The Stetzer ChurchLeaders Podcast

Every church experiences tough transitions and desert moments. Sometimes these moments last much longer than anyone anticipates. Dave Gibbons, leader of Newsong Church in California, shares the wisdom he's learned from going through desert moments with his church and how he managed the new things that sprung from those times.

Os Guinness speaks about the problems of consumerism, modernism, and pluralism in the western church and how they have weakened our defenses against the world. While it may look bad, Os assures us: "As Christians, we should always be realistic—but with hope."

Jodi Hickerson, her husband, Mike, and two other couples moved to California to start a church plant five years ago. In this interview, Jodi shares some of the practical things their team has done to engage the community, as well as the steps an established church in the area took to support their plant.

Adam Hamilton is the founding pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in the U.S. He shares insights he's learned on leadership from the example of Moses in Scripture, as well as the practical lessons he learned from shepherding a burgeoning church.

Kyle Idleman discusses grace and how it is sometimes more difficult for pastors to experience grace than other people.  

Peyton Jones is self-described a church planting ninja. Having planted churches in Europe and the U.S., he shares the knowledge he's gained from studying a New Testament model of planting and testing it out through his experiences.

Eugene Peterson has done a lot of things in his lifetime, including writing The Message Bible. He also planted and pastored a church for over thirty years. Our conversation covers the things Eugene has found helpful and not-so-helpful in his years in ministry.

Dr. Jeff Myers of Summit Ministries is a Christian apologist who works with young people. He recently paired up with the Barna Group to discover the dominating worldviews that influence church-goers. Among other surprising findings, the research concluded that only one in five church-going Christians holds a biblical worldview. Jeff discusses what other worldviews influence our thinking and how this affects our choices.

Shawn Lovejoy of CourageToLead.com has coached a lot of pastors and church teams. In this interview, he gives practical tips for building a healthy culture, a healthy team, and put effective systems in place to allow growth in your church.

We don't always think of social justice and economic transformation when we think of the gospel. But Mark DeYmaz argues that to ignore or refuse to engage in these things would, in fact, be undermining the gospel.