5 Leadership Questions Podcast on Church Leadership with Todd Adkins and Dan Iten

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Tyler Reagin who is the founder and CEO of The Life Giving Company and the author of The Life-Giving Leader and Leading Things You Didn’t Start. BEST QUOTES  “Leaders are learners. If there is not a system for learning, you are not going to think about it.” “Leaders, if you are not a learner, you have a short shelf life.” “Maintenance creates momentum.” “A good product with a bad process is a counterfeit win.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 10 Ten Project Life Giving Leader Leading Things You Didn't Start

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Chandler Vannoy, and Dan Iten discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of effectively recruiting volunteers. BEST QUOTES  “Our job of course is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.” “We aren’t just looking for a warm body who can fill a seat. We want to get the right volunteers in the right seat.” “Desperation for volunteers is not a good look, so you are going to get a poor result when you approach it with that posture.” “Many times, we actually say no for a person when we are asking them to serve.” “If you are recruiting me, you need to do so with great clarity including a job description and expectations.” “There is a high cost to a cheap ask.” “What you celebrate is what you cultivate in the culture.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Creating a Recruiting Culture eBook Sample Job Descriptions on Ministry Grid 6 Essentials to Onboarding and Training Volunteers eBook

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Dan Iten are joined by Katie Allred to discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of church communications. Katie founded ChurchCommunications.com and manages the Church Communications Facebook Group that serves as a resource on marketing and communication strategies for over 30,000 church leaders. BEST QUOTES  “You can challenge your church to be salt and light on the internet.” “You can’t be on every channel, everywhere. You don’t need to be on every platform.” “If you are on every platform, you aren’t doing any of them well.” “Social media is moving from corporate to personal.” “Remember when on Youtube to name them as if someone is searching for what you are giving them.” “Intentionality trumps excellence.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Church Communications Facebook Group  The Church Communications Conference  Church Communications - Methods and Marketing Book  

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins, Daniel Im, and Dan Iten discuss 5 Leadership Questions on the topic of discipleship. BEST QUOTES “We have made discipleship unnecessarily complex.” “We teach the way we have been taught. We lead the way that we have been led. Unless we consciously do so otherwise.” “We can sometimes set the bar way too high for what it means to be discipled or disciple other people.” “A question we should ask ourselves is, When’s the last time I have made a disciple who is making other disciples?” “Culture is created by what you celebrate, measure, and control.” “Discipleship should be rooted in everything we do in the church.” “The people of your church are stickier than any program or preaching that you’ve got.” “Discipleship is very simple. It is follow me as I follow Christ.”  RECOMMENDED RESOURCES No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im The Gospel Project Bible Studies for Life Explore the Bible

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the executive director of LifeWay Research. They complete a discussion on research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: * What is the pastors survey?* What are the top concerns from this research when it comes to the personal life of the pastor?* What does it mean when a pastor says disciple-making is a big concern?* Are these results just a reflection of what everyone in society is experiencing or are these unique to pastors?* Are there any significant statistical differences that you might point out?* What is one encouragement that you can pull from the research for pastors? BEST QUOTES "Several things that land at the top of the list for a pastor's needs are stress, their own disciple-making, consistently exercising, avoiding over-commitment and overwork, and time management.""Seven out of ten pastors need to invest time in their consistency when it comes to personal prayer.""Almost seven out of ten pastors say they need to be more consistent in their Bible reading that is not related to sermon prep.""The relationship with God is so vital for leaders and pastors. You have to be living it out yourself to ask people to do the same.""It can be so easy as a pastor with all the demands on you to take the personal things and say, 'I'll get to that later.' But really you have to be intentional and proactive when it comes to self-care and boundaries.""The best way to slowly build yourself back up is to have someone walking along with you.""Younger pastors are more likely to indicate that they need to work on building relationships with other pastors.""Fifty-one percent of older pastors say the consistency of taking a sabbath is something they need to work on." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study 5LQ Episode 483: Pastoral Research #1 with Scott McConnell 5LQ Episode 484: Pastoral Research #2 with Scott McConnell Lifeway Research

