5 Leadership Questions Podcast on Church Leadership with Todd Adkins

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Vance Pitman who serves as the President of Send Network, the largest church planting network in North America. Pitman reflects on his time as the Pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, discussing conflicts with church leadership that led to his departure and his subsequent pursuit of intimacy with Jesus Christ. He also discusses his current role as the head of the North American Mission Board's church planting efforts and emphasizes the importance of pursuing intimacy with Christ, prioritizing rest, and aligning oneself with God's mission. BEST QUOTES “The primary call on my life is not ministry, the primary call on my life is intimacy. Ministry is what He does out of the overflow of intimacy.” – Vance Pitman “Spiritual leadership is not what I do for God. Spiritual leadership is what God does through me out of the overflow of my intimate love relationship with Him.” – Vance Pitman “God has really taught me that I can be so consumed with what He's called me to do that I forget about what He's called me to be. We're not human doings, we're human beings.” – Vance Pitman “Every man that I know that had an affair in ministry first had an affair with a ministry that wooed him away from intimacy with Christ and opened him up to things he never thought he do.” – Vance Pitman “Jesus didn't bring us into a relationship with Himself just so we could do something for Him. He brought us to a relationship with Himself because He wants to be with us.” – Vance Pitman “The local New Testament Church is the tool that he gave us for the accomplishment of the mission. It's not the mission. The mission is the kingdom of God being expanded in cities and nations all over the world.” – Vance Pitman “Leadership is lonely, but it can't be done alone. Leadership implies there are other people involved in following your leadership and speaking to you as a leader.” – Vance Pitman “Leaders are learners and when you stop learning, you forfeit the right to lead.” – Vance Pitman “Somebody less experienced than us often we think about them as only people we can pour into, but often the people less experienced than us bring a perspective that we don't have because it's fresh.” – Vance Pitman “The relational environments that you set and create in your life set the environment from which decisions will be made.” – Vance Pitman “Joy is in the journey. If we only focus on achievements, destinations, goals, or milestones, we'll miss so much along the way.” – Vance Pitman “For every one major achievement, there will be a thousand leadership moments along the way that are shaping the culture of your organization and the people within your organization.” – Vance Pitman RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Vance Pitman

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Danny Franks, the Connections Pastor at the Summit Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, as they discuss the book, "Unreasonable Hospitality" by Will Guidara. The book tells the story of Will Guidara, a New York restaurateur, and his experience running the number-one restaurant in the world. The podcast explores the book's main points, such as the importance of exceptional service and authentic connections, and how they apply to leadership and first impressions within the church. BEST QUOTES “They really focused on the service and what happened in the dining room versus what happened in the kitchen. As church leaders, we can really learn a lot about that as we learn to set up the table for guests as they enter our building.” – Danny Franks “It's important for us to understand that in the context of the church, we need to be aware of where the culture has shifted and to adjust accordingly. Not to water down what we do, if anything, to distill down what we do to serve better.” – Todd Adkins “No matter what industry you're in, service is ultimately important.” – Todd Adkins “When you do your job in color, it means that you make people feel great about the job that you're doing for them. You're doing it to make an authentic connection, which is hospitality.” – Danny Franks “There are certain fads that come and go with the church world, but taking care of humans, that's not ever going to go away. That's something that we need to continue to think about as we try to make people feel welcome and ready to worship the Lord coming into a Sunday service.” – Danny Franks “Repetition is extremely important. Whether it's our vision and values, or any of those things, you can't assume that somebody understands why you're doing it.” – Todd Adkins “A lot of leadership is shifting from being intuitive to intentional, and that's where you get the gains.” – Todd Adkins “Being in the local church, my primary role is built around creating a culture that takes outsiders and makes them insiders.” – Danny Franks “I think a lot of times, especially in the climate that we're in too many people have too few expectations for churches, and they just kind of show up expecting to be disappointed if they show up at all.” – Danny Franks Yes, it's a clear command from Scripture that we must show hospitality. But it's not supposed to point to itself. It's got a point beyond itself as a signpost straight to the Gospel. We can't get that wrong.” – Danny Franks “If we are continually failing, in the implicit or explicit promises that we made to people, and we're not even measuring up to their low expectations for us, we might not ever get a chance to point them to the gospel.” – Danny Franks RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara All My Knotted-Up Life: A Memoir by Beth Moore Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer Inside the Magic Kingdom: Seven Keys to Disney's Success by Tom Connellan The Gospel Comes with a House Key: Practicing Radically Ordinary Hospitality in Our Post-Christian World by Rosaria Butterfield

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Dr. Angie Ward, a leadership author and teacher with nearly 30 years of experience in church, parachurch, and Christian higher education ministry. She also serves as Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Denver Seminary. They discuss the concept of adaptive leadership and its importance in today's rapidly changing culture and churches. Dr. Ward shares insights and practical tools for agile and adaptive leadership, including managing leadership anxiety and understanding the emotional aspects of change management. BEST QUOTES “Especially when it comes to change and leading an organization, you're going to have people that want to transfer their anxiety to you. It's at that point that you must have a barrier up to be able to maintain a clean and clear point of view.” – Dr. Angie Ward “Anytime there's change, that introduces disequilibrium into the system, and then disequilibrium seeks stability.” – Dr. Angie Ward “When you have everybody bringing their own things into a change situation in the organization, then then it's not just what's going on in the organization, but what's going on in every individual person and in between every person in the system.” – Dr. Angie Ward “We need to do that deep change on our own before we try to lead a system, an institution, an organization, or a group through that deep change.” – Dr. Angie Ward Nobody's going to say, “Let me give you extra time. Let me protect your time.” You must do it. You must block out those things.” – Dr. Angie Ward “I wish I would've been aware of God saying, “This is who you are”, instead of all the external internal voices because that causes a lot of turmoil and doubt and trying to be somebody I'm not created to be.” – Dr. Angie Ward RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty by Dr. Angie Ward At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs by Steve Cuss Leading Change by John P. Kotter The Change Monster: The Human Forces that Fuel or Foil Corporate Transformation and Change by Jeanie Daniel Duck The Heart of Change: Real-Life Stories of How People Change Their Organizations by John P. Kotter and Dan S. Cohen Dr. Angie Ward Website

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Mark Satterfield, the Lead Pastor at the Glade Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. They focus on the five steps to getting things done, which include reducing, prioritizing, planning, executing, and measuring tasks. Satterfield also highlights the importance of having a vision framework, utilizing task management and productivity apps, learning from CEOs, reducing clutter, saying no to non-priority tasks, and delegating effectively. The 5 steps to getting things done are: Reduce: This step involves evaluating tasks and prioritizing them based on importance and relevance. (3:07) Prioritize: After reducing tasks, it is important to prioritize the remaining tasks based on their significance and alignment with vision and values. (14:18) Plan: The planning step involves creating a schedule or a plan to allocate time and resources to the prioritized tasks. This includes using strategies like the Eisenhower matrix to determine what is important and urgent. (22:56) Execute: Once the plan is in place, executing and working towards accomplishing the tasks is important. This step focuses on acting and following through with the plan. (26:16) Measure: The final step is to measure the progress and effectiveness of the tasks. This includes evaluating whether the tasks were successfully completed and adjusting if needed. (38:08) You can follow Mark on Twitter @sattymark or at his website at marksatterfield.blog. BEST QUOTES "The reduction of insignificant tasks and clutter in physical and digital spaces also leads to greater efficiency in work." – Mark Satterfield "The evaluation and elimination of insignificant tasks should be a constant habit for leaders." – Mark Satterfield “One of the craziest things that can take place in the leader's life is working on things that you accomplish for the day only to walk out and not know that those things really aren't important for your own personal mission or the mission of the church.” – Mark Satterfield “There's work that we're doing that technically shouldn't be our work, you should be delegating it to others because it's actually their work.” – Mark Satterfield “If you're a leader of an organization and you're trying to think through your measures or evaluate what's getting done, that is only going to be as strong as the vision framework you have for your organization.” – Mark Satterfield “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” – James Clear RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential by Tiago Forte At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy, and Priorities Working in Your Favor by Carey Nieuwhof Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear High-Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way by Brendon Burchard The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Jared Musgrove, Co-Founder of the Community Leadership Collective and Executive Pastor of the Well Community Church. The episode focuses on the importance of small groups and communities in church ministry. Musgrove also discusses his new book, "A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community," and highlights the transformative power of small groups in personal growth and leadership. The guys also talk about the significance of mid-sized communities as well as the role of prayer in leadership. BEST QUOTES “I want people who lead communities within churches to feel seen and to feel equipped and empowered to get in on what God's doing through those groups.” – Jared Musgrove “The guys that try to go it alone, whether it's planning a church or leading a company ends up burning out really quick.” – Jared Musgrove “Our entire mission is to equip and empower college men to live faithfully and lead courageously. I want these guys going into church planting and training. I want these guys to be elders in churches and to be leading companies with Christian conviction.” – Jared Musgrove “Honestly, I get more pastoral insight from fiction books than I do from pastoral books most of the time.” – Jared Musgrove “I think the greatest way I can lead my kids is just remembering what it was like to grow up.” – Jared Musgrove “There is no one size fits all way for designing transformational groups within the church. It is an art, not a science.” – Jared Musgrove RECOMMENDED RESOURCES A Short Guide to Groups: The Art of Leading Community by Jared Musgrove and Justin Elafros Dictionary of Biblical Imagery by Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit, and Tremper Longman III The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary by Robert Alter Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Daniel Im who is the Lead Pastor of Beulah Alliance Church in Edmonton, Alberta. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What is one thing you've read recently that you would want to pass along? What is one thing that you've listened to or watched recently? What is one tool or resource that you've started to use recently? Daniel, your church just celebrated 80 baptisms. Can you tell us how that came about and what you learned throughout that process? BEST QUOTES "Leadership is disruption. If you are not constantly leading the disruption, and then bringing about change, then someone else or something else is going to disrupt your organization, and you are going to be out of control of that." – Daniel Im “With customer service, we want people in our churches to be well-cared for as guest services are super important to us. But a lot of times we make it very transactional and make it about boxes being checked or processes being created rather than making it about the person.” – Todd Adkins “I don't want to let the pain, the criticism, and the hurt of ministry so affect me that my heart is hard.” – Daniel Im “I feel that we can so easily get caught up in the, “I want the biggest church, I want the biggest name, I want all these things” mindset in our ministries. But you know, when you encounter these people who only want to make Christ famous or when they want growth in their church and organizations for God's glory and not their own, it's a powerful example of where I'd like to me in my own life.” – Dan Iten RECOMMENDED RESOURCES You Are What You Do: And Six Other Lies about Work, Life, and Love by Daniel Im No Silver Bullets: Five Small Shifts that Will Transform Your Ministry by Daniel Im Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply by Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im Managing Corporate Lifecycles (Pb): How Organizations Grow, Age and Die by Ichak Adizes Don't Hold Back: Breaking Free from the American Gospel to Follow Jesus Fully by David Platt Discovering the Gospel in Every Book of the Bible with Tim Keller (YouTube Series) Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection by Addison Bevere Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect by Will Guidara

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Addison Bevere, COO of Messenger International and author of "Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection". Their discussion covers diverse topics such as leadership, the importance of reading and learning from different sources, prayer, and the impact of the voice of the accuser in today's world. This episode emphasizes the significance of leadership grounded in faith and listening to God's voice. BEST QUOTES “So much of prayer invites us into a form of silence where we discover that the silence is actually a language of God's. And it's not a form of rejection. It's an invitation to a fresh way of engaging with God's voice and understanding how God has worked with us.” – Addison Bevere “Something about silence drives us to better understand God and our world and ourselves and how it all comes together.” – Addison Bevere “I thought that peace was having all the answers. I didn't realize that peace was being in tune with the one who is the answer.” – Addison Bevere “God doesn't deliver us from a thing. If he knows that that thing will ultimately deliver us to Him.” – Addison Bevere “Joy is an important tenant of the kingdom of God. You are sacrificing your joy because you are trying to sustain something that is not yours to sustain.” – Addison Bevere “When we make prayer about us moving our mouths, we actually make prayer about us and not about God.” – Addison Bevere “Shalom does not mean peace. We use it as peace and peace is certainly a part of shalom. But what Shalom literally means is integration. It means the pieces coming together to make a whole. And because the pieces are coming together to make a whole, Shalom communicates peace, joy, and wellness. What is fractured and fragmented is coming together and becoming whole.” – Addison Bevere RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Words with God: Trading Boring, Empty Prayer for Real Connection by Addison Bevere How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren A. Lincoln: A Biography by Ronald C. White, Jr. Addison Bevere

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Mark Dance, Director of Pastoral Wellness at Guidestone Financial Resources, and author of "Start to Finish: The Pastor's Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry". Mark shares insights on building resilience in ministry, especially during the pandemic. They also talk about the importance of prioritizing relationships according to the Great Commandment, where loving God, family, and others should be at the forefront. They also aim to guide pastors and ministry leaders on how to lead a resilient life and ministry, grounded in a deep love for God and others. BEST QUOTES "This book is not about finances. It's about the comprehensive nature of the great commandment, heart, soul, mind, strength, as they are never meant to be separated and compartmentalized into separate things." – Mark Dance "It's not how we start but how we finish that matters." – Mark Dance “The hardest thing for a pastor to do is to ask somebody for help.” – Mark Dance “If you want to be a resilient, healthy pastor, you're going to have to be a Great Commandment Pastor. You got to love the Lord with your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” – Mark Dance “Our ministries will never be stronger than our marriages. So never feel guilty about investing time in your spouse.” – Mark Dance RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Start to Finish: The Pastor's Guide to Leading a Resilient Life and Ministry by Mark Dance Guidestone Financial Resources

