The Unstuck Church Podcast with Amy Anderson

2020 was a year of unprecedented change and unwanted tensions and an unknown future. As we welcome 2021 and look back at the year behind us, Tony Morgan shares some insight into what he's grateful for at The Unstuck Group and a challenge for churches moving forward.

What strategic shifts do churches need to make due to the coronavirus? This week, we take a look back at our most popular conversation from 2020 and dig into the practical ways that churches need to change their ministry strategies to continue not just survive but thrive in the new normal and continue making disciples.

How do you structure your team for a hybrid church model? How do you staff for a digital-first ministry strategy? Many churches are struggling to optimize and align their staff team around a hybrid church model and make the mental shift from being a church with online options to being an online organization with in-person options. In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack the 4 steps church leaders need to take to align their team for digital 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/episode173. 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 173] in your post for reference.

One of the biggest questions we've been asked since the pandemic hit is: What should we be measuring now? So this week we're going to walk through what to measure and what matters in the world of online disciple making. There are a lot of easy-to-see metrics clamoring for your attention. But at the end of the day, there is a simple principle that will help you navigate what to measure regardless of the platform or channel: Everything you measure should help you make better decisions. 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/episode172. 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 172] in your post for reference.

How do you make disciples online? If you want your church to thrive in 2021, you need to figure out how to both reach new people and engage with your current congregation digitally. At this point, 10 months into the pandemic, many churches are seeing less and less engagement online. In order to create a strong, successful digital ministry strategy, you need to understand the spiritual journey and how to reach people where they are. In this episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson share what we're learning about how to just that. 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/episode171. 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 171] in your post for reference.

What does it take to create an effective church board? Over the last 11 years of working with churches, we've found that church governance is a key difference between healthy, growing churches and churches that are stuck or in decline. In this week's episode, Tony Morgan and Sean Bublitz dig into the best practices for selecting board members and structuring your church board to be healthy and effective. 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/episode170. 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 170] in your post for reference.

Learn about the 5 key roles that make an effective church board, common mistakes they make, and how to enhance governance challenges. Discover the significance of fostering strong relationships between lead pastors and church boards for ministry health and growth.

The demands and expectations for leading ministry seem to be surging. We're all changing how we do ministry, serve people in our communities, and care for the sick. The workload has grown exponentially, and none of us can do it all. You, and the people on your team, are only human. In last week's episode, we talked about how pastors can stay emotionally healthy as they are under greater pressure and being criticized more than ever. The order of these two episodes matter—you need to listen to Episode 167 first. In this second part, we're talking about how what your team needs from you as their leader has changed, and how pastors can help their teams stay healthy in a turbulent season. 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/episode168. 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 168] in your post for reference.

You're under greater pressure than ever… and being criticized more than ever… how do pastors stay emotionally healthy right now? Pastors are telling us they feel like they just can't make a right call. It doesn't matter which decision they're making—they've got people criticizing them from every angle. It's been an exhausting year, and it's likely you're running on reserves. We hope this episode helps you take a deep breath. Amy Anderson interviews Lance Witt on some shifts in your mindset and some practical adjustments in your schedule and habits that will help you take the reins again on the care of your own soul and become the healthy leader God wants you to be. 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/episode167. 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 167] in your post for reference.

What if we had to rethink the importance of getting new people to a building or a program... for the long haul? As part of a recent Unstuck Masterclass, Tony had the opportunity to interview Nona Jones and Jeff Brodie on the shift that's happening from engaging new people with in-person services to engaging them online. Nona serves as the head of Facebook's faith-based partnerships, and Jeff is the lead pastor at Connexus Church in Barrie, Ontario. Nona summed up the situation we all found ourselves in back in the spring... and if we're honest... the pull most churches are feeling strongly right now: "Somewhere along the line of the history of the Church, we've come to define church as a place you go or a program you watch, and because of that, people have been slow to adapt to anything other than strategies that get people to a building. When you think about how social technology has been used thus far, it has predominantly been for marketing to get people to the building." Nona and Jeff each brought their unique perspectives as innovative leaders in local churches on how we can shift to engage and reach people in a digital culture. So in this episode, we're sharing portions of Tony's interviews with each of them that we think will give you some practical handles for doing so at your church as well. 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/episode166. 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 166] in your post for reference.