Tony is the Chief Strategic Officer and founder of The Unstuck Group. For 14 years, Tony served on the senior leadership teams at West Ridge Church (Dallas, GA), NewSpring Church (Anderson, SC) and Granger Community Church (Granger, IN). He's written several books and articles that have been featured with the Willow Creek Association, Catalyst and Pastors.com.
Does choosing a new shade of paint for the lobby require approvals from three different committees at your church? Maybe it’s time to start asking if your current structure is the best way to make decisions.
“The toughest test of a manager is not how they deal with poor performance — it’s how they address mediocrity.” How do you recognize mediocrity in your ministry? I asked the team at The Unstuck Group to share some ideas based on what they see in the churches we’ve served…
Most churches grow, thrive, decline and end, but we believe God’s plan for the unstuck church is that they grow towards a peak of sustained health.
Developing a smart and strategic ministry planning calendar helps us make the right investment in the right ministry at the right time.
There are 7 stages in a typical church’s life cycle that range from the hopeful, optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. In this episode of The Leadership Unstuck Podcast, I unpack each phase of the church lifecycle, and offer specific and strategic next steps you can take to find your way to sustained health … and finally become unstuck.
Every church has the potential to go through a similar life cycle: They grow, thrive, decline, and end. This is inevitable without a strategy for health.
If I had to guess, it’s about once every couple of weeks. That’s how often I get contacted by someone who wants to do what I do. I’m honored. Really, I am. What I do is very rewarding. That said, I’m going to try to talk you out of doing what I do. Here’s why.
I’m closing in on 20 years working in and with churches. Along the way, I’ve seen many amazing ministries. But I’ve also seen churches do some crazy things. Here are 10 examples of things I’ve seen churches do that lead directly to church splits.
The preservation phase is a challenging season for churches. The signs of decline and lack of health become obvious, but the pain typically isn’t bad enough to foster a desire for change. Wondering if your church is stuck here? Here are some of the characteristics of churches in the preservation phase.
According to recent research, 4 out of 5 people aren’t regularly listening to a podcast. Personally, I have found podcasts to be a valuable tool. I’m sure there are many reasons for those statistics, but I started to wonder if at the most basic level, the majority of people still don’t know exactly what a podcast is or how they could benefit from taking the time to figure it out. So, I wanted to provide a basic rundown of what podcasts are and hopefully answer some questions you may have.
Leading from a scarcity mentality about volunteers can get your church stuck. Here’s what that looks like in the local church and how it can stunt growth.
Churches are typically in the maintenance season for months or even years before they realize it.
