Watermark's Church Leadership Podcast

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Creativity matters because we are called to reflect our Creator God. Many of us, however, think of creativity as being accessible only to the talented few who fit a certain stereotype. This week on the Church Leadership Podcast, we gathered some of...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. When news of a pastor’s moral failure breaks, it’s appropriate to grieve for the pain the sin has caused and the damage God’s reputation has suffered. On this week’s episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, John McGee and Dave Bruskas wrestle with...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. None of us are capable of making ministry fruitful, but we’re still charged with putting in the work and waiting in faith for God to bring the growth. In a special message at the Church Leaders Conference this Spring, John Elmore encouraged us to w...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Church leaders are the first to extol the importance of biblical fellowship, but we aren’t always the best at practicing it. This special message from Harris Creek Baptist Church pastor Jonathan “J.P.” Pokluda, first given at CLC 2024, calls leader...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. If you weren’t able to join us at the Church Leaders Conference this year, check out pastor Timothy Ateek’s opening mainstage message on prayer as a spiritual checkpoint. Without attentive care, it’s easy to let your spiritual priority drift from e...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. We wrapped up the “Things I Didn’t Learn in Seminary” podcast series this week with an episode on how to lead and serve in your first and most important ministry: your family. Shepherding your family well--listed in 1 Timothy as a leadership qualif...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Ever heard the joke, “I love ministry—it's people I can’t stand”? It’s funny because interacting with people can be difficult, but people are our ministry, and the way we interact with them matters immensely. In this week’s episode of the Church Le...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Incompetence isn’t always a moral issue, but it will hobble your ministry just as quickly. People are inherently skeptical of churches, and if you don’t keep the trains running on time, you’ll erode their trust. In the fourth installment of this se...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Ministry has a definite and appropriate outward focus. But you can’t lead others well if you aren’t leading yourself first—spiritually, practically, and physically. In this week’s episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, Dave Bruskas and John McGe...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. A lot of us go into ministry unconsciously believing that we just need to know how to teach and preach well, when in fact, leadership involves a huge amount of team management and goal-setting. In this week’s Church Leadership Podcast, John McGee a...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Seminary is invaluable for a pastor, but some aspects of ministry can only be learned through hands-on experience. This week’s episode of the Church Leadership Podcast kicks off a new 6-part series covering things we’ve learned on the job: how to h...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Many of us have set ambitious goals for 2024. While it’s great to learn new skills and accomplish new things, the best way to have an impact is simply to be faithful. In this week’s episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, John McGee reminds us th...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. At some point, most of us will end up working under someone we don't see eye-to-eye with. In this week’s Church Leadership Podcast, Watermark Resources Project Coordinator Ashley Lawrence breaks down how examining your motivation and mindset can em...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and lighthearted fun strengthens a team. In this week’s episode of the Church Leadership Podcast, Braun Brown and Sean Hill share the importance of not taking yourself too seriously and how church leaders can ha...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Just like a finger won’t survive long if it’s severed from the hand, our spiritual health depends on connection to the rest of Christ’s body. We’re meant to function together, and without unity as one of our core values, our mission will fall apart...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Churches that do not encourage their staff to excel are missing an opportunity to honor God and inspire others. On the other hand, churches that pursue excellence for the wrong reasons have made an idol out of something that should be an offering....

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Too often, we assume that we don’t need to tell church staff to rely on God. But Christians routinely affirm spiritual dependency as a concept without living it out practically, valuing strategy over sensitivity to the Spirit. This week’s podcast c...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Even in full-time ministry, when imperfect human beings work closely together, conflict is bound to arise. As leaders, we have the opportunity to reflect Christ in a uniquely tangible and powerful way through how we resolve conflict. In this talk,...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. As fallible humans, anyone who serves in ministry for a significant length of time will have some regrets—opportunities they should have taken, relationships they should have invested more in, and words they should have said (or not said). In this...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. The seeds you plant when your church is still young can grow into a life-giving, God-honoring community in the years to come. On this week’s episode, John McGee recalls the ideas that shaped the early days of Watermark Community Church, the fruit t...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. This week, John McGee broaches a topic that many church leaders grapple with but hesitate to speak about: feelings of discouragement and burnout in ministry. The weight of guiding a congregation, meeting expectations, and constantly pouring yoursel...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Your team can be a place of gratitude, where people feel seen and celebrated--or a place of discouragement and drudgery. It largely comes down to what you cultivate. On this week’s Church Leadership Podcast, veteran Watermark leaders Braun Brown an...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. God has clearly revealed his moral will to us in the Bible. But what about the “should I?” questions that leaders encounter every single day? How do we make decisions that aren’t morally black or white, but gray? Watermark Lead Pastor Blake Holmes...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. Let’s be real: at times, ministry can leave us feeling stressed-out, overwhelmed, and out of control. Watermark teaching pastor Timothy Ateek has learned that when it's a struggle to shepherd others, it’s more important than ever to find our peace...

Young Leader Cohort: Go to Watermark Community Church - Young Church Leaders Cohort to apply for 2026-2027 cohort.  Registration closes August 3, 2026. On this episode of the Church Leader's Podcast, John McGee and Watermark's Senior Director of Community and Pastoral Care, David Dzina, sit down to discuss what it looks like to step into leadership on an underperforming team.