Engagement—It's the buzz word we hear church leaders discussing across the country. What does it really mean and how do you know if you're hitting a mark? Truth be told, we find many pastors are confused about engagement. How do we increase it? Why do people show up, come back, plug in or leave? Recently, Tony, Amy and Sean hosted a live webinar for church leaders on the topic of engagement. In this episode, we're sharing that conversation with you. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode106. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode106] in your post for reference.

It’s one of the big responsibilities every pastor has—the planning process for message series. Few pastors tell us they have a great process. Often, there’s no plan at all, or the plan only goes a few months out and lacks an aspect that brings focus to the big picture. While it may work for the lead pastor’s writing rhythm, it rarely serves the rest of the team well. In this episode, Tony and Amy talk best practices for taking the frustration out of sermon series planning for both you and your team. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode105. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode105] in your post for reference.

It can feel like a losing battle. You want to help new guests feel welcome and decide to return, but how do you even identify them? The most common strategies don't work very well anymore. Many churches don't have an intentional plan to identify, welcome and follow up with their new guests. And, if they do have a plan, it’s often too cumbersome for a new guest to engage. In this episode, Tony, Amy and Sean share the method we’ve seen some churches use that's working incredibly well, and how simple it is to bring your guest connection strategy into the 21st century. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode104. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode104] in your post for reference.

The good news is that things have gotten better.  A few decades ago, churches weren’t talking about design or brand or project management or technology. The bad news? Many churches are doing those things now, but overall our outcomes are not better. Many churches are still in decline, and all this cool stuff we're creating is not putting the mission and vision in action or within reach.  In this episode, Tony and Amy interview Kem Meyer, author of Less Chaos. Less Noise., about how we can reframe our understanding of brand and communications for this decade. Kem also shares a practical tool to help you get started.  For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode103. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode103] in your post for reference.

Church growth vs. spiritual growth. Churches often operate like the two are mutually exclusive.  The truth is, Jesus charged us both with reaching new people and helping them learn to be more like Him. We find unstuck churches are effective on both sides of the equation. In this episode, Tony and Amy share 3 reasons why churches are struggling to help people grow spiritually, and some practical next steps you can take as a leader to turn things around. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode102. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode102] in your post for reference.

167 hours per week. That's how much time people spend doing all the things that don't happen at a weekend church service. If you're interested in redeeming all that time to help people take next steps in their relationship with Christ, there's one particular strategy we'd encourage you to employ. And very few churches are trying it. This episode is all about podcasting. A few reasons to look at your church podcast through a new lens: 32% of the US population is consuming podcast content monthly 22% are engaging weekly The average weekly podcast consumer listens to 6+ hours of podcast episodes 80% of podcast listeners listen to the entire episode or most of the episode In this episode, Sean Bublitz  joins Tony and Amy to talk about how your church podcast could be so much more than a replay of your weekend message and could help you extend the reach of your church directly into people’s lives. Listen for a practical discussion about why and how to get started. For the full episode transcript and links mentioned during the show, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode101. Get the Beginner's Guide to Starting a Church Podcast Instead of the usual leader conversation guide, in this episode we wanted to give you something practical to help you get started. So, we created a PDF guide called A Beginner's Guide to Starting a Church Podcast.  Show Notes subscribers get it free. Not subscribed? What are you waiting for? Subscribe to the Show Notes Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode101] in your post for reference.

Tension. Your multisite church has some frustration bubbling below the surface if you hear team members asking questions like... Who do I (really) report to? Who made that decision? Why didn’t they ask me about that? Why can’t we do that? We find there are 3 areas every multisite church must clarify to reduce tensions in the multisite matrix. In this episode, Tony and Amy dig deep into all of them, and share some practical next steps that will help you get unstuck. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode100. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode100] in your post for reference.

One church. Multiple Locations. It's the mantra of the multisite movement. But in our experience? Few are truly one unified church meeting in multiple locations. Instead, what we find is that many multisite churches are connected through one leadership structure, but beyond that, they are splintered in their ministry strategy. They are really multiple churches trying to operate as one church. In this episode, Tony and Amy unpack 3 specific warning signs a church that thinks it's using a multisite strategy is really doing... something else. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode99. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode99] in your post for reference.

More leaders. Every pastor we talk to is hoping to find more of them. But how well are you multiplying the ones you have? Multiplication is the element of small groups strategy churches tend to leave out. But if you're developing leaders through small groups, that's discipleship that leads to multiplication. You can eventually send them out to start new groups or let them take over existing ones. Then you send out the original leaders as disciple makers to create more. In this episode, Tony Morgan interviews Chris Surratt. Chris is an author, a ministry consultant at The Unstuck Group, and the Discipleship & Small Groups Specialist at Lifeway Christian Resources. This is a conversation with practical tips for how you can equip group leaders to build effective, multiplying small groups. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode98. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode98] in your post for reference.

What if your church's back-door problem is actually a front-door problem? That's the question Connexus Church in Barrie, ON (yep, Carey Nieuwhof's church) found itself wrestling with several years ago.  In a post-Christian culture like Canada's, it couldn't been disheartening: Realizing that even though they'd been designing the ministry strategy to reach people outside the church they still weren't seeing enough first-time guests to grow like they hoped to. But after a lot of prayer and a significant strategy change, Connexus Church is seeing more first-time guests than they’ve ever seen—and overall attendance is growing faster than ever, too. In this episode, Tony interviews lead pastor Jeff Brodie to share the story of what changed.  For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode97. Join the Live Conversation on Social Media If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode97] in your post for reference.