Leading change is tough. There will always be resistance. But, how you handle toxic vs. wounded people is very different. There is a lot at stake for the congregation.

RL 283: Are They Toxic or Just Wounded?

Today, Jesse and Jason talk about 3 warning signs that you need a break AND what to do about it today.

RL 292: 3 Warning Signs You Need a Break (and What to Do About it Today)

Research shows that 65% of people are visual learners, but I think it’s safe to say that nearly 100% are visual engagers. Rethinking preaching for a visually-engaged culture – and hopefully having a greater impact. Jason will dive in to his process for preaching visually.

RL 344: Rethinking Preaching for a Visually-Engaged Culture

Today we start pastor appreciation month (I think pastors might be the only ones that know about it). But we are kicking off a few episodes interviewing pastors like you in the trenches – what they’re doing, learning, and how God is showing up. Today we have a great conversation with David Kling from Covenant Presbyterian Church

RL 359: Stories from the Trenches (Pastor David Kling)

Today we continue pastor appreciation month as we interview pastors (like you) in the trenches – what they’re doing, what they’re learning, and how God is showing up. In this episode, we have a great conversation with Pastor Robbie Ytterberg from Toms River NJ– as he talks about helping a church look forward instead of backward.

RL 361: Stories from the Trenches (Pastor Robbie Ytterberg)

As we near the end of pastor appreciation month, we distill what we learned from our pastor interviews.  While we walk away from October feeling very encouraged we also discovered 7 important truths from the trenches.  We’re share those with you AND giveaway our free month of coaching.

RL 362: 7 Important Truths We Learned From Pastor Interviews

The department stores have all their Christmas stuff on display - and we should be close behind. Today we continue talking about strategic Christmas planning with Nathan Teegarden from Church Fuel. We cover common mistakes that churches make with Christmas as well as key elements that effective churches share.

RL 366: Multiplying Christmas Outreach with Nathan Teegarden

Today we start our series on Dreaming Big for 2025. How do you develop and launch a vision for your church? How do you discern together what God is calling you to do. Today we talk about the 2-sided vision approach.

RL 367: Dreaming Big for 2025 (Part 1: Vision)

Merry Christmas everyone! If you’re listening in real time, it’s Christmas Eve. Right now we have a short episode talking about some last minute reminders and encouragement for this next week.

RL 371: A Quick Christmas Encouragement

One of the biggest challenges I hear from pastors (and that we are working through at my church) has to do with volunteers. Are we inviting, equipping, and appreciating them or do they leave feeling a little used and abused?

RL 374: Overcoming 5 Volunteer Obstacles

A lot of ministry challenges can afford to get put on the back burner. But, what happens when you have one that can’t wait? Today we walk through a challenge my church is facing so I can share the process we’ll be using to address it – so that you can apply that same process to whatever challenge you’re facing

RL 375: Attacking a Ministry Challenge Quickly

Power tools are incredible – they can shorten a project exponentially, and, won’t tire you out like doing it by hand. And yet, pastors, for the sake of expedience or ease, tend to keep doing things without power tools.Today we’re reminding you about 3 leadership tools to help you move forward.

RL 376: 3 Power Tools for Ministry Progress

How do you know when a ministry is actually working? If it’s not, how do you know when to pivot to something else? Often, we don’t have good ways to measure the outcomes so we keep doing things in perpetuity. But, what if we got better at it? It just might help revitalize our churches.

RL 377: 5 Questions to Help You Know When to Pivot

Pastors talk a lot about having healthy churches. But, what exactly does that look like? It’s not just about numbers it’s about fruitfulness. So, how do we discern the good fruit from the bad? The answer to that question is everything.

RL 378: How Do You Measure Church Health?

So many of our older, established churches, have given up reaching young families. They say, "We’re just a small church, we don’t have the budget to reach them." But, they’re assuming it’s a resource problem - when in fact, it’s usually a willingness problem.

RL 379: 5 Steps to Better Reach Young Families

Last week we talked about how to reach young families, and we continue today by talking about reaching Gen Z. How are we calibrating our churches to speak to them? How are we including them in the life of the church? How are we translating Jesus into their language? A few ideas to get started.

