The Unstuck Church Podcast

We work with a lot of churches that are stuck. And because that's our world, we spend a lot of time on this podcast talking about the problems that churches are facing. This series is a little different. We're going to talk about where churches are winning because celebrating what's working matters just as much as fixing what isn't . Sean had the chance to talk with Christy Gibas , lead pastor of The Table Church in Pittsburgh, PA, about their groups strategy. The Table Church is so committed to being a church of groups (not just a church with groups) that they changed the name of their church . In this episode, Sean and Jimmy talk about how The Table Church is winning with their groups strategy and what you can learn from them. What's your revolution? Groups as a front door Raising up group leaders & multiplying groups 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 Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

Your staff culture shapes your congregation more than any set of values you've ever put on a wall. People absorb values from watching how the people leading them actually behave. And whatever they're seeing, they interpret as "the way we do it here." If culture development stops at your staff, you've only done part of the work. Because the culture on your staff team is going to shape your congregation , whether you push it out there on purpose or not. We're wrapping up our series by talking about what happens when you cascade your culture to your congregation . Sean and Paul cover what Sun Valley built, how it works and how it turned into their leadership pipeline. Investing in your culture Leadership cohorts for high-capacity volunteers Pushing your culture down This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

Every hire you make is a culture decision. You're either adding somebody who makes your team more like who you said you want to be or somebody who pulls it a little the other way. When you make your culture-shaping behaviors a normal part of your hiring, onboarding and staff evaluation process, you get better at hiring and managing. You'll see less turnover and more staff embracing and celebrating your culture alongside you. In this episode, we're talking interviews, onboarding and reviews . We'll also share a bit of how Sun Valley does this at their church and what it would take for you to get started. Assessing culture fit in the hiring process "Cultural Crash Course" in onboarding Culture conversations in staff reviews This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

Defining your culture-shaping behaviors is a quick project. Embedding them into your team is a multi-year commitment—but that's the part that determines whether any of this changes how your team actually operates . What tends to happen is we come out of this meeting and return to the whirlwind of the rest of ministry. We put this list of behaviors on the wall or a desk calendar, and then go back to what we've always done. In this episode, Sean and Paul talk about what it takes to keep your culture alive . And they'll spend time talking about this idea: you will get what you tolerate . If you tolerate the status quo, you'll keep getting the status quo. Modeling culture-shaping behaviors Evaluating yourself on a regular rhythm What to do when a leader violates a behavior This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

Culture is difficult to define but easy to feel … and it's hard to overestimate the role culture plays in your team's health and efficiency. A healthy culture can help turbocharge your vision and make progress toward the calling that God has for your church. But an unhealthy team culture will actually erode your vision and derail your strategy. We invited Paul Alexander, the executive pastor at Sun Valley Church in Phoenix, AZ and a consultant on our team, to join us for this new series: Getting Practical on Developing Culture . In this episode, we talk about actually defining your culture—getting those "unspoken rules" written down and implemented into your team—because you either define your culture or it gets defined for you. Values vs. culture-shaping behaviors An exercise to define your culture-shaping behaviors Interviewing, hiring and training for your culture This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

The next time that you walk into your church lobby, pretend it's your very first time there. What does the room tell you about your church? Because it's telling people something. The question is whether it's the story that you meant to tell. Sean got the chance to sit down with Phil Taylor from PlainJoe Studios . Phil spent 20 years in lead pastor and executive pastor roles before joining PlainJoe, where he helps churches with building, design, branding, and web projects. In this episode, Phil and Sean talk through what telling your story through design actually means. Why your kids' spaces need numbers instead of animal names How often your main spaces need an update Phil & Sean's weirdest church lobby stories This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

People issues, especially people changes , can be incredibly divisive in a church. Suddenly, a staff member people love is no longer on the platform, and nobody's really sure why. Church leaders have had months to process the change, but the congregation and staff have to catch up in one conversation or announcement. And they rarely sit in that gap of information neutrally … they fill it with a story that's not about the decision but about the church itself. We're wrapping up Too Big to Run on Relationships , our series on getting your structure right as a large church. And we saved the hardest conversation for last— how do you make structural and staffing changes without blowing up your church? The Change Cycle Sequencing communication in the right order Developing a communication plan and a care plan This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

You've got a structure on paper. You have clean reporting lanes, ownership and a healthy span of care. But the boxes that make up each role are still empty. How do you determine who goes in which seat? How do you know if someone has the leadership capacity a role requires? What happens when a role grows past the person in it? What do you do when the honest answer is that someone isn't in the right seat anymore? In this episode, the conversation shifts from charts to people, as Sean and Jonathan talk about getting the right people in the right seats. 10 years of The Unstuck Church Podcast! Clear is kind Evaluating character, chemistry & competency This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

Most churches build structure without ever naming what they're structuring around. Pastors want good structure for really good reasons. They want communication to work. They want to catch problems before they become a crisis. They want to know nothing's falling through the cracks. And honestly, most of them want their people cared for; they don't want anybody carrying more than they should. Those are pastoral instincts—great instincts. But here's where it can go wrong. A church feels the organizational pain, and they go straight to adjusting the org chart. They restructure without ever answering the question of what the structure was supposed to serve . In this episode, Sean and Jonathan talk about a key part of structuring your church staff: who owns what? Responsibility vs. accountability Structure to the strategy, not to the history Getting the SLT right T his Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

If your church is over 1,000 in attendance, you're just too big to run on relationships . At some point, the way you've always led stops scaling—not because relationships don't matter (they do) but because the ministry is now carrying more complexity than your current structure can support. This is where many churches get stuck—they don't make that transition. And if you don't get intentional about systems, roles and decision-making, you'll keep feeling the same pain: confusion, bottlenecks, burnout and frustration. Your staff is working hard, but it still feels chaotic. In this series, we're going to get really practical about how to structure around systems and strategies . " Are we overstaffed or understaffed? " That's the question we're starting with in this episode because sometimes we get the data wrong and we end up hurting the team. More people vs the right people Equipping volunteers to do ministry Get your math right: how much staff do you actually need? This Episode is Sponsored by Tyndale House : If Jesus walked into your church right now, would people recognize him? We've created a personalized Savior who exists primarily to meet our needs, bless our lives, and guarantee our spots in heaven. But here's the problem. That Jesus would be unrecognizable. In the book The Missing Messiah, bestselling authors Kyle Idleman and Mark More will help your church rediscover the Jesus based on Scripture, not on culture. Plus, check out the six-session companion study guide with free access to streaming videos. Learn more at missingmessiah.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media Follow us on X and on Instagram . Tag us at @theunstuckgroup or use #unstuckchurch.

As a church getting ready to go multisite, you might know who you are, have the right people and have a clear, documented model. But at some point, going multisite really comes down to this: Can you fund it, and can you deliver it ? Can you actually pay for a new location so that it's sustainable for years to come? Can you re-create the main thing people show up for—the weekend experience? In the final episode of this series, Sean and Jesse break down the last two Multisite Readiness Checkpoints: Financial Strength and a Replicable Weekend Experience. Funding a new campus for the years to come—not just at launch Replicable weekend experience: defining the "wins" Live teaching vs. video teaching This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios : Adding a new campus to your multisite plan? If you don't have a strategy for coordinating your placemaking and wayfinding signage, maybe it's time to update across every campus. The creative and talented team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, are experts at creating placemaking signs and wayfinding markers that will tell your church's unique story and point your people in the right direction – from the moment they arrive at your campus. Learn more at plainjoe.net . Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

A multisite model that's too complex can't be multiplied ... and a model that is only captured in your head can't be handed off. To go multisite, you need something clear enough to repeat and captured well enough to share . It's one thing to know who you are, but it's another to simplify and document it so well that someone else can actually run the same ministries and systems without the need for your constant input. In this episode, Sean and Jesse talk about what you do as a multisite church and how you do it —your Ministry Model and your Defined Systems and Strategies. Plus, Sean checks in with Amy Anderson to hear about her recovery. Pruning & prioritizing You can only replicate what's recorded Documenting decision rights A word from Amy Anderson This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios : Adding a new campus to your multisite plan? If you don't have a strategy for coordinating your placemaking and wayfinding signage, maybe it's time to update across every campus. The creative and talented team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, are experts at creating placemaking signs and wayfinding markers that will tell your church's unique story and point your people in the right direction – from the moment they arrive at your campus. Learn more at plainjoe.net . Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

Multisite doesn't just stretch your building. It stretches your bench. You can have clear DNA, full buy-in and real growth and still not be ready because you don't have the leaders to pull it off . Before you launch a new location, you need to assess whether you have enough of the right leaders, healthy leaders and a deep enough volunteer bench . In this episode, we're looking at three checkpoints that focus on your team: staff leadership capacity, staff health and volunteer strength . Replicating the right leaders Building a team that trusts Raising up volunteer leaders This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios : Adding a new campus to your multisite plan? If you don't have a strategy for coordinating your placemaking and wayfinding signage, maybe it's time to update across every campus. The creative and talented team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, are experts at creating placemaking signs and wayfinding markers that will tell your church's unique story and point your people in the right direction – from the moment they arrive at your campus. Learn more at plainjoe.net . Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

