Spiritual Life and Leadership

The COVID-19 crisis pushed churches to reimagine everything from Sunday worship to committee meetings, often thrusting them onto unfamiliar digital ground. Navigating livestreams, Zoom calls, and onl…

Discover how stepping into discomfort and crossing borders—literal and metaphorical—can transform you and your leadership in ways you never imagined.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote…

Ministry can stir up all kinds of feelings, especially when we’re dealing with conflict, with grief, with change. And the better we understand what’s happening beneath the surface, the better we can …

Learn how keeping “the main thing the main thing” can transform your church’s mission, focus your decisions, and unite your community as one body in Christ.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss thi…

Bias isn’t always about the big, obvious issues. Sometimes it shows up in the subtle, everyday moments—like who we compliment, who we listen to, and how we respond to change. It’s part of being human…

Learn how small, daring experiments from the edges can spark meaningful change in your church—without sending everyone into panic mode.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from Raymond …

What do you do when the tried-and-true ways of doing church just aren’t working anymore? When everything you once relied on—Sunday services, eye-catching signage, the best coffee in the foyer—still l…

Learn how real transformation in leadership begins when we shift our focus from what’s happening to us to what’s happening within us.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from Chuck DeGr…

More and more, we find ourselves living in what we might call a post-Christian society.  And more and more, preachers and ministry leaders are finding that the methods they were trained in don’t alwa…

Discover why true leadership means having the courage to make tough decisions—even when it means disappointing the people you care about most.

Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss this quote from R…

In a world that celebrates rapid growth, platform-building, and constant success, it’s easy to take on leadership strategies that promise bigger, better, and faster results. But when these approaches…

In a post-pandemic world, what does it really mean to be a “small,” “mid-sized,” or even “very large” church? Markus Watson and Tod Bolsinger explore Thom Rainer’s recommendations to recategorize chu…

Work hurt is real, and ministry leaders aren’t exempt. Whether it’s being let go, navigating toxic work environments, or simply enduring deep disappointments, our vocational pain can shape us in ways…

Drawing on the challenges of feeling marginalized and the importance of resting in God’s love, this episode explores the vital role that self-compassion plays in leadership. Tod Bolsinger shares wisd…

Josh Hayden, the author of Remissioning Church: A Field guide for Bringing a Congregation Back to Life, shares wisdom from his own journey—moving from church planting to leading a 158-year-old congre…

Markus Watson and Tod Bolsinger unpack the fascinating connection between the Latin roots of “prayer” and “precarious”—suggesting that it’s often in our most uncertain moments that we’re drawn into d…

For a lot of us, evangelism has become kind of utilitarian—just another tool to stop our church’s decline and hopefully secure a future for our congregation. But what if, instead of simply trying to …

In this episode, Markus Watson and Tod Bolsinger explore what it really means to lead with care—especially when consensus isn’t possible and someone might get hurt. Tod brings his insight on adaptive…

What does ministry look like when your church gathers at the very place that’s meant to divide? In this episode, Seth Clark invites us into the powerful story of The Border Church, where the simple a…

This conversation reflects on the urgent need for genuine transformation in the church, rather than simply tweaking what isn’t working. Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson explore the signs that point to…