unSeminary Podcast

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Dave Ferguson , co-founder of Exponential , co-founder of Community Christian Church , and author of Multiplier: How Healthy Leaders Create Lasting Impact . For decades, Dave has championed one central conviction: the Church will never fulfill its mission through addition alone. In this conversation, he challenges chu...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Eric Holmstrom , Lead Pastor of Purpose Church in Pomona, California. Founded more than 150 years ago, Purpose Church has a rich legacy of ministry and is currently experiencing significant growth following a healthy leadership transition. In this conversation, Eric shares lessons from succeeding a beloved long-tenure...

If there’s one thing church leaders should be obsessed with, it’s the front door. In this special compilation episode, we’ve pulled together four conversations from leading churches and ministry organizations that are seeing success in helping first-time guests move from curious visitors to fully engaged disciples. The challenge facing churches today is different than it was even a few years...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Tim Foot , CEO of Slingshot Group . With nearly three decades of ministry and leadership experience having worked with thousands of churches, Tim brings deep insight into one of the most critical drivers of church health: your team. In this conversation, we explore what separates stagnant teams from those that create...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by John Plake , Chief Innovation Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible research at the American Bible Society . With decades of experience as a pastor, missionary, professor, and researcher, John brings a unique perspective on how people are actually engaging with Scripture and what we should do about it....

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Ted Coniaris , lead pastor of Community Christian Church in the greater Chicagoland area. After an intentional and extended succession process with founding pastor Dave Ferguson, Ted has stepped into the lead role during a pivotal season for the church. In this conversation, he shares what it looks like to lead throug...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Rebecca Maxwell , a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Jacksonville Counseling Services. With 15 years of prior church ministry experience and now leading a growing counseling practice, Rebecca brings a unique perspective that bridges biblical truth and clinical insight. Are you feeling unprepared w...

Early in my time as an Executive Pastor, we were about halfway through what felt like a defining campaign for our church. And I was frustrated. Every time we met with our campaign consultant, they showed up with a binder (this was back in the 1900s) and we would turn pages to whatever was next. Cookie-cutter strategy. No real interest in who we were or what God was doing in our community. We fired...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Hal Mayer , a coach and consultant who works with pastors and business leaders to help them grow healthy teams without burning out. With decades of ministry experience and a background in coaching, Hal brings actionable insights into one of the most common leadership challenges: how to move a team from passive complia...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Aaron Graham , lead pastor of The District Church , a diverse and growing congregation in the heart of Washington, D.C. Founded in 2010 just a few miles from the White House, the church has become known for its global diversity—with people from more than 80 nations represented—and its commitment to living out the gosp...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Dr. Derwin L. Gray , co-founder and lead pastor of Transformation Church . Since launching in 2010, Transformation Church has become a multi-ethnic, multi-generational movement impacting thousands locally and globally. In this conversation, Derwin tackles one of the most pressing—and often avoided—questions facing chu...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Ronee de Leon , Executive Director of Partner Church Success at TouchPoint Software . With nearly two decades of ministry experience and now serving churches across the country, Ronee brings a unique perspective at the intersection of systems, strategy, and shepherding. Are you relying on attendance and giving numbers...

Your people aren’t broken. Here’s what’s really going on. Three weeks after I got my driver’s license, I put my car in a ditch. This was back when you could walk into the licensing office on your sixteenth birthday, get a learner’s permit, and … within a few weeks … be fully licensed, no restrictions, no supervision. And that was me. Sixteen years old, license in my wallet, and a car I was allowed...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Donnie Griggs , founding and lead pastor of One Harbor Church in eastern North Carolina. Over nearly two decades, Donnie has led the church from a living room gathering to a thriving multisite church reaching around 2,500 people each weekend in a rural context. In this conversation, we focus on a growing leadership ch...

Picture this. It’s the year 2000, and a psychology lab at Cornell University is about to ruin a college student’s morning. A researcher hands an undergrad a t-shirt and asks them to put it on. The student unfolds it and sees the face staring back at them: Barry Manilow. Not vintage-cool Barry Manilow. Not ironic, Barry Manilow. Just… Barry Manilow. The kind of shirt that would ge...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Jimmy Scroggins , Lead Pastor of Family Church in South Florida. Under Jimmy’s leadership, Family Church has grown into a network of over 20 congregations across multiple languages, all unified under one structure while maintaining local leadership and live teaching at every location. Are you finding your church’s ene...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Scott Worthington , Lead Pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, Nevada. After serving on staff for over 15 years, Scott stepped into the lead pastor role in 2022 following founding pastor Vance Pitman. In this conversation, Scott shares candid insights from that transition—what he learned, what surprised him, and how he’...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Jeremy Norton , Lead Pastor of Mountainview Church in Whitehorse, Yukon. Jeremy has led the church through a significant revitalization journey since 2017, helping transition it into a growing, multicultural congregation that now includes both English and Tagalog gatherings. Are you looking for a fresh way to engage S...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Greg Curtis and Tommy Carreras from Climbing the Assimilayas , an organization dedicated to helping churches build systems that move people from first-time guests to engaged disciples. With years of experience working inside and alongside growing churches, Greg and Tommy bring practical insight into one of the most ov...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Jon-Michael Sherman and Eric Smith , the team behind SermonDone —an AI-powered platform designed specifically to help pastors with sermon preparation, research, and media creation. Their goal is simple: help pastors save time so they can focus more energy on shepherding people, developing leaders, and delivering impac...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with Brandon Boyd , Executive Pastor at Quay Church in Windermere, Florida—one of the fastest-growing churches in the country. What began as a struggling congregation marked by multiple splits has experienced dramatic renewal and growth since a 2022 replant under Lead Pastor Luke Lazon. Is your church experiencing rapid growt...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with Dr. Allen Holmes , Senior Pastor of Definition Church . Allen has served at Definition for 25 years, leading it from a congregation of 30 people to one of the fastest-growing churches in the country. But in this conversation, we don’t start with strategy—we start with the soul. Allen shares how a personal marriage crisis...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Lou Pizzichillo , Lead Pastor of Community Church on Long Island. Community Church launched in January 2020—just ten weeks before the world shut down—then relaunched after 52 weeks online. Now averaging around 1,200 people across Thursday and Sunday services, Community is known as “a church for people who don’t go to...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re joined by Jeff Beachum and Curt Banter from Portable Church Industries (PCI), a company that has helped more than 4,000 churches launch, expand, and thrive in portable environments over the past 25+ years. PCI specializes in helping churches create high-quality worship, kids, and guest experiences in rented or temporary venues—...

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Jason and Nan Britt from Bethlehem Church , one of the fastest-growing churches in the country with three campuses in Georgia—and a fourth on the way. Jason serves as Lead Pastor, while Nan has pioneered a powerful inclusion ministry called Bethlehem Buddies , designed to help children, students, and adults with sp...