Episodes

“Back in that day, we didn’t have any church planting resources, any church planting organizations, books on church planting, nothing. So we just prayed.” On this episode we’re joined by Gene Appel, Senior Pastor of Eastside Christian Church, and Mike Breaux who serves on the teaching team of multiple churches throughout the country. Between them, these two ministry giants have over 60+ combined years of church planting wisdom, ministry experience, and encouragement for the next generation of le...

What defines a successful church plant? Am I wired to lead? Do I have the right team in the right roles? On today’s episode of The Unfair Advantage, Andy Wood and Sean Morgan unpack both the qualitative and quantitative elements of a “successful” church plant. Then they go a layer deeper to reflect on the characteristics of the planter and the team surrounding them. Reaching people who are far from God is the why. How you’re equipping and setting expectations for yourself and your team is the ho...

“Ministry and family is not an either/or. It’s both/and. But there’s certainly a priority. And if you get to the place where the family is not your priority, eventually you might have to make a choice.” Meet Andy and Stacie Wood. Andy is the Lead Pastor at Saddleback Church, and in this episode, he and his wife, Stacie, flip the script on the Unfair Advantage podcast by offering their own insights as interviewees on the topic of marriage and ministry. We’re joined by a guest host, Sean Morgan, w...

“Why would you waste your life right now, in the prime of your ministry, to go teach a couple hundred people at a movie theater in California?” Meet Mike Hickerson, Lead Pastor & Planter of Mission Church in Ventura, CA. In this episode, Mike shares he and his wife Jodi’s personal story as church planters and unpacks some great advice for planters that he wishes he had ten years ago. He encourages planters to “fight to the edges to be around lost people” and challenges all church leaders, “Don’t...

“If we don’t pay attention to the season of planting, it’s too late to try to manufacture a harvest that we didn’t plan for or plant for.” Meet Steve Stroope, Founding Pastor of Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas. Packed with wisdom from the moment they press record, Andy dives in deep with Steve to better understand what he calls the Growth Gap and how to create leading indicators rather than focusing on goals that come from lagging indicators. In this episode, Steve unpacks the key profiles ...

“One of the most dangerous things to happen to your church plant is for you to get to 100 people. Because now you have enough people in your church to distract you from the mission of your church.” Meet Sean Sears, Church Planter & Founding Pastor of Grace Church in Boston, MA. In this episode, Sean shares his deep passion for staying on mission as a church planter by continuously surrounding yourself with the people you’re trying to reach. He encourages planters that you don’t have to create mo...

“There’s shared vision or there’s vision that’s shared.” Meet Ray Johnston, Founding Pastor of Bayside Church in Sacramento. We asked Ray to come on an episode of the podcast to share his wisdom on church planting… we should have asked him to come on five! Planters, Ray’s knowledge is vast… be ready to take quick notes! In this episode, Ray challenges planters on how to lead with vision, how to create momentum in your plant, and how to determine which voices will be the loudest on your journey. ...

“The difference between 45 hours a week and 65 hours is not necessarily more church growth, it’s just an unhealthy leader.” Meet Carey Nieuwhof, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and church planter. On the maiden voyage of The Unfair Advantage podcast, we’ve set the bar high. Carey shares the story behind the story of his church plant, unpacks the difference between great managers and great leaders, and gets vulnerable and authentic about what the Carey today would tell twenty-five year old Carey j...