unSeminary Podcast

Thanks for tuning in to this week’s unSeminary podcast. We’re excited to be talking with Vivienne Bechtold, the Director of Studio and Leadership Development at Crossroads Church in Ohio. Crossroads has been one of the fastest growing churches in the country for several years, but this growth hasn’t happened without being intentional about reaching those who are far from Jesus. Listen in as Vivienne shares how Crossroads has used data to make informed decisions about how to be increasingly effective at drawing more people into a relationship with Christ. Use data for marketing. // Most churches try to collect some sort of information from the people who visit or attend. However if you don’t dig into that data, you won’t know how it can help you understand your audience better. Vivienne has spent 27 years in the marketing industry and now runs Studio, an internal agency at Crossroads that interprets data, handles research, design, marketing, social media and other digital products for the church. Their ultimate goal is to help the church more effectively reach people who are far from God. Learning to market to people using the data you collect isn’t just about numbers, but about being curious about people and the insights behind the numbers.Understand who you’re reaching. // Initially Crossroads didn’t have a team handling their data and marketing, but rather started with two people that would do focus groups and one-on-ones to gather research on what attendees were looking for. The church then built an analytics team that mined that data about who was coming, what areas they were coming from, what their demographics were, and so on. Using these insights, Crossroads started to put together a picture of who was drawn to the church and what they needed. This information led to them targeting a group of a dozen 25 to 35 year old men who didn’t go to Crossroads. Church staff went to where these people hung out, interviewed some of them, and invited them to attend two services and then offer feedback on their experiences.Implement changes. // The information Crossroads received from these new guests helped them to see the Sunday experience from the perspective of a visitor. As a result, they were aware of what people connected with and what turned them off. They made changes in training their teams how to recognize new people, right from the parking lot, so they could serve guests better. Crossroads also altered the order of their service. Rather than starting with worship, they started with something that would help connect people coming in with what was going to happen the rest of the time. Seekers often didn’t understand the value of worship and instead wanted to hear a message, so the church wanted to make sure their visitors stayed to hear the teaching.Your strongest marketing tool. // Crossroads discovered that when their people knew the topic of an upcoming message, or some sound bites that would be interesting to their friends, they were much more likely to invite others to church. When your people invite their friends or family to church, it is the most powerful marketing strategy you can use. Empower your people to share about the church and what is coming up in a sermon series by providing tools for social media or email that can be shared. Consider direct mail pieces leading up to Easter or Christmas and work with the natural dynamics of how people interact with your church.Use data to rebrand. // Churches tend to plateau after 20 years and in order to get over that, they need to reinvent themselves. Crossroads found that the seekers coming to their church today were different than ones from 25 years ago, and generally had no experience with church at all. So the church began to ask how to be relevant to these people today and reevaluated its branding. Crossroads realized their branding was very corporate and wanted it to be more unfiltered, fun and and fearless, which better represented what the church had grown into. So Crossroads rebranded in 2020 to better capture who they were as well as target that group of 25-35 year old men they are trying to keep in mind. The rebrand includes new colors and visuals, but also new vocabulary that everyday people use. Crossroads talks about themselves as “Spiritual Outfitters” that equip and guide you through this adventure that you were made for as you follow God. Consider your church’s current branding and if it’s serving to help reach the people you are targeting.Look to the future. // As we continue to collect data and process our learnings from 2020, it can inform changes we need to make for the future. One lesson is that first impressions can happen a lot of different places, including online, and when people do show up in person, they are looking to connect more quickly. Pay attention to when people want to watch sermons online. For some, Sunday mornings may now mean family time

Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with JD Mason, the online campus leader from Liberty Live Church in Virginia. JD is chatting with us today about how church online has evolved for Liberty Live Church since the pandemic and why they made the decision to transition to live, rather than prerecorded, broadcasts. Trial and error. // Though Liberty Live Church had an online campus before the pandemic hit, there was still a huge learning curve during the changes over the past year. Before COVID, they used to pre-record all of the host segments, intros, and outros, but they switched to a live broadcast during the pandemic. When COVID hit, there were no volunteers and minimal staff, so learning how to automate as much as possible while doing a live broadcast was key. While recording live, it takes a lot of trial and error when dealing with technical glitches or unexpected situations, such as a fire alarm. Help the staff stay calm and explain to the audience what is going on so they are in the loop and can pray along with you.Why live? // Having plans for a live broadcast can help bridge the gap to getting to know people who are in their homes. Live broadcasts, with all of the unknowns in the moment, can also still help people feel like they are in the room and a part of what’s going on at the physical campus. As host, sharing something that’s happening in your week makes you relatable. Ask questions in the chat to create conversation and connection. Comment live on what people are sharing, and pray for people as their prayer requests pop up in chat. This interaction makes your online community feel seen and heard.Harness the energy of the room. // Initially the worship used during the online services was prerecorded because it was higher quality, but Liberty Live discovered that people preferred hearing the worship streamed from the main auditorium, even if it was more raw. Create anticipation for your online community and throw to the live broadcast of worship as the energy and music are building.Plan for growth. // If you are building a community of online churchgoers, think about how you can keep growing this campus. What are your goals for the future? At Liberty Live there are online Wednesday night services on certain topics for the purpose of discipleship, and Sunday nights will begin to broadcast exclusive worship nights with an acoustic vibe. Future plans also include an online women’s bible study, and a Right Now Media catalog of all pastors and staff featured in messages, so the online community can get to know the staff. As Liberty Live Church builds an inventory of services and studies, they will also catalog them on a YouTube channel for on-demand streaming. Online church can help you reach out to people everywhere. Create a plan to use your online services to extend your reach, whether it’s locally, regionally or globally. You can learn more about the online campus at Liberty Live Church at https://libertylive.church/online/. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Leadership Pathway If you are trying to find, develop and keep young leaders on your team look no further than Leadership Pathway. They have worked with hundreds of churches, and have interviewed thousands of candidates over the past several years. They are offering a new ebook about five of the core competencies that are at the heart of the leadership development process with every church that they partner with…just go to leadershippathway.org/unseminary to pick up this free resource.

Thanks for tuning in to the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re doing a bonus deep dive about operational reserves and how much our churches should be saving. We have expert Steve Carr from CDF Capital with us to help us think through these questions. Maintain generosity. // During the pandemic, churches trended toward either maintaining their giving levels or increasing those levels. Most churches weren’t drastically impacted financially during this time because their congregation still gave. The blessing during this time is that many churches emerged almost financially stronger. The thing to be aware of now is: How are you cultivating givers to maintain that generosity?Plan ahead in savings. // Pre-pandemic the general rule was for churches to have three to six months of savings in reserve. Many churches are now looking at a six-to-twelve-month trend in judging how much they need to store in savings. It’s up to the church to determine what is a good amount and how long should they maintain it.Help in forbearance. // The Church Assistance Plan at CDF Capital allows the equivalency of two months forbearance for every church in their portfolio. The payment is offset to the end of the loan. 66% of the churches in their portfolio have used this plan for help during this time.Are you really reaching the community? // People tithe and give so that the church can have an impact. We don’t want to keep so little in reserve that it puts the ministry at risk. There is a tension to be managed. Even if your church has a lot of money in savings, for example in an endowment, ask yourselves: are you operating just to keep the organization flowing? Or are you actually being creative in the way you’re trying to reach your community?View through a theological lens. // The teams in churches should talk about their theology of stewardship. How do you allocate the funds you have now? How can you be generous with your abundance? How will you prepare for an economic dip that may affect those funds? View it all through a theological lens and be responsible in not spending everything you have post-COVID. Think about how you as church leaders will embrace the changing world in post-COVID reality.Hold onto humility. // We might think we know what’s going to happen, but we never do, and that shows our limitations as human beings. If we can hold onto being humble throughout this season, our churches will be better off in the years to come.Keep cash readily accessible. // Steve recommends that fifty percent of your church’s reserve should be in a flexible checking or savings account. You won’t get a great interest rate, but CDF Capital can help with that. Additionally, put some of your reserves into a higher yield certificate to get a better rate.Diversify your savings. // Diversification is still a principle that needs to be applied to congregational savings. It’s not wise to have all of your money in a single institution. There is an element of risk in anything done with money, so having them in different places can help lower that risk. You can learn more about CDF Capital at cdfcapital.org. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Is your team moving back to an “in-person” office experience? Do you know how your team members feel about working at home once life looks a little more normal? What does the future of church leadership work arrangements look like? We must understand the impact that COVID-19 has had on our church leadership environment and consider those various dynamics that have been born out of the pandemic. How work “gets done” has evolved over the last 20–30 years as information and collaboration technology have gained traction and changed our communities. Many of those changes that we were seeing pre-pandemic have simply accelerated over this last year. I can remember those long-gone days in 2018 and 2019 where having a dedicated Zoom account was a special thing. But now even my mom knows how to use Zoom and understands that there’s a 40-minute limit for non-paid accounts! What a difference all of this has made on the way work gets done within the local church! What changes have we seen in people’s preferences regarding getting church work done either in person or remotely? In the broader marketplace, there seem to be two factions that are digging in around the office environment of the future. Ironically, if you look at companies that are involved in information technology, it seems like they hold divergent and passionate views on both ends of the spectrum. On the in-person side of the conversation, Google, Apple, and Amazon have recently confirmed that they will return to in-person offices as their default approach. Part of this could be because of the hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars that they’ve spent on offices around the world. But they’ve also done all kinds of studies that show there is something about being in the room where it happens. They believe that face-to-face drives collaboration. All three of these companies have made incredible fortunes by helping people work remotely, but it should be noted that they are moving their own workforces into offices post-pandemic. There are also strong voices advocating for the other side of the conversation. Twitter, Slack, and Dropbox have all made bold steps towards being “remote-first” organizations. Some of these organizations have told their senior management they’re not required to come back to their offices, while others have made moves to get rid of office space or enhance their remote working abilities. Take a look at the headlines in any major publication and you’ll see that people are grappling with the complex issues around what work will “look like” post the pandemic. For instance, here are just a few articles that have cropped up in recent days: Bloomberg: The Big Question: Is Remote Work Here to Stay?CNBC: Workers could face new burnout symptoms when returning to the office—here’s how employers can helpThe Atlantic: Winners and Losers of the Work-From-Home RevolutionUSATODAY: What Apple and Google executives missed in telling workers to go back to the officeThe Economist: Remote workers work longer, not more efficientlyNew York Times: A Little More Remote Work Could Change Rush Hour a LotNPR: ‘Why Do We Have To Go Back To The Office?’: Employees Are Divided About Returning The same conversation is taking place in churches across the country, as our culture shifts to whatever the next normal is going to look like. We’re all trying to identify what we need to do to create either in-person or remote work arrangements as we look to the future. In light of this, unSeminary surveyed church leaders from across the country to understand their attitudes, preferences, and experiences regarding working remotely since the start of the pandemic and how it has influenced their thinking going forward. Overview of the National Survey of Church Leaders Between May 24th and June 4th, 2021, we surveyed nearly 350 leaders from churches ranging from less than 100 members to over 10,000 members. Our goal was to get a clearer picture of what church leaders are thinking when it comes to structuring their work going forward. We compared their answers to GitLab’s 2021 Remote Work Report, which is the leading report on working remotely released by one of the largest all-remote organizations in the world. We did this because we wanted to compare the attitudes and behaviors of local church teams and their marketplace counterparts. We know that the work of the local church is not the same as working in the marketplace. However, there is much to learn from our contemporaries about emerging attitudes and behaviors in the broader marketplace and it is wise that we compare them to how we work within the local church. We also believe that we must be able to lead in an environment that understands what’s happening in the marketplace. Oftentimes as church leaders, we’re out of step with trends in the broader culture because we structure our work differently. This study attempts to understand the similarities

Welcome back to the unSeminary podcast. This week we’re talking with Abby Ecker, Next Steps Pastor from The Journey in Delaware. She’s with us today to talk about getting people connected and helping them take steps from just attending weekend gatherings to moving into the core of the church. Help people take steps, not leaps. // People have always needed to take small steps rather than leaps, and that’s even more true as we come out of the pandemic. Think about the very small steps that you can encourage your people to take to help draw them back to the community and connection we all need.High tech, high touch, high heart. // Consider how to create high tech, high touch, and high heart experiences. One of the high touch experiences that The Journey did at the beginning of covid was to repurpose their shuttles (previously used for parking) to go around and visit people at their homes. This was a no-contact visit where two team members stood outside the home, passed out some Journey swag, and let people know that they love them and are thinking of them.Basic reaching out. // Many churches may feel that they don’t have the labor or resources to do big mobilization efforts where they are calling every member of the church to check in, or planning huge outreach efforts. The Journey has been there and one simple thing to do is to develop a connections team to do basic outreach and follow-up to those committing their life to Jesus or visiting the church. Make calls to people who decide to get baptized, give, or volunteer. These calls aren’t necessarily about getting people to take more next steps, but rather a way to say thank you, express that you’re thinking about them, and ask how you can pray for them.From seat to serve. // The Journey will be trialing a program called Plugged In, a hybrid customizable experience using both online and in-person elements. Short videos share the vision for the church and how to move out into serving the community. Then for another high-touch experience, people are paired with a coach where they can talk about where they want to serve. Attendees will leave this experience connected to a team and receive follow-up videos that walk through the church’s culture.Ask the right questions. // Coaches for Plugged In are given resources to help them know which questions to ask the people they meet with. Their biggest goal is creating connections with these people through asking the right questions and getting to know them. Coaches function as a neutral connection point and will be the ones to check in after someone’s first serve experience to see how things went. Lead with a clear why and what. // It’s of the utmost importance to lead with a clear “why” and a clear ‘what’. What is the problem you’re trying to solve? Why are you trying to do this event? Are you doing it just to make yourself feel good? When so many things are out of control, our tendency is to control the things we can control, which are often the “hows”. Go forward with a clear “why” and a clear “what” to help lead someone else to the next step.Vision is the currency of leadership. // The “why” only matters if we can identify why it really matters to others. What does it mean to help this other group in the things they need? If you can figure out why they should care and can connect with them, you can move forward in progress. You can learn more about The Journey at yourjourney.tv. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Is your church ready? Are you re-opening? Ready to welcome MORE people to worship and grow with your church? Are you out of space or are your interiors dated and needing improvement? The architecture and design team at Risepointe want to help you align your facility with the mission and vision that God has given your church. That’s why Risepointe developed The Needs Analysis. The Needs Analysis is a comprehensive look at your site to seat experience through the lens of your first time guests. Learn more by visiting www.theneedsanalysis.com. Let them know you heard about The Needs Analysis on unSeminary for $500 off!

Thanks for joining us for the unSeminary podcast. This week we’re chatting with Jeannette Cochran, executive pastor Seneca Creek Community Church in Maryland. Jeannette is talking with us today about what it is like being a female executive pastor in a church and how you can empower more women to engage their gifts and lead in your church. Lead in trust and honor. // Too many churches are dragging their feet on including women in leadership or executive roles within the church. The church can’t reach its full potential until men and women are leading together in relationships of trust and honor. Both men and women are created in the image of God. When women aren’t allowed to step into their callings and passions to serve the church, the body of Christ loses out.Remain humble. // An essential quality in a healthy church is that the leaders remain in a humble posture of a learner. At one point in history, Christians tried to argue from scripture for slavery, but that changed because Christians were willing to continue to humble themselves, be learners, and be teachable. Leaders today should ask themselves if they are open to hearing the voices of others. That is the leadership model that Jesus has given us, that leaders will be listeners and learners.Make a commitment. // Make a commitment to shared leadership and actually look around the table to ask if you do have diversity and the voices you need. Unearth those biases and stereotypes you might not realize are there. Commit to having hard conversations and creating safe spaces where you can be honest with each other. Be open to listening without becoming defensive.Trust is the beginning. // Be open to women and communicate that you want to hear their feedback. Many women are socialized to be people-pleasers and minimize themselves, especially in Christian circles. Let them know that you are open to hearing their challenges and pushback and that they aren’t going to be penalized for speaking up. Women, on the other hand, need to do their homework and be willing to put themselves out there. It takes vulnerability on both sides.Don’t be held back. // Often women leaders may not recognize that they have limiting beliefs that are holding them back. What is that internal voice we’re listening to? Whenever there is a sense of stepping out to become vulnerable or taking a risk, that voice will come at us and try to stop us. Don’t allow that voice to hold you back. Recognize that internal critic for what it is and turn it down to listen to the voice of God in us. Individual coaching can help tremendously with this issue.Don’t view each other as a threat. // We need to have thoughtful boundaries, but not view each other as a threat. Many times, women leaders may be seen as a threat because the way things have always been done may need to change. Scripturally we should be looking at how we can view each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Ask how you can have some thoughtful boundaries that help each other to feel safe and cared for, but not view each other as enemies or threats.Look for the potential. // Studies have shown that many times men are promoted based on potential, but women are promoted only based on performance. So look for that potential in the women at your organization to move them up to the next level. You can find out more about Jeannette at www.jeannettecochran.com and learn about Seneca Creek at senecacreek.org. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Red Letter Challenge One of the best times of the year to start an all-in church series is the time after Easter. The team at Red Letter Challenge have become the 40-day church series experts…they created not only a 40-day church series, but offer unique daily challenges as well for everyone in your church to complete. It’s a fun, amazing time and many people take steps towards Jesus! Pastors, grab your free 40-day challenge book here and see what your church can do!

As the leader goes, so goes the organization. It’s often been said that the mindset of a leader ultimately drives the behavior of an organization. It’s a scary thought when you consider that our internal thought life can express itself in the people that we consistently lead. I think this is a truism when it comes to leading organizations of any kind, including your local church. Over time, churches seem to take on the personality of the leadership. As we start pivoting out of COVID-19 and the incredible impact it has had on all our churches, we need to look inside and understand the mindsets that we have picked up over the last year. We must identify which of these mindsets may negatively impact our organization going forward. Now would be a great time for you to self-reflect and understand what you’ve been thinking and how that might be working itself out in the organization you’re in. As a parent, I have seen how my habits, hang-ups, and hurts can come out in the life of my kids. While we see it vividly in our kids, the same is true in the organizations we lead. So here are five mindsets that you may have adopted over the last few months and need to shift or rethink as you go into full-on relaunch mode. From Surviving to Thriving There’s no doubt that over the last year you’ve had to make a lot of difficult decisions to ensure the survival of your organization. It first may have been to pivot to church online, if your church wasn’t already online, and no doubt you’ve encountered many tough financial decisions. We’ve all made several decisions that have been focused on how we stay afloat as organizations. We need to shed that thinking. If we continue to focus on survival only, we’ll miss opportunities that God sends your way. See this link for a huge opportunity that’s approaching us as we speak. If we’re just about survival, we’ll miss the opportunity to take new risks and push toward new horizons. What aspects of your personality are leaning towards merely surviving rather than thriving? From Keeping to Reaching One of the sad realities of watching church leaders talk among themselves in this season is that it seems like so much of the conversation is about getting back to our attendance pre-COVID. This is a potentially dangerous mindset. It is understandable and maybe even natural but make no mistake, it’s also dangerous. This is because this mindset may cause us to think that the goal of our church is to simply keep the people who were previously attending. If we focus so much on keeping, we’ll miss the opportunity to reach new people. Your community has changed in the last 15 months and those dynamics need to be addressed and be considered as you think about reaching new people in your community. We need to fully engage in reaching the world today and not wishing for the world of yesterday. You’ve seen a lot of new people connect with your church online and the question you should be asking now is how to accelerate that! How do we identify what we’ve learned from our online experiences and push these lessons forward to reach even more people? Even as your church continues to gain momentum in its regathering phase, the benchmark should not be how our attendance compares to our attendance in the winter of 2020. Our benchmarks should be determined by how our attendance compares to the community we’re attempting to reach. From Reaction to Vision Your leadership reaction senses have been finely honed, much like a cat’s. You’ve had to make quick pivots over these months and come up with new solutions. It’s almost like we’ve been bracing ourselves for the other shoe to drop, but the difficulty is that shoes have continuously dropped over the past year. This is a helpful new skill for the future; however, now’s the time for us to peer up over the horizon and start to ask the question: Where does God want your church to be a year from now? What about five years from now? What about twenty years from now? What have you learned over the last year that can help you and your organization chart a brand-new course for the future? Stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and look up over the horizon and see what God’s called you to do next. From Cynical to Hopeful Cynicism is an acid that will erode your spiritual life if it goes unchecked. I love the book Didn’t See It Coming written by my friend, Carey Nieuwhof. It offers a conversation about cynicism and how it’s a negative part of our leadership journey. We need to look for cynicism as it wells up in us and replace it with hope. Replace the negative thoughts about how everything is going badly with a positive understanding of what God wants you to do next. In some leadership circles, cynicism is a heralded trait. It’s almost like we want to out-cynic others! Resist those communities and resist that way of thinking. From Us to T

The coming months hold an unprecedented opportunity to see your church impact more people than ever before. As the country begins to shake off the shackles of COVID-19 and the ensuing economic calamity, we’re seeing new windows of opportunity. We must leverage this season for the message of Jesus. We can echo what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:9, “a great door for effective work has opened to me.” Let’s not miss this tremendous opportunity that is just around the corner! Fall 2021 is when your church must invite more people to be a part of your community. The difference between leading churches and languishing churches is that leading churches motivate their people to invite their friends to church. Whether it’s in-person or online, churches that make an impact consistently find new ways to encourage their people to invite their friends to be a part of the church. Typically, in the fall, we see growth opportunities as people reorient their lives and come up with new rhythms. It’s sort of like a “second new year”, particularly because many churches are trying to reach families and kids. The return to school drives how young families operate. This fall will be the first time that kids return to school and normal family life emerges from the haze of the pandemic that started in March 2020! Let’s not miss this opportunity, friends, and find ways to leverage this turning point to invite more friends than we ever have before. As I’ve watched churches in this season, I’ve noted a disturbing trend. Some churches are leveraging soft guilt with their people about how important it is for them to “return to the building.” Churches that obsess about getting people to the building will ultimately lose the bigger picture. It’s a small vision to just get people back into the buildings they were in before March 2020. Let’s cast a bigger vision and move beyond shame and motivating people to get into our boxes. I’ve heard too many churches leverage negative emotions to motivate people to return. Here are some lines that are being used: “We know there’s nothing like being in the room together.”