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Henry Costa, the CEO and co-founder of Glorify, a Christian daily worship app. Costa shares his background in finance, the military, and the technology industry, and how these experiences have led him to focus on technology for positive societal change. They also discuss the importance of learning from multiple sources, building a council of elders for advice, and the current focus of Glorify's leadership team on communication, remote work, and building culture. BEST QUOTES “I think the Christian world is crying out for better products to help them connect with God better.” – Henry Costa “The thing that makes people love that their job is really understanding what the vision is, what's the mission of how they're contributing directly into that, and then what's the output of that as they bring everything that we do back to the user.” – Henry Costa “Focus on where you're weak rather than thinking that you're great at everything.” – Henry Costa "I just want to hire the best people around me give them autonomy and let them build under the strategic direction that that I can provide.” – Henry Costa "I have had great bosses and I've had terrible bosses. I have learned probably as much from the terrible ones of how I don't want to lead and how I never want to lead with a culture of fear.” – Henry Costa RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Glorify | #1 Christian Daily Worship App Organizational Culture and Leadership by Edgar H. Schein

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Brian Dodd who serves as the Director of New Ministry Relationships for Injoy Stewardship Solutions where they help churches fully fund their mission and vision. During this conversation, Brian emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and curiosity in leadership, advising leaders to ask the second and third questions of everything to gain deeper insights and implications for application. They also touch on the topics of failure, personal growth, and self-leadership. BEST QUOTES “Everybody's a leader. Because if nothing else, you got to practice self-leadership. So, everybody's a leader, and everybody can get better as a leader.” – Brian Dodd “Failure is a data point to learn from. That's the way you need to view failure. If the failure is not fatal, it's just a data point to learn from.” – Brian Dodd “If you're a leader and you're not reading books, I can't help you. It is easily the best return on investment that a person can make.” – Brian Dodd “Work on leadership development, but also work equally hard on leader development so that when you become the person in public that God wants you to be, you have the character to sustain it.” – Brian Dodd “There will come countless times in your marriage that there will be a disagreement or an argument. Your job during those times is not to try to win the argument and not to try to prove your point. Your job is to take responsibility, the blame, and the responsibility so that your relationship with your bride can be restored.” – Brian Dodd “When you're creating content, whether it be a sermon, a Sunday school lesson, small group content, or anything of that nature; if you make it about the other person, God will honor that and make it more effective than anything you've done previously.” – Brian Dodd RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Hard Work: A Life On and Off the Court by Roy Williams and Tim Crothers Leadership as an Identity: The Four Traits of Those Who Wield Lasting Influence by Crawford Lorritts Mighty: 7 Skills You Need to Move from Pandemic to Progress by Brian Dodd 2021: The Year in Leadership: The Stories of Faith, Athletics, Business, and Life Which Inspired Us All by Brian Dodd Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders by Brian Dodd The 2-Minute Leader Coaching Course by Brian Dodd

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten break down an article from the Harvard Business Review titled "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance." The article emphasizes the importance of making quick and effective decisions to prevent loss of ground in businesses. Todd and Dan review two frameworks from the article, bottlenecks in decision-making and the RAPID framework for accountability, and discuss how these frameworks can be applied to improve clarity on decision-making in church settings. BEST QUOTES "Yes, it's important to pay attention to the prompting of the Spirit. But it's never going to go against what Scripture says, or what your good and godly wise counsel and people have to say." – Todd Adkins "Consensus is a worthy goal. But as a decision-making standard, it can be an obstacle to action or a recipe for the lowest common denominator compromise." – Todd Adkins "As a company grows, its operation becomes more complex. However, senior executives can no longer master the details." – Todd Adkins "Consensus kills when it's a watered-down decision, or it's something that's compromised, that isn't as clear or isn't as executable or doesn't get executed, because nobody owns it." – Todd Adkins RECOMMENDED RESOURCES "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance." – Harvard Business Review Article 90-Second Leadership – Vote, Voice, and View Meeting Framework

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Jeff Dalrymple who serves as the Executive Director of the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention (ECAP). In this episode, they discuss the importance of coaching and leading a team toward a shared mission, vision, and values. He shares his experiences in identifying gaps in knowledge and management surrounding child safety in the evangelical community and the challenges of leading a dispersed team during the startup phase of an organization. Jeff also emphasizes the importance of balancing work and family life and provides insights into his leadership approach in his home. BEST QUOTES "Advancing the mission and making things happen is important, but don't forget to care for and invest in the people around you." – Jeff Dalrymple "Shared experiences create relational deposits that are valuable in the life of a child and family." – Jeff Dalrymple "The mission is important, but how you go about accomplishing that mission is just as important." – Jeff Dalrymple "Constant communication and support with team members is necessary for successful leadership." – Jeff Dalrymple "God is calling us to a mission and a calling, but it's important to remember the relationships along the way." – Jeff Dalrymple "Modeling Christ's likeness and good leadership through presence and intentional words is important in the home." – Jeff Dalrymple "The key to leadership is coaching and leading a team towards the same mission, vision, and values." – Jeff Dalrymple RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters by Dr. Albert Mohler TRUST: The Firm Foundation for Kingdom Fruitfulness by Dan Busby This vs. That Podcast by Anchored Hope Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Chuck Peters, who serves as the Director of Lifeway Kids and Scott McConnell, who serves as the Executive Director of Lifeway Research. In this episode, they discuss the current trends, challenges, and needs of Generation Z and Generation Alpha in kids' ministry. The conversation highlights the importance of adapting to the needs of younger generations, creating a culture of belonging, and addressing the need for identity. They also talk about Lifeway's book called “Flip the Script” which is a resource that offers tools for preschool kids and student ministries to effectively reach Gen Z and Alpha. Overall, the episode provides valuable insights for church leaders seeking to connect with and minister to younger generations. BEST QUOTES "We can't do what we've always done and expect a different outcome." – Chuck Peters "The biggest disconnect is assuming that kids think how we do." – Chuck Peters "The most connected generation in history through technology is simultaneously the loneliest and most isolated generation ever." – Scott McConnell "We have an epidemic of loneliness, of isolation, of separation. In real life, kids don't have real relationships." – Scott McConnell "We need to create a culture of belonging and speak to the need for identity among younger generations." – Chuck Peters "Once they find a place to belong, it heavily influences their identity." – Chuck Peters "We as the church have to adapt, based on the research, to use different approaches to connect with kids in ways that are actually meaningful." – Scott McConnell RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Flip the Script: Disrupting Tradition for the Sake of the Next Generation by Chuck Peters, Jana Magruder, and Stephanie Salvatore Hyfi: A Digital Curriculum to Reach the Next Generation of Kids and Students

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by David Putman who serves as a Senior Lead Navigator at Auxano where he is committed to catalyzing movements of disciples who make disciples and that plant churches that plant churches. In this episode, they discuss the church's God-given mandate to make disciples and how to intentionally develop person-to-person discipleship so that your church can start planting other churches. They also talk about the importance of having a clear vision and strategy for churches as well as the need for simple and reproducible tools for discipleship and disciple-making. BEST QUOTES “I think the most important thing missing piece that churches often have is a lack of clarity around their vision.” – Todd Adkins “If you want to see movement on an individual or organizational level, you have to put tools in people's hands, and they need to be simple, reproducible tools.” – David Putman "It's not just about producing disciples, but disciple makers." – David Putman "If you really want a framework to be carried forward, it needs to be put in the form of a hammer, it needs to be put in the form of something that people can actually use." – David Putman “Every church needs a culture of discipleship. But sometimes we confuse the culture of discipleship with the micro tools of disciple making, so we end up calling everything discipleship.” – David Putman “The Kingdom of God grows by multiplication, not by addition.” – David Putman RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery by David Watson and Paul Watson Breaking The Discipleship Code: Becoming a Missional Follower of Jesus by David Putman The Gospel Disciple Life: A Micro-Group Strategy for Making Disciples that Make Disciples by David Putman Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman Auxano | Get A Visionary Plan For Real Church Growth

