CMN Leadership Podcast

Join us for a powerful podcast on multisite church growth! Gerad Strong and Jordan Hodges share their vision and strategies on expanding the reach of their churches. Dive into the stimulating world of multisite training and uncover the untapped potential of church mergers and acquisitions. Hear about their ambitious goals and how they are transforming dying churches through this unique strategy. You won't want to miss this journey of Kingdom expansion. Tune in now!

Mike & Ashton Santiago moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to start Focus Church with only ever having visited the area once before. Since moving, Focus Church has grown to over 1000 in attendance with multiple locations. Advocating for a healthy church in every community, he is a young voice for church culture through the Church Multiplication Network. Passionate about leading worship, Ashton has written, recorded and released songs with her team, Focus Worship. When he is not at church, he can be found golfing with his son Joel, playing worship music with his oldest daughter Ariana or playing Uno with his daughter Harmony.

On September 15, 2013 Aaron and his wife, Katie, took a major step of faith and planted Radiant Church in Tampa, FL. Since its launch, Radiant Church has seen incredible growth and expansion, planting 7 physical locations and an Online campus. Aaron has a heart for multiplication and plans to continue to open locations throughout Tampa Bay. Aaron graduated from Southeastern University in 2005, received his Masters in Business Administration in 2010, and completed his Doctorate in Ministry in 2020. Aaron and Katie have been married since 2010 and now have 5 beautiful children. In his spare time, Aaron loves to travel, spend time with his family, and do CrossFit.

JJ Vasquez launched Journey Church in September of 2016 in Orlando, FL. Both JJ and his wife Liz serve as the lead pastors. They are called to make Jesus accessible to anyone.

Dr. Mike McCrary serves as the Director of Funding and Partnerships for CMN.

Jeff Leak has been the Lead Pastor of Allison Park Church for thirty-two years. Allison Park Church is a multi-campus church in the Pittsburgh, PA region. They have also launched a network which has helped to plant 32 new churches across the world.

Doug Clay is the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God USA. He has a passionate love for the local church and effectively equips leaders to grow in their calling. Doug Clay is the author of Ordered Steps and Dreaming in 3D.

Al Yanno is the Director of OCMN, and seeks to inspire, resource, and facilitate a culture of church multiplication across Ohio. He focuses on a variety of fresh expressions of church planting from traditional churches to dinner churches, microchurches, & international churches. Before serving in this role he was the Executive Director of Heart Reach Ministries, a faith-based nonprofit working with inner city youth and their families as well as the the planting pastor of Metro Assembly of God, a multi-ethnic church in the heart of Youngstown, Ohio.

Terry has been the senior pastor of a leading missions church for 21 years, and presbyter with the Hawaii Assemblies of God for 15 years. He is also an international speaker on missions, healing, and leadership. Terry also holds a doctoral degree (DMin).

Founder and Lead Pastor of Chapelhill Church, a multisite church in Atlanta, GA. The church began in 2001 and currently has four locations. Dave and his wife, Cindy, have 3 children and 14 grandchildren.

Kurtis Parks is an author, songwriter, and pastor leading worship. He travels, writes, and leads worship and workshops. He is currently the Worship Pastor at Destination Church in Hopewell, VA.

Rodney has been in full-time ministry for 21 years. 14 of those years were as a youth pastor. In 2015, he planted a church in Oklahoma City and was there for 6 years. During the pandemic, Rodney moved across the country to become the lead pastor of Newhope Church outside of Seattle, WA and has been there for almost 2 years. He also recently wrote a book, Unthinkable, which is available on Amazon!

Jay Mooney leads and oversees the Division of Ministries & Resources at the Assemblies of God National Office (USA). As such, he visioneers NextGen, Adult & Family, and Publishing ministries at the national office.

Herbert Cooper is the founding and senior pastor of People's Church. Since it began in 2002, People's Church has become known as a life-giving, multi-ethnic, multi-generational, multi-site church with campuses in Oklahoma City, OK and Indianapolis, IN. Herbert has a deep passion to see people's lives changed by the power of God. He has the opportunity to speak at churches and conferences across the country, and is the author of the book But God Changes Everything. Herbert and Tiffany have four children and live in the Oklahoma City metro area.

John Zick serves as the national director of Ministerial Advancement (CALLED) for the Assemblies of God. He has been in full-time ministry for over a decade, serving in a variety of roles including Youth Culture Specialist/Staff Evangelist at the Northern California/Nevada District Office; Next Gen Pastor at Grand Rapids First in Grand Rapids, Michigan; NextGen Leadership Development Director at the Michigan Network Office; and everything in between. John is the author of Called, a book for individuals who are sensing a call to ministry. He is married to Alicia and has two boys Oliver Ezra Zick and Emerson Elyot Zick.

