Leaders in Living Rooms Sean Morgan

ABOUT THE EPISODE“Change is painful, but it's better than death.” Meet Tommy Politz, Senior Pastor of Hillside Christian Church, who has served as pastor, church planter, and transitional leader in his 30+ years of ministry. In this episode, Tommy shares with us his own personal journey of transitional leadership and the wisdom he’s gained along the way. Transitional leaders will face high resistance in their quest for high impact. Paying attention to the rate, pace, and acceleration of decision making will be a critical element to a successful transition. Welcome to Episode 049 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan. INSIGHTS FROM TOMMYCompare and contrast being a church planter and a transitional leader: * When you plant, there is no history, and there is no expectation. It’s a blank page. Resistance is low, adoption is high. When you inherit a church, you might have the resources, but you have deeply entrenched high resistance. * There is no comparison game when you’re a planter. There is nothing but a comparison game when you’re a transitional leader. * “The status quo is precisely the status quo because of its pervasive ability to stick around.” As a transition leader, when you change the status quo you quickly find out why it’s the status quo.  Keys to successful transitional leadership: * Change is painful, but it’s better than death.* Grid of impact and resistance: High impact decisions get high resistance – those are the best ones to make because they are going to really move the needle most.  High impact, low resistance decisions are rare. * A church will flourish because of the Word of God. The Word of God is where life is. Where life change happens. It’s not our ingenuity or our creativity, it’s getting people to open up the holy scriptures and let it feed their souls. The rate of decision making: * Pay attention to rate, pace, and acceleration of decision making. * Even if you feel good about making the right decisions, and you think it's what is best, finding that Holy Spirit moment and gap in which to insert that change is so critical that it does not outpace the relational currency that you have. Because it doesn’t matter if that’s what God wants, or how gifted you are, there is just only so far that you can push the sheep before you are really working against the macro goals of reintegrating an unhealthy church. * Leadership is making changes at a rate that people can tolerate. Examining, developing, and sending your staff off well: * Operate equally in the same three offices that Christ exemplified for us: Prophet, Priest, and King.* Will I actually give away power and opportunity? It’s one thing to train someone up to do something at a high level of leadership. It’s another thing when you give them part of your own pie. When you say, I don’t want to give this away, but I’m going to because I love this church and this leader. EPISODE LINKSFor pastors navigating transition into a new leadership role, checkout The Ascent Leader’s transitions cohorts at: https://theascentleader.org/cohorts/ (https://theascentleader.org/cohorts/)

ABOUT THE EPISODEThere is both fulfillment and fruitfulness in staying in your current leadership role and in transitioning well to something new if God calls you to go. “We don't always have to leave to build a life of significance.” Meet Daniel Grothe from New Life Church, Colorado Springs, CO who shares his personal story of the road that led him to stay at New Life. If you are in a season of difficulty at your church, you will be inspired by Daniel’s story. He will encourage you that these are the moments where the spirit of the Lord will empower you to live a vow of stability, so you can stand and stay. Welcome to Episode 048 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan. INSIGHTS FROM DANIEL1) Technology has caused both discontentment and confusion.  * Social media is showing us everyone else’s highlight reels. That makes our own stories feel so normal, clunky, and every day.* We’ve confused the idea of what it means to be “rich.” We’ve confused the difference between financial capital and social capital. * We are pathologically busy. Daniel says he jokes that being an adult is saying to other people - “we should hang out” over and over again until we die. We are missing out on the things that would make us deeply happy. Regular meals with our people. People who show up at our house unannounced with a favorite drink, people who watch our kids so we can have a date night. We’ve filled up our calendars so much, we can’t actually do the things that bring us great joy. 2) People are the great purifiers. * When life gets difficult, the easiest thing to do is run. But the truth is, wherever you go, there you are. You can’t run from it. You have to look at yourself in the mirror and wrestle with your own demons.  * You want to become a saint, you want to become holy, you want to become more mature, you want to have deep roots in the community? The only way to do that is to press through the difficulty of relationships. * Daniel shares the concept of “transplant trauma.” The greatest images and metaphors for the Saints throughout the bible from Genesis to Revelation are about becoming like trees. Cedars of Lebanon, Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. For a tree, you might be able to move it once or twice and it lives, but after that point, you are starting to introduce it to transplant trauma, and it's a crapshoot on whether or not it will make it. 3) Advice for those in the transition process. * Start with your smallest concentric circle of influence and pray that through with them to get in unity. Don’t make an announcement to your closest people, start the process with them. * Is it possible for you to be sent? If so, it will be more fruitful by a factor of 10. You’ll take the strength of the place you’re leaving to the place you’re going. * Listen to the full episode for more. 4) Advice for developing leaders well. * Do the front end work of being a safe place for your people. * If you will show your people that no matter where they end up, who they end up being with, you’re going to leverage every bit of strength and spiritual authority you have for their good, you will be their first phone call. * Listen to the full episode for more. EPISODE LINKSDon’t miss the Ascent Leader’s new lineup of transitions cohorts for 2022.