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Chandler Vannoy, and Dan Iten discuss the subject of how to transition jobs well. As Chandler transitions to a new role away from Lifeway, the team reflects on ways that leaders can improve the process of transitioning out of their role and how they can create an environment where open dialogue about job changes is encouraged. Here are some of the questions they discussed: Why is this important to the life of a church? What are some general reasons why people leave their jobs? What are some best practices or opposing views on how people look at this subject? What are some ways you've seen this go well and other ways that you've seen it go poorly? How do you develop a culture that is comfortable having these types of conversations? What are some best practices for you as the employee leaving to set up the next person for success? BEST QUOTES “If there's anybody that should be able to retain employees or retain staff, it's the church. Because the church should be the best place at developing, caring, and encouraging those people.” – Todd Adkins “People don't quit jobs, they quit leaders or organizations.” – Todd Adkins The employees that you have or those who are serving on your team are only there for however long God has them there. They're going to move to something else eventually and you can either look at that as you something that you can be against, or you can be for them in moving for that.” – Chandler Vannoy “One of the best things you can do as a leader is continually have an open dialogue with your team and have the viewpoint that God has whoever's on our team here for a season, and to be open handed with your people.” – Chandler Vannoy “Whenever someone leaves my team, I want them to be pulled towards something else, not pushed away from where they are at.” – Todd Adkins “We rise to our level of incompetence.” – Todd Adkins “You are not a good leader if everything falls apart once you leave.” – Todd Adkins RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Unseen Leadership Podcast by Chandler Vannoy and Josh Hunter

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Chandler Vannoy, and Dan Iten discuss the subject of how to conduct better, more effective meetings in whatever leadership setting you find yourself. Here are some of the questions asked during the episode: Why are meetings important for the local church? Why is it important to gather volunteers or others who aren't paid staff? What are some best practices or opposing views about getting the most out of your team meetings? What are some good filters on how to determine what a meeting is about and whether something should be a meeting at all? What are some real-life examples of leading a team meeting well? How are meetings conducted in an effective manner in a much smaller context? Are there any resources that would be helpful in learning how to conduct more effective meetings? BEST QUOTES “You should not have a meeting to decide on what the question or the point of the meeting is.” – Todd Adkins “If you've got layers of teams, those should be done from a development standpoint to check in and make sure somebody's continuing to grow, or you're able to address any issues.” – Todd Adkins “I think it's really important to let your participants know in advance what type of meeting that's going to be so they can they you know that you have an agenda and a purpose for it.” – Dan Iten “Part of the issue with most meetings and why people feel like they're a waste of time is they don't get anywhere; they don't move things forward.” – Todd Adkins “Nothing frustrates a participant more than leaving a meeting feeling clueless about next steps.” – Dan Iten “Everything is a coaching moment.” – Todd Adkins “Coaching is not just critique; it is also encouragement.” – Todd Adkins “I don't care whether you're in a big church or a small church, everybody has an opinion on the way they make decisions.” – Todd Adkins “The cardinal sin of the modern day is wasting someone's time.” – Todd Adkins “Don't try to do a team meeting just because you feel that need to gather everyone together.” – Dan Iten RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni The Coming Church Revolution: Empowering Leaders for the Future by Carl F. George 90 Second Leadership Starters

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Brad Lomenick who is a leadership consultant, speaker, founder of BLINC, and author of The Catalyst Leader and H3 Leadership. During their conversation, they discuss the following questions: What is one thing you've read recently that has had an impact? What are you listening to? What is one tool or resource you've started using recently? Who is one person who has influenced you recently? What is one lesson you've learned recently? BEST QUOTES “I think a lot of training is really more about confidence than it is competence.” – Todd Adkins “If you become a curator of connections, resources or talent, you automatically have influence in the place you traffic.” – Brad Lomenick “Conversation, community, and connection around a table with people today is arguably more desirable than a conference or a big gathering where it's only about content.” – Brad Lomenick “As you think about the way you curate your church, your content, or the friendships you have, lean more into how are you creating transformational experiences that allow for a person to feel like it's it was created for them.” – Brad Lomenick “The things that are going to perhaps make the most impact on people are the things that don't scale well. It's the things that are one-on-one, very customized, and specific to that individual.” – Brad Lomenick “People want to feel like they're getting something that is so customized to them, something that is built on every sort of their felt needs. This is the challenge in today's environment, especially around leadership.” – Brad Lomenick “One of the things that you'll see whether someone is a pastor or just a normal person is that there is a great desire to be known. Not to be a user, not to be an acquaintance, or distant friend on social media, but to truly be known.” – Todd Adkins RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Power to Change: Mastering the Habits That Matter Most by Craig Groeschel The Diary of a CEO Podcast with Steve Bartlett How Leaders Lead Podcast with David Novak God Comes Where He's Wanted (Sermon) by Jon Tyson The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character by Jon Tyson Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus by J.T. English From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks Lifeway Research Pastor Survey: U.S. Pastors Identify Their Greatest Needs

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Chris Horst who most recently served as the chief advancement officer at HOPE International, where he employed his passion for advancing initiatives at the intersection of faith and work. They also discuss Chris' recent transition into a new chapter of his life and how one can transition out of an organization well while establishing a culture of trust and transparency between team members. BEST QUOTES “We are living in a place where stability is something that we can count on. I think the last few years really revealed how much we, at least for me personally, idolize stability and certainty.” – Chris Horst “The most important performance assessment you'll get is not during your tenure, but it's one, two, or even three years after you transition out of a leadership role.” – Peter Greer “If people are able to express that they might be thinking of leaving or processing a different calling on their life right now, I think that is something to strive for as a leader to be able to have those very candid and caring conversations.” – Todd Adkins “Leaders that have an agenda and ambition geared at serving their own careers often miss opportunities to faithfully serve in the places where they are.” – Chris Horst “A problem I see frequently is watching leaders that have come into their role with ambition and expectations, but oftentimes, it felt like they were never able to fully live into the role that they were in because they were constantly thinking about that steppingstone into what was next versus leaders that were just really focused on excelling in their work to serve the organization.” – Chris Horst RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Gift of Disillusionment: Enduring Hope for Leaders After Idealism Fades by Chris Horst and Peter Greer Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing by Andy Crouch

In this very special episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Dan Iten for the first time (or the second) in the history of this podcast will ask Todd Adkins the 5 leadership questions. They discuss how God is influencing Todd's leadership today and some of the biggest lessons he has learned over the last 500 episodes of this podcast. BEST QUOTES “Instead of looking at our lives and saying, ‘are we getting better and better day by day as a Christian?' That is what I am called to do. I'm not called to win. I can't win it compared to Christ. Yes, I am a loser. But I'm not playing that game. I'm an eternal being. I'm playing an infinite game and if anybody should understand that it should be Christians that we should look at each day getting better and better.” – Todd Adkins “As pastors, even as Christians, our fruit does grow on other people's trees. And that's not us taking credit for what other people do. It is to say, the fruit of a Christian is another Christian, the fruit of volunteers and other volunteer, and the fruit of a leader is another leader.” – Todd Adkins “If I am not learning daily, I am not leading daily.” – Todd Adkins “If we're intentional with anybody, it should be with our family.” – Todd Adkins “You can overestimate what can get done in one year and underestimate what can get done in five.” – Todd Adkins “Your role is to do the best that you can do wherever God has placed you and keep the room clean so that when others look at your ministry, your business, or at your role, they go, ‘man, he's doing a great job, she's doing a great job.'” – Todd Adkins RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Ministry Grid Todd Adkins

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Shane Pruitt who serves as the National Next Gen Director for the North American Mission Board (NAMB). In this episode, they discuss the responsibility of ministry leaders to find future leaders under their care and what the process of discipleship looks like in that context. They also discuss how to recognize future leaders in your midst, and what needs to be done in order to call out those whom God has called for full-time ministry leadership. BEST QUOTES “God hasn't stopped calling out those to ministry leadership. I think we as current leaders have stopped asking a whole generation to consider if God is calling them.” – Shane Pruitt “I know young people get told all the time that they are the future of the church and I know what people mean by that. However, that's not biblically correct because if they'd been bought by the blood of Jesus and are indwelt by the Spirit of God; they are not the future of the church, they are the church right now.” – Shane Pruitt “If young people can handle Algebra, they can handle some doctrine and theology. Don't dumb it down for them, raise the bar. They can handle it.” – Shane Pruitt “Often I see church leaders reactively responding to a leadership void rather than proactively. So if a Youth Pastor leaves, they have to go out and search for another one, instead of asking themselves if God is raising up somebody in their congregation to fill that role.” – Shane Pruitt “Let young people and young adults start serving. Give them a seat at the table and raise their leadership capacity. I've often found that typically calling will reveal itself in serving.” – Shane Pruitt “The best thing we can do for those who want to be in ministry leadership is to teach them to walk deeply with Jesus. I often see churches move these people to find out their gifts and talents and once those skills have grown, we see a spike in leaders failing. So many leaders are falling into immorality, burnout, and rejection of their faith because on some level, we've helped cultivate gifted and talented people and with those gifts and talents, we end up putting them on stages and platforms that maybe their character and integrity weren't ready for.” – Shane Pruitt “So many leaders focus on the depth of your ministry rather than letting the Lord take care of the width and platform of it.” – Shane Pruitt RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Calling Out the Called: Discipling Those Called to Ministry Leadership by Shane Pruitt and Scott Pace Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders Understanding A Calling to Ministry Resource with Shane Pruitt & Scott Pace

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Rusty George who serves as the Lead Pastor at Real Life Church in Southern California, a multi-site church with campuses in Canyon Country, Lancaster, Simi Valley, Valencia, and a large online community. In this episode, they discuss who Rusty is learning from currently, where his leadership emphasis is focused, how Rusty deals with crisis within his church community, and how to stick with a long-term strategy for church leadership. BEST QUOTES “It's mind blowing the value of putting constraints on your brainstorming because we've all been taught to think of hypotheticals like, ‘what could you do if you had no budget?' But that doesn't help you.” – Rusty George “There's always a new strategy out there and there's always a new idea out there. So just stick with one for at least maybe six weeks to three months, 90 days or so. And if it's not working for you, then try something else. But you got to give it a go in order to see if it's if it's going to work. Strategies only work if you if you put the effort in.” – Rusty George “I spent so many years reading books, going to conferences, interviewing pastors, looking for the one thing that makes churches grow. And it really is about context. It's about gifting. It's about right person, right place, right time, and it's different for everybody. So, I would spend years in Kentucky trying to adopt models from Seattle and that didn't work. Or I would spend years in California trying to adopt models from Kentucky and that didn't work. The notion that there's a silver bullet that works for everybody is just ridiculous.” – Rusty George “Have a clear finish line to the day. When am I done? When's my finish line? Then what I'll do is drive to a gym, exercise and listen to a sports podcast that has nothing to do with church, or my soul or anything like that. But it feeds my soul because it's disconnecting. And then when I get home, I feel like I'm relaxed, ready for my family and for whatever my wife has planned for me.” – Rusty George “As my kids have gotten older, parenting has become more like coaching. It's a lot more question asking like, ‘what do you think about that? Is that a wise thing to do? Where's that going to take you?' I think a lot of it is just helping them process stuff rather than giving them a hard yes or no.” – Rusty George RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Beautiful Restraint by Adam Morgan and Mark Barden Leading Through Crisis (Digital Course) by Rusty George

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Colin Hansen who serves as the vice president for content and editor in chief of The Gospel Coalition. They discuss his new autobiography on Pastor Timothy Keller which focused on his intellectual and spiritual formation. Colin shares about Keller's early years, the influential relationships that made him who is he today, the church where he learned to care for souls, and the city that lifted him to the international fame he never wanted. BEST QUOTES “When you're learning from Tim Keller, you're actually learning from dozens of other people. You're learning from all of those who have influenced him.” – Colin Hansen “Everything Tim writes about the power transformative power of grace, that's based on his experience with Jesus.” – Colin Hansen Tim often says, “When we preach what Jesus preached, we should be seeing a response from the people who responded to Jesus. But if our churches are not and they don't have anybody like those people who are attracted to Jesus, maybe we're not preaching the same message that he did.” – Colin Hansen “The clear testimony from every single one of their family and friends is that really you're just not understanding Tim Keller unless you understand his biggest influence, which is certainly his wife, Kathy.” – Colin Hansen “One of the things that I took away from this book was how Tim continued to grow and develop and continues to this day to develop as like rings on a tree. A lot of people seem to develop their belief system, their theological perspective, or their businesses, like fads. It's like a lily pad theology where they are jumping from one thing to another and there doesn't seem to be a lot of coherence to it. While Keller's is like rings on a tree starting from that essential conversion experience, he has through Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in 1970. That never changes the theological beliefs. He develops as a student especially in seminary, but it doesn't really change for his whole life. But he continues to grow.” – Colin Hansen “Tim is an excellent leader in terms of casting a compelling vision that that people will get excited about, they'll understand, and they'll want to follow.” – Colin Hansen “I have spent my career 20 plus years working with a lot of the most effective leaders in the church, and not one single one of them or anybody I've met is good at everything. So, we shouldn't pretend otherwise.” – Colin Hansen “Tim has always overworked. It's been one of his besetting sins. The cancer freed him up for the first time in 50 years, essentially to do what he wanted to do and not what he didn't have to do.” – Colin Hansen RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation by Colin Hansen