RL 380: Helping the Next Gen Find Jesus

Last week we talked about how to help Gen Z find Jesus. Today, we welcome the Dir. of Next Gen Ministries at Tower Hill Church, Lindsey Larkin, as she discusses what she’s seeing in ministry to teenagers and young adults. And, what to do if you’re struggling to reach them.

RL 381: What Next Gen Leaders Are Seeing (with Lindsey Larkin)

Have you ever experienced “death by meeting” or at least mortally wounded by meeting? Meetings can be a drain, but what if you could have greater impact with fewer meetings? Today we jump into how to optimize your meetings for mission movement. 

RL 382: How to Have Greater Impact with Fewer Meetings

Every church leader I know is looking for best practices for ministry. But one of the most important doesn’t sound that exciting: having a healthy governing board. If they can’t work together on the big mission and vision, it’s really hard to have a healthy church. 5 Moves to cultivate a healthy board. 

RL 383: 5 Moves to Cultivate a Healthy Elder Board

We’re just a few weeks out from Easter, which is the perfect time to start thinking about how to make first-time guests feel at home. We’re talking with our Dir. of Guest Services & Communication, Suzanne Duffy, about how to build and develop a welcoming environment.

RL:384 Getting Ready to Welcome Easter Guests (with Suzanne Duffy)

No matter what size church you lead, small groups are a great discipleship strategy. Maybe you’re just thinking about developing small groups in your church. Or, maybe you just want to start one. The point is, that once you start reaching people, you’ll want to help them grow. Here are 5 key decisions that lead to better groups. 

RL 385: 5 Key Decisions that Lead to Better Groups

Leading adaptive change in the local church can be pretty disorienting and discouraging. Why? Because we don’t have all the answers. Today Jesse dives into a framework to help ask the right questions to start working on the right solutions. 

RL 386: Asking the Right Questions (Part 1)

Last week, we started unpacking how to use good questions to get moving forward on adaptive change. It’s not just about best practices but about the right practices for us. Today we continue with part 2 of our series on using a question-based framework for leading change.

RL 387: Asking the Right Questions (Part 2)

Research shows that only 30% of Christians in mainline churches read their bibles once a week. If scripture is sufficient for what we need to know about faith and life, how do we handle the ripple effect of Christians not engaging with scripture? Here are some ideas to help.

RL 388: How to Handle the Epidemic of Biblical Illiteracy in the Church

I know we talk about forward movement on the other side of Easter – outreach, discipleship, and summer plans. But, are you feeling like you just don’t have it in you? Have you lost the joy in your sense of call? Maybe you don’t just need a vacation. Maybe you need to discover joy again. 

RL 389: How Burned-Out Leaders Can Discover Joy Again

Well, the Easter eggs have all been found, and the marshmallow peeps eaten up, but what happened to all those church visitors? Getting people to come once isn’t as difficult as getting them to come back. So, how do you do it? By paying attention to these 10 things. 

RL 390: The Top 10 Reasons Guests Return to Your Church

There’s a disease that plagues Elder Boards across the country. You may recognize it as Action Deficit Disorder – where information runs rampant but action and implementation are frozen in place. The good news? It can be cured. We’re talking about how to help our Boards move forward.

RL 391: How to Cure Action Deficit Disorder (For Your Elder Board)

In this episode of The Reclaimed Leader, we chat with renowned author, speaker, and church consultant, Dr. Bob Whitesel about change, growth, and leadership.

Reclaimed Leader: Helping You Lead Change Without Losing Your Roots

RL 001: Navigating Change with Church Consultant Dr. Bob Whitesel

In this episode of The Reclaimed Leader, we talk with longtime church and denominational leader, Rev. Dr. Jim Mead.  Jim provides excellent insight into the nature of leading change and the spiritual cost of both action and inaction.

The Reclaimed Leader Podcast: Helping You Lead Change Without Losing Your Roots

RL 002: The Relationship Between Leadership and Suffering with Rev. Dr. Jim Mead

Today Jesse and Jason have their annual Christmas episode! Christmas is an important strategic opportunity, especially in COVID times. 

www.reclaimedleader.com/episode158

RL 158: Do They Even Know It's Christmas Time?

Church health strategies from two pastors in the trenches

Reclaimed Leader

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