The Unstuck Church Podcast with Amy Anderson

The days of us turning on the "We're open" light and waiting for people to show up for church are behind us. Reopening and re-engaging your congregation has likely already been more challenging than expected. We need to engage our mission field and compel them to come (see Luke 14:23). There are no real experts in this season, but churches in some parts of the country are a month or two ahead of the learning curve. In Part 2, we share Crossroads Church's story and a few practical takeaways to help you re-engage people in weekend services. 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/episode195. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 195] in your post for reference.

On the other side... You've been waiting for this day for months. Instead of talking about how ministry strategy needs to shift because of the pandemic, you're starting to talk about what ministry will look like on the other side of it. But if you're like most of the pastors we're talking to, reopening and re-engaging your congregation has already been more challenging than expected. There are no real experts in this season, but churches in some parts of the country are a month or two ahead of the learning curve. So, in this NEW 4-PART SERIES, we're sharing interviews with pastors who are leading the way in navigating the reopening challenges ahead of us all. In Part 1, we share Quest Church's story and a few practical takeaways to help you re-engage people in serving 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/episode194. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 194] in your post for reference.

The podcast explores new benchmarks for evaluating church health beyond giving and attendance, focusing on the Vital Signs Assessment and Unstuck Church Report. They discuss trends, digital shifts, financial impact of COVID-19, and strategies for financial health post-pandemic.

No one TRIES to lead ineffective meetings, but any leader can get a bit lazy. The 9 key practices we share in this episode aren't rocket science, but they are things we see many church leaders just letting slip. When a team is clear on direction and wins, and puts these principles into practice in their meetings, people actually like meetings. They help us clarify our work and move things forward. They turn into a worthy investment of our time rather than an energy drain. In this episode, Tony and Amy wrap-up this series by sharing how you can corral one of the biggest time-wasters on any team. 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/episode192. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 192] in your post for reference.

What drives leaders completely crazy? Lack of follow-through. It's honestly one of the most common frustrations we hear from church leaders. They invest time, prayer, dreaming, talking, and planning around what God has next for their ministry, but then nothing happens. There's no follow-through. A distraction, or a crisis—something that feels more urgent—consistently derails the leader and the team from executing on the real priorities. Sound familiar? In Part 3 of this series on Creating Alignment, Tony and Amy discuss seven hacks leaders can use to align the team around executing on the ministry priorities. 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/episode191. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 191] in your post for reference.

Are you leading too many direct reports? A senior leader's span of care can significantly impact a team's ability to clarify roles and maintain alignment. Part of span of care is giving direction related to the mission, strategy, and priorities of your church, but the other piece of it is the discipleship of the people on your team. Many leaders think that by directly trying to lead as many people as possible, more people will be directly connected to the mission. But when your span of care gets stretched too wide, you naturally have less time to invest with each person on your team. So, what is the RIGHT number of people for you to personally lead? In Part 2 of this series on Creating Alignment, Tony and Amy give you some really practical ways to think about getting your span of care to its healthiest place—for both you and for the ministry. 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/episode190. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 190] in your post for reference.

How do you define reality for your team and why is it important? In 2019, 85% of churches that took the Unstuck Church Assessment self-identified as being in the "declining" stage of the life cycle. Now, having survived 2020, more churches than ever are feeling stuck. So we're kicking off a four-part series on how to create alignment in your ministry strategy and among your staff and volunteers. Join Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson on this week's podcast episode for practical examples and strategies for defining reality on your team. 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/episode189. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 189] in your post for reference.

"Do we have to embrace digital ministry?" "Do churches need to mimic the business world when it comes to online options?" "Do we really have to hire new roles for our staff team?" We've been getting a lot of questions about digital ministry strategy now that we're a year into the changes that COVID accelerated. The initial changes churches were forced to make are being reevaluated as many places open back up and in-person gathering is an option again. In this week's episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson sit down to talk through ten questions on the digital ministry you're probably asking but wish you weren't. 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/episode188. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 188] in your post for reference.

How important is data? What role should data play in your ministry strategy? What should you measure? In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, we sit down again with the Sun Valley Church team to dig into the practical ways they use data to inform their ministry strategies and how churches can leverage data to help reach more people with the message of Jesus. 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/episode187. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 187] in your post for reference.

Where do you find the right person to lead your digital ministry? What should your digital ministry focus on? How do you reach new people online? For months, we've been coaching churches to find a leader for their digital ministry strategies and in this week's episode we're sitting down with a church that has done exactly that. Paul Alexander serves as the Executive Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church, a multisite church in Phoenix and Mika Casey serves as their Digital Strategies Lead Director. In this week's episode, we look at some practical examples of what digital ministry strategy looks like. 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/episode186. 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. Or you can join in on Facebook. Ask your questions and add your comments about the topic. If you're catching this episode later, you can still join in! Just tag us @unstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch, and include [episode 186] in your post for reference.