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Dave Milam who serves as the Vice President of Strategic Design at Visioneering Studios. With over 20 years of experience serving churches as well as non-profits, Dave brings a vast level of experience when it comes to helping people create places that not only look visually appealing design-wise but also educates on how your building can communicate your unique vision and story. They also discuss the unique challenges facing churches today when it comes to utilizing their meeting spaces and Dave shares how church leaders can take their space from where they are to where they want to be. BEST QUOTES “You should be able to look at a church and tell what they value. But you can also look at the building and know what they're trying to value.” – Dave Milam “I think the things that the American church values right now is very different than what we valued 20 years ago. The buildings we're living in right now were created 20 years ago. There is this tension that we're wrestling with where 20 years ago, we valued the Sunday morning experience where everybody came in and the building was designed to flip services so seats would be opened back up and parking spaces would free up as well.” – Dave Milam “We're great at saying stuff. But eventually you have to deliver on the dream that you just presented. It's great to say this is our value, but how does that value live itself out in the environment and the hallways?” – Dave Milam “A lot of churches are being very intentional about meeting places for conversation to take place. They usually have space for kids, they have the space for seating in the auditorium, but where are the people going to pause and have a 15-minute conversation? We want those to happen because if they can have those conversations, they are more likely to connect to a small group or go grab lunch with somebody. At that point, they are engaging with the church.” – Dave Milam “If you look at the most engaging environments in your community, a lot of times they have great engaging outdoor spaces. Whether it's the restaurants with the outdoor porch or the coffee shop, they are intentional about what's happening between the parking lot and the building. Those spaces, believe it or not, per square foot amount of money it takes to build those spaces are super small compared to the cost of building a new building. Double your lobby by being intentional about outdoor spaces.” – Dave Milam “One of the critical mistakes that we see lots of churches across the country making is that they have their building, and they're like, there's no possible way that this building could be cool or functional. So, their initial gut reaction is to build new, start over, and trash the whole thing. My favorite projects are the ones where we have limitations, and we get to create great space out of current constraints. Those end up being the coolest and most unique places.” – Dave Milam RECOMMENDED RESOURCES A Beautiful Constraint by Mark Barden and Adam Morgan Visioneering Studios

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Jason Thacker who serves as the Chair of Research in Technology Ethics and is also the Director of the Research Institute at ERLC (The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss how technology is shaping our walk with Christ and how we as church leaders can navigate the most difficult aspects of our digital culture including the rise of misinformation, conspiracy theories, social media, and polarization. BEST QUOTES “One of the primary disciplers of your people is actually their smartphone.” – Jason Thacker “While we think we can disconnect, we really can't in some sense. A lot of it doesn't come down to is it just bad or good because I think both of those options fail to describe what technology really is. It is a good gift from God that we can use it in good and bad ways. However, it is something that is shaping and forming us so it's not as neutral as we'd like to think that it is.” – Jason Thacker “While we want a quick fix or a checklist of 5 things that we can do to write off our relationship with technology, we need to start thinking from a biblical and ethical perspective. We need to realize that these bad habits didn't form overnight. Likewise, good habits aren't going to be formed overnight either. It's going to take time, wisdom, discernment, and intentionality.” – Jason Thacker “Technology is causing us to go faster, faster, faster. We find that everything has to be more efficient, more convenient, more and more and more. Sometimes stepping back and slowing down is what causes us to build better habits and patterns in our life that can help us see wisely and discerningly about what technology is, but also how it's forming and shaping us. Particularly, how it's forming and shaping our people.” – Jason Thacker “Technology is not merely a tool, it's actually something much larger than that that is shaping and forming us as people.” – Jason Thacker “A lot of things we see online are being shaped, formed, and curated just for us. They're personalized to us and so I think we need to recognize that every time we go online. These things may or may not be true but they're often fed or shown to us for a particular purpose and a particular reason.” – Jason Thacker “One of the ways we are conformed to this world today in our digital age is through the use of technology. What we need to do as Christians is to be seek to be transformed by the renewal of our mind by the renewal of the Holy Spirit as we seek to walk with wisdom and discernment in our digital age.” – Jason Thacker RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Following Jesus in a Digital Age by Jason Thacker The Life We're Looking For by Andy Crouch God, Technology, and the Christian Life by Tony Reinke

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by former co-host Barnabas Piper who is an author, speaker, and an assistant pastor at Immanuel Church in Nashville, Tennessee. During the conversation, they discuss how to decide if and when you should go to seminary, how to facilitate community in your church, and how wisdom comes through time and intentional learning.  BEST QUOTES “The decision whether to go to seminary is a case-by-case decision.”  “When it comes to the decision about seminary, look for a setting that will help you in your ministry context.”  “When you go to seminary, go to get. Don't just go to look around.”  “People are stickier than your preaching.”  “They would send 20-year olds to war, but you had to be 30-year olds to care for the holy items in the tabernacle. ”  “Wisdom comes with time and intentional learning.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Happy Rant Book  Belong by Barnabas Piper 

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Dr. Warren Bird, author, writer, and researcher of churches. During this conversation, they discuss Dr. Bird's new research titled “The New Faces of Church Planting and Multisiting” BEST QUOTES You have not because you ask not. If the churches is God's plan A, the church is the bride of Christ, North Carolina Baptists, we are like the bridesmaid, and we can just be off the side. We are there to support you in what you're doing to magnify a coming Jesus.Our measuring stick is not how big our budget with NC Baptists is, our measuring stick is – what are churches doing to replicate themselves, to advance the gospel globally, and to provide help for the hurting locally. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES https://ncbaptist.org/

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Dr. Warren Bird, author, writer, and researcher of churches. During this conversation, they discuss Dr. Bird's new research titled “The New Faces of Church Planting and Multisiting” BEST QUOTES 1) The future will be…more evangelistic. 97% said they started their new church to reach people with Jesus' gospel 2) The future will be…more multiracial. If you want your church, if you believe God wants your church, to look like Revelation 5:9 where every tongue, every tribe, every people, every nation is worshiping together, praising the name of Jesus, then it's a matter of intentionality at every size church, every race of leader, every different type of neighborhood, is able to develop a multiracial church. 3) The future will have…more mergers and restarts. Of church planters who end up with a building, one in five got their building through a church rebirthing, merging or restarting under them.Of multisite churches, 41% of their campuses came by way of merger. 4) The Future will have…multiplication. 5) The future will have…financial collaboration. Where the vision is - money follows. Where the spiritual fruit is, the money lines up.When people see life changes happen because of their finance, they find ways to give more money because it thrills them. 6) The future will be…more resilient. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES EFCA.org/research Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work 

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Steve Gatena who is an Entrepreneur and the founder of Pray.com, the world's #1 app for daily prayer and faith-based audio content. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Pray.com

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Trevin Wax who is vice president of research and resource development at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Wheaton College. During this conversation, they discuss how to interact and engage with culture. BEST QUOTES  "You have to figure out what your town and local culture is like.” “Theologians have said you want to read the Bible and the newspaper. We want to see how it relates to our current context.” “If we aren't having conversations about culture issues, you better believe the world is.” “One of the real temptations is you become a pundit, not a pastor.” “As pastors, you need to know your sheep.” “If you ask, people will tell you the areas that need focus in the community.” “We always tried to have a reputation that this church came here to serve us, not save us.” “Service can be the platform for sharing the gospel.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES ArcGIS