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the executive director of LifeWay Research. They continue a discussion on research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: * What is the pastors survey?* What are the top concerns from this research when it comes to the job of the pastor? * What does it mean to force rank these areas?* Do you have any idea what lies beneath some of these larger concerns?* What tools are there for pastors to gauge the health of their congregations?* What encouragement does a pastor need to hear based on the research? BEST QUOTES "Some of the top needs for the pastor are the ministry side. When they are thinking about what they need to give attention to, they are often thinking about the church.""Within ministry difficulties, a quarter of pastors indicated fostering connections with unchurched people as their number one ministry difficulty. Another quarter said developing leaders and volunteers, and right behind that is training current leaders and volunteers.""One of the things that churches have gotten out of the habit of doing is talking about evangelism.""Half of Americans are curious as to why some people are so devoted to their faith." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study 5LQ Episode 483: Pastoral Research #1 with Scott McConnell Evangelism Explosion Study of American Christians’ Openness to Talking about Faith Discipleship Pathway Assessment

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Scott McConnell. McConnell is the Executive Director of LifeWay Research. They discuss a new set of research all about pastors and the greatest needs of pastors, including the following questions: * How was this research conducted?* What are the biggest concerns that pastors have today?* Have you seen needs change from pre-Covid to post-Covid?* What surprised you about the research?* Was their one area you wish you could have gone deeper in the study? BEST QUOTES "More than three-fourths of pastors indicated that developing leaders and volunteers, peoples apathy and lack of commitment, and fostering connections with unchurched people are things they are trying to address right now." "Worship attendance is still running, on average. about 75% of what it was pre-Covid." "We've got to move in our thinking from looking at the numbers, to making sure you are looking at the names. Who exactly is not back? We need to connect with them personally." "Those who study jobs will talk about the fact that the pastor role has not only a large number of things that you need to be skilled at, but you need to be able to switch between them very quickly." "There's not one silver bullet we can do to suddenly meet the needs of pastors this year, because when it comes to 'What's your one biggest need?' they are really spread out." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES The Greatest Needs of Pastors Research Study

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Todd Adkins are joined by Jen Wilkin. Wilkin is the Executive Director of Family and Next Gen Ministries at The Village Church. She is also an author, speaker, and Bible teacher. They discuss how to cultivate female leaders in the church and why anonymous feedback loops are important. BEST QUOTES "All of us are called to teach and to train, so let's be well equipped to do it.""A good leader is always looking for how to give people real buy-in to what is happening in ministry.""If you pay attention to what your volunteers are giving big chunks of their time to it is actually not things that ask little of them, it is things that ask a great deal of them.""A woman who is going to risk exhibiting a leadership gift in a local church will probably first do so in an all female space.""Often in churches there are tribal cultures where the depth of relationship is what determines who received the most budget dollars. As a female in leadership spaces, that is something I am sensitive to because I am not going to have the depth of relationship with my male counterparts.""We should compel people, not just with beautiful words about the sea but with our evident commitment to take them there.""People are compelled by beautiful vision. That is the gospel." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Women Academy

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Kevin Peck. Peck is the lead pastor of The Austin Stone Church. He is the co-author of Designed to Lead. They discuss the following questions: * What is the biblical reason that churches should serve the city they are in?* How have the churches in Austin come together to serve their city well?* How did serving become part of the DNA at Austin Stone?* How does this become practice? BEST QUOTES "God is calling all of His people to love their neighbor and their neighbor is someone that you see that is in need, you are supposed to go help. It is really that simple.""Why should we help our city? A city is nothing if it is not just your neighbors.""When you see someone hurting you meet the need because Jesus Christ has saved your life and given you the capacity to love in ways that are alien to everyone else.""Some of the sweetest things for me as a pastor is to see one church be able to provide funds for another, not because they were doing it out of sentimentality, but because that was how the Kingdom needed to work in that moment.""During 2020 and 2021, the church was either going to become something in the city that ultimately was unnecessary or completely critical.""At the end of the day, the gospel changes you in such a radical way that we should start caring about the things that God cares about.""He gives special attention to people who are marginalized or vulnerable or hurting, and the reason He does that is because that is how fathers act.""We are trying to all the time teach them and give them tools to see opportunities around them and to meet those needs.""I don't think we can be a blessing to our city if we don't love our city." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger and Kevin Peck Strategic Leadership Community

