Gravity Commons Podcast

Church funding has been declining for 30 years, and most of us have no idea why it’s happening or what to do about it. Josh Schuler of Newfire Giving joins us to talk about the history of funding churches (it’s way different than we thought), the difference between “tithing” and giving, and share some best practices for […] The post 040 – Why the Church is Facing a Funding Crisis appeared first on...

Jim Lyon is the general director of Church of God Ministries in Anderson, Indiana. We’ve partnered with the Church of God for a couple years now to provide coaching, consulting, and training opportunities to their pastors and churches. We had a great discussion with Jim about leading change without becoming a coercive, manipulative leader. In essence: […] The post 039 – Jim Lyon on Leading Change...

Advent is just around the corner: December 2nd is the first Sunday of Advent. But what is Advent? And why would anyone celebrate it? Is this just some hipster nonsense, or is there something important here to pay attention to? Our friend Shawn McCain joins us for this episode. Shawn is an Anglican priest in Austin, Texas, […] The post 038 – Advent: Why, What, and How with Shawn McCain appeared fir...

Leading like Jesus means moving from a posture of being an expert and answerer to being a learner and a listener. In this episode, Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe talk about how a “dust-up” about racism on Matt’s Facebook page reveals some of the essential posture shifts necessary for leading and living like Jesus. Specifically, how […] The post 037 – Leading By Learning and Listening appeared first on...

A few days ago we hosted our first ever National Gathering, and we had a few reflections on what we’re learning. We thought we’d share them with you. Links and resources: Gravity Leadership Academy | we’re always starting new cohorts! Gravity Consulting | Bring us out to do a workshop or team consultation If you found […] The post BONUS Episode: Reflections on Our First National Gathering appeared...

How do you know if it’s time to quit? Pastors and ministry leaders get a lot of advice on how to keep going and persevere through difficult times, but not much advice on how to end a ministry well. When to close a church instead of find a way to keep it running. In this […] The post 036 – Know When To Fold ‘Em: On Closing a Church Plant appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries:...

"God is love" sounds nice, but is it really, 100%, all the time true?? Or does God "balance" his love with wrath? In this episode, we interview Brad Jersak about the unique experiential way he learned to trust that God really is love, and that his love has the power to forgive and redeem the worst of […] The post 035 – Brad Jersak on Learning to Trust that God is Love appeared firs...

Aaron Keyes is a songwriter, worship pastor, and founder of Ten Thousand Fathers Worship School. In this episode, we interview Aaron about the difference between a song leader and a worship pastor, what’s broken about worship in the church, and how investing your whole life in others is really the only way to make disciples in the […] The post 034 – Aaron Keyes on Investing Your Whole Life in Othe...

Part 7 of our series on what we’re learning about women and men leading together in the church. We interview Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw, who recently moved to Grand Rapids to serve as Pastors of Family and Youth at Vineyard North after spending 15 years serving at Life on the Vine Christian Community in Chicagoland. […] The post 031 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 7: Geoff & Cyd appeared fi...

Part 6 of our series on what we’re learning about women and men leading together in the church. We interview Derek Radney, a friend of ours and a Presbyterian pastor in North Carolina who sees things a little differently from us on this issue, but we had a generous and generative conversation about what we’re […] The post 030 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 6: Derek Radney appeared first on...

Part 5 of our series on what we’re learning about women and men leading together in the church. We take a break from our interviews to zoom out just a bit and talk about why we’re talking about this “issue” in the first place. For us, it’s not an minor theological quibble, it’s a front-and-center issue […] The post 029 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 5: 3 Reasons Why appeared first on Gravi...

Part 4 of our series on women and men leading together in the church. We interview married Anglican priests Emily and Ron McGowin on how they lead together. The post 028 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 4: Emily and Ron appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Part 2 of our series on women and men leading together in the church, where we explore in more depth the related Scriptures and our interpretation of them. The post 026 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 2: Scripture appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We start a new series on what we're learning about women and men leading together, sharing some of our journeys into where they're at today. The post 025 – Women & Men Leading Together, Pt 1: Our Stories appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We respond to a listener question about the difference between discipling and developing others in their unique gifting and calling and just trying to clone yourself to get more work done. We talk about the need to be aware of how we are uniquely wired, and also how those we are investing in are uniquely […] The post 024 – Disciple and Develop People, Don’t Clone Yourself appeared first on Gravity...

This week Gravity Leadership co-founders Ben Hardman, Matt Tebbe, and Ben Sternke check-in on what’s going on their local church ministries, and end up discussing a common tension in ministry: continuing to invest in a culture of development while feeling the demands of a growing church. We talk about the the typical solutions most of us […] The post 023 – Creating a Culture of Development, Not Ex...

This week we talk with Douglas Tappin, a playwright, composer, lyricist, librettist, and dramatist living in Marietta, Georgia who attends Ben Hardman’s church. We talk with Douglas about discovering what God is doing in your life by paying attention to your life as you go (not getting a big vision all at once). Douglas went from […] The post 022 – Paying Attention to Your Life (with Douglas Tappi...

This week we talk with Adam Gustine, Director of Ministry Initiatives for Love Mercy, Do Justice, an initiative of the Evangelical Covenant Church, whose mission it is to "Join God in making things right in our broken world." Adam is also a good friend. We talk about white privilege, power dynamics, and some of the pitfalls […] The post 021 – White Privilege, Power, and Justice with Adam G...

This week we talk with Becky Dunn (a member of Matt and Ben’s local church) about meeting God in our doubts and dark places. We talk about not only how to personally meet God in dark times, but how to create a church culture where people feel safe to meet God in the midst of […] The post 020 – Meeting God in Our Doubts and Dark Places appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: ht...

This week we talk with Mandy Smith about vulnerability in leadership. Mandy wrote a book called The Vulnerable Pastor: How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry, and a big part of her journey as a leader has been learning to lead from a place of vulnerability. This episode was a bit longer than we normally go, […] The post 019 – Mandy Smith on Leading in Vulnerability appeared first on Gravity Le...

This week we talk with Tara Beth Leach about her book Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry. Tara Beth is the senior pastor of First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena (affectionately known as “PazNaz“). She shares with us some of the challenges of being a woman in leadership, and how to create a […] The post 018 – Tara Beth Leach on Empowering Women For Leadership appeared first o...

This week we talk with David Fitch about his book Seven Practices for the Church on Mission. The post 017 – David Fitch on 7 Practices For the Church On Mission appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Cofounders Ben Sternke, Matt Tebbe, and Ben Hardman talk about navigating exhaustion and conflict in ministry, responding to a listener email. The post 016 – Navigating Exhaustion and Conflict in Ministry appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Ben Sternke, Ben Hardman, and Justin Wallace share stories about navigating theological disorientation and reorientation while leading in ministry. The post 015 – Navigating Disorientation and Reorientation in Ministry appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Brian Zahnd joins us to talk about how to go through theological paradigm shifts without shipwrecking your life or burning down your church. The post 014 – Brian Zahnd on Going Through Theological Paradigm Shifts appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy