The Unstuck Church Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Raising a Generation with Courageous Faith feat. Christie Penner Worden - Episode 367 Oct 16, 2024

Show notes

Is the leader of your family ministry included at the leadership table?

In the final episode of our series on "What It Really Takes To Reach Young Families," we had a conversation with Christie Penner Worden. Christie is a strategic leader, speaker, preacher and writer who is passionate about discipling children and equipping churches to raise this next generation with courageous faith.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode367.

This Episode is Sponsored by Horizons Stewardship

Did you know many capable households contribute more to their favorite charity than their local church? This trend is putting a significant financial strain on churches everywhere.

That's why Horizons and The Unstuck Group have joined forces to create "The Financial Sustainability Crisis," a guide designed to help you tackle these ongoing financial challenges.

In this invaluable resource, you'll discover practical strategies to:

Effectively budget and manage your financial resources
Connect your giving to your discipleship journey
Identify ways to ensure your ministry plan is fully funded

Don't let financial challenges hold you back from realizing your God-inspired vision. Download "The Financial Sustainability Crisis" today at horizons.net/fundministry.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

If you're listening on Wednesday when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X. Or you can join in on Facebook.

Innovation & Creativity in Kids Ministry feat. Justyn Smith: Episode 366 Oct 09, 2024

Show notes

One thing is often overlooked when it comes to engaging kids and families—the environment. Creating compelling ministry spaces is crucial for reaching the next generation.

Justyn Smith from PlainJoe Studios has 22 years of experience in kids' ministry. He works with some of the most innovative and creative churches in the country to develop compelling ministry spaces for children. In this episode, we invited Justyn to share what he's learned about reaching the next generation through dynamic environments.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode366.

This Episode is Sponsored by Horizons Stewardship

Horizons Stewardship utilizes a collaborative and integrated ministry framework designed to fit each organization's unique culture and support church and faith-based nonprofit leaders in their mission to grow disciples and fund ministry through coaching, planning, technology, and analytics.

Horizons has over three decades of experience and has developed a spiritually focused approach that consistently yields more funding for ministry and more effective disciple-making strategies. With the support of seasoned ministry strategists, proven generosity guides, and ICF-trained coaches, ministries that partner with Horizons experience, on average, a double-digit increase in giving within the first year. Interested in learning more? Click here.

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Vision & Leadership for a Multigenerational Church - Episode 365 Oct 02, 2024

Show notes

Who is responsible? When kids' attendance numbers are down, senior leaders can tend to blame the kids' pastor.

But the truth is that the children's pastor has very little control over creating the necessary environment for reaching young families. The church's leadership and vision are big factors.

Before Tony Morgan's tragic passing in early September 2024, we had recorded the remaining podcast episodes in this series on "What It Really Takes To Reach Young Families." Tony was passionate about this topic and had so much practical wisdom to offer. We've decided to release the remaining episodes of this series over the next few weeks.

For Part 2, Tony and Amy had a conversation specifically about the aspects of ministry vision and leadership that are essential to the success or failure of kids' pastors in their roles.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode365.

This Episode is Sponsored by Horizons Stewardship

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Celebrating Tony Morgan Sep 11, 2024

Show notes

Many of you have already heard of Tony Morgan's passing on the morning of Wednesday, September 4, 2024, after suffering a heart attack two days before and battling with all his strength.

But we wanted you to hear it from our voices.

This is a tribute to the best boss we ever had, the leader who practiced what he preached, and the man who loved Jesus and His church. In this short episode, Sean, Tiffany, and Amy share the statement released by The Unstuck Group, along with some updates on the future of the podcast.

It's been an unspeakably difficult week. Thank you for all your kind words and prayers. Please continue to lift up Emily and all of Tony's kids in prayer, and the Unstuck team too.

The Morgan family has published Tony's obituary and asked us to share it with you.

We will be celebrating the life and the legacy that Tony lived on September 19th at 11:00 am Eastern at his church, North Point Community Church. If you choose to attend, please wear anything but black clothes, because this is a celebration—celebration of the life he lived and the impact that we will continue to carry throughout our lives.

If you plan to attend the service, please bring a handwritten or typed note with a memory of Tony or a description of the impact he had on your life. Notes will be displayed on a memory board at the reception following the service, and treasured forever by the family. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that you make a donation in support of a cause close to Tony's heart: developing the next generation to lead unstuck churches. You can donate here to a fund established to provide scholarships for young pastors to participate in leadership training through The Unstuck Group.

What It Really Takes To Reach Young Families (Part 1): The Foundation Sep 04, 2024

Show notes

If a church is engaging young families, it's pretty easy to see. What's less obvious to the outside observer is all the decisions they have made to become a church that parents and kids want to attend—what it really takes.

