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1. What have you found most challenging as a church leader?

The need to be a so-called expert in everything. The past 2 years have forced me to speak into everything from theology to politics to vaccinations. I think the danger for leaders is to assume they ARE an expert in everything.

2. How did you become a church leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

Growing up in church I always felt the call to lead one. I interned in whatever church would take me, went to college / seminary, and started working immediately in a church.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

My perfect day:
6-8: Exercise, devotional time, coffee.
8-10: Productivity time - writing, creating, etc.
10-12- Meetings
12-1: Emails / Text messages
1-3: Prep for meetings the next day, finish up writing, respond to needs.
3-5: Coffee Meetings with people who request it.
5-7: Meal prep / Eating / Walk the dogs
7-10: Down time, social time.

4. What's one book apart from the Bible that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

The 4 Disciplines of Execution. This book simplified the leadership process unlike any other.

5. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

There is no silver bullet. Much of my early years of leadership was focused on researching what was working somewhere else and then imitating it. Reality is, God uses different people with different gifts and different tools in different places. Find a need and meet it your way.

6. How do you develop a healthy leadership pipeline in a church?

Meet the needs of people first. Not the needs of the organization. Don’t just fill holes in your org chart, help develop people with skills that impact every other aspect of their life. Not just “How to be a greeter.”

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a church leader so far?

I think of many times that I stood on stage and asked people to “give” to something. Whether it was a project, a campaign or a need for service. But when I took people on a journey… invited them to Israel, invited them to a mission trip, invited them to see children’s ministry and the need… then they began to find solutions beyond just my ideas. It was always better.