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Derwin Gray. Gray is the founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church. He is the author of several books including his newest, God, Do You Hear Me?. They discuss wisdom in hiring friends on your staff and closing the gap between what we know and what we live. BEST QUOTES "Leadership is about embodying what you want other people to become.""Trying to be good without God makes us bad, and people get hurt.""Make sure that Jesus comes before friendships.""The longer you keep someone in a role they are not competent for, it is actually hurting them.""Jesus is paramount and everything else is secondary.""A leader can be a leader without being a disciple, but every disciple should be a leader.""My life impacts too many other lives for me to not ask the Holy Spirit to grow me in every facet of life.""Leadership competence can be learned but discipleship flows out of obedience.""I don't think America or their church lacks leaders. I think it lacks gospel character." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network God, Do You Hear Me? by Derwin Gray The Good Life by Derwin Gray Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Eric Geiger. Geiger is the senior pastor of Mariners Church and former co-host of 5LQ. He is also author of several books including Simple Church, Identity, and Designed to Lead. They discuss the following questions: * Why is reading important for a leader?* How has reading helped you lead in new spaces and new disciplines?* How should a leader read a book?* How does reading help influence your preaching and how do you take what you are reading and curate it into sermon?* What are your top 5 books to read as a leader?* When should you ask your staff to read a book with you? What are the best practices?* How do you apply what you read and put it into practice? BEST QUOTES "You combine the humility of opening a book and the discipline of opening a book and that's a recipe for growth.""The more I read, the more I am able to articulate strategy, vision, and concise arguments.""Reading is important for leaders because the leader grows and the leader learns how to frame communication.""Know on the front end how you are going to engage the book.""Going into each book knowing the point of reading that book informs how you engage.""If I read a paradigm shifting book, then I look to bring it to the team to help them process where I believe we need to go.""Identify on the tail end of a book what are a couple of things you are going to do." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger Identity by Eric Geiger Designed to Lead by Eric Geiger Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders Leading Change by John Kotter Leadership and the One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard The 4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Stephen Covey and Jim Huling A Beautiful Constraint by Mark Barden and Adam Morgan The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero Depression by Edward Welch

