The Unstuck Church Podcast

Better together? Over the past decade, we've seen a trend in churches merging together for many different reasons... and it seems likely that this trend will only increase in a post-pandemic world. On the positive side—healthy, mission-focused churches are benefitting: Multisite : Ten years ago 30% of multisite campuses came by way of a merger; today it's more than 40%. Church Planting : In a rece...

Paralyzed. Tired. Depressed. Sad. Questioning leadership capacity. Just some of the ways pastors are describing their state of mind right now. If you're leading in a local church in 2020, you're not only helping others navigate change— you're also processing it yourself.  But some pastors are also telling us they feel re-energized by the opportunity to do things they didn't have permission to do b...

The hard truth for outward-focused churches? New people are probably not going to come to our physical locations to try out church—not for a long time. In the last few months, the majority of churches shifted to holding services online, and recently, a lot of energy shifted to re-opening in-person services. But even if we take all the precautions and follow the federal and local guidelines... it's...

How do we DO this? That's the question we're hearing. The shift from analog to digital  ministry is one of the biggest ministry strategy shifts churches are having to make right now.  We reported in our special edition of the  Q2 2020 Unstuck Church Report , that 70% of larger churches told us they thinking about how their staffing structure may need to shift permanently to prepare for the new nor...

Annual reviews. Grading on a fuzzy 10-point scale. Infrequent 1-on-1 meetings... we've all be on the receiving end of an ineffective performance management system. Is there a better way? Does performance management even belong on church staff teams? Pastors frequently tell us they weren't taught the skills to lead an organization in seminary. When teams are small, it's easy to lead the staff and k...

Frustration, silos, turf wars and inaction... There might just be a fuzzy decison-making process in your organization. The good news? These are all solvable problems with clear decision rights. In moments of crisis, it's wholly appropriate for the leader to make more decisions. But now it's time to start shifting to a more collaborative approach to leadership—or you're going to limit the impact th...

We're back from our brief podcast hiatus! And we've got lots of NEW data and stories to share. We recently partnered with Blackbaud for a special edition of our quarterly research report, The Unstuck Church Report . More than 550 churches shared with us how they're continuing to respond to the coronavirus crisis. There was some good news: Churches seem to be finding themselves in a better financia...

Alignment within your church won't happen on accident. You have to maintain it on an ongoing basis, but if your alignment doesn't lead to clearer ministry priorities and more focused action from your team, it's unlikely you'll see the results you're praying for.    In this final and third episode in our Strategic Alignment Pyramid series, Tony and Amy dive into the Action level of the pyramid with...

Busy—Everyone's working hard, but the work isn't organized. It's not focused. And honestly—the church isn't seeing the results you are hoping to see. Sound familiar? Common symptoms of unclear vision, goals and strategies. In Part 2 of our series about the Strategic Alignment Pyramid, we examine how it's possible for your church to do the work of God without doing the work God called you   to do—a...

Times of crisis shine a spotlight on issues like lack of vision clarity and team misalignment. If you sense the future for your church feels unclear and that your team is not pulling in the same direction, you're not alone. In this episode, we kick off a series about a tool—the Strategic Alignment Pyramid —that can help you learn how to reinvent your ministry methods in a way that will unify your...

Overwhelming and confusing—the words pastors have been using when they talk to us about measuring online engagement. It feels like everyone has been talking about what to measure for the last few weeks, and somehow, it's not getting clearer. Here's our take: Churches should give the most attention to tracking things that help them make decisions and lead to wins with the bigger picture ministry go...

There's a lot of change happening in our world right now, and likely a lot more to come. As leaders, we have to be ready to change our ministry strategy, while holding true to our responsibilities as leaders. In this episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson are diving into the 4 roles a senior pastor can't delegate (ever), and why you need to bring them back into focus TODAY, given what our churches...

