The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast

John Ortberg has spent decades leading churches, writing books, and teaching leaders. But every leader has parts of the job they're not naturally good at. In this conversation, John opens up about pain in leadership, what it's like to be an introvert in ministry, and how to handle the work you'd rather avoid. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The...

Matt Chandler doesn't pull punches. The lead pastor of The Village Church joins Carey to talk about why wearing a cape doesn't help anyone, the death of secularism, and why the church is all wood and no fire. Matt also opens up about the moment he almost quit, what Spurgeon taught him about suffering, and why he stopped neglecting the Holy Spirit. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW...

Networking feels fake because most people do it wrong. Michael Bungay Stanier has a better way. In this conversation, MBS breaks down how to connect without the cringe, the seven questions you need to ask to run 1:1s that actually matter, and build a career path nobody handed you. Plus: a deep dive into self-publishing and viral marketing. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️...

Six months into 2026, four church trends deserve a closer look. Algorithms are discipling your congregation 49 hours a week. AI's biggest threat isn't prompts—it's disruption on a scale the church isn't ready for. Women are still leaving, and now we know why. And a new kind of megachurch pastor is quietly emerging. Here's what's changing and what to do about it. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Futur...

Most leaders don't think of themselves as creative. Al Gordon says that's the lie keeping you stuck. Al, founder of Renaissance, lead pastor of SAINT in East London, talks about why creativity is the church's lost superpower, how stress and algorithms are quietly killing your imagination, and what it actually takes to unlock creativity in yourself, your team, and your church. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI...

New York Times bestselling author David Epstein talks about why Malcolm Gladwell's 10000-hour rule isn't accurate, how he and Malcolm became friends, how creativity actually works (what you can learn from Dr. Seuss), and why constraints and limits set you free. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Fol...

Former pastor, minimalist, and New York Times bestselling author Joshua Becker returns to the podcast. He discusses why he left ministry to pursue a fresh calling, how minimalism can usher in an end to anxiety, when enough is enough, and how decluttering can be good for your soul.  🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥...

New York Times bestselling author Eric Ries applies his startup philosophy to churches. Carey and Eric cover how to know when to take a risk, how to get past broke thinking in your church, and why the harder path is often easier. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Follow @careynieuwhof ❗️Connect wi...

Nicole Martin made history as Christianity Today's first Black female CEO — and took the hits that come with it. In this conversation: the backlash, Billy Graham's original vision, how the magazine is advancing and speaking into a polarized world, and why leadership is designed to kill you. 🔗   Show Notes 🤖 AI and the Future Church - NEW BOOK! 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership A...

Twenty years after burnout almost took him out, Carey is back with Part 2—the recovery playbook. You don't need to get back to normal. Normal is what burned you out. In this solo episode, Carey shares seven strategies to burnout-proof your life: stop managing time and start managing energy, move to a fixed calendar, guard your green zone, and stop letting the wrong people hijack your best hours....

Twenty years ago this month, Carey almost became ministry road kill. After 11 years of 30%+ annual growth, he burned out, hard.  In Part 1 of this solo episode, Carey shares 5 honest insights from two decades of reflection: why dysfunction gets rewarded in the church, how denial accelerates the crash, and why grieving your losses matters. If your passion is fading, this episode is for you. 🔗   Sh...

There's a battle happening in our minds: one that shapes how we see ourselves, our circumstances, and even God.   In this episode, Carey moderates a conversation with Louie Giglio, Jennie Allen, and Craig Groeschel as they come together to talk honestly about mental health, the lies we believe, and how faith changes the way we fight.   Download the free reflections and takeaway guide here:  https:...

The vast majority of churches are plateaued or declining, and Exponential CEO Dave Ferguson explains why most churches never grow, let alone multiply. Plus, he shares the latest trends in church planting in this special episode recorded backstage at Exponential Global Conference in Orlando.  🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Wa...

Carey caught up with Rich Villodas backstage at Exponential to talk about the learnable skills that keep leaders and congregations non-anxious in an angry age, and the unique challenges and gifting needed to lead a church you didn't plant. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Follow @careynieuwhof Follow @theartof...

Joel Muddamalle is a theologian who thinks harder about spiritual warfare than almost anyone in the church today. In this conversation: how sin got a mass-marketing strategy, why your devices are a primary battleground, why the best answer to political division might be subversion, and how to keep your best people long-term. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 T...

Most church leaders are leading inside a model they never chose and rarely understand. In this episode, Todd Wilson, founder of Exponential, walks through the true history of the modern church: Church Growth, Seeker Sensitive, Attractional, Missional—and what's coming next.  This is the seminary class no one got, but every church leader needs. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preachi...

What do you do when you run a playbook on discipleship that's worked for years, and it stops working? That led Robby Gallaty to a place of despair, and out of that, revival and renewal came. Robby Gallaty and Replicate CEO Vick Green explain how to renew your ministry through revival and discipleship. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Aca...

Preston Sprinkle studied the full biblical narrative on women in ministry inductively, without an agenda. From Genesis to Paul, we discuss what he found and where it led him.  We also tackle what faithfulness to scripture looks like, and how opening your mind and changing your view can make you more biblically faithful rather than less. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Chea...

Christine Caine returns to the podcast to discuss the real reasons she thinks women are done with the church, how to get them back, why playing the Holy Spirit's role in other people's lives has to stop, and the necessity of being pruned if you want to flourish. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Follow @careyni...

Find yourself procrastinating? You're not alone. Jon Acuff explains how to finally stop procrastinating on your sermon writing and other projects. Plus, he explains how he continues to grow as a leader, build an audience, and AI-proof his influence. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Follow @careynieuwhof Follow...

Bill Gurley, legendary investor behind Uber, Snapchat, and Twitter, shares why "follow your passion" is dangerously misleading, what to chase instead, what the best startup founders do, and the delusional factor that separates outliers from everyone else.  Plus, his best advice on finding a mentor, landing your dream job, his biggest mistake (passing on Google), and what he'd tell young leaders ju...

Arthur C. Brooks attends church every single day, has sat through thousands of sermons, gives lectures and talks around the world and based on that, gives his best advice to preachers. Plus, we look at how to reclaim writing time and the meaning of life. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch on YouTube Follow @careynieuwhof F...

Mark Lutz pastored a regular church for a few years. Then, as a gamer, he opened up Lux Church, a 100% ditigal church created for gamers. He explains the model, why it's reaching people no one else is reaching, how online relationships are as real as IRL relationships, and what other churches are missing and getting wrong when it comes to their digital ministry. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise New...

How do you get past your self-limiting beliefs? Best-selling author Nir Eyal talks about the research on why some leaders see the positive while others see the negative, how to change your mindset and gain greater agency, and the science behind why prayer improves resilience and mindset. 🔗   Show Notes 📩  On The Rise Newsletter 🗣️  Preaching Cheat Sheet 🧠 The Art of Leadership Academy 🎥 Watch...

Former Hillsong NYC pastor Carl Lentz opens up about the factors that led to the collapse of his ministry. He discusses the core issues that led to his breach of trust, what it was like to preach while he was having an affair, the relentless pressure of rapid growth, what rehab taught him about addressing core issues, his regrets, and warning signs for church leaders facing the pressure. 🔗   Show...