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Steve Carter. Carter is pastor, speaker, author, podcast host and the former lead teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. He hosts the Craft & Character podcast, a sports podcast called The Home Team, and his latest book, The Thing Beneath the Thing, is now available. They discuss how people respond when they are triggered by past pain and why sanctification really matters. BEST QUOTES "If I say something I shouldn't say or I do not follow through on a commitment, I can't say that just like Paul, 'I do not understand what I do.'""We are people who have been triggered and those triggers are deeply connected to pains, traumas, and wounds.""The healthiest people, when they get triggered, don't see it as permission to escape. They see it as an invitation to be courageously curious.""The desert was a real gift for me because it was character school. It helped me remember why I got into this.""You can have these principles and values and practices and then all of a sudden you go through a season of three months where you feel like there isn't margin.""I needed to be healthy. I didn't want to step into another church and transfer my pain onto some other elder board.""A lot of times, especially in moments of crisis, there isn't a true north. Oftentimes, for pastors and leaders, we know the vision for our church, but we don't have a personal vision.""Every 90 days we try to look at the last 90 days to see what worked, what didn't, what needs to change, what can we be better at.""I was grateful that there were pastors in my life who could see that my success was outpacing my character and they pulled me aside.""Don't ever stop working on your craft.""I think a lot of pastors plateau in their 30s. I want to be a better communicator when I'm 70. I want to be wiser, but I always want my character to lead the way." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Craft & Character podcast The Home Team podcast The Thing Beneath the Thing by Steve Carter Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Josh Patterson. Patterson is lead pastor at the Village Church. He co-authored Creature of the Word and leads Strategic Leadership Community with Kevin Peck. They discuss the following questions: * What are the most common causes of conflict on a team?* How have you seen the dynamics of conflict change over time?* What does healthy and unhealthy conflict look like in a church?* How does leading out through conflict set the tone for everyone else?* How do you navigate conflict when it does arise on your team?* How do you create a culture that handles conflict in a healthy way? BEST QUOTES "The theological underpinning to why we have conflict is that we have things going on inside of us.""If we want to resolve the conflict and do it well we have to get to those below the line realities.""Leaders have to set the pace for the organizational values.""When I think about healthy conflict, I am thinking about robust and refining conversations.""A mark of healthy conflict is the fruit of it is you have charitable narratives.""If I am conflict avoidant as a leader then that says some thing to my team about how I engage in conflict.""There is really no way when conflict arises, if you want healthy culture, to avoid it.""If we have positive stories of how conflict was navigated and negotiated, to me that creates a culture that says this is a safe place for conflict to happen.""How your leaders handle conflict will shape the organization.""There's no way to have a healthy culture around conflict if you don't have healthy leaders who are engaging in conflict." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Creature of the Word by Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Ben Mandrell are joined by J.D. Greear. Greear is the lead pastor of Summit Church and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. They discuss the following questions: * Why is it hard for pastors to pray?* How has preaching and writing about prayer affected your prayer life?* How do you practically pray?* How do you engage people and get them all to work on their prayer lives?* How can we pray with intensity and clarity?* How does prayer feed vision? BEST QUOTES "Ultimately, our prayerlessness is a gospel problem. That is that the gospel hasn't trained our heart to both feel our powerlessness on things that matter and then also the promises that Jesus has for those who call to Him.""I've learned out loud and struggled in print.""The Lord's Prayer is supposed to be your outline to pray.""Pray out loud. When I am quiet that is when my mind begins to wander.""When you realize that prayerlessness is not a self-discipline problem, you realize that when the gospel is appropriately shaping somebody's soul then prayer becomes as instinctive as breathing.""When the gospel has shaped your soul properly, then you begin to crave God enough that you find yourself instinctively praying.""Prayer is not just preparation for the ministry, it is the ministry.""A significant portion of our service is devoted to the congregation praying and we make the invitation at the end very prominent.""I'm praying, so that I can preach, so that I can move people to more prayer.""In the model prayer that Jesus gave, over half of it is relational or worship oriented and only half of it is request oriented.""If you are using Jesus's model as your guide, you are going to find that you will spend a lot of time just thinking about the sovereignty of God.""When our team is united in prayer, that is when the Holy Spirit begins to plant ideas." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network Just Ask by J.D. Greear This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Carey Nieuwhof. Nieuwhof is the host of the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast and the author of At Your Best. They discuss doing your best work when you are at your best and determining ahead of time what your best work is so you can prioritize your commitments. BEST QUOTES "The stress spiral is overwhelmed, overworked, overcommitted. It happens when you don't let your time get focused, where you never leverage your energy, and your priorities continually get hijacked.""Your energy waxes and wanes over the course of the day, and it is almost the same every day.""Do what your best at when you are at your best.""How do you say no? One thing is to have a really clear sense of your lane, what are you best at?""Deciding ahead of time what you will and won't do can really help.""When you are in a rapid change environment, what would have been a 9 last year, may not be a 9 this year, so don't make your decisions too far in advance.""You know who always absorbs the slack of all your bad decision making and saying yes too much and being overcommitted? Your family.""If you don't declare a finish line to this, your body will.""Time off won't heal you when the problem is how you spend your time on.""If you don't deal with your problems, they don't get better. They get worse." RECOMMENDED RESOURCES Lifeway Leadership Podcast Network The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast At Your Best by Carey Nieuwhof Before You Split by Toni Nieuwhof Didn't See It Coming by Carey Nieuwhof When by Daniel Pink Essentialism by Greg McKeown This Episode's Sponsor: