I recently sat down with two fantastic leaders from Thrivent Church Financing to discuss the current financial realities and the impact they’ve seen happening with churches.

Here are the facts: Most churches wait way too long to begin having this conversation. Many churches face a leadership transition sooner than they planned (death, debilitating health issues, resignation, scandal). And most churches mess up the succession process, and it takes years to recover.

This month’s sponsor of the LeadingSmart Executive Pastor Coaching Network is Generis, and I recently sat down with Jim Sheppard, the Principal and CEO of Generis to discuss Year-End Giving trends from 2022 and his forecasts for 2023.

In the last two years, I have been more aware than ever of the mental health of pastors, including my own. I sat down with my longtime friend Mark Waltz, a leader in the intersecting spheres of health, wellness, and ministry, to discuss the toll the past two years have taken on us.

We’ve all been around the leaders who is untouchable. They are building their own silo that contains different values and behavior expectations. Senior leaders typically look the other way -- not realizing the significant damage that is being done. Many times they even elevate and celebrate this person based on their performance, not realizing the unintended message they are sending about what really matters (performance) and what doesn't (culture, values, behaviors). 

It’s been a chaotic and adventurous last few years at Willow Creek as we’ve been rebuilding, restructuring, and regathering. I sat down with one of our Pastors, Todd Katter, who has been at Willow for 15 years and leads our Huntley location. We’ve been talking about what needs to change for pastors and churches in this post-pandemic season.

Are you mystified by how to approach Generation Z and worried about their low attendance in church post-COVID? Let me introduce you to Faith Schiller and Hannah Gronowski Barnett, two leaders who have taught me so much about how to understand the generation that has become the majority of today’s “young adults.”

Over his nearly three decades in ministry, Ray Johnston has built Bayside from a small campus to a thriving multisite ministry of over 20,000 people across multiple campuses in California. Ray has been focused on creating a healthy staff culture and sharing what has worked for his team with other pastors who are growing and equipping their own teams.

Many years ago my work environment had gone from bad to worse. My boss was spinning out of control. Our organization was stressed financially. Horrible decisions were being made to the detriment of me and other employees, and since I was on the lead team, it was making me look bad as well. Our culture was significantly suffering, and it was completely avoidable.

A handful of years ago, Jeff walked away from his full-time Executive Pastor role to launch Church Central Office, an offsite accounting firm solely focused on serving churches and ministries in their accounting needs. We sat down today and I got to hear more of Jeff’s story and the heart behind Church Central Office.

I love a good story. I love sitting down with someone to hear how they navigated life to arrive where they are today. Joel Mikell and I have known each other for more than two decades, and recently I had the chance to hear his story. He’s a classically trained pianist (and still plays amazing!), was a worship pastor for 25 years, and then moved into the world of helping churches grow in their generosity. I believe Joel is among the best and most experienced generosity consultants in the country.

I have talked quite often in organizations where I've led about the importance of identifying your "first team," and the difference it makes in how you lead. Recently I was asked if I could clearly explain the difference between a "first team" and other teams, and why it matters.

Amy Anderson has the kind of experience that gives her a unique and trusted perspective in the church world. With 12 years of experience as the Executive Director of Weekend Services at Eagle Brook Church, Amy was part of the leadership team that grew the church from one location of 3,000 to six campuses of over 20,000.

Imagine a job where scores, sometimes hundreds, even thousands of people come to hear you talk. They sit quietly in rows, and for the most part no one says a word while you share your wisdom. For 20 or 30 or even 45 minutes, no one speaks over you, no one asks questions, no one challenges you—it is your stage and the spotlight is on.

We were lucky enough to have Dan Reiland join us for Session 14 of the LeadingSmart Executive Pastor Coaching Network, and it was a valuable time where Dan discussed how to make teams strong and keep them healthy.

Asking questions may be one of the least talked about secret weapons of a great leader. In fact, I believe it may be one of the most undeveloped skills in leadership. Most churches are filled with leaders who are professional communicators. Pastors are paid to talk.

We started off our first Session in 2022 with Raul Palacios, the Executive Pastor at Church by the Glades in South Florida. Raul spoke on the importance of self-awareness in our role of Executive Pastors. Sometimes it can feel like there is a startling lack of emotional intelligence across our ministry teams, and Raul dug in with our Members to uncover how to strengthen our self-awareness.

Moving from Texas to join the staff at Willow Creek in the midst of a global pandemic in early 2020 was something I didn't see coming. We really sensed a clear "call" to jump into the fire and help rebuild a struggling church that had meant so much to us over the previous three decades.

In this coaching session, we were joined by Warren Bird, the Vice President of Research and Equipping at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA). My big takeaways were talking through the surprising ways Covid affected churches across the country, and discussing the anticipated (but not realized) major drop in giving.

Life is too short to spend any more time working in an environment where only one brain is required. I decided a few years ago I would finish my career working on collaborative teams, where voices are heard and encouraged, where ideas are welcome, where the unique gifting of each team member is valued and developed.