The Unstuck Church Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Spiritual Gifts, Serving and Growth Track with Chris Hodges - Episode 359 Jul 31, 2024

Show notes

When people discover their gifts, they begin to feel more connected and fulfilled. But few churches know how to help people discover the unique wiring God has given them—and fewer still have a plan to help people leverage those gifts once discovered.

We wrap up this series on "Serving as Spiritual Formation" with an interview with Pastor Chris Hodges from Church of the Highlands to unpack the success they've had with "Growth Track," which has inspired thousands of churches across the country, and the overall importance of helping people serve with their gifts as part of their spiritual formation journey.

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/episode359.

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 for free now at planningcenter.com.

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.

The Rooted Experience with John Thomas from Mariners Church - Episode 358 Jul 24, 2024

Show notes

It is possible to integrate serving into your spiritual formation strategy in a practical and effective way. We're seeing churches all across the country do it.

In recent years, churches we serve have been telling us they love The Rooted Experience.

So, in part four of this series on Serving as Spiritual Formation, Tony interviews Pastor John Thomas from Mariners Church in California about The Rooted Experience. John shares how Rooted is helping people connect to faith and the church, why it is so effective and how Mariners Church encourages people to engage in serving opportunities as part of their spiritual formation.

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/episode358.

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 for free now at planningcenter.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

The Discipleship Opportunity with Daniel Im - Episode 357 Jul 17, 2024

Show notes

Spiritual formation is less about what we ask people to do and more about who we're equipping people to become.

In this episode, Tony interviews Pastor Daniel Im, author of The Discipleship Opportunity: Leading a Great-Commission Church in a Post-Everything World, about the role serving has in helping people grow closer to Jesus.

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 for free now at planningcenter.com.

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/episode357. Join the Conversation on Social Media

Structure for Volunteer Engagement - Episode 356 Jul 10, 2024

Show notes

Before the pandemic, we typically saw 45% to 50% of all adults and students serving on a volunteer team at least monthly. Our most recent data shows churches reporting only 35% are serving today.

In the first episode of this series on "Serving as Spiritual Formation," we talked about some of the most common mistakes churches make with their volunteer engagement strategy that are contributing to that shortage of volunteers. But in this second episode, we're going to look at the structural mistakes churches make that lead to low volunteer engagement.

Tony and Amy talk about the structure of churches that engage the most volunteers in serving roles, and specifically, how this needs to be considered a spiritual formation issue.

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 for free now at planningcenter.com.

Strategy for Volunteer Engagement - Episode 355 Jul 03, 2024

Show notes

Most churches say they need more volunteers. But answer this honestly: What is your theology of serving? How well is your church discipling people to offer their spiritual gifts as part of the Great Commission?

Many churches have gotten further away from viewing serving as an integral part of spiritual formation than they'd likely admit.

In this series, Tony and Amy and special guests will share best practices on the strategy side of engaging people in serving, as well as critical elements of team-building and structure to engage more people using their gifts in the mission of your church.

In the first episode, they unpack the strategy mistakes churches are often making that inhibit a strong volunteer engagement culture.

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 for free now at planningcenter.com.

How to Find Great People for Your Church Staff Team - Interview with Tim Foot (Bonus Episode) Jun 27, 2024

Show notes

We know from our research and conversations with clients that finding great people for the ministry staff team is very challenging right now.

As an addedumn to our series on "Staffing Wisdom for Church Leaders," we bring you this bonus interview with Tim Foot of Slingshot Group for some timely insights into church staffing in 2024.

In this conversation, Tony and Tim discuss topics like:

The positions churches are having the hardest time filling
Insights into how churches find great people for their staff teams on this side of the pandemic
Distinctives about churches who are attracting and retaining younger people on their teams
Best practices for raising up leaders from within

Learn more about Slingshot Group

Connect with Tim Foot

Planning a Restructure?

People-problems are uniquely challenging on a ministry staff team. Leading your people through them is hard. Through our Staffing & Structure process, you can go from feeling overwhelmed by the weight of the people-problems to feeling confident in your ability to structure and lead your team for health and high performance. Learn more at theunstuckgroup.com.

Join the Conversation on Social Media

Handling Misfits - Episode 354 Jun 26, 2024

Show notes

Leaders know it's true: Not having the right people on the team hinders the impact of your church. So what do you do when it's clear you need to remove someone from the team—when it's clear they are not a fit?

In the last episode of our series on "Staffing Wisdom for Church Leaders," Tony and Amy discuss the very real reasons why letting someone go is so hard for ministry leaders, the ways you need to be effectively evaluating performance as an organization (and specifically, managing people who are underperforming), and how you can approach it all with wisdom and grace.

Planning a Restructure?

This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers

The Church Lawyers' Client Member program was created for organizations just like yours. Their team of Christian legal professionals are personally called to empower and protect churches, ministries, and their leaders to fulfill their mission by providing biblically informed and ministry-focused legal solutions. Whether governance, employment, litigation, or other matters, let The Church Lawyers walk alongside you as you navigate legal issues facing your ministry.

Right People, Right Roles - Episode 353 Jun 19, 2024

Show notes

This part makes a leader's stomach drop. We've laid the groundwork, and we've taught you the wisest order for processing restructure decisions. But now, we're going to dive into wisdom that has more to do with how you make decisions about specific people.

In the third episode of our series on "Staffing Wisdom for Church Leaders," Tony and Amy focus on people who really are the right people for the team, but they are not in the right roles—and they share how to approach things when you can't ignore the issue any longer.

FREE WEBINAR: How to Restructure Wisely

TOMORROW: In this free webinar on June 20 at 1pm EST, Tony and Amy share how you can lead through through an organizational restructure with confidence, and how your church can come out stronger on the other side. Register now.

This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers

Stack the Leadership Team - Episode 352 Jun 12, 2024

Show notes

Do you believe your current senior leadership team offers you your best chance to achieve the vision and mission God designed for your church to accomplish right now?

Before you start restructuring departments of your ministry, you need to clarify the role of the SLT and get the right people leading on it. In the second episode of our series on "Staffing Wisdom for Church Leaders," Tony and Amy talk about stacking your leadership team with gifted and qualified people.

FREE WEBINAR: How to Restructure Wisely

In this webinar on June 20 at 1pm EST, Tony and Amy share how you can lead through through an organizational restructure with confidence, and how your church can come out stronger on the other side. Register now.

This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers

Structure to the Strategy - Episode 351 Jun 05, 2024

Show notes

We help teams solve complicated staffing challenges with wisdom and grace all the time. We've helped more than 650 churches do it. So, we're going to share some of that wisdom related to structure, leadership, getting the right people in the right roles, and handling "misfits" in this new series we're calling "Staffing Wisdom for Church Leaders."

In the first episode, Tony and Amy unpack the core tension pastors feel when it becomes evident an organizational restructure is needed, and some of the most critical factors to take into account before you start making any decisions about specific people.

FREE WEBINAR: How to Restructure Wisely

This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers

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