Fly on the Wall Podcast With Chris Sonksen

Church Boom
  • 5.0 (27)
  • Religion & Spirituality
  • Updated Weekly

Be a “Fly on the Wall” as Chris Sonksen takes you behind the scenes on a coaching call with a ministry leader. In each episode, you’ll get to hear how a coaching call happens, practical tips on how to grow your ministry, and what it takes to be a healthy leader in today's culture. You'll get to be a "fly on the wall" and listen to a live coaching session between Chris and a church leader like yourself. 

  1. 4d ago

    233 | Your Best Team Member Might Not Be a Leader

    Episode 233 of Fly on the Wall is here. As your church grows, your leaders have to grow with it. But one of the biggest mistakes we make is assuming that someone who is great at doing the work will automatically be great at leading the people doing the work. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Josh from Arizona to talk about developing higher-capacity leaders and helping people shift from being task-focused to truly people-focused. Here’s the shift: Your job isn’t to be the best team member on your team. Your job is to be the best coach on your team. Leadership isn’t about doing more. It’s about developing people who can carry the mission with you. That means apprenticing new leaders, investing in your team, giving away responsibility, and creating clear expectations for what leadership actually looks like. Here’s some of what we unpack: Why every new level of growth requires an adjustmentHow to define what a leader actually looks like in your churchWhy leadership can’t simply mean being in charge of more tasksHow to move leaders from doing to coachingWhy expectations need specific points of accountabilityHow growth reveals gaps in your existing leadershipWhen an organic church culture needs to become more organizedWhy stronger systems can actually attract higher-capacity leadersHow to know when someone is ready for greater responsibilityWe also talk about one of my favorite ways to identify future leaders: beta test them. Before giving someone a title, give them an opportunity to lead. Think task, team, title. Can they accomplish the task? Can they lead and develop a team? If they can prove themselves there, then you can start talking about the title. Growth changes what leadership requires. If you want your church to reach the next level, you can’t just ask your leaders to do more. You have to teach them to lead differently. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  2. Sep 24

    232 | Growth Creates Pain Points. Are You Ready for Them?

    Episode 232 of Fly on the Wall is here. Growth is exciting, but growth also creates pain. As your church gets bigger, communication becomes more complicated, new layers of leadership emerge, and the way you used to lead may no longer work. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Alberto to talk about the pain points that come with a growing church and how to navigate them without losing alignment, culture, or momentum. One of the biggest challenges is keeping everyone speaking the same language. Vision leaks. People drift. And as your organization adds more people and leadership layers, communication multiplies. That’s why language matters. Language shapes behavior. Behavior shapes culture. If you want your culture to remain strong as you grow, your language, values, and expectations have to remain clear from the top all the way through the organization. Here’s some of what we unpack: How to keep your culture aligned as your church growsWhy vision leaks and people naturally driftThe importance of creating a shared languageTwo questions that can eliminate communication gaps: “Who needs to know this?” and “Who needs to own this?”Why culture often gets lost in middle leadershipHow to handle staff members who bypass new layers of leadershipWhy every new level requires a new structureHow to identify the true lead goals that drive attendanceWhy your role as lead pastor has to change as the church growsThe difference between pioneers, builders, and sustainers on your teamAs your church grows, what got you here won’t necessarily get you where you’re going. Your structure has to change. Your leadership has to grow. And your team has to learn to be fast, fluid, and flexible. Growth will create pain points. The goal isn’t to avoid them. It’s to recognize what they’re telling you and make the changes necessary for the next level. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  3. Sep 16

    231 | You Only Get One Chance to Get Transition Right

    Episode 231 of Fly on the Wall is here. Every pastor is an interim pastor. No matter how long you lead, eventually someone else will carry the vision forward. The question is whether you’ve prepared yourself, your successor, and your church for that moment. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Dave McNeely to talk about navigating leadership transitions in a healthy way. Dave is thinking intentionally about his eventual transition from lead pastor and what it looks like to raise up a successor from within. One of the biggest mistakes pastors make is waiting until they’re ready to leave instead of recognizing when their successor is ready to lead. Sometimes the next leader is ready before we are. And that’s where transition becomes deeply personal. After decades of being known as the lead pastor, handing over the church isn’t simply a change in responsibility. It can feel like a change in identity. Here’s some of what we unpack: Why every transition comes with some level of painHow leadership transition can impact your identityWhy you shouldn’t wait until you’re ready if your successor already isHow to gradually transfer authority and responsibilityWhy passing the baton starts in smaller roomsWhen to begin publicly positioning a potential successorHow the outgoing pastor can remain involved without undermining the new leaderWhy loyalty and honor have to flow both waysThe importance of protecting relational equity during a transitionHealthy succession is about more than choosing the right person. You have to gradually give them opportunities to make decisions, lead meetings, carry authority, and earn the confidence of the people around them. And when the transition finally happens, the former leader has another responsibility: point people toward the new leader instead of allowing them to keep looking backward. You’ve spent years building what God entrusted to you. Make sure you prepare it to thrive beyond you. Because when it comes to a transition this significant, you get one chance to get it right. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  4. Sep 9