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Ron Edmondson who is the Senior Pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, KY. During this conversation, they discuss the role of interim pastor in churches and how they are successful. BEST QUOTES  “Every church is going to face a time where there is an interim pastor, a period between one pastor and the next pastor.” “Every pastor needs to think with the end in mind. Always be asking yourself what is going to happen when you leave?” “Begin by asking a lot of questions and learn the culture.” “Don't bind the church to something that the next pastor is tied to.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES RonEdmondson.com  The Ron Edmondson Leadership Podcast  The Mythical Leader: The Seven Myths of Leadership 

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Tyler Reagin who is the founder and CEO of The Life Giving Company and the author of The Life-Giving Leader and Leading Things You Didn't Start. BEST QUOTES  “Leaders are learners. If there is not a system for learning, you are not going to think about it.” “Leaders, if you are not a learner, you have a short shelf life.” “Maintenance creates momentum.” “A good product with a bad process is a counterfeit win.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 10 Ten Project Life Giving Leader Leading Things You Didn't Start

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Chandler Vannoy, and Dan Iten discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of effectively recruiting volunteers. BEST QUOTES  “Our job of course is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” “We aren't just looking for a warm body who can fill a seat. We want to get the right volunteers in the right seat.” “Desperation for volunteers is not a good look, so you are going to get a poor result when you approach it with that posture.” “Many times, we actually say no for a person when we are asking them to serve.” “If you are recruiting me, you need to do so with great clarity including a job description and expectations.” “There is a high cost to a cheap ask.” “What you celebrate is what you cultivate in the culture.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Creating a Recruiting Culture eBook Sample Job Descriptions on Ministry Grid 6 Essentials to Onboarding and Training Volunteers eBook

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Katie Allred to discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of church communications. Katie founded ChurchCommunications.com and manages the Church Communications Facebook Group that serves as a resource on marketing and communication strategies for over 30,000 church leaders. BEST QUOTES  “You can challenge your church to be salt and light on the internet.” “You can't be on every channel, everywhere. You don't need to be on every platform.” “If you are on every platform, you aren't doing any of them well.” “Social media is moving from corporate to personal.” “Remember when on Youtube to name them as if someone is searching for what you are giving them.” “Intentionality trumps excellence.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Church Communications Facebook Group  The Church Communications Conference  Church Communications - Methods and Marketing Book  

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Daniel Im, and Dan Iten discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of discipleship. BEST QUOTES “We have made discipleship unnecessarily complex.” “We teach the way we have been taught. We lead the way that we have been led. Unless we consciously do so otherwise.” “We can sometimes set the bar way too high for what it means to be discipled or disciple other people.” “A question we should ask ourselves is, When's the last time I have made a disciple who is making other disciples?” “Culture is created by what you celebrate, measure, and control.” “Discipleship should be rooted in everything we do in the church.” “The people of your church are stickier than any program or preaching that you've got.” “Discipleship is very simple. It is follow me as I follow Christ.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im The Gospel Project Bible Studies for Life Explore the Bible

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the executive director of LifeWay Research. They complete a discussion on research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: What is the pastors survey?What are the top concerns from this research when it comes to the personal life of the pastor?What does it mean when a pastor says disciple-making is a big concern?Are these results just a reflection of what everyone in society is experiencing or are these unique to pastors?Are there any significant statistical differences that you might point out?What is one encouragement that you can pull from the research for pastors? BEST QUOTES "Several things that land at the top of the list for a pastor's needs are stress, their own disciple-making, consistently exercising, avoiding over-commitment and overwork, and time management.""Seven out of ten pastors need to invest time in their consistency when it comes to personal prayer.""Almost seven out of ten pastors say they need to be more consistent in their Bible reading that is not related to sermon prep.""The relationship with God is so vital for leaders and pastors. You have to be living it out yourself to ask people to do the same.""It can be so easy as a pastor with all the demands on you to take the personal things and say, 'I'll get to that later.' But really you have to be intentional and proactive when it comes to self-care and boundaries.""The best way to slowly build yourself back up is to have someone walking along with you.""Younger pastors are more likely to indicate that they need to work on building relationships with other pastors.""Fifty-one percent of older pastors say the consistency of taking a sabbath is something they need to work on." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study 5LQ Episode 483: Pastoral Research #1 with Scott McConnell 5LQ Episode 484: Pastoral Research #2 with Scott McConnell Lifeway Research

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the executive director of LifeWay Research. They continue a discussion on research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: What is the pastors survey?What are the top concerns from this research when it comes to the job of the pastor? What does it mean to force rank these areas?Do you have any idea what lies beneath some of these larger concerns?What tools are there for pastors to gauge the health of their congregations?What encouragement does a pastor need to hear based on the research? BEST QUOTES "Some of the top needs for the pastor are the ministry side. When they are thinking about what they need to give attention to, they are often thinking about the church.""Within ministry difficulties, a quarter of pastors indicated fostering connections with unchurched people as their number one ministry difficulty. Another quarter said developing leaders and volunteers, and right behind that is training current leaders and volunteers.""One of the things that churches have gotten out of the habit of doing is talking about evangelism.""Half of Americans are curious as to why some people are so devoted to their faith." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study 5LQ Episode 483: Pastoral Research #1 with Scott McConnell Evangelism Explosion Study of American Christians' Openness to Talking about Faith Discipleship Pathway Assessment

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research. They discuss a new set of research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: How was this research conducted?What are the biggest concerns that pastors have today?Have you seen needs change from pre-Covid to post-Covid?What surprised you about the research?Was their one area you wish you could have gone deeper in the study? BEST QUOTES "More than three-fourths of pastors indicated that developing leaders and volunteers, peoples apathy and lack of commitment, and fostering connections with unchurched people are things they are trying to address right now." "Worship attendance is still running, on average. about 75% of what it was pre-Covid." "We've got to move in our thinking from looking at the numbers, to making sure you are looking at the names. Who exactly is not back? We need to connect with them personally." "Those who study jobs will talk about the fact that the pastor role has not only a large number of things that you need to be skilled at, but you need to be able to switch between them very quickly." "There's not one silver bullet we can do to suddenly meet the needs of pastors this year, because when it comes to 'What's your one biggest need?' they are really spread out." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Jen Wilkin. Wilkin is the Executive Director of Family and Next Gen Ministries at The Village Church. She is also an author, speaker, and Bible teacher. They discuss how to cultivate female leaders in the church and why anonymous feedback loops are important. BEST QUOTES "All of us are called to teach and to train, so let's be well equipped to do it.""A good leader is always looking for how to give people real buy-in to what is happening in ministry.""If you pay attention to what your volunteers are giving big chunks of their time to it is actually not things that ask little of them, it is things that ask a great deal of them.""A woman who is going to risk exhibiting a leadership gift in a local church will probably first do so in an all female space.""Often in churches there are tribal cultures where the depth of relationship is what determines who received the most budget dollars. As a female in leadership spaces, that is something I am sensitive to because I am not going to have the depth of relationship with my male counterparts.""We should compel people, not just with beautiful words about the sea but with our evident commitment to take them there.""People are compelled by beautiful vision. That is the gospel." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Women Academy

