The Unstuck Church Podcast with Amy Anderson

A personality might draw a weekend crowd, but it takes a team to create the healthy systems that foster sustained growth—that's the role of the Senior Leadership Team. Without it, you're depending on heroism at the top. If the SLT is structured well, you can take the lid off your church and create space for sustained health. If it's not, you'll keep funneling everything back to the top. In this episode, Sean and Amy talk about the Senior Leadership Team—the team of people who sit at the top of your org chart. They'll help you see: What the SLT should actually look like How the roles of each member are defined Why getting the SLT right is so important This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios: Unlock the power of story in your worship space. The creative, passionate team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, works with churches to create beautiful, engaging spaces that connect with your community. They're a team of architectural, design, and branding experts who transform worship spaces into attractive, engaging hubs for the community. Reach out to their team at plainjoestudios.com and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

Pastoral burnout is one of the most critical issues facing church leaders today. And it's not just about overwork or lack of boundaries: Your structure might be the very thing that's creating the conditions for burnout—for both you and your staff. We're seeing this pattern play out in churches everywhere. Lead pastors are drowning under impossible spans of care, unclear role definitions and organizational structures that create silos. Meanwhile, growth is creating momentum that feels exciting but leaves no time to build the systems that would actually sustain health. In this series, we're going beyond the symptoms to address the structural realities that either fuel burnout or create space for sustained health. This week Sean and Amy discuss the structure moves that lead to burnout and provide a set of structural questions to ask to help relieve it. This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios: Unlock the power of story in your worship space. The creative, passionate team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, works with churches to create beautiful, engaging spaces that connect with your community. They're a team of architectural, design, and branding experts who transform worship spaces into attractive, engaging hubs for the community. Reach out to their team at plainjoestudios.com and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

Ever wonder how your church's metrics, wins and challenges compare to other like-minded churches? This quarter's Unstuck Church Report shows what the "Big C Church" is looking like in 2026 so far. The data covers the biggest barriers churches are facing when it comes to growth, gives perspectives on finances, informs how well churches are helping people engage in their churches, and many other interesting, helpful learnings. Sean and Amy dive into all the data of the Q1 2026 Unstuck Church Report in this episode: Growth Is Happening… But It's Slowing Are People Actually Connecting or Just Attending? WHAT'S BLOCKING GROWTH: The #1 Barrier Will Surprise You Exclusive insights from The Church Lawyers This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers When ministry meets legal complexity, The Church Lawyers are in your corner. Exclusively dedicated to serving churches, ministries, and nonprofit organizations, the firm brings specialized legal expertise that general practice firms simply can't match. From church formation and governance to employment law, property matters, IRS compliance, crisis management, and more — our comprehensive counsel covers every dimension of ministry life. No legal concern is too big or too small. With affordable services and a membership program offering discounted legal rates, quality legal protection is accessible to ministries of every size. Visit TheChurchLawyers.com for free resources and everything you need to get started. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

You can start multisite for all the right reasons: healthy momentum, strong mission and a genuine desire to reach more people. But then a few years in, you find yourself looking around thinking, "Wait… is this actually producing what we hoped it would?" Alignment feels harder. Decision-making feels heavier. Outcomes aren't quite matching the vision you had in mind when you started. And that's where a lot of churches begin asking a really honest question: Did we choose a model that's leading us to different results than we were hoping for? In this episode, Sean and Amy shift from problems to solutions—they share multisite model best practices you can actually benchmark against as you're evaluating where your multisite church might feel stuck. This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers Every church needs trusted legal counsel, but finding attorneys who truly understand ministry can be challenging. The Church Lawyers specialize in church and nonprofit law, serving thousands of organizations nationwide. From by-laws and governance, to IRS compliance and employment matters, The Church Lawyers provide the expertise you need with sound legal advice giving you peace of mind. Discover practical free resources and affordable membership options at thechurchlawyers.com. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

No one goes into multisite thinking, "This model isn't going to work." Everyone starts for the right reasons: more people reached and more communities engaged. But over time, tensions begin to show up. But it's not just normal complexity; it's the kind that starts to impact clarity and limit effectiveness if you don't pay attention to it. Last week, Sean and Amy interviewed three leaders about their experience with multisite. All three pastors made the case that how you start multisite doesn't have to be your model forever. In this episode, Sean and Amy reflect on the takeaways from those stories and start pulling out some of the common challenges we see churches facing in multisite. This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers Every church needs trusted legal counsel, but finding attorneys who truly understand ministry can be challenging. The Church Lawyers specialize in church and nonprofit law, serving thousands of organizations nationwide. From by-laws and governance, to IRS compliance and employment matters, The Church Lawyers provide the expertise you need with sound legal advice giving you peace of mind. Discover practical free resources and affordable membership options at thechurchlawyers.com. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

"Are we doing multisite right?" The truth is that many churches launch multisite with great intentions but eventually find themselves stuck—operationally overwhelmed, financially strained or culturally fragmented across locations. In this series, we're pulling back the curtain on what it really takes to build a healthy, sustainable multisite strategy. We're starting with something a little different—we're letting some church leaders we've served tell their multisite stories in their own words. In this episode, you'll hear from three pastors who have had very different experiences with multisite: Nick Cleveland from Grace Church in Wooster, OH; Christy Gibas from The Table Church in Pittsburgh; and Mike Reinsel from Stonecreek Church in Georgia. This Episode is Sponsored by The Church Lawyers Every church needs trusted legal counsel, but finding attorneys who truly understand ministry can be challenging. The Church Lawyers specialize in church and nonprofit law, serving thousands of organizations nationwide. From by-laws and governance, to IRS compliance and employment matters, The Church Lawyers provide the expertise you need with sound legal advice giving you peace of mind. Discover practical free resources and affordable membership options at thechurchlawyers.com. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

We're trying something different on The Unstuck Church Podcast. It's our first ever "Ask Anything" episode! The idea for this came from our free webinars, where we typically save time at the end for live Q&A. Some of the best takeaways from those events often happen in that live conversation, and we wanted to bring that fun and magic to the podcast. In this episode, Sean and Amy respond to questions YOU, the listeners, submitted by leaving a voicemail on our Ask Anything phone line at (615) 398-9171 or by messaging us on social media or through our free live webinars. This Episode is Sponsored by Planning Center Planning Center is software designed to help churches help people. With multiple tools in one connected platform, you can stay organized, communicate with your team, and create meaningful ways to connect with your congregation. Start for free at planningcenter.com—pay only for what you need, and cancel anytime. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

​​Two common issues in churches tend to show up together, even though at first glance they don't feel related at all: first engagement steps and physical capacity. On the surface, they sound like two completely different problems. But, in reality, they're way more connected than most leaders realize. You can't grow sustainably if you're not engaging people well, and you can't engage people well if you don't have the space to serve them. These are two of the most common barriers we see; however, the good news is that these have proven solutions. We're wrapping up our series on Five Common Core Issues in Churches by talking about revitalizing your playbook for first engagement steps, getting ahead of your capacity limits and thinking strategically to support health and growth in these areas. This Episode is Sponsored by Planning Center Planning Center is software designed to help churches help people. With multiple tools in one connected platform, you can stay organized, communicate with your team, and create meaningful ways to connect with your congregation. Start for free at planningcenter.com—pay only for what you need, and cancel anytime. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.

Churches everywhere, no matter the size, are struggling with this: the lack of a deep leadership bench. One of the most common pain points we see in churches is not having enough leaders in the pipeline. This puts them in a constant reactive mode, often filling positions out of desperation rather than developing leaders intentionally. New leaders don't identify themselves; you won't drift into success here. You have to be intentional to take the time to work on your leadership bench. We'll show you how. In part two of our series, "Five Common Core Issues in Churches," Sean and Amy talk about the symptoms of a shallow leadership bench, how to build out a leadership development framework and what to start (and stop) doing if this issue sounds familiar to you. This Episode is Sponsored by Planning Center Planning Center is software designed to help churches help people. With multiple tools in one connected platform, you can stay organized, communicate with your team, and create meaningful ways to connect with your congregation. Start for free at planningcenter.com—pay only for what you need, and cancel anytime. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram.