leaders that are way different from each other. So, it makes sense that there’s going to be all kinds of succession stories that God can bless equally.” Today, we’re joined by Dustin Aagaard and John Hampton, both pastors in the midst of a Lead Pastor transition at Journey Christian Church in Orlando. With specific insight into their current transition season, we’re hearing firsthand, from both sides, the nuances and wisdom that play into healthy leadership succession within a church.
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What defines a successful church plant? Am I wired to lead? Do I have the right team in the right roles? On today’s episode of The Unfair Advantage, Andy Wood and Sean Morgan unpack both the qualitative and quantitative elements of a “successful” church plant.
“We haven’t just had a change in culture in the last couple of years, we’ve had a cultural shift. We’re in a different playing field.” Many of you know Chris Brown, Senior Pastor and Teaching Pastor at North Coast Church in San Diego, CA. In today’s episode, Sean Morgan leans in with Chris on exactly how North Coast is innovating around online church and why it’s so important.
“Don’t be so busy trying to turn things around that you neglect the people you’re working with. Start tackling the small stuff to build up a resume and track record of success, then you can gradually start tackling bigger and bigger things that ultimately need to get changed as well.”
Dr. Richard Blackaby Read More »
“Ministry and family is not an either/or. It’s both/and. But there’s certainly a priority. And if you get to the place where the family is not your priority, eventually you might have to make a choice.”
Andy & Stacie Wood Read More »
The 2022 midterm elections, like most political events in our age, will undoubtedly spark new fires of division in our country一not only in the nation at large, but sadly, within the church. Enter Paul A. Hoffman, the lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church in Newport, Rhode Island, and co-author of a new book: Preaching To A Divided Nation: A Seven-Step Model for Promoting Reconciliation and Unity.
In his new book, Fan the Flame: Let Jesus Renew Your Calling and Revive Your Church, Jim Cymbala distills the Spirit-fueled, Bible-saturated ethos of his 50+ years in ministry. As Steve Carter affectionately quips, Jim is like a firehose of passion and wisdom.
“Love the church you have. Not the church you wish you had.” Meet James Forsyth, Senior Pastor of Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, TN. James grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland where he met his bride and started his family. He came to the US to go to seminary and stayed stateside as God called him and his family through two leadership transitions. James is an expert on the topic of transition. On this episode he leans in with James specifically on the currency of trust and four key transition leadership principles.
“Humility must be the chief characteristic of the outgoing pastor. Their transition feels like death by a thousand cuts. This is what they’ve dedicated their ministry to, their lives to, and they are having to slowly let it go…”
“Why would you waste your life right now, in the prime of your ministry, to go teach a couple hundred people at a movie theater in California?” Meet Mike Hickerson, Lead Pastor & Planter of Mission Church in Ventura, CA. In this episode, Mike shares he and his wife Jodi’s personal story as church planters and unpacks some great advice for planters that he wishes he had ten years ago.
Erwin McManus has spent decades honing his skill as a communicator, at Mosaic (the church he founded in Hollywood, CA), at conferences around the world, and in living rooms filled with a handful of friends. Wherever he goes一even in places where he doesn’t speak the native language一he’s able to communicate in a profound way.
“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. 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.”
“I can’t do another meeting. I don’t want to preach another sermon. Lord, help me!”
Today’s episode is packed with insights from Luke Norsworthy, pastor of Westover Hills Church in Austin, Texas, and author of God Over Good and his newest book, Befriending Your Monsters. His conversation with Steve Carter meanders through all sorts of topics…
“We tell our staff… if you are happy or aligned with 70% of what we’re doing as a church, then lay down the other 30% and embrace what God is doing.” On this episode we welcome Mike Bodine from Central Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mike is gracious enough to invite us into his living room to discuss the health of Central’s staff, the health of their church, and the health of the relationship between Mike and his Lead Pastor, Jud Wilhite. Mike shares incredible wisdom on fighting for culture in your church and why it matters. As he so concisely summarizes, “Culture is everything.”
“If we don’t pay attention to the season of planting, it’s too late to try to manufacture a harvest that we didn’t plan for or plant for.” Meet Steve Stroope, Founding Pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall Texas. Packed with wisdom from the moment they press record, Andy dives in deep with Steve to better understand what he calls the Growth Gap and how to create leading indicators rather than focusing on goals that come from lagging indicators.
“I can’t do another meeting. I don’t want to preach another sermon. Lord, help me!”
Two years into his pastorate, Max Lucado offered this prayer as a last-ditch effort to stay in ministry. God answered him, and now decades later, he’s written a new book that offers hope and wisdom to others feeling burned out and wiped out.
“Leaders are waiting around for their rooms to fill up, but newcomers to your church are waiting for you to make room for them.” In this episode, Sean leans into a question that so many church leaders and staff are wrestling with on this side of the pandemic… “when is our room full?”
In Christian circles, thinking about yourself is often labeled selfish. Psychologist and theologian Dr. Alison Cook pushes back on this assumption, explaining why caring for yourself is actually the best way to care for others.
