Leaders in Living Rooms

Most pastors treat a sabbatical like a finish line: hold on until it arrives, then collapse into it. But what if there is a better way? In this solo episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean shares what he learned from his own sabbatical, including what he'd do again and the one thing he'd change. He talks about why you can't flip a switch on the way out or the way back in, and why he redirected hi...

Do you actually have power, and what are you supposed to do with it? On this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with author Andy Crouch, whose landmark book Playing God reframed how a generation of Christian leaders think about power, for a conversation most leadership podcasts won't touch. Andy makes the case that power isn't a necessary evil to be minimized or hidden behin...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with Matt Brown, pastor of Sandals Church, to unpack the tension pastoral leaders feel when the roles of friend, pastor, and boss collide in the same relationship. Matt challenges the instinct to soften hard conversations for the sake of the relationship, showing instead that clarity delivered with genuine care is what actually...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with author and leader Dave Ferguson to reflect on the lasting impact and evolving lessons of Hero Maker and kingdom multiplication. Dave challenges the misconception that becoming a "hero maker" means sacrificing leadership influence, showing instead that pouring into others is the key to compounding long-term kingdom impact....

How do you step into the lead pastor role of a massive, multi-site urban church at a young age? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with Josiah Jobe, lead pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Spanning 26 locations, over 40 worship services, and utilizing multiple languages, New Life represents a highly complex and deeply scaled urban ministry. Josiah c...

What happens when the pressure to perform as a ministry leader completely hollows out your internal world? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with pastor, author, and former NFL player Dr. Derwin L. Gray for an incredibly raw and vital conversation on pastoral wholeness. Too many pastors are fluent in the language of emotional health but completely starving for a the...

How do you transition a historic, world-changing church into a new season without losing its DNA? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Andy Wood, Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church, to pull back the curtain on the messy, rewarding reality of leading major institutional change. Andy shares his raw, firsthand experiences transitioning from planting a tight-knit cong...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Fr. James Mallon to explore what it really takes to move a church from maintenance to mission. Drawing from his experience revitalizing struggling parishes, Fr. James shares the realities of church turnaround, the weight of leadership, and the deep cultural shifts required to reclaim a missional identity. He unpacks the tension...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Josh Newell, Executive Director of the Jesus Film Project, for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, growth, and global evangelism in the digital age. Josh shares how shifting from a centralized model to a partnership-driven approach has unlocked greater scale and impact, especially through digital platforms that connect p...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Jim Burgen to explore how senior leaders can cultivate vision, develop future leaders, and steward seasons of growth with intentionality and humility. Jim shares the story behind Flatirons Church’s “Be Free” faith initiative, a movement focused on establishing outposts of freedom, investing in leadership development, and engagi...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Ben Cachiaras, Lead Pastor of Mountain Christian Church, to explore the evolving landscape of church leadership, multi-site strategy, and disciple-making in today’s cultural context. Ben shares insights from nearly 30 years of ministry, including lessons learned from launching multiple campuses and cultivating both church plant...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan welcomes back Mike Foster for a candid conversation about clarity, friction, leadership growth, and unlocking high performance. Mike unpacks why awareness alone isn’t enough, how leaders unintentionally create comfort zones that stall momentum, and why friction is essential for turning potential energy into kinetic energy. From navigating dif...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Sarah Jackson of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) to explore church revitalization inside the Church of England, raising diverse leadership pipelines, and what many are calling a “silent revival” among young people in the UK. Sarah shares her personal story of coming to faith at 13 through Alpha, the bold vision behind HTB’s Church...

In today’s episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Bob Goff for a candid and refreshing conversation about leadership, identity, and returning to your “first love.” Bob unpacks the subtle ways leaders can drift into isolation—viewing people as projects rather than relationships—and shares practical, courageous ways to reset. From quitting his own law firm to encouraging team...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Nicky Gumbel to discuss the global acceleration of Alpha, leadership succession, church planting, and the essential role of spiritual leadership in the church today. As Alpha approaches its 50th anniversary and looks toward the 2033 vision—the 2,000-year anniversary of Jesus’ death and resurrection—Nicky shares how new, fully c...

What happens when a leader chooses obedience over comfort and creates space for the Holy Spirit to move? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Jeff Brodie to unpack a remarkable season at Connexus Church that began with five years of quiet wrestling in prayer and culminated in a week of corporate repentance, renewal, and deep encounter with God. Without a playbook,...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Carey Nieuwhof to unpack one of the most significant moments facing the Church today: a rising Gen Z openness to faith paired with a looming leadership and succession crisis. Drawing from recent data, lived experience, and decades of leadership development, Carey challenges older generations to release authority sooner, create...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with Randy Frazee and Jonathan Hansen for an honest, in-the-middle conversation about church leadership succession. Drawing from their shared experience at Westside Family Church, Randy and Jonathan reflect on what makes succession healthy, why intentional overlap and trust matter, and how culture, governance, humility, and lov...

As the church enters a new season of ministry in 2026, this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms invites leaders to re-examine what they think they know about multisite ministry. Sean Morgan is joined by Warren Bird and Jim Tomberlin to explore how the multisite movement has quietly shifted from simple replication into a multiplying, movement-driven model focused on discipleship, innovation, and the...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Jonathan Moynihan, Lead Pastor of Mosaic Christian Church in Baltimore, to explore a leadership journey shaped more by formation than ambition. Jonathan shares how what he once assumed was a call to church planting unexpectedly became a rapid succession into the lead pastor role—after years of hidden preparation, inner work, an...

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with longtime pastor and Oikos Movement founder Tom Mercer to unpack nearly four decades of ministry leadership at High Desert Church and the relational principles that shaped a church of 8,000 in rural Southern California. Tom shares candid stories about longevity, accountability, team chemistry, leadership development, and how the...

In this episode, Sean sits down with Justin Kendrick, planter and pastor of Vox Church in New England, to explore the heart behind multi-site ministry, leadership development, and the surprising move of God happening across one of the least-churched regions in the U.S. Justin shares his journey from musician to church planter, the early chaos of scaling locations without systems, and the intention...

In this episode, Sean sits down with veteran executive pastor Dan Reiland, who served alongside John Maxwell and Kevin Myers for over four decades. Dan shares stories from his journey, from breaking John Maxwell’s internship to helping lead one of the largest churches in the U.S., and offers wisdom for both lead and executive pastors navigating partnership, trust, and longevity in ministry. Sean a...

When Jimmy Scroggins stepped into leadership at a struggling legacy church in West Palm Beach, the odds were stacked against him. Financial collapse, reputational damage, and years without a pastor created a make-or-break moment for both him and the congregation. In this episode, Jimmy unpacks the hard lessons learned from rebuilding Family Church—from selling property and cutting programs to deve...

In this episode, Sean Morgan sits down with pastor and author Glenn Packiam to talk about what may be the beginnings of revival, especially among younger generations, and how church leaders can steward this moment well. Glenn unpacks new Barna data showing a rise in commitment to Jesus, explores the cultural shifts from militant atheism to curious skepticism, and shares how pastors can respond wit...