Here's a pattern we keep seeing: more and more churches are rushing into multisite. Churches are launching campuses without doing their due diligence. And they're skipping the learning from the churches that have already gone before them—the mistakes they've made and the things worth repeating. A move of God is not a substitute for doing your homework. Because here's what we've learned over the years: The number one reason campus launches fail is that churches start too fast and too small. That's why we're beginning this new series called "What Ready-For-Multisite Looks Like." And we're kicking it off with this question: Should you even be having a multisite conversation yet? Getting clear on DNA Organizational buy-in Evaluating your current growth This Episode is Sponsored by PlainJoe Studios : Adding a new campus to your multisite plan? If you don't have a strategy for coordinating your placemaking and wayfinding signage, maybe it's time to update across every campus. The creative and talented team at PlainJoe, a Storyland Studio, are experts at creating placemaking signs and wayfinding markers that will tell your church's unique story and point your people in the right direction – from the moment they arrive at your campus. Learn more at plainjoe.net . Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

We're back with another "Ask Anything" episode! How do you break through the 500 barrier? How do you decide which programs to prune? How in the world do you free up room in your middle service?! Sean and Ron Baum, a long-time consultant at The Unstuck Group and ministry leader who has served in the local church for over 30 years, answer these pressing questions and more in this episode. If you have a question for the next "Ask Anything" episode, call our voicemail line at (615) 398-9171 or send us a message on social media. 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 PlainJoe.net and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

The senior pastor owns vision. The ministry staff own execution. But who owns the space in between? The gap between vision and execution—the strategy, the alignment, the ability to pull things together—is where churches get stuck. And the executive pastor is the person who can close that gap. You may call this role something different in your church, but the best way to think about this role is as the integrator . Some people think the XP role is the "associate" or "the person who does the stuff the lead pastor doesn't want to do." It is so much more than that. A great executive pastor might be the rarest, most valuable person on your team . So in this episode, Sean and Jimmy dive into what only the executive pastor can do . Heart for theology, head for organizational leadership 3 roles an XP can't delegate Leading a high-impact team 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 PlainJoe.net and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

The job of the senior pastor is enormous. Prepare and deliver sermons. Ensure the spiritual health of the church. Model biblical priorities. And, roughly, 400 other items. Whether it's in the written job description or not, senior pastors have too much to do. And when everything is on your plate, everything feels equally urgent. But there's a handful of things that only the lead pastor can do. And the gap between that and everything else on the to-do list is where lead pastors get stuck. In this episode, Sean and Jimmy break down the unique role of the senior pastor —what only they can do and how to delegate everything else. Roles the senior pastor c an't delegate What the senior pastor s hould delegate Protecting your calendar and what only you can do 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 PlainJoe.net and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

Of all the relationships in your church, there's one relationship that determines whether everything else runs smoothly or grinds to a halt— the relationship between the senior pastor and the executive pastor. When it's healthy, the whole organization feels it. And when it's not…the whole organization feels that too. And if this relationship isn't healthy, your staff is talking about it too. We invited Jimmy McLoud , lead pastor at First Christian Church in Canton, Ohio, and a consultant on our team, to speak into this topic. Jimmy has served in both the executive pastor role and the senior pastor role, so it's safe to say he's experienced when it comes to the relationship between these two roles. In this new series, Sean and Jimmy are going to dig into how to clarify these two roles and strengthen the partnership between them. And in this episode, they're starting at the foundation: why is this relationship so hard to get right? People-focused roles vs. task-focused roles Understanding each other's wiring Doing the work only you can do 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 PlainJoe.net and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

Fast-growing churches don't necessarily impress us. More often than not, growth reveals the areas where churches are actually stuck . But every once in a while, we run into a church that is both growing and healthy. City Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has seen 51% year-over-year growth . But they've experienced more than a bump in attendance. They're seeing growth in groups, serve teams, discipleship, baptisms—you name it. And if you're leading a fast-growing church, you know how rare that is. In this episode, I sat down with Pastor Chris Freeman to talk about the remarkable growth story of City Church and how they managed to stay healthy through intentional decisions, leadership and strategic planning. The challenging reality of rapid growth Reaching the lost & discipling new believers The value of having leaders of leaders on your staff 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 PlainJoe.net and dream up the bright future of your church. Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .

The Q2 2026 Unstuck Church Report is here! For this report, we are focusing on staffing trends in churches of various sizes. In this year's survey, we asked pastors and church leaders to tell us about the biggest staffing and structure challenges their churches are facing. And it's clear that there are some big hurdles churches are working to navigate. These hurdles are real, but as many churches have shown, there's also a clear path through them. And this year, it's visible in the data. In this episode, Sean breaks down the staffing data and trends we're seeing in churches this quarter: The biggest staffing challenges The hardest role to fill right now The strategy for a lean but healthy staff Exclusive interview with Todd Rhoades from Chemistry Staffing This Episode is Sponsored by Chemistry Staffing Chemistry Staffing is a church search firm helping churches across the country hire healthy pastors and ministry staff who stay. Led by experienced pastors and church leaders, we match every role across the five areas that predict long-term fit: theology, culture, personality, skills, and chemistry. From senior pastors to worship and operations roles, plus coaching, compensation, and succession support, we make your next hire easier. Learn more at chemistrystaffing.com . Join the Conversation on Social Media We use hashtag #unstuckchurch on X and on Instagram .