About the EpisodePart 2 of 2 - Seacoast has been a pioneering church for decades and now continues a legacy of fruitful ministry through a senior leadership transition from father to son. Greg and Josh talk about the highs and lows of that transition and offer sage advice to anyone in a leadership transition.Who is Greg Surratt?Greg Surratt is the founding pastor of Seacoast Church, which was planted with the goal of reaching unchurched people in the Charleston area. Greg led Seacoast as it grew from one campus to many, and as Seacoast became one of the first churches to pioneer the multi-site approach to the weekend experience. Greg is the president and co-founder of the Association of Related Churches (ARC), which is a global church-planting initiative that has established over 900 churches worldwide since its founding in 2000.He is the author of the book IR-REV-REND, as well as a contributor for Outreach Magazine, Ministry Today Magazine, and Charisma Magazine.Who is Josh Surratt?As Lead Pastor, Josh Surratt is helping Seacoast Church realize God’s vision for what comes next. He is passionate about helping people find God, grow their faith, discover their purpose, and make a difference. Josh was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and attended the College of Charleston.He joined the Seacoast staff in 2001 and has served in several roles, including four years as the Mount Pleasant Campus Pastor. Josh is one of Seacoast’s Teaching Pastors and currently serves on the Executive Team as the Seacoast Lead Pastor.

About the EpisodeSeacoast has been a pioneering church for decades and now continues a legacy of fruitful ministry through a senior leadership transition from father to son. Greg and Josh talk about the highs and lows of that transition, and offer sage advice to anyone in a leadership transition.Who is Greg Surratt?Greg Surratt is the founding pastor of Seacoast Church, which was planted with the goal of reaching unchurched people in the Charleston area. Greg led Seacoast as it grew from one campus to many, and as Seacoast became one of the first churches to pioneer the multi-site approach to the weekend experience. Greg is the president and co-founder of the Association of Related Churches (ARC), which is a global church-planting initiative that has established over 900 churches worldwide since its founding in 2000.He is the author of the book IR-REV-REND, as well as a contributor for Outreach Magazine, Ministry Today Magazine, and Charisma Magazine.Who is Josh Surratt?As Lead Pastor, Josh Surratt is helping Seacoast Church realize God’s vision for what comes next. He is passionate about helping people find God, grow their faith, discover their purpose, and make a difference. Josh was raised in Charleston, South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston.He joined the Seacoast staff in 2001 and has served in several roles, including four years as the Mount Pleasant Campus Pastor. Josh is one of Seacoast’s Teaching Pastors and currently serves on the Executive Team as the Seacoast Lead Pastor.

About the EpisodePart 2 of Sean Morgan's discussion with Kevin Queen.After a devastating transition of their lead pastor, Crosspoint church in Nashville was without a lead pastor and 3/4 of their executive team moved on. This is the story of Kevin's call to leadership at Crosspoint. Kevin has now led Crosspoint through a leadership transition, a direct hit by a tornado, and now a global pandemic. In part one of this two-part series, Kevin gets real about the most important things that keep him grounded, give him perspective, and encourage him.Who is Kevin Queen?Kevin Queen is a husband, father, pastor, and communicator. Born and raised in the Atlanta area, he’s a graduate of the University of Georgia, New Orleans Seminary, and Bethel Seminary.Before joining Cross Point’s staff in August 2017, Kevin served for 14 years on staff at 12Stone Church, a large multi-site church with 8 campuses in Metro Atlanta. During his last 10 years at 12Stone, he served as both a campus pastor and teaching pastor.

About the EpisodeAfter a devastating transition of their lead pastor, Crosspoint church in Nashville was without a lead pastor and 3/4 of their executive team moved on. This is the story of Kevin's call to leadership at Crosspoint. Kevin has now led Crosspoint through a leadership transition, a direct hit by a tornado, and now a global pandemic. In part one of this two-part series, Kevin gets real about the most important things that keep him grounded, give him perspective, and encourage him.Who is Kevin Queen?Kevin Queen is a husband, father, pastor, and communicator. Born and raised in the Atlanta area, he’s a graduate of the University of Georgia, New Orleans Seminary, and Bethel Seminary.Before joining Cross Point’s staff in August 2017, Kevin served for 14 years on staff at 12Stone Church, a large multi-site church with 8 campuses in Metro Atlanta. During his last 10 years at 12Stone, he served as both a campus pastor and teaching pastor.