There's much more to it than curriculum, facilities or finding the right staff, and through this series, we are going to unpack all of what goes into it.

In this first episode, we explore why reaching young families needs to be a priority and the tensions we know pastors are feeling around it.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode364.

This episode is brought to you by Planning Center:

An all-in-one software to help you organize your ministries and care for your church.

With an easy-to-use platform of products, you can bring people together with event signups, room and resource reservations, automatic volunteer scheduling, and much more.

Start using it for free now at planningcenter.com.

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Brand New Data on Church Health and Trends: Q3 2024 Unstuck Church Report - Episode 363 Aug 28, 2024

Show notes

Every quarter, The Unstuck Group compiles all the data we've collected to monitor trends in churches in the United States.

In this episode, Amy and I discuss findings from the Q3 2024 Unstuck Church Report and take a targeted look at key differences between growing churches and churches that are plateauing or declining.

You can subscribe to receive the quarterly report for free, or if you're subscribed to the podcast show notes, we'll send it out to you for free, as well.

This Episode is Sponsored by Horizons Stewardship

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode363.

Join the Live Conversation on Social Media

If you're listening on Wednesday, when the episode first releases, join the live conversation The Unstuck Group's team will be having on social media about this week's topic. We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on Twitter/X. Or you can join in on Facebook.

BONUS Episode - Organizational Health in Churches: An Interview with Beau Johnson from The Table Group Aug 22, 2024

Show notes

Organizational health impacts the overall health of churches.

When there are gaps in strengths, trust and accountability in staff teams, stuckness soon follows.

Here at The Unstuck Group, we've found an effective way for our team to identify their strengths and close gaps in their leadership through Working Genius by The Table Group.

In this BONUS episode, Tony Morgan interviews Beau Johnson from The Table Group about the importance of organizational health in churches and how Working Genius offers solutions.

This episode is brought to you by The Six Types of Working Genius:

Working Genius is the fastest way to increase productivity, improve morale, and decrease turnover on your team. It takes ten minutes to discover the work that gives you joy and energy, and the work that is leading to staff burnout.

Take the assessment.
Discuss your results.
Engage the geniuses of the people around you.

Get started today: Use code UNSTUCKWG for 20% off at workinggenius.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

More Things Unstuck Churches Have In Common - Episode 362 Aug 21, 2024

Show notes

Our data consistently contradicts the broader trends of declining religious affiliation and church engagement in our country.

In fact, we personally know many churches that are experiencing major momentum right now—in terms of attendance, engagement, professions of faith, giving and all kinds of metrics of church health.

Clearly, there's something different about the churches that are part of our tribe. So, in the final episode of the series, we're going to share a few other things that make a church unstuck—more things those churches have in common.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode362.

This episode is brought to you by The Six Types of Working Genius:

Take the assessment.
Discuss your results.
Engage the geniuses of the people around you.

Get started today: Use code UNSTUCKWG for 20% off at workinggenius.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

Why Some Churches Are NOT In Decline - Episode 361 Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

People are often surprised when they read our reports for the first time.

Our data shows contradictory trends to much of what we read in general research.

For example, in our most recent edition of The Unstuck Church Report, the average year-over-year attendance increase was 17%. There's clearly something different about the churches engaging with our surveys. Despite the headlines, we know 100s of churches that are NOT in decline.

So, are U.S. churches stuck or unstuck? Over the next two episodes, we're going to try to explain what's so different about unstuck churches—based on real-life examples—and give you some practical ways to make sense of the things contributing to church growth or decline.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode361.

This episode is brought to you by The Six Types of Working Genius:

Take the assessment.
Discuss your results.
Engage the geniuses of the people around you.

Get started today: Use code UNSTUCKWG for 20% off at workinggenius.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

The State of Religious Participation in American Life with Alan Cooperman of Pew Research Center - Episode 360 Aug 07, 2024

Show notes

New data, same headlines. The surveys and studies always seem to repeat the same refrain: Church attendance is in decline. Religious participation is phasing out of American life. Except…our data shows the opposite. In our most recent edition of The Unstuck Church Report, the average year-over-year attendance increase was 17% across churches of all sizes. There's clearly something different about the churches engaging with our surveys.

In this series, we're going to try to explain what's so different about unstuck churches and give you some practical ways to make sense of the things contributing to church growth or decline.

We have our own data and observations from the work we do that we will share in the next two episodes, but we wanted to start out with an exploration of recent data and trends from an authority on religion in American life. So, we invited Alan Cooperman from Pew Research Center to join us for a conversation about the broader trends happening in the U.S.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode360.

This episode is brought to you by The Six Types of Working Genius:

Take the assessment.
Discuss your results.
Engage the geniuses of the people around you.

Get started today: Use code UNSTUCKWG for 20% off at workinggenius.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

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