What can you do TODAY?  Many pastors are asking us, "When do you think we'll be able to reopen our churches?" But that's the wrong question. The question we need to be asking is, "How must the church change for a new normal?" I t will be too easy to go back to doing church the way we've always done church when we're safe to gather again. But if we do, we will have missed the opportunity of capital...

Response-Mode. That's where churches have been for the last several weeks. We surveyed more than 500 churches—ranging from under 100 in attendance to more than 20,000—between April 2 and 6. Generally, the data shows that larger churches were better prepared for this crisis than smaller churches. That's probably not a surprise. However, it's encouraging to see how quickly churches of all sizes have...

Money. If it was a challenging topic for church leaders before, it feels all-out tricky right now. The coronavirus crisis quickly brought many financial challenges to churches, and talking about and managing money has gotten increasingly difficult. In this episode, Tony and Amy host a conversation with Rick Holliday from North Point Ministries (Alpharetta, GA), David Vaughan from Whitewater Crossi...

First ever. How often do we get the chance to do something in a way it's never been done before? There's no doubt this Easter season will be the first time in our history so many churches will gather online for their celebrations. We have a great opportunity to share the message of Jesus, but is there a risk to relying on the ways we've always done Easter in a moment when nothing is as usual? In t...

You've managed your initial response to the coronavirus crisis. You've canceled church services, moved online, deployed virtual small groups, started working remotely, ramped up communication via email and social media... You're figuring out how to manage the day-to-day. The crisis is still escalating. "Back to normal" is just a wish. Easter is a few weeks away. Have you caught your breath yet? We...

Will you redeem the time? While events around the world have brought on growing fear and anxiety, the Church stands on the edge of an incredible opportunity to bring hope. If your church won't be holding weekend services or other large gatherings in the coming weeks, your team actually may have more time on their hand than ever before. How will you redeem the time for good? In this episode, Tony a...

Needless to say, a lot has changed in our world in the last 48 hours. While the world around us pauses and isolates to try to combat the spread of the coronavirus,  I believe the opportunity has never been greater for the church to shine. And because of that, I think you and your church are uniquely positioned to impact your community.  Even though worship gatherings will likely pause at your chur...

Secret shopper data from the work we do with 100s of churches each year shows us some interesting trends... Even churches who are clear on their mission field develop blind spots over time. We get used to the way we do things. We don't see the "dust" anymore, so it becomes harder for us to really see what an outsider sees. In this last episode of our series on creating compelling weekend services,...

Overestimating the effectiveness of the weekend? Every church wants its weekend services to help people grow closer to Christ. But if you're not planning well, great ideas get left on the table. You're likely missing opportunities to get the best from your team and to lead the people in your seats towards their next steps in faith. In this episode, Tony and Amy discuss simple adjustments you can m...

Boring. Invisible. Unremarkable. Words we'd rather people not use to describe about our church services. But what are we really doing to make the weekend more compelling? In her book An Hour on Sunday , Nance Beach said, "The hour can simply be sixty minutes for attenders to survive; a time for minds to wander aimlessly and hearts go untouched. Or maybe, the hour on Sunday can be a time of wonder,...

Ever heard the phrase " the manager relies on control while the leader inspires trust"?  Over the last several decades, resources and teaching on leadership thrived. But management? It's often been minimized (at best) or even ridiculed or disparaged (at worst). It's no wonder organizations often have a difficult time managing the day-to-day execution of their vision and strategy. In this episode,...

Everyone wants to be more productive, and there's an exploding industry of apps, journals and resources that promises to help. But what if there were a few simple (and free!) steps that could increase your team's productivity by 30 percent? In this episode, Tony, Amy and Lance share 3 questions to ask in every meeting that could radically impact how your staff gets things done. For the full episod...

Think of culture as gasoline and your ministry as an engine. It's not enough to have high-quality gasoline. Gasoline is purposeful; it is for powering the engine. A high-octane gas and a powerful engine will get traction quickly.  
 Organizational DNA, or culture, is really about the way your team operates. It's how you do what you do. And if you don't shape culture intentionally, you might not li...