    230 | Are You Measuring the Wrong Things?

    Episode 230 of Fly on the Wall is here. When your church feels stuck, how do you know what’s actually causing it? Is it a church problem? A strategy problem? Or could the real issue be leadership? In this episode, I sit down with Dave Amsden to talk about how to identify the real problems holding a church back and what leaders should be paying attention to when growth stalls. One distinction can change the way you diagnose what’s happening: Church problems often show up in behavior. Strategy problems show up in data. When you know what to look for, you can stop guessing and start addressing the actual issue. We talk about evaluating everything from first-time guests and volunteer engagement to leadership development, generosity, and the pathway from the community to the crowd to the core. We also get personal about leadership. Are you someone high-level leaders want to follow? Can you build something from nothing? Develop other leaders? Handle conflict? Do you have the relational and emotional intelligence necessary to lead at the next level? Here’s some of what we unpack: How to distinguish a church problem from a strategy or pastor problemWhy blind spots require outside voicesWhat has changed about effective church leadership over the last 10–15 yearsWhy people increasingly want to belong before they believeThe importance of getting the right people around the tableWhy pastors can overestimate the leaders on their teamWhat churches should measure instead of obsessing over attendanceThat last one is huge. Too many pastors measure the result instead of the activity. Rather than allowing weekly attendance to determine how you feel about the health of your church, start measuring the things that actually produce healthy growth: leadership development, new volunteers, and speed of engagement. Focus on the right things, not just the busy things. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  5. Sep 2

    229 | How to Transition Leadership Without Losing What You Built

    Every pastor will eventually face transition. But when you’ve spent decades building a church, developing its culture, earning the trust of your people, and carrying the vision, handing leadership to someone else is about far more than changing a title. In this episode, I sit down with Pastor Tyrone, who is preparing for a five-year transition after 33 years of leading the church he founded. We talk through how to gradually transfer authority, build trust in a successor, and prepare both the incoming and outgoing leader for what’s ahead.  One of the most important principles we unpack is this: Responsibility should precede title. A healthy transition doesn’t happen overnight. The successor needs opportunities to lead initiatives, make strategic decisions, carry increasing authority, and eventually function as the lead pastor before officially receiving the title.  We also talk about how trust gets transferred from one leader to another. You can assign responsibility, but you can’t assign trust. Your people need to see you publicly affirm your successor, defer to them in important moments, and celebrate their wins.  Here’s some of what we unpack:  Why every transition involves some level of loss  How transition can impact a pastor’s identity  When a successor should begin carrying real authority  Why authority and responsibility have to increase together  How to transfer the congregation’s trust to the next leader  Five qualities to evaluate before deciding a successor is truly ready  Why the ability to handle criticism, pressure, and difficult decisions matters  How to lead with both courage and compassion If you’re preparing for a leadership transition now, or simply want to make sure your church is ready when that day comes, this is a conversation worth hearing. Because you don’t outlive your problems. You outgrow them.  👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  6. Aug 26

    228 | The Lead Goal That Actually Grows Your Church

    Most churches think attendance is the goal. But what if attendance is actually the result of something else? In Episode 228 of Fly on the Wall, I sat down with my friend Bobby from Missouri to talk about practical church growth strategies and how getting more people engaged can create sustainable growth. Bobby's church has experienced an incredible turnaround, growing from around 20 people to a couple hundred. But with that growth comes a new challenge: How do you move new people from simply attending to actually becoming part of the church? I believe one of the biggest mistakes churches make is treating attendance as the lead goal. It's not. Engagement is the lead goal. Attendance is the lag goal. When people begin serving, they build relationships. They experience discipleship. They develop a sense of ownership. And ultimately, they become more connected to the life and mission of the church. We also talked about something every church needs to take seriously: invite culture. Culture isn't changed by preaching about something once. It's built through the stories you tell, the heroes you make, and the things you celebrate. Here's some of what we unpack: Why engagement should be a primary goal for growing churchesHow to create a clear pathway from attendance to involvementWhy longtime volunteers can struggle to make room for new peopleHow 90-day engagement goals can create momentumWhy word of mouth remains such a powerful form of church marketingHow to test your marketing before investing more moneyWhy messages inspire, but systems change behaviorHow stories, heroes, and celebration shape your church's cultureWhy you should follow up with the person who brought the guest, not just the guestHow to know whether invite culture is actually becoming part of your churchIf you want sustainable church growth, don't just ask, "How do we get more people in the room?" Start asking, "How do we help the people already coming become part of the mission?" 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  7. Aug 19

