Fly on the Wall Podcast With Chris Sonksen

Church Boom

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. 8h ago

    238 | How Do You Get First-Time Guests to Come Back?

    Episode 238 of Fly on the Wall is here. Getting new people through the doors is one thing. Getting them to come back is another. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Kevin to talk about some practical ways churches can improve guest follow-up and turn a first visit into a real connection. We talk about making your follow-up more personal, asking open-ended questions instead of sending generic texts, using short personalized videos from the pastor, and even a simple strategy called “Stick for Three” that encourages guests to give your church three Sundays before deciding if it’s the right fit. But retention is only part of the conversation. We also unpack why volunteer engagement is one of the most important drivers of church growth, how recruiting creates relationships and discipleship, and why celebrating people who are raising up others helps create a culture where leadership multiplies. And as your ministry grows, there’s an important question to ask: Are you trying to manage the growth, or are you building leaders who can carry the growth? You only have so much time and energy. If you want to sustain growth, you have to develop people who can carry it with you. If you want to improve guest retention, strengthen your volunteer culture, and build a ministry capable of carrying what’s next, this episode is for you. Watch Episode 238 of Fly on the Wall now. Chris Sonksen CEO and Founder, Church Boom Host, Fly on the Wall Podcast 👍🏼 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. Oct 28

    237 | What Would Break If Your Church Doubled?

    Episode 237 of Fly on the Wall is here. As your church grows, one of the hardest things to do as a leader is let go. In this episode, I sit down with my friend Tyler to talk about what happens when growth requires you to hand ministries you love to other leaders and trust them to carry the responsibility. We talk about the shift from doing to developing, solving to coaching, and controlling to clarifying. If you give someone responsibility, you also have to give them the authority to actually lead. But there’s a deeper challenge that can come with letting go: What happens when your identity has become attached to the ministry you’re handing off? Ministry is what you do. It’s not who you are. If you want to keep growing, you have to be willing to leave the step you’re standing on to move to the next one. Tyler and I also talk about staying ahead of growth by asking one incredibly important question: If our church doubled in the next six months, what would break? Your answer will show you where your next bottleneck is before you hit it. If you’re leading through growth, learning to let go, or trying to stay ahead of what’s next, this conversation is for you. Watch Episode 237 of Fly on the Wall now. Chris Sonksen CEO and Founder, Church Boom Host, Fly on the Wall Podcast 👍🏼 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. Oct 21

    236 | Are You Building Ministry or Dependency?

    Episode 236 of Fly on the Wall is here. Here’s a question every leader needs to ask: If you weren’t there, would the ministry still move forward? In this episode, I sit down with my friend Mitch to talk about empowering your staff and volunteers to take real ownership. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is delegating tasks without delegating authority. When you only give people tasks, you create followers waiting for direction. When you give people authority, responsibility, and room to lead, you begin developing leaders. That requires changing the scorecard. Instead of only asking what your staff accomplished, start asking who they developed. Who are they raising up? Who are they empowering? Who could step in and lead without them? Because if you always have to be present for the work to get done, you haven’t built a ministry. You’ve built dependency. Mitch and I also talk about moving from addition to multiplication, developing a culture where volunteers become leaders, and how to invest in great people so they continue growing with your organization. If you want to build a ministry that can grow beyond what you can personally carry, this conversation is for you. Watch Episode 236 of Fly on the Wall now. Chris Sonksen CEO and Founder, Church Boom Host, Fly on the Wall Podcast 👍🏼 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. Oct 14

    235 | You’re Not Transitioning a Title. You’re Transitioning Trust.

    Episode 235 of Fly on the Wall is here. What happens when the right person for your next staff position is already sitting in your church? In this episode, I sit down with Matt to talk about one of the biggest opportunities—and challenges—leaders face: raising up and hiring people from within. We unpack how to navigate succession and staff transitions well, why you should start the process earlier than you think, and how to move someone from volunteer or congregant into a position of real leadership. One of the biggest principles I share is this: You’re not transitioning a title. You’re transitioning trust. That means giving emerging leaders more than opportunities. You have to give them real responsibility, authority, and eventually the relational equity you’ve built with the people they’ll lead. We also talk about what happens when a friend, mentee, or longtime volunteer becomes an employee, why expectations need to be crystal clear from the beginning, and how to publicly affirm someone you’re raising into leadership. If you’re building your team, navigating a transition, or trying to develop the next generation of leaders from within your church, this episode is for you. Watch Episode 235 of Fly on the Wall now. Chris Sonksen CEO and Founder, Church Boom Host, Fly on the Wall Podcast 👍🏼 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. Oct 7

    234 | Are You Hiring for Where You’re Going?

    Episode 234 of Fly on the Wall is here. Growth is exciting, but it also creates pressure. As your church grows, the systems, staff, and leadership that got you here may not be enough to take you where you’re going next. In this episode, I sit down with Chad, a lead pastor navigating a growing church, to talk about how to lead through those in-between seasons when you know change is coming, but you’re not quite ready to make every move. We talk about identifying bottlenecks before they become problems, hiring toward the future without getting too far ahead financially, and knowing when to choose proven production versus potential. But one of the biggest takeaways is simple: develop leaders before you need them. Opportunities will come. The question is whether you’ve built the team capable of stepping into them when they do. We also unpack the personal side of leading through growth, including why your non-negotiables need to be decided before the pressure arrives and why intentional development is essential if you want to stay ahead of your organization. If your church is growing and you’re feeling the tension of what comes next, this conversation is for you. Watch Episode 234 of Fly on the Wall now. 👍🏼 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. Sep 30

    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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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.

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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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