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The Unfair Advantage

With Mike Hickerson
& Andy Wood

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The Unfair Advantage

Church planting is an extreme sport combining the best of entrepreneurship and church leadership. It calls for courage, tenacity, passion, and wisdom. When done right it’s one of the most rewarding endeavors on the planet. When done wrong it causes tremendous heartache and unnecessary pain. Church planters, we want to help you win early and finish strong. This podcast will help you avoid church planting land mines, grow as a leader, and discover practical tools to help you win in your local ministry context!

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What Others Are Saying

No coincidence!
hiltrice
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I had the pleasure of sitting next to this brother on the plane as I was travelling back home from a deployment. We talked and he told me about his ministry. Instantly I was intrigued, so I look forward to listening to the podcasts!
So helpful!
Kurt Duggleby
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This is such a helpful resource for those in, coming up to, or coming out of leadership transition in ministry. Such a needed conversation. Feel like it's telling me my own story when I sit and listen, and it often talks me off a ledge and inspires me to keep moving forward.
Great Leadership
Drewstats
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Sean is an incredible leader and has ministry relationships that he shares here that are valuable to anyone looking for the behind-the-scenes of high-powered, high-capacity leaders.
Convo with Brady
DETNNV
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Great host and great content!
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About the Host

Mike Hickerson is the Lead Pastor of Mission Church in Ventura, CA. Mike describes himself as a church planter, lucky husband, outnumbered dad of three daughters, Oklahoma Sooner fan, coffee addict, and a struggling surfer.

Your Host

Mike Hickerson

Unfair Advantage

About the Host

Andy Wood is the Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church. Andy and his wife Stacie are answering God’s call to serve at Saddleback after over a decade of church planting. The Wood’s started South Bay Church in 2009 with two other families. South Bay Church officially changed their name to Echo.Church in January of 2018. Echo.Church has become one of the fastest growing churches in the most unchurched area of the United States and is now reaching over 2,300 people in regular attendance in three locations across Silicon Valley.

Andy’s passion is to create environments that engage the unchurched people of the Bay Area. Along with leading the church, Andy enjoys investing time in helping church planters and church leaders think more innovatively and strategically to reach people in the most unreached areas of North America. Andy and Stacie have three kids, Caedmon, Sammy, and Karis.

Your Host

Andy Wood

Unfair Advantage

The Top 10 Keys to a
Fully-Resourced Church Plant

So glad you’re here. I’m passionate about church planters and feel God’s favor in the call to serve you in your ministry. We’d love to connect with you. Go ahead and leave us your name and email address here so we can send you a free copy of our latest church planters resource: The Top 10 Keys to a Fully Resourced Church Plant. We can’t wait to help you go further, faster!

 

Recent Episodes

Derwin Gray on the Pastor’s Role in Planting Churches of Holiness and Unity

“Planting a church doesn’t start with the people you want to reach. It starts with the God who reached you.” Meet Derwin Gray, speaker, author, and Lead Pastor at Transformation Church. In today’s episode, Derwin gives encouragement to church planters by informing the key characteristics of a New Testament Church, reminding us of the right posture for a church planter’s heart, and challenging us in the areas the church falls short.
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The What - 5 Decisions To Shape My Church Planting Vision

“...the more it’s clear the kind of culture I’m trying to create, I’ll attract people that also have similar values…so it’s so good before I go to that building phase to start getting some of this stuff super clear in my heart–one, so I can communicate it, but two, so that I can attract the right kind of people and I’m not having to work so hard to get people convinced about my vision.” On today’s episode, Andy Wood and Mike Hickerson share five key decisions to shape and clarify the vision for a church plant.
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Church Planting Year One–the Mistakes and the Miracles

“A growing church is always led by a growing leader. And whenever a leader stops growing, the church starts dying.” Meet Ron Sylvia, founding pastor of Church @ The Springs. In today’s episode, Ron shares the realities of year one in church planting–especially as a pioneer church planter when there were not too many resources and advice at the time. Ron’s encouragement to new church planters is to listen to the voice of God and stay grounded in the vision and calling. As a church planter, you’re on the front lines of what will be your legendary days…
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The “Why” - 7 Good Reasons To Plant A Church With Andy Wood & Mike Hickerson

“Church planting is not an easy sport, it’s an obedient sport.” There are good reasons and bad reasons to plan a church. The difference between the two is almost always tied to motivation. On today’s episode, Andy Wood and Mike Hickerson unpack the 7 good reasons to plant a church and share personal stories from their own experiences in church planting.
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