After a decade of leadership in the local church and as campus missionaries, in the Summer of 2022 Josiah and Micah Kennealy launched youngadultstoday. They are also both authors, pastors, and podcasters!

Jim Wilkes is the Lead Pastor of Journey Church, a multisite church in Cleveland, OH. He encourages people to live outside of themselves, to risk it all for the sake of God's Kingdom, and to walk in the wholeness and fullness of God's power. He coaches churches to help champion the effort of church planting and building a Leadership Pipeline around the United States.

Dustin has been on staff at Citizen Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico since 2006. He and his wife Mandy became lead Pastors in January of 2020. Citizen Church is in the process of launching its third campus and is in an exciting new season of spiritual and physical growth.

This week, CMN Director Jeffery Portmann sits down with Jason Patterson. Jason planted Parkside Church in Fishers, IN and recently became an author. From Your Biggest Fan is available on Amazon!

John Davidson and Yisrael Vincent are the creators of CMNLead.com, a FREE resource for pastors and church planters. From leadership videos, to best practices, to articles, to module series and so much more! CMN Lead is the perfect resource for any stage in the planting process.

Raymond is the planter of Our City Center Church in Berkeley, CA. He has crafted the 5 C's to better reach the people in his city. Raymond shares many helpful insights into rethinking the way we do ministry.

The Online Church is here to stay. So how does the church need to adapt to engage in authentic community with people on the internet? Jeffery Portmann sits down with Brandon Shank who pastors Palms Church in Virginia Beach, VA. Brandon has done an incredible job not only embracing the online change, but leading it.

We all want to be better leaders. Whether in the home, in the church, or at a job, leadership is applicable. This week, Jeffery Portmann sits down with Dr. Kent Ingle from Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. Kent has written multiple books and has been a crucial part in building Southeastern University into the thriving center for learning that it is today.

Church mergers, discipleship strategies, and embracing other generations. A healthy church in every community starts with each of us. Whether that means passing the baton or learning to cast vision, we all could use some wisdom. This week, Mike Santiago, pastor of Focus Church in Raleigh, NC, sits down with Jeffery Portmann to talk about his church planting journey, Break200.com, and so much more!

Jeffery Portmann sits down this week with Maricela Hernandez from McAllen, TX to talk about her experience with church planting. Maricela is so passionate about seeing the lost come to Christ and believes that YOU should take the next step toward planting a church.

Co-leading looks different in every context, especially when every leader is wired so differently. Leaning into your strengths is the most effective way to lead. This week, Jeffery Portmann sits down with Lead Pastors Chris & Cara Railey from Oaks Church in Red Oak, TX.

Jeffery Portmann sits down with Stephen Blandino from 7 City Church in Fort Worth, TX. Stephen recently wrote a book titled "Stop Chasing Easy".

The last 24 months have shown us that innovation is replacing the necessities we used to think were set in stone. Not only does church look different than we thought, but so does creating community. With innovation in his DNA, David Stocker Jr from Miami shares how his church has found creative ways to host groups and build community within their church!

Leading well means changing the connotation of conflict - it's not a way of harming people. It's a way of helping shape and grow the people we serve. However, there is a wrong way to handle conflict. There's also a correct way to handle conflict, as long as you have control of it. Greg Ford shares in this week's episode how we can be conflict controllers.

Great leaders don't just build great people and build their teams - they're able to multiply themselves and their organizations several times over. How do you multiply yourself and why do you you it? Jeff Leake shares the philosophy behind this topic!

The most effective and high capacity leaders are the ones who are able to find and operate in their rhythm of productivity. But finding that rhythm can be a difficult task. Mark Batterson, pastor and best selling author, shares some tips on how you can find your own rhythm and make an impact while you lean into your productivity.

Have you ever stepped into something you didn't feel qualified for? Like it would require you to flex some muscles you weren't even sure you had? Welcome to leadership. Though this tension is real, there's a way you can successfully lead outside your comfort zone and still succeed. Jeremy DeWeerdt helps us figure out how we can do this!

Want to know one of the secrets to a strong church? Strong apprenticeship. Taking people on a journey with you as they learn ministry is one of the greatest things you and your church could do. Find out how to do it successfully by hearing what Wes Davis and his newlife church team do to put their apprenticeship in action!

Maybe you've heard it said, "success without succession is failure." Succession itself is composed of a few different pieces and can be harmful if done wrong; so Nate Ruch is here to help. Watch the newest episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast to find out how to craft successful succession!

