

Leading Second Podcast
Brandon Stewart
A monthly podcast to help church leaders thrive in the second chair.
Leading Second exists to equip local churches everywhere to raise up UNCOMMON leaders. In a culture that often celebrates individual achievement and being on top, Leading Second is here to raise up the kind of leaders every pastor would kill to have on the team. Leaders who are all-in, heart and soul for Jesus, His Church, and their team’s mission. In an ever changing world, we have conversations in real-time with pastors and leaders on topics such as church leadership, leading when you’re not in charge, healthy team culture, and how to lead in the second chair. To learn more, visit leadingsecond.com.
Leading Second exists to equip local churches everywhere to raise up UNCOMMON leaders. In a culture that often celebrates individual achievement and being on top, Leading Second is here to raise up the kind of leaders every pastor would kill to have on the team. Leaders who are all-in, heart and soul for Jesus, His Church, and their team’s mission. In an ever changing world, we have conversations in real-time with pastors and leaders on topics such as church leadership, leading when you’re not in charge, healthy team culture, and how to lead in the second chair. To learn more, visit leadingsecond.com.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 17, 2022 • 51min
S5 Ep. 107 // Greg Basch on Faithful in Your Calling
Our conversation today is with Greg Basch. He is the Campus Leadership Pastor at Elevation Church, so he coaches and leads leaders and really just has a brilliant leadership mind and voice (seriously, follow him on IG asap). But before we get into the conversation with Greg, we have our first “Top 5” this season. Joseph Kelly is the Associate Pastor at Discovery Church in Oklahoma City, OK, and he gives us his top 5 prayers every leader should pray (1:16). Since our theme this season is “from the second chair, for the second chair,” we’re doing a little "get to know you" time with our guests since so many will be brand new to the podcast (9:31). Then, on some of our episodes this season, we will give our guests 10 minutes to give us their favorite leadership lesson or message. So I’m setting Greg loose for an incredible lesson on promoting and producing (17:20). Finally, for our conversation, we’re talking about being faithful in your calling (32:06).

Mar 10, 2022 • 33min
S5 Ep. 106 // Live from Leading Second Camp w/ Brandon & Lindsay Stewart, Larry Brey, & Guests
Welcome to Season 5 of the Leading Second Podcast! With so many incredible testimonies coming in already from Leading Second Camp, we thought it’d be fun to give a little window into the day we had. In this table talk discussion session, Brandon and Lindsay Stewart, John Morgan, Kaisa Freeman, and Larry Brey talk about the lost art of honor. They talk through honor apathy, being an architect of honor, slowing down, and what a lifestyle of honor looks like.
If you don’t want to miss out on Leading Second Camp next year in Salt Lake City, you can go ahead and register now at leadingsecondcamp.com using the access code “PODCAST-INSIDER.”

Mar 3, 2022 • 48min
S5 Ep. 105 // Brandon Stewart & Joshua Bingle on Faithfulness, Leading in a Season of Deconstruction
We are back! It is officially Season 5 of The Leading Second Podcast, and I couldn’t be happier to be back in this space. I am so excited about our lineup this season and our topics on deck to cover! Our theme for Season 5 is “from the second chair, for the second chair.” We usually have quite a few lead pastors on the podcast, but I know there’s so much gold inside people in the second chair that we can all learn from. So this season, I want to highlight that and bring some dignity back to the second chair.
To kick the season off, we are hitting the current climate of church and ministry head-on with an episode on faithfulness and how to lead in a season of deconstruction. Josh Bingle is one of the most intelligent people I know, and he can speak simply to some of the most complex and confusing topics. He is the pastor of Genesis Church in Spokane, WA, he is a close friend to myself and Leading Second, and I couldn’t think of somebody better to talk through this with than him.
Deconstruction is showing up in varying degrees, and in many different ways all over the place, so we cover a broad range of questions like:
What is deconstruction?
What do we do when drift becomes deconstruction?
Is there a difference between deconstructing and just asking hard questions?
Are there different kinds of deconstructors?
How do we lead in a culture of deconstruction?
In this tricky season, people have more and more big questions. So not only do we need to know how to answer those questions, we must be able to lead others through it graciously.
That is my prayer this week for you.
Run strong and lead well,
Brandon

Dec 30, 2021 • 31min
S4 Ep. 104 // Brandon Stewart on Leading Yourself
The end of the year always brings some time of reflection but also planning and dreaming for what is to come ahead. I want to start 2022 with some intention. Most people likely want to be a better leader at the end of the year than we were at the start, but what are we going to do about it?

Dec 2, 2021 • 48min
S4 Ep. 103 // Clayton Baird on Leading in a Culture of Offense
Today I am so excited to welcome a new friend to the podcast! Clayton Baird joins me as we talk through “How to Lead in A Culture of Offense.” Clayton and his wife Bethany have served on staff at Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, for ten years. He fits right in with the Leading Second family as he has done just about everything in his ministry journey, including worship pastor, youth & young adult pastor, and campus pastor. He is currently serving as a teaching pastor at Celebration while also overseeing Celebration Everywhere - the global online church community. Clayton is somebody who really just embodies the Leading Second spirit, and I’m so glad that he agreed to sit down with me for a little while.
You also don’t want to miss another Top 5 this week! Dillion Ritchie gives us his top 5 ways to prepare for a hard conversation.

Nov 18, 2021 • 35min
S4 Ep. 102 // Dan Lord on Leadership Development, Transition, and Navigating God's Call
We start this episode with another incredible Top Five from Taylor Persello, and you’re not going to want to miss it. Then our conversation today is with our great friend Dan Lord. Dan is the pastor of Victory Church in St. Louis, MO. I’m also joined by BJ Cooper, who is on the team at Victory Church and has a bit of gold in him as well. The three of us talk about development, alignment, and transition.

Nov 11, 2021 • 31min
S4 Ep. 101 // Brandon Stewart on Influence vs Authority
Every once in a while, I have something that I want to take an episode and talk about myself. Well, this is one of those weeks. I’ve had something weighing on me for a while, and I finally feel like it’s something I need to take an episode and talk about. So if you’re a part of this tribe, if Leading Second has meant anything to you, or if you view me as any type of guide or pastor in your life, I want to take today’s conversation and have a pastoral call or pastoral talk with you today. I want to open up a discussion about influence vs. authority.

Nov 4, 2021 • 54min
S4 Ep. 100 // 100th Episode Special w/ Larry Brey on Cultivating Your Calling
Here we are at our 100th episode!! I can’t believe we made it this far and if you’ve been with us for any amount of time, thank you so much for your support and for being a part of this tribe. We start this episode with a HUGE announcement that I am so excited about, so don’t miss that. Then I am joined with some friends, Dillon Ritchie, Kelly Goff, Tracy Keene, and Josiah Beougher, as we sit down with Larry Brey to talk about cultivating your calling.

Oct 28, 2021 • 40min
S4 Ep. 99 // Collin Henderson on the Mindset of a Leader
We kick things off today with a special segment for Pastor Appreciation month where some of our Leading Second tribe answered a few questions about their own pastors! Then we dive into a rich conversation with a first-time guest to our podcast, Collin Henderson. Collin is from my hometown, Puyallup, WA! He’s a mental performance coach, speaker, and author who just released a new book called ‘Quiet Mind’ (and ‘Quiet Mind for Kids’). During this conversation, we talk about the impact of a leader’s mindset and its effect on their ministry.

Oct 21, 2021 • 37min
S4 Ep. 98 // Healthy Hustle: Noah Herrin on Church Hurt and Keeping Joy in Ministry
It’s the final episode of our “Healthy Hustle” series, and our conversation for this one is with Noah Herrin! Noah has been on before, but this is the first time we’ve let him loose for an entire episode. If you aren’t familiar with him, he is a Gen Z leader whose voice I have grown to love more and more. He is a young leader who has an incredible anointing on his life and is hungry to grow continually. He has a young adults ministry and is a part of Neighborhood Church in Buford, GA. Join us as we talk about church hurt, coaching, and keeping joy in ministry.


