Leaders in Living Rooms

“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 trans...

“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…” Meet Daniel Im, Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church, a multi-generational, multi-ethnic, and multi-campus church in Greater Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Daniel made his tr...

“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 devils 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...

“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 betwee...

“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?” If you’ve thought maybe the rules have changed since the pandemic, you’d be right. But actually, maybe the rules we...

“For most churches, if you take 50% of your givers off the list, you’re only losing 2% of the gifts… Rather than talking about fear and anxiety of the coming recession, what if we talk about the real issue? Being broken-hearted about the spiritual condition of our people when it comes to money and possessions.” Meet Jim Sheppard, CEO & Principal of Generis, a firm passionate about coaching churche...

“The definition of what the Lead Pastor needs to be and do coming out of the pandemic has changed.” In this episode, Sean sits down with Dr. Warren Bird from ECFA to lean into the challenges pastors are facing coming out of the pandemic, and into recession and inflation. With a heavy focus on Ephesians 4:11-12, Dr. Bird and Sean wrestle with how churches honestly answer the question, “Are we an eq...

“The leadership lesson was that it all happened on my watch. It wasn’t all my fault, but it was my responsibility as a leader to shepherd my staff well and I wasn’t doing that.” Meet Jim Burgen from Flatirons Community Church in Colorado. In one of the most heartfelt and vulnerable episodes of our show, Jim opens up about what triggered his six month sabbatical and how God used it for Jim to come...

“In spite of its brokenness, I still have hope for the local church. And I believe it's still God’s Plan A for reconciling the world.” Meet Nancy Beach and her daughter, Samantha Beach Kiley, two influential leaders of the Church and co-authors of Next Sunday: An Honest Dialogue About the Future of the Church. In this episode, Sean Morgan digs deep with Nancy and Samantha on the future of communit...

“People kept asking me, are you excited? But I wasn’t all that excited, and I felt like something was wrong. To be honest, I was a little bit scared. There are so many calls in scripture where the call was clear, but it wasn’t something they were excited about.” Meet Dave Dummitt, Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, dynamic leader and pastor who knows a thing or two about transitions....

“We’re half the church we were before Covid hit, attendance wise. But the foundation is stronger than it was when we built from where we are now, before.” Meet Greg Lindsey, Lead Pastor of Discovery Christian Church in Colorado Springs, CO. From lawyer, to church planter, to transitions leader, Greg has a transition story that didn’t start well, and then got worse before it ever got better. He sha...

“People aren’t looking for solutions to problems they don’t understand. I would have spent a lot more time in my younger years selling the problem, rather than selling the solution that people weren’t in the market for.” Since 2008 Gene Appel has been leading Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim, CA. Prior to his long tenure and catalytic leadership at Eastside, he has modeled (twice) what it look...

“The most challenging leadership task we’ll ever take on is letting go.” On this episode of Leaders In Living Rooms, Ashley Wooldridge, Lead Pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley in Phoenix, AZ shares his personal story of the baton handoff with former Lead Pastor, Don Wilson, five years later. Ashley’s unique perspective on transition comes from his time at Intel prior to joining the CCV team....

Covid was a black swan event. Something that only happens maybe every twenty years, but completely changes culture. You have the opportunity for a new direction, a new place, a new time. What will you do with it? Meet Larry Osborne from North Coast Church who challenges leaders to understand where they really are today, not where they were two years ago. “Vision is worthless when you only know whe...

“I don’t even know what I’m like rested if I live marginless.” Meet Alan Briggs, Director of Culture & Coaching at Stay Forth, an organization passionate about getting leaders healthy. In this episode, Alan addresses burnout, the role sabbaticals play in avoiding it (and how to receive them well). He walks listeners through creating margin by elimination, designation, delegation, and automation. A...

Jonathan and Lindsey Hansen moved their two young children and a seventy pound labradoodle across the country. They were packed up and loaded down with passion, excitement, and vision for the church in California God was calling them to lead. What they walked into was a failed transition from the Founding Pastor/Planter, a church split, and a congregation that was in pain from all the change. What...

Jay Kim’s transition story is so uniquely woven that it puts God’s perfect architecture of our lives on full display. With a story that stems from a longing to lead and a deep calling to shape culture, Jay invites us into the intimate details of his transition from WestGate Church to Vintage Church, and eventually back to WestGate. He talks us through the journey that he’s still on, the right pace...

“God’s call upon our lives doesn’t change. Our context may change, but our call never does.” Meet Eugene Cho, former Senior Pastor of Quest Church and President/CEO of Bread of the World. In this episode, Eugene shares insights about God’s calling for your life, defining your life’s values, and practical ways to monitor your health as a church leader. He encourages us to embodied leadership. To sh...

For just over two years, you’ve been invited into the living rooms of over forty leaders; getting privileged insights into their life that few others have access to. Today’s show is a podcast milestone, marking the fiftieth episode of Leaders in Living Rooms! To celebrate 50 episodes, we’ve compiled seven of the top highlights and learnings from our guests. We invite you to listen in on the “cliff...

“Change is painful, but it's better than death.” Meet Tommy Politz, Senior Pastor of Hillside Christian Church, who has served as pastor, church planter, and transitional leader in his 30+ years of ministry. In this episode, Tommy shares with us his own personal journey of transitional leadership and the wisdom he’s gained along the way. Transitional leaders will face high resistance in their ques...

There is both fulfillment and fruitfulness in staying in your current leadership role and in transitioning well to something new if God calls you to go. “We don't always have to leave to build a life of significance.” Meet Daniel Grothe from New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO who shares his personal story of the road that led him to stay at New Life. If you are in a season of difficulty at your...

Part 2 of 2 - Seacoast has been a pioneering church for decades and now continues a legacy of fruitful ministry through a senior leadership transition from father to son. Greg and Josh talk about the highs and lows of that transition and offer sage advice to anyone in a leadership transition.

Seacoast has been a pioneering church for decades and now continues a legacy of fruitful ministry through a senior leadership transition from father to son. Greg and Josh talk about the highs and lows of that transition and offer sage advice to anyone in a leadership transition.

Part 2 of Sean Morgan's discussion with Kevin Queen. After a devastating transition of their lead pastor, Crosspoint church in Nashville was without a lead pastor and 3/4 of their executive team moved on. This is the story of Kevin's call to leadership at Crosspoint. Kevin has now led Crosspoint through a leadership transition, a direct hit by a tornado, and now a global pandemic. In part one of...

After a devastating transition of their lead pastor, Crosspoint church in Nashville was without a lead pastor and 3/4 of their executive team moved on. This is the story of Kevin's call to leadership at Crosspoint. Kevin has now led Crosspoint through a leadership transition, a direct hit by a tornado, and now a global pandemic. In part one of this two-part series, Kevin gets real about the most i...