What are the common mistakes multisite churches make in staffing and structure?

Now that the church has embraced multisite for over 20 years, there are predictable outcomes that we see related to how churches design and structure their multisite churches. Some of those outcomes are good and they help the church grow and expand in healthy ways. And some of those outcomes lead to what we have started to refer to as a church being "multi stuck". 

In this week's episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson dig into the top mistakes multisite churches make in staffing and structure and how to avoid them.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode184.

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What do church mergers have to do with multisite strategy? And why is this such a critical conversation right now?

Pre-COVID 20% of churches who took our Unstuck Church Assessment identified that they were in the "life support" stage. For many struggling churches, merging with a healthy, thriving church is their best option. And for larger, healthy churches, merging can be a way to expand their ministry impact. But before you consider a merger, there are a couple of critical conversations you need to have. 

In this week’s episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack the 10 crucial questions church leaders need to consider before merging. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode183.

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What are the common challenges that multisite churches face? Should your church consider going multisite? 

Multisite churches have come increasingly popular. 20 years ago, there were only 200 multisite churches across the country. In 2019, there were more than 5,000. 

The pandemic has also contributed to a growing interest in multisite strategy as churches consider how to grow and reach more people. Large churches with multiple smaller venues – that are closer to where people live and that offer multiple options for service times – will be better positioned for a post-COVID world than trying to gather larger crowds in the same space at the same time. 

In this week’s episode Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson dig into the common concerns church leaders have about going multisite and core challenges multisite churches face. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode182.

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What should churches be measuring right now? What's been happening across churches over the last 9 months of doing ministry in the midst of the pandemic?

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack key findings from The Unstuck Church Report and dig into trends in giving, staffing, online engagement, and reaching new people.  

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode181.

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How do you equip your congregation to bless their neighbors? How can you create a culture at your church where you're developing meaningful friendships with people outside the faith? 

Barna's research indicates more than six in 10 non-Christians and lapsed Christians say they would be open to talking about faith matters with someone who listens without judgment. 

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Dave Ferguson dig into 5 practical practices you can use to bless and reach people outside the church and outside the faith. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode180.

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How do you plan for the future of your church when the future is so uncertain?

After surviving the incredible disruption of 2020, all of us are looking for a clear path forward. The good news is you don't need to wait for certainty to get clear on your church's mission, vision, and strategic plan. 

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson dig into 5 key questions you can start answering today to get clarity. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode179.

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What should churches invest in financially? 6 out of 10 churches are doing better than before and giving is up. But 4 out of 10 churches have, understandably, experienced a financial decline in the last year.  

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack 3 key investment strategies for churches in the new reality. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode178.

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How do you structure your team for a hybrid church model?

Many churches are wondering what roles they need on their team, what to measure, and how to align their staff around a hybrid church model with both online and in-person ministry strategies. 

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack the 3 new keys to staffing and structure for a hybrid church. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode177.

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You did it. You survived one of the most disruptive, unpredictable years we've ever seen. 

And your church survived too. But the stop-gap strategies that helped churches stay afloat through the last year are not the strategies that will set them up for long-term health and growth. 

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack the foundational principles of building a hybrid church and what the post-covid church can look like.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode176.

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2020 was a year of unprecedented change and unwanted tensions and an unknown future. As we welcome 2021 and look back at the year behind us, Tony Morgan shares some insight into what he's grateful for at The Unstuck Group and a challenge for churches moving forward. 

What strategic shifts do churches need to make due to the coronavirus? 

This week, we take a look back at our most popular conversation from 2020 and dig into the practical ways that churches need to change their ministry strategies to continue not just survive but thrive in the new normal and continue making disciples. 

How do you structure your team for a hybrid church model? How do you staff for a digital-first ministry strategy?

Many churches are struggling to optimize and align their staff team around a hybrid church model and make the mental shift from being a church with online options to being an online organization with in-person options. 

In this week's episode of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson unpack the 4 steps church leaders need to take to align their team for digital ministry.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode173.

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One of the biggest questions we've been asked since the pandemic hit is: What should we be measuring now?

So this week we're going to walk through what to measure and what matters in the world of online disciple making.

There are a lot of easy-to-see metrics clamoring for your attention. But at the end of the day, there is a simple principle that will help you navigate what to measure regardless of the platform or channel: Everything you measure should help you make better decisions.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode172.

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How do you make disciples online? If you want your church to thrive in 2021, you need to figure out how to both reach new people and engage with your current congregation digitally.

At this point, 10 months into the pandemic, many churches are seeing less and less engagement online.

In order to create a strong, successful digital ministry strategy, you need to understand the spiritual journey and how to reach people where they are. In this episode, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson share what we’re learning about how to just that.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode171.

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What does it take to create an effective church board?

Over the last 11 years of working with churches, we've found that church governance is a key difference between healthy, growing churches and churches that are stuck or in decline.  

In this week’s episode, Tony Morgan and Sean Bublitz dig into the best practices for selecting board members and structuring your church board to be healthy and effective. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode170.

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The demands and expectations for leading ministry seem to be surging. 

We're all changing how we do ministry, serve people in our communities, and care for the sick. 

The workload has grown exponentially, and none of us can do it all. You, and the people on your team, are only human.

In last week's episode, we talked about how pastors can stay emotionally healthy as they are under greater pressure and being criticized more than ever. The order of these two episodes matter—you need to listen to Episode 167 first.

In this second part, we're talking about how what your team needs from you as their leader has changed, and how pastors can help their teams stay healthy in a turbulent season.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode168.

