Leading Second Podcast

This episode’s guests are longtime friends of the Leading Second tribe, Earl and Oneka McClellan. They sat in the second chair for many years and now sit in the first chair as Senior Pastors at Shoreline City Church, just outside of Dallas, Texas. They talk about alignment, studying our pastors and learning their vocabulary, and having confidence in our identity.

We have the honor of hearing from Omar El-Takrori. Omar serves as the Community Pastor at City Light Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a content creator with Think Media. He shares his thoughts on serving, having confidence in your calling, and how to utilize social media to have an impact on your ministry.

I recently got the opportunity to sit down with Kogi Nareen and Shaun Lewarne from Rivers Church in South Africa. In this conversation, they bring insight into how their church has begun to shape their community’s culture by adjusting the mindsets of those attending each weekend. They also give some great thoughts on how to lead well from the second chair.

It’s the last episode of our Summer Camp series, and we’ve got a treat for you. Larry Brey from Elevation Church shares a lesson that will challenge what you might think needs changing in your church. Our panel this week does a great job expanding on his thoughts and helping us use this to align with the spirit of our own house.

This is the third episode of our Summer Camp series, and Brandon Stewart shares a message teaching us the difference between stewards and servants. And we have a fantastic panel that gives us some questions to ask ourselves that will connect us to what we are called to be stewards of.

We're back with the second episode of our Summer Camp series. This week we are joined by Joshua Bingle from Genesis Church in Spokane, WA. He challenges us about how we look at self-care and how we rest. With our new format for Summer Camp, our panel talks through this teaching, and what rest looks like in their lives.

This is the first episode of a 4 part series called Summer Camp. We have an incredible teaching by Nicole Moore from Champion’s Centre in Tacoma, WA, about the discipline of remembrance and how that can unlock some things in our leadership. In a new format just for this series, we have a panel that discusses their thoughts on this teaching and how to apply it.

What could a reset look like in your life? It’s easy to get into management mode where we are just surviving and no longer thriving in church leadership. Rest and rhythms of renewal are essential if you want to go the distance in ministry. This episode is your reminder to take a second and ask yourself a few questions. We also have a great second chair testimony from Chris Loukos who serves at Ele...

Second chair leadership can look different in every season of life and ministry, so how do we lead second in every season? My conversation today is with Dave Simiele. Dave is on the Senior Management Team at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach, FL, where he also serves as a Campus Pastor. So listen in as he gives us a masterclass on Leading Second. And be sure not to skip past Joseph Kelley, gi...

If you’ve been in ministry for some time, you’ve probably felt like quitting. Or at least have asked yourself what the heck you are doing. So, where do you go when moments get tough? Today, I’m excited to bring a new friend to the Leading Second tribe. Jim Wideman is currently the Executive Operations Pastor at The Belonging Co in Nashville, Tennessee. Incredible in its own right, but even more im...

What makes a great team? We all want our teams to be healthy and thriving, so I thought I’d sit down with a few leaders from 7 Hills Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Under the leadership of Marcus Mecum, this is an incredible team that I’ve grown to respect more and more. So let’s explore the DNA that creates a great team.

Our pastors hold a weight we may never even see and won’t ever know unless we sit in that chair. So, how can we help carry that? Here is a conversation with some practical insight and wisdom, regardless of your role or proximity to your pastors. Nick and Liz Dekold from Lakeshore Church in Rockwall, Texas, have been serving on their team for almost 20 years, so they have plenty of experience leadi...

Do you ever find yourself tying your identity to the affirmation of those around you? If we're honest, we all can from time to time. Joining us today is my friend Clayton Baird who is on staff at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida. We talk about health in your church leadership and make sure that we find our identity in Jesus. We also have Jesse Rodriguez offer us five ways to give good f...

What can you learn about ministry and leadership from NASCAR? Our guest today is Dillon Ritchie. An executive pastor at CoastLife Church in Venice, Florida, he gives us a great lesson about racing and talks about being faithful in serving. We also have Jason and Liz Klammor, who share their story about leading in the middle.

As church leaders in the second chair of your ministry, can you handle a no from your pastor? There is tension at times between ambition and submission, and in this episode, I have a conversation with Temi Pope from Union Church where we talk about being faithful in the second chair. We also had a great listener question come in from Mary Jones, asking how to lead individuals who have higher skill...

The big idea in our conversation today is remaining faithful under pressure. When it seems that there’s pressure coming at us from all sides, I wanted to have a conversation about how we remain faithful through it. But first, Jesse Rodriguez joins us with another Top 5 that you do not want to miss. He gives us 5 Ways to Increase Your Capacity as a Leader (1:27). Then I sit down with Tanisha Stromb...

We’re in a moment where I believe that leaders could use some wisdom on how to walk through something. It seems that there’s a new report or event surrounding a leader falling or making a mistake at a pretty consistent rate now. So I wanted to turn to the person who has helped me walk through so many challenging moments and tough conversations in my life. I asked my pastor, Kevin Gerald, to talk a...

Our conversation today is with Greg Basch. He is the Campus Leadership Pastor at Elevation Church, so he coaches and leads leaders and really just has a brilliant leadership mind and voice (seriously, follow him on IG asap). But before we get into the conversation with Greg, we have our first “Top 5” this season. Joseph Kelly is the Associate Pastor at Discovery Church in Oklahoma City, OK, and he...

Welcome to Season 5 of the Leading Second Podcast! With so many incredible testimonies coming in already from Leading Second Camp, we thought it’d be fun to give a little window into the day we had. In this table talk discussion session, Brandon and Lindsay Stewart, John Morgan, Kaisa Freeman, and Larry Brey talk about the lost art of honor. They talk through honor apathy, being an architect of ho...

We are back! It is officially Season 5 of The Leading Second Podcast, and I couldn’t be happier to be back in this space. I am so excited about our lineup this season and our topics on deck to cover! Our theme for Season 5 is “from the second chair, for the second chair.” We usually have quite a few lead pastors on the podcast, but I know there’s so much gold inside people in the second chair that...

The end of the year always brings some time of reflection but also planning and dreaming for what is to come ahead. I want to start 2022 with some intention. Most people likely want to be a better leader at the end of the year than we were at the start, but what are we going to do about it?

Today I am so excited to welcome a new friend to the podcast! Clayton Baird joins me as we talk through “How to Lead in A Culture of Offense.” Clayton and his wife Bethany have served on staff at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, for ten years. He fits right in with the Leading Second family as he has done just about everything in his ministry journey, including worship pastor, youth &...

We start this episode with another incredible Top Five from Taylor Persello, and you’re not going to want to miss it. Then our conversation today is with our great friend Dan Lord. Dan is the pastor of Victory Church in St. Louis, MO. I’m also joined by BJ Cooper, who is on the team at Victory Church and has a bit of gold in him as well. The three of us talk about development, alignment, and trans...

Every once in a while, I have something that I want to take an episode and talk about myself. Well, this is one of those weeks. I’ve had something weighing on me for a while, and I finally feel like it’s something I need to take an episode and talk about. So if you’re a part of this tribe, if Leading Second has meant anything to you, or if you view me as any type of guide or pastor in your life, I...

Here we are at our 100th episode!! I can’t believe we made it this far and if you’ve been with us for any amount of time, thank you so much for your support and for being a part of this tribe. We start this episode with a HUGE announcement that I am so excited about, so don’t miss that. Then I am joined with some friends, Dillon Ritchie, Kelly Goff, Tracy Keene, and Josiah Beougher, as we sit down...