A leader can only be their best when they're healthy - emotionally, physically & spiritually. It's easier than ever to remain healthy for a season, but the sharpest leaders sustain their health. How do you do that? Travis Jones breaks it down for us in this episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast!

One of the most effective ways your church can reach your city more effectively is by launching your church multiple times each year. Sound crazy? Thankfully we have one of the best practitioners of the "big day strategy" showing us what implementing this into your church's systems looks like. Aaron Burke shows us how to simply & successfully do it ourselves!

Multipliers are world changers. It takes a special type of person to be able to reproduce and multiply themselves over and over. It takes a whole different set of skills to multiply your organization while multiplying people. How do you become this kind of leader? Patrick Grach lets us know in this episode!

If your marriage isn't winning, chances are your ministry isn't winning either. What can seem like a tough balance to find is actually incredibly simple. When your marriage wins, the other things tend to follow. Here's how you do it!

In this episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast Chris interviews pastor Tommy Barnett to talk about leadership lessons he has learned in a lifetime of fruitful ministry and influence. Check out Pastor Tommy's new book "What If?" today.

Scarcity is a feeling nearly every leader experiences at one time or another; it's the feeling or fear that we don't have what we need to make it. It can be a limiting factor for leaders and it's a big reason so many churches are in plateau or decline. But what if scarcity is a good thing? What if it's a motivating factor? What if scarcity is a blessing? In this episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey talks about how to embrace the blessing of scarcity because, the truth is, we get better when we're hungry.

Each of us have growth goals... things we want to do and accomplish in different areas of our lives. These goals can be financial, physical, spiritual, emotional, leadership or family focused. However, once we set these goals, we often don't put a plan or a team in place to help us achieve them. In this episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey talks about developing a growth team to help us reach our goals and maintain health in every area of life.

It's the start of a new year and many of us are setting goals for the future. If you are a leader, people are looking to you to chart the course to help them develop inspiring and challenging goals. In this episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey talks about how to identify priorities and how to choose which ones matter most.

The end of the year is a busy time for everyone. Although it is tempting to try to slow down, this is a great time to build momentum for the upcoming year. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey gives a few tips on how to strategically plan for the end of the year rush.

Which is better, the Popeyes Chicken Sandwich or Chick-fil-A's ? The answer is it doesn't matter because the product is only as good as the supply chain. If you can't meet the demand of your product, it doesn't matter how great it is, people will eventually lose interest. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey discusses how to identify problems and improve systems. Chris uses ideas from Scoot Belsky's book, "Making Ideas Happen" to analyze an organization's systems.

One of the biggest needs we have is the need for more churches. There are thousands of communities that need a church because of church closures, population growth, and cultural trends. Every church can partner, parent, and plant. One of the best ways to start new churches is for existing churches to plant. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey discusses the importance of considering launching new campuses. He uses Jim Tomberlin's research to outline the growth of multi- sites.

Have you ever felt like you’re putting out one fire after the next, living in the immediate, and never having time to lead into the future? As leaders, we often fail to spend our time wisely making us feel busy but without making progress. One of the biggest limiting factors to our leadership is time, which is the only resource we can never get more of.   In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey unpacks the necessity of creating margin within your life. Chris uses an experience from a gathering in Atlanta with Dr. Sam Chand to focus on the demand for creating margin.

Mindset is a big deal, and a growth mindset is an attitudinal difference between low achievers and high achievers. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey goes over an article regarding Growth Mindset, and when people believe their talents can be developed through hard work, good strategies, and input from others. These people achieve more than those with a “fixed mindset."

We’re all looking for every advantage we can to grow and improve our leadership. We look to church leaders, books, and business people we admire. However, sometimes we find great leadership principles in the most unexpected places. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey goes over four of Sam Walton's Top 10 Principles for Business Success. Chris breaks these down into 4 simple ways to become a better leader.

We spend so much time talking about how to lead those who report to us, but not enough time on how to engage and influence those we work for. This is called "leading up" which has several aspects. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey discusses four different communication tools that can help team members to lead up.

When we think of culture, we often think of the reflections of culture such as work attire or flexible hours. However, these elements of culture are not the main drivers. Part 1 of this podcast highlighted the three driving elements of culture: behaviors, systems, and practices. In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey continues this discussion by honing in on shaping and implementing a dynamic culture based on four initiatives from Everythingdisc.com

Culture determines the growth and impact of an organization. Culture is more than casual attire in the office, flexible schedules, coffee and donuts in the lobby, or cool staff retreats - it is the underlying resource necessary for scalable growth.   In this week's episode of the CMN Leadership Podcast, Chris Railey discusses three elements in creating a dynamic culture based on an article by Melissa Daimler in the Harvard Business Review.