    227 | What Can the American Church Learn From the Global Church?

    What can the American church learn from the global church? And just as importantly, what can the global church learn from us? In Episode 217 of Fly on the Wall, I sat down with Pastor Norman Gray, who helps lead a network of 1,100 churches across India, for one of my favorite conversations we've had on the podcast. Norman brought a perspective we don't often get to hear. He's preached in 45 countries and has watched churches grow rapidly in some parts of the world while others struggle to break through. We talked about what both sides of the global Church can learn from each other. The American church has incredible strategy, systems, and resources. But in many parts of the world, there's a level of loyalty, dependence on God, and spiritual hunger that we could learn from. The goal isn't one or the other. Spirit and strategy have to coexist. We also unpacked why some churches plateau, what separates simply getting bigger from actually becoming healthier, and why numbers can tell us more about the condition of our church than we sometimes want to admit. Here's some of what we unpack: What the American church can learn from churches around the worldWhy loyalty and reliance on God matter more than everWhy spirit without strategy and strategy without spirit both fall shortThe three stages of growth: personality, programs, and processThe difference between being a fan of Jesus and truly following HimWhy people everywhere want to feel loved, valued, and like they belongThe metrics that can reveal whether your church is actually healthyWhy pastors have to stop putting a positive spin on negative dataHow systems and processes can help a plateaued church grow againNo matter where you lead, the culture may change, but many of the principles don't. Healthy churches need the Spirit of God AND the wisdom to steward what He's entrusted to them. Listen to Episode 217 of Fly on the Wall today. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

  8. Aug 12

    226 | The Blind Spots Every Leader Needs to See

    Every leader has blind spots. The problem is, if you could see them yourself, they wouldn’t be blind spots. In Episode 226 of the Fly on the Wall Podcast, I sat down with my good friend Pastor T.W. Norman for a practical conversation about leadership, team development, and how to keep your church from drifting back into old patterns. Because healthy leadership requires more than making the right decisions. It requires surrounding yourself with people who are willing to tell you what you can’t see. T.W. and I talk about why pastors need coaches and trusted leaders who have permission to speak honestly into their lives. We also unpack how to recognize whether someone on your team is truly in the right seat and what it takes to create lasting change in your church. Here's some of what we unpack: -Why every leader has blind spots -How coaches and trusted leaders can help you see what you're missing -Why defensiveness can keep leaders from growing -How to know whether someone on your staff is in the right seat -The connection between effort, results, and passion -Why great leaders bring out the best in the people around them -How to keep your church from drifting back into old routines -Why cultural change requires more than a one-time conversation -How attaching a positive outcome to change helps people embrace it One of the most important reminders from our conversation was this: “Organizations don't rise to the occasion near as often as they fall back to their routines.” That’s why leadership requires intentionality. We have to keep inviting honest feedback. We have to keep evaluating whether our people are positioned to thrive. And when we make healthy changes, we have to keep reminding people why those changes mattered in the first place. Otherwise, drift happens. If you want to become a more self-aware leader, build a stronger team, and create a healthier culture that lasts, I believe this conversation will give you some practical tools to do it. 👍🏼 Follow us on social media  + Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/church.boom + Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mychurchboom + Website: https://www.churchboom.org 👋 About Us Fly on the Wall Podcast, presented by Church Boom, takes pastors into a live coaching session with Chris Sonksen, CEO & Founder of Church Boom. Each episode features a pastor, just like you, as they share the challenges they face and get practical advice on how to overcome them.

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Be a “Fly on the Wall” as Chris Sonksen takes you behind the scenes on a coaching call with a ministry leader. In each episode, you’ll get to hear how a coaching call happens, practical tips on how to grow your ministry, and what it takes to be a healthy leader in today's culture. You'll get to be a "fly on the wall" and listen to a live coaching session between Chris and a church leader like yourself. 

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