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Kevin Peck. Peck is the lead pastor of The Austin Stone Church. He is the co-author of Designed to Lead. They discuss the following questions: What is the biblical reason that churches should serve the city they are in?How have the churches in Austin come together to serve their city well?How did serving become part of the DNA at Austin Stone?How does this become practice? BEST QUOTES "God is calling all of His people to love their neighbor and their neighbor is someone that you see that is in need, you are supposed to go help. It is really that simple.""Why should we help our city? A city is nothing if it is not just your neighbors.""When you see someone hurting you meet the need because Jesus Christ has saved your life and given you the capacity to love in ways that are alien to everyone else.""Some of the sweetest things for me as a pastor is to see one church be able to provide funds for another, not because they were doing it out of sentimentality, but because that was how the Kingdom needed to work in that moment.""During 2020 and 2021, the church was either going to become something in the city that ultimately was unnecessary or completely critical.""At the end of the day, the gospel changes you in such a radical way that we should start caring about the things that God cares about.""He gives special attention to people who are marginalized or vulnerable or hurting, and the reason He does that is because that is how fathers act.""We are trying to all the time teach them and give them tools to see opportunities around them and to meet those needs.""I don't think we can be a blessing to our city if we don't love our city." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck Strategic Leadership Community

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Derwin Gray. Gray is the founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church. He is the author of several books including his newest, God, Do You Hear Me?. They discuss wisdom in hiring friends on your staff and closing the gap between what we know and what we live. BEST QUOTES "Leadership is about embodying what you want other people to become.""Trying to be good without God makes us bad, and people get hurt.""Make sure that Jesus comes before friendships.""The longer you keep someone in a role they are not competent for, it is actually hurting them.""Jesus is paramount and everything else is secondary.""A leader can be a leader without being a disciple, but every disciple should be a leader.""My life impacts too many other lives for me to not ask the Holy Spirit to grow me in every facet of life.""Leadership competence can be learned but discipleship flows out of obedience.""I don't think America or their church lacks leaders. I think it lacks gospel character." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network God, Do You Hear Me? by Derwin Gray The Good Life by Derwin Gray Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Eric Geiger. Geiger is the senior pastor of Mariners Church and former co-host of 5LQ. He is also author of several books including Simple Church, Identity, and Designed to Lead. They discuss the following questions: Why is reading important for a leader?How has reading helped you lead in new spaces and new disciplines?How should a leader read a book?How does reading help influence your preaching and how do you take what you are reading and curate it into sermon?What are your top 5 books to read as a leader?When should you ask your staff to read a book with you? What are the best practices?How do you apply what you read and put it into practice? BEST QUOTES "You combine the humility of opening a book and the discipline of opening a book and that's a recipe for growth.""The more I read, the more I am able to articulate strategy, vision, and concise arguments.""Reading is important for leaders because the leader grows and the leader learns how to frame communication.""Know on the front end how you are going to engage the book.""Going into each book knowing the point of reading that book informs how you engage.""If I read a paradigm shifting book, then I look to bring it to the team to help them process where I believe we need to go.""Identify on the tail end of a book what are a couple of things you are going to do." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger Identity by Eric Geiger Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders Leading Change by John Kotter Leadership and the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Stephen Covey and Jim Huling A Beautiful Constraint by Mark Barden and Adam Morgan The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero Depression by Edward Welch This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,' which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Steve Carter. Carter is pastor, speaker, author, podcast host and the former lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. He hosts the Craft & Character podcast, a sports podcast called The Home Team, and his latest book, The Thing Beneath the Thing, is now available. They discuss how people respond when they are triggered by past pain and why sanctification really matters. BEST QUOTES "If I say something I shouldn't say or I do not follow through on a commitment, I can't say that just like Paul, 'I do not understand what I do.'""We are people who have been triggered and those triggers are deeply connected to pains, traumas, and wounds.""The healthiest people, when they get triggered, don't see it as permission to escape. They see it as an invitation to be courageously curious.""The desert was a real gift for me because it was character school. It helped me remember why I got into this.""You can have these principles and values and practices and then all of a sudden you go through a season of three months where you feel like there isn't margin.""I needed to be healthy. I didn't want to step into another church and transfer my pain onto some other elder board.""A lot of times, especially in moments of crisis, there isn't a true north. Oftentimes, for pastors and leaders, we know the vision for our church, but we don't have a personal vision.""Every 90 days we try to look at the last 90 days to see what worked, what didn't, what needs to change, what can we be better at.""I was grateful that there were pastors in my life who could see that my success was outpacing my character and they pulled me aside.""Don't ever stop working on your craft.""I think a lot of pastors plateau in their 30s. I want to be a better communicator when I'm 70. I want to be wiser, but I always want my character to lead the way." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Craft & Character podcast The Home Team podcast The Thing Beneath the Thing by Steve Carter Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,' which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Josh Patterson. Patterson is lead pastor at the Village Church. He co-authored Creature of the Word and leads Strategic Leadership Community with Kevin Peck. They discuss the following questions: What are the most common causes of conflict on a team?How have you seen the dynamics of conflict change over time?What does healthy and unhealthy conflict look like in a church?How does leading out through conflict set the tone for everyone else?How do you navigate conflict when it does arise on your team?How do you create a culture that handles conflict in a healthy way? BEST QUOTES "The theological underpinning to why we have conflict is that we have things going on inside of us.""If we want to resolve the conflict and do it well we have to get to those below the line realities.""Leaders have to set the pace for the organizational values.""When I think about healthy conflict, I am thinking about robust and refining conversations.""A mark of healthy conflict is the fruit of it is you have charitable narratives.""If I am conflict avoidant as a leader then that says some thing to my team about how I engage in conflict.""There is really no way when conflict arises, if you want healthy culture, to avoid it.""If we have positive stories of how conflict was navigated and negotiated, to me that creates a culture that says this is a safe place for conflict to happen.""How your leaders handle conflict will shape the organization.""There's no way to have a healthy culture around conflict if you don't have healthy leaders who are engaging in conflict." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Creature of the Word by Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,' which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by J.D. Greear. Greear is the lead pastor of Summit Church and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss the following questions: Why is it hard for pastors to pray?How has preaching and writing about prayer affected your prayer life?How do you practically pray?How do you engage people and get them all to work on their prayer lives?How can we pray with intensity and clarity?How does prayer feed vision? BEST QUOTES "Ultimately, our prayerlessness is a gospel problem. That is that the gospel hasn't trained our heart to both feel our powerlessness on things that matter and then also the promises that Jesus has for those who call to Him.""I've learned out loud and struggled in print.""The Lord's Prayer is supposed to be your outline to pray.""Pray out loud. When I am quiet that is when my mind begins to wander.""When you realize that prayerlessness is not a self-discipline problem, you realize that when the gospel is appropriately shaping somebody's soul then prayer becomes as instinctive as breathing.""When the gospel has shaped your soul properly, then you begin to crave God enough that you find yourself instinctively praying.""Prayer is not just preparation for the ministry, it is the ministry.""A significant portion of our service is devoted to the congregation praying and we make the invitation at the end very prominent.""I'm praying, so that I can preach, so that I can move people to more prayer.""In the model prayer that Jesus gave, over half of it is relational or worship oriented and only half of it is request oriented.""If you are using Jesus's model as your guide, you are going to find that you will spend a lot of time just thinking about the sovereignty of God.""When our team is united in prayer, that is when the Holy Spirit begins to plant ideas." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Just Ask by J.D. Greear This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,' which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!