The Unstuck Church Podcast with Amy Anderson

Depression. Loneliness. Anxiety. They're becoming recurring health issues in our culture—even among church leaders. The danger is the secret, being in the condition alone. Lifeway Research found that 23% of pastors say they've had personal struggles with mental health. Still 49% said they rarely or never speak on the topic to their congregation. The Unstuck Group's team heard Pastor Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands give a compelling, practical talk on this subject at a conference last year. In this episode, Chris shares with Tony some practical things he thinks all pastors need to know—both for your personal mental health and to guide your congregations through these now prevalent challenges. For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode80. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode80] in your post for reference.

It's not something anyone in ministry wants to think about—legal trouble, and the circumstances that could lead to it. The alarming thing we've noticed is that church leaders are often ignorant of the areas of the law that most pertain to them, both the protections and limitations the law creates. And that can lead to nightmare situations. In this episode, Tony invites attorneys Steven Goodspeed and Dustin Gaines from The Church Lawyers to give you a crash course on 4 legal risks they think all church leaders need to be aware of and how to take the appropriate measures to protect your ministry. For help taking this discussion back to your SLT or board, check out the Leader Conversation Guide in this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode79. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode79] in your post for reference.

They're just trying to decide whether or not to come back. And we hit 'em with everything we've got. We highly value first-time guests... we just don't necessarily know the right ways to show it. In this episode, Tony and Amy share 4 WORST practices for connecting with new guests that they commonly see when serving churches for The Unstuck Group. Is your church using any of these strategies? It's time to make a shift. For links to the resources Tony and Amy mentioned during the episode, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode78. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode78] in your post for reference.

"The toughest test of a manager is not how they deal with poor performance — it's how they address mediocrity." It's a quote we read in the Harvard Business Review a while back, and boy, is it true. Leaders can tend to blame mediocrity on ineffective employees or volunteers, instead of recognizing our own ineffective leadership as the problem. In this episode, with a bit of sarcasm, Tony and Amy point to 4 strategies to employ if you want to embrace mediocrity in your ministry. Assuming that's not actually what you want to do, they also share some practical next steps leaders can take to turn the tide. For links to the resources Tony and Amy mentioned during the episode, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode77. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode77] in your post for reference.

"Great mission turn into routine jobs if they aren't pursued by great teams." Tony made that claim a few months ago, and it stirred up a few strong reactions. Is the team really more important than the mission? What about in a church? In this episode, Tony and Amy unpack what Tony meant when he wrote that line. Plus! They share the key characteristics The Unstuck Group looks for when adding staff members, as well as 3 tips for creating an environment where teams can accomplish GREAT things. For links to the resources Tony and Amy mentioned during the episode, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode76. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode76] in your post for reference.

Research, podcasts, writing—you can find a lot published about how people are doing multisite. We see far less written about the actual outcomes of different multisite models and strategies. Based on experience working in and with many different multisite churches, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson discuss indicators a church is NOT ready to go multisite, principles that set a healthy foundation for expansion, and key systems differences between single-site and multisite churches—plus, the backwards thinking that results in failed campus launches. Whether you're leading a multisite church or just considering it someday, this episode is packed with practical application to make you more effective and help you avoid costly missteps. For more, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode75. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode74] in your post for reference. ____ Check out our new online course—Multisite Unstuck, or learn how we help churches get unstuck at theunstuckgroup.com

New year, new church? January finds our best intentions. Maybe it's the cold, maybe it's the afterglow of Christmas—but we rarely come across a church that doesn't have some resolutions for their ministry at the beginning of the year. In this episode, Tony Morgan shares 4 New Year's Resolutions he hopes church leaders will make in 2019, along with one simple mindset shift that churches can adopt to stick with their resolutions and get more done. For links to the resources mentioned during the show, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode74. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode74] in your post for reference.

Today we're revisiting a conversation from our most downloaded episode of 2018. We chose to re-release this conversation because it happened so long ago, you may have missed it—AND, because we think this topic is an important one for any pastor to engage again heading into 2019. Tony and Amy shared the 3 most common issues they see plaguing weekend church services—the things most pastors don't see that keep the overall experience from giving people a compelling reason to show up and invite friends. Listen to get a fresh perspective on the services you put so much effort into providing, and be encouraged: All of the issues they share are fixable once you see them. For links to the resources mentioned during the show, visit the Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode73. Join the Live Conversation on Social If you're listening on Wednesday morning, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team, including Tony and Amy, 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, add your comments about this topic, or check out the Show Notes for the questions we plan to discuss! If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup, use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode73] in your post for reference.

Almost never. We almost never see a multisite church succeed with live-teaching at each campus. So naturally, we wanted to get to the bottom of why it works so well at Community Christian Church in the Chicago area. In this episode, Tony Morgan interviews Tammy Melchein about how they've become a church that continually develops and resources new, excellent teachers—which makes this model work. Not leading a multisite church? Don't skip this episode. The creative systems and strategies CCC has implemented to keep raising up new leaders to teach the Gospel will give you plenty to consider even within your single site. For links mentioned during the episode, visit this episode's show notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode72. ____ Check out our new online course—Multisite Unstuck, or learn how we help churches get unstuck at theunstuckgroup.com.

Every church could use more volunteers. They're crucial to the life of any church. But the truth is, we never seem to have enough for all of the needs our churches have. In this episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson discuss the 5 Barriers to Engaging Volunteers and how you can get more volunteers so you can increase your impact. For more resources and to join the conversation, you can visit this episode's show notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode71.