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You're under greater pressure than ever… and being criticized more than ever… how do pastors stay emotionally healthy right now?

Pastors are telling us they feel like they just can't make a right call. It doesn't matter which decision they're making—they've got people criticizing them from every angle. 

It’s been an exhausting year, and it’s likely you’re running on reserves. We hope this episode helps you take a deep breath.

Amy Anderson interviews Lance Witt on some shifts in your mindset and some practical adjustments in your schedule and habits that will help you take the reins again on the care of your own soul and become the healthy leader God wants you to be. 

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode167.

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What if we had to rethink the importance of getting new people to a building or a program... for the long haul?

As part of a recent Unstuck Masterclass, Tony had the opportunity to interview Nona Jones and Jeff Brodie on the shift that's happening from engaging new people with in-person services to engaging them online.

Nona serves as the head of Facebook's faith-based partnerships, and Jeff is the lead pastor at Connexus Church in Barrie, Ontario. 

Nona summed up the situation we all found ourselves in back in the spring... and if we're honest... the pull most churches are feeling strongly right now:

"Somewhere along the line of the history of the Church, we've come to define church as a place you go or a program you watch, and because of that, people have been slow to adapt to anything other than strategies that get people to a building. When you think about how social technology has been used thus far, it has predominantly been for marketing to get people to the building."

Nona and Jeff each brought their unique perspectives as innovative leaders in local churches on how we can shift to engage and reach people in a digital culture.

So in this episode, we're sharing portions of Tony's interviews with each of them that we think will give you some practical handles for doing so at your church as well.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode166.

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Approximately 1 staff person for every 18 people showing up for in-person church attendance...

Approximately 1 staff person in dedicated roles responsible for digital ministry strategy for every 1,273 online viewers...

We found some interesting—and some alarming—data points in our most recent survey on the state of digital ministry strategy. In collaboration with Blackbaud, we completed another survey in late September, and more than 260 churches participated with good representation across the church size spectrum. 

The questions focused on how churches are adapting to digital ministry strategies, particularly in the areas of weekend services, online viewing patterns, staffing, outreach, etc.

We found some significant differences from the trends churches were reporting back in the early part of the year.

In this episode, Tony and Amy dig into what the data is showing us about where churches stand today in regards to their digital strategies, how they reach new people, and how they staff and structure for ministry.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download a copy of The Unstuck Church Report, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode165.

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We need to acknowledge it: An in-person Christmas experience may not be a draw this year.

Most people who are not connected with a church will probably not want to go to an in-person experience, wearing masks, socially distanced in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by an unfamiliar crowd of people.

The opportunity we have this year is to equip our attendees to bring church to their families instead of bringing their families to church.

Christmas has always been the holiday when people are a little more open to faith and open to church. What could we create online that would reach people outside the faith? If you don’t start with this question, you’ll default to doing what churches have always done, which is to put the team’s best energy into designing an in-person experience and using the leftover energy to figure out how to put that experience on-line.

In this episode, Tony and Amy are joined by Sean Bublitz to help you figure out where to start and what to consider.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode164.

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"Are there any examples we can follow??"

That's the question we keep getting from pastors. You're realizing you need a digital strategy. You're getting lots of inspiration. But you'd really like to see what this looks like in practice.

So in this episode, Tony and Amy share best practices and stories from real churches around the country who are implementing a digital engagement strategy effectively.

You'll find some practical things you can implement right away, as well as clarity around the longer-term picture of where your church needs to make pivots.

Before you listen, note that this is Part 3 of this series on The New Front Door, so if you haven't yet, go back and listen to the first part (Episode 161) on the three strategies churches need for connecting new people to faith and church, and the second part (Episode 162) on how churches build a digital engagement strategy.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode163.

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Having a digital strategy isn’t the win.

Helping become disciples of Jesus—and then disciple makers—is the win. But the need for a digital strategy to help you do that isn’t going away anytime soon.

The good news is that if you do the hard work of clarifying the big and small next steps for each part of the faith journey continuum, it gets easier to design strategies that work and monitor ministry health.

In this episode, Tony and Amy share a practical framework—and real-world examples—for helping people take steps digitally in their faith journey.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode162.

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What is the FRONT DOOR of the church now?

The COVID-19 pandemic moved churches online—but that shift wasn’t really our choice. And what has been revealed through all of this is a huge gap that churches have around their ministry strategies to reach people who are outside the faith and outside the church.

While some churches are already returning to pre-pandemic attendance levels, most mid-size and larger churches are realizing that’s still many months away.

And reaching new people?

How do you reach new guests when most people are staying home most of the time?

The need for a digital strategy isn’t going away anytime soon.

In this episode, Tony and Amy share three critical strategies churches need to engage to open up the new front door of their churches.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode161.

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We’re hearing uncertainty on the lips of church leaders at organizations of all sizes. They’re asking this question:

“Am I the right leader for our church going forward?”

In most cases, yes, you are. God gave you the role you have for a time like this.

But that questioning you feel might be a sign you need someone walking beside you.

Every good player has a coach. Even the best of the best have a trusted advisor who can pull back the curtain, encourage them, say the hard things and ultimately make them better.

Too often ministry leaders find themselves without that kind of support in their corner.

In this episode, Tony and Amy discuss why coaching is vital to helping you be the best leader you can be, and how it will help you lead a healthier church into the future.

For the full episode transcript, links mentioned during the show, and to download the Leader Conversation Guide, visit this episode's Show Notes at theunstuckgroup.com/episode160.

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