“It’s time to return.”“Our forefathers fought for your right to attend church. You can fight the couch and join us.”“When the doors of the church are open, believers need to darken them!” I’ve even heard churches misquote passages like Psalm 122:1 [ref], which sets a dangerous precedent when we talk about our church buildings like the temple in the Old Testament. There’s a theological point to be made that one of the things Jesus undid on the cross was the limitation of where the spirit of God chooses to move.  On the cross, Jesus declared that he can move in any place and any season. This needs to drive our mission in reaching new people, not a hyper-obsession with getting people who used to sit inside our boxes to come and sit in them again. Let’s not miss this opportunity to encourage our people to invite their friends. As people reorient their lives, there are new opportunities for your church to invite people to be a part of your community, whether that’s online or in-person. There are all kinds of signs that travel will be at incredible levels over the summertime. As we approach Labor Day, it will begin to wane, and people will be looking to establish new patterns in their lives. Let’s create a positive community image with our people that will encourage them to come back and be a part of the good things that are happening in our churches. Here are a few ways that you can leverage this fall to reach more people. 5 Ways to Leverage Fall 2021 to Grow Your Church Growing churches consistently motivate their people to be a part of the mission. At a bare minimum, they move people to invite their friends to be a part of the good things that God’s doing in their lives. However, fall 2021 presents all kinds of opportunities for drawing people to church. Package it as a season. // Many churches will have individual series that may last for three to eight weeks. However, for communication purposes, I think churches should package fall 2021 as one branded season. String several series together to make a season with an informative title e.g., “Season of Hope”, “Changing Seasons for the Better”, or “Homecoming Season”. We know that nothing builds momentum in a church like something new and so repackaging the fall, from a communications point of view, will build anticipation. It will also be the kind of thing that sparks people’s curiosity and encourage them to invite their friends to be a part of it.Through studies, we know that varying levels of COVID hesitancy will continue in our culture. [ref] Thus, rather than trying to drive everyone back to a single Sunday or a single series, branding the entire season gives a lot of on-ramps for people to connect with your church when they are ready. Leverage all the “firsts” again. // There’s

Welcome to the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Dr. Steve Brown, President of Arrow Leadership and author of the book Jesus Centered: Focusing On Jesus In A Distracted World. Steve works to help leaders find clarity, community and confidence in their work as Jesus-centered leaders. He’s talking with us today about how to lead more like Jesus by loving your people well and encouraging them right where they are. Pray for and love others. // Jesus loved the disciples – not only with words, but also with time, actions, and by praying for them. Do we treat the people we are supervising with the same care and encouragement? Sometimes we can see people as vehicles for getting stuff done, or as obstacles to completing tasks, instead of praying for and loving them. Steve has created a chart for each month in which he has two people from his team who he prays for every day. This schedule can get you into the rhythm of thinking about the people you lead and praying for them regularly. Connect with people at work by pausing and asking more questions. Check in with your team members to see how they are doing in their lives outside of the office.Give encouragement. // As a senior leader, let your people know that you are thinking of and praying for them and are proud of them. Sometimes we overestimate how encouraging we really are, and underestimate how much people need encouragement. Some people like to be called out in public, other people like to receive a card, or be invited out to lunch – just begin and learn what means the most to your team members as you go.Jesus in leadership. // Steve’s book, Jesus Centered, talks about three important conversations to have with your team as you look to Christ as your model in leadership: How can we be led more by Jesus – individually, as a team, or as a church? How can we lead more like Jesus as a team and individually? And how can we lead more to Jesus? These are critical conversations and will yield a lot of good fruit on your staff and in your church.Safe, Stretch, and Stress. // As you prepare to help your team members grow, look at each person with three S words in mind: Safe, Stretch, and Stress. Where are your people in those categories? Is someone in a safe space and not challenged enough in their work? Lead them into the stretch zone with increased responsibilities. In the stretch zone they will need to learn to depend on God as they grow beyond what is merely safe. But if stretched too far, they can land in the stress zone and you’ll need to bring them back to a place where they are stretched but not stressed. Knowing where your people are helps you to discern the next developmental step for each team member.Tic Tac Toe. // Another tool that helps team members find their sweet spot is to have each person draw a Tic Tac Toe board. Then have them identify nine words or phrases that represent them when they are at their best professionally. Write these words into the squares of the Tic Tac Toe board. Next have them decide whether each box is red, yellow, or green. Red is for those things that aren’t happening, yellow are things that happen sometimes, and green are things that they do regularly. Use this tool to discover what is holding your team back from their best. Are people in the right spot in your organization? What can you do to help them?Jesus-centered development. // Arrow Leadership offers Jesus-centered programs, personal mentoring, organizational consulting and resources that develop you and your team to lead differently. The programs have different streams depending on if a leader is emerging or established, and each stream is highly personalized, highly intentional, and highly transformational. Participants will explore leadership, character, spiritual health, self-awareness, and more. And these programs also provide safe places where leaders can be vulnerable and real. You can also learn more about Arrow Leadership and their many resources at arrowleadership.org and find Steve’s book Jesus Centered on Amazon. Plus download the free resource Great Questions for Leading Well here. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Chemistry Staffing It’s important for church leaders to pursue the right fit for the right position, which helps

Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast. Today we’re chatting with Jannet Morgan, the Executive Assistant (EA) to Lead Pastor, Tim Lucas, at Liquid Church in New Jersey. She’s with us today to talk about the role of the EA supporting leadership in the church and how to make the most out of that partnership. Be aware of the challenges. // Sometimes it’s difficult to establish a good working relationship between the executive and the executive assistant. In some cases hiring for the EA position is put on hold until budget allows for it, but by then the executive may be overwhelmed and overworked. It can be hard to find someone great to gear up quickly to support the pastor. There’s no manual for this sort of relationship and as a result executives may not know where they need the most help while EAs are trying to learn on the fly, but also struggle to discern what an executive or pastor really wants. Executives may not know how to manage their EA since they are trying to offload what they are doing.Where to begin? // At the beginning of the exec/EA relationship it’s common not to know where to start. People wonder what should the routine and workflow look like, and how should we work together? In the corporate world, the EA is often an entry level position whereas in the church it’s a high level position. Often a pastor’s EA is privy to sensitive information as they help the pastor with various issues such as staff, church finances, contracts, and so on. Jannet recommends having conversations early about priorities, goals, communication, and expectations.Get to know each other. // In the beginning of an EA’s employment, have a few meetings just to get to know each other and invite your EA to ask questions. If you can, try to allow for overlap between your new EA and old EA so your new hire can learn more quickly. Also, arrange for the EA to meet with other members of the team that you work closely with or who your EA will work closely with to understand roles and relationships. It’s helpful for your EA to know what your top goals are so that they have a better understanding of how they can support you well. Communication of expectations between you both should be clear. An EA needs to study the executive, understanding what he likes to do and anticipating what his needs are. Jannet often shadows the lead pastor, attending meetings with him so she can keep abreast of what’s happening on different projects and what problems are surfacing. As their partnership has grown, Jannet can now stand in the gap for the lead pastor when he’s not available and communicate with people who are coming to him for questions or approvals.Empower and grow the assistant. // As a leader, you can approach hiring an EA in two ways: Do you want someone who is purely an assistant—doing your expense reports, calendaring, and correspondence? Or do you want to go beyond that and leverage the skillset which you hired them for, pouring into them because they are so important to your work life? Think of ways you can empower them and grow their leadership skills to be a growing leader in your own organization.Five essential conversations. // Don’t miss the June 23rd workshop designed for executive church leaders and their assistants. This workshop will dive into five conversations that are essential for the executive and the EA to have. These include talking through priorities and goals, rules and filters, personal preferences, discussing the communication rhythm, and expectations for the EA role. You can reach out to Jannet via email and learn more about Liquid Church at liquidchurch.com. REGISTER TODAY: Executive & Assistant Live Workshop // HOW TO CREATE GREAT PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR EA 2 HOUR LIVE WORKSHOP // JUNE 23rd // 3pm (ET) or 12noon (PT) Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Is your church ready? Are you re-opening? Ready to welcome MORE people to worship and grow with your church? Are you out of space or are your interiors dated and needing improvement? The architecture and design team at Risepointe want to help you align your facility with the mission and vision that God has given your church. That’s why Risepointe developed The Needs Analysis. The Needs An

Thanks for joining in for this week’s unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with Jenn Clauser, the Director of Communications at Coker United Methodist Church in San Antonio, Texas. She’s with us today to dig deeper into online church and how to integrate it as a core part of our mission to reaching people who are far from God. Optimize your website. // Before COVID, Coker felt led to make their online presence more robust. They partnered with Missional Marketing who rebuilt the church’s website for search engine optimization. By paying attention to what people are looking for in keyword searches online from month to month, a website can be made to do outreach for you. Coker layers these words into their website in an authentic way by using them in sermon series. Divorce, for example, is a high search term in the month of January, so Coker tends to lead into the year with a series about families. They might use phrases on their website such as: How do you avoid divorce? How do you care for someone who has been divorced? How do we strengthen marriage? By developing a strong online presence, you will be easily found by your community in their time of need.Create connections. // As online viewership increased during COVID, Coker began to ask how they could see the analytics as faces. These are real people looking for guidance and connections. Feed them where they are and offer them help and services online even if you can’t see them. Coker did this by connecting their online audience to meaningful community. A few steps they took included setting up a way where online guests could register their attendance and let you know their names and email addresses. They created a place for online prayer requests and a team responds to these requests in real time. Coker also offered people a free book in exchange for their email address, as well as one-off courses, like a simple marriage class. Have a connections expert who is in charge of reaching out to them see where their needs are.Launch classes online. // Within their online campus, Coker listed all of their courses online. Allowing all of your classes to be attended in that format opens the door to a new audience who may never have attended your church before. Coker has their classes set up similar to Google Classroom. People can get the class content, a Facebook group where they can connect during the week, the Zoom link, and other resources for attendees. Online classes provide a way to reach people that won’t walk through the doors of your church right away, but they feel comfortable being present in an online Zoom classroom. It gives them the chance to know others’ faces, and provides a bridge where they could feel comfortable attending church in person down the road. Don’t miss this mission field opportunity.Brainstorm new ideas. // Recognizing the opportunities that are provided by mixing online and in-person, Coker is brainstorming a lot of possible ideas right now. In the fall they are launching an intentional discipleship program where people take an online assessment, get their results, and then meet with a spiritual director who will guide their next steps. Depending on what the spiritual director recommends, people may then get involved in online classes to help them study the Bible better or dig deeper into prayer. Another new thing Coker is trying is assembling five community groups. Four of these will be in-person and one will be online. Each group will meet quarterly as a community gathering for things such as a BBQ, a study group, a monthly dinner, etc. Coker will see what organically grows from there.Listen well. // During this transitional phase it’s important for churches to be listening to what their community needs as well as how they want to connect with your church. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas and offer a mix of online and in-person services or events. Most of all, make space to listen to God. During the pandemic, God has shown Jenn that she needs to be intentional about her connection with Him. Pay particular attention to your sabbath, your time with God alone, and time with other people and how God might be speaking through them. Commit everything to prayer, and know who your Spirit-led experts are. Talk decisions out with other leaders at the church, but also don’t be afraid to use Google to research and learn! You can learn more about Coker United Methodist Church at www.coker.org and visit their online campus at Coker.org/cokeronline. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it

It’s clear that we’re entering a post-pandemic stress period in the life of the local church. All around us we see signs that our teams are stressed and not sure what to do next. Anecdotally, we’re hearing about huge turnover at churches, and we cannot ignore the rising anxiety in leaders across the country. Recently, Adam Grant wrote an article in the New York Times called, “There’s a Name For The Blah You’re Feeling: It’s Called Languishing”. This article has been passed around in many of my circles because it accurately captures where so many of our teams are at right now. The sense of blah that has come over many of our team members is impacting not only their mental health but the ability of our churches to push forward and make a difference in our communities. As executive pastors, we’re concerned and are wondering what we can do to help. Rather than being content with letting this problem roll over us, I want to provide some guidance to help you wrestle with actions you could take to help your team move forward. I believe that it’s possible to move from languishing to flourishing. In this season, we must help all our team members take steps away from languishing and toward flourishing. Ultimately, we need people to grow their relationship with Jesus because He anchors our forward-facing steps. Our friends at Medi-Share have released a particularly helpful study in light of the issues in Grant’s article. This study is called the “10 Things About Mental Health Every Pastor and Leader Should Know” and its findings can help us figure out a way forward for our teams. 3 Actions Your Church Can Take to Help Languishing Team Members Actively de-stigmatize counseling // One of the shocking statistics that stood out in the Medi-Share study was that 71% of pastors fear their congregation knowing that they’re getting counseling. Counseling has been an important part of my journey as a leader over the last 10 years. I have found it exceedingly helpful. In my marriage, it’s been a source of joy as we’ve taken time to slow down and draw from a trusted advisor who can help us wrestle through what God has to say about our relationship and help me think about thinking. Gone is the season where pastors and church leaders need to think about themselves as superhuman. This statistic made me sad to think that there are still many pastors out there who fear that people in the church may think less of them for seeking personal counsel. Because in fact, the opposite is true. Investing in your own mental health by seeking counsel is a sign of strength, not a sign of weakness. As a leadership team, we not only need to provide access to counseling as a way of helping our team grow but actively work at de-stigmatizing it. Casually talk about it in your leadership teams. Ensure that the way you speak about it from the stage is pro-counseling. Find ways to encourage your staff to connect with counseling. Medi-Share provides remote counseling to its member churches, which is incredible! Learn more about it here. I’ve found remote counseling to be immensely effective and easy to slot into my life during this season. It could be a perfect tool to offer your teammates as they navigate the post-pandemic period. What can you do to help remove any hesitation around getting counseling for your team? Help Your Team Make Professional Friends // According to the Medi-Share study, 75% of pastors said they felt isolated and alone, both personally and professionally. We all know that people who feel isolated present a real danger to their mental health and the mental health of those around them. The stereotype of the lone pastor sitting in their office, whittling away on their latest sermon while dealing with current church pressures has some truth to it. Ministry can be a lonely profession even for people serving on a team. We must turn this around for our people! Within your staff community, ensure that you are creating opportunities for people to connect. One of the most important things that people need to succeed in any job is a “work friend”. It is our responsibility to structure opportunities for friendships to develop and grow. Taking time out to do something social has always been important for our teams and is doubly important in this season. You could also provide opportunities for your people to develop friendships external to your church. Part of the reason why we run online coaching cohorts at unSeminary for executive pastors and team members is that we want people to develop friendships across the country. One of the amazing outcomes of the pandemic is that people are increasingly more comfortable with meeting and developing relationships online. These professional huddles are an important tool for people to develop friendships and not feel isolated. Sharing problems that you’re having at your church with others can be a breath of fresh air and you’ll realize