Carey Nieuwhof
Don’t settle for an impact smaller than you’re called to make. It's time to unlock your potential and lead confidently into a future filled with growth — for yourself, your church, and your mission. Get access to some of my best leadership content, only published in my newsletters.
7 signs your sermon was written by AI
Hi Reader, Have you noticed that our feeds all sound the same? Well, it’s three and a half years since ChatGPT launched and I don’t think that’s an accident. A Wharton study earlier this year put a name on what’s happening: cognitive surrender. When you let AI do your thinking for you. In today’s episode, I walk through seven tells that give away AI-generated content (things your congregation is probably already picking up on), share what my actual voice sounds like and how I’ve fought to...
The invaluable skill of staring at a blinking cursor
Hi Reader, What if I told you that one of the most valuable things you do as a leader is to stare at a blinking cursor? Well, I'm telling you... it is. That's actually what I was doing while I was thinking about what to write to you today: staring at this screen, pondering/thinking about/praying about what to write. I almost toggled to Claude to ask it what I should write about. But I didn't. It's easier every day to get a machine to think for you, to do the heavy work, to make it so you...
It's coming: AI and the Future Church
Hi Reader, I'll keep this email short. For the past two years, I've been researching, writing, and wrestling with one question: what does the rise of AI mean for the church? My new book, AI and the Future Church, releases September 15th, and it's available for pre-order right now. The heart of the book is three shifts every church needs to make to do ministry in the age of AI; from Sunday mornings, to preparing for the financial and mental health impact, to fortifying your integrity and the...
On The Rise: Can AI sin? Plus 12 lessons from a young church leader + How the mighty fall
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a thought-provoking piece from someone who doesn't really go to church about why the word “sin” needs to enter the chat on artificial intelligence. Plus 12 lessons from a Millennial church leader after 12 years. How the mighty fall, and a thought about selling your soul. Note: you should probably think twice. Can AI Sin? (Well, Its Developers...
This is why leadership feels heavier than it should
Hi Reader, Leadership has a way of convincing you that the answer is always to do more. What if the thing that's quietly costing you the most isn't your workload; it's the pace you're living at? Today on the podcast, Tyler Staton shares how a cancer diagnosis forced him to rethink everything he believed about productivity, presence, and what it actually means to lead well. One insight especially stayed with me: many leaders don't sacrifice joy because they're lazy. They sacrifice it because...
Your teenager's first relationship may be with an AI
Hi Reader, I need to tell you about three families. A 13-year-old girl in Colorado. A 14-year-old boy in Florida. A 16-year-old boy in California. All three died by suicide in the last two years and in each case, their families say the same thing happened first. Their kid fell in love with an AI chatbot. I know that sentence probably reads like science fiction... I wish it were. What do you think of when you hear "AI companion?" For most of us, we picture some obscure app we've never heard...
On The Rise: Will AI Kill The Sermon? + How to Avoid Being Overcharged and Chick-fil-A’s secret menu
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, some fresh insights from Tim Ferriss on how AI is already killing publishing and what it might do to other content (like sermons), also how to avoid being overcharged with dynamic pricing, and Chick-fil-A's secret menu. What Will AI Do To Sermons? An interesting/alarming analysis from Tim Ferriss on the future of content What’s the future of...
Your sermon isn't your competitive advantage anymore
Hi Reader, You are hearing me talk a lot about why I think the AI conversation can't wait. Today, I want to give you two things you can actually use this week... ideas I think could change how you approach ministry in this season. Idea one: the scarcity flip. For centuries, preaching was scarce, but community was plentiful. People had deep relational lives, but hearing great teaching was the rare thing. Church had the corner on content. That equation has completely flipped. Today, anyone can...
The cost of leadership (More Eugene Peterson)
Hi Reader, In this final episode of our Required Listening series, I sit down with Eric Peterson and Winn Collier to look at Eugene Peterson's life from the inside. What was Eugene really like? No better people to ask than one of his sons and his biographer. You might think of it as the opposite of an influencer's life. We talk about Eugene's fear of losing his soul, the ambition he had to wrestle down, the cost his work had on his family, and the simple, generous life he and Jan chose when...
If everything's harder, you should make it easier
Hi Reader, Maybe you've noticed this. Anytime I go to a website these days, it seems to be much harder to access what I'm there for. First you get a cookie notification, then you get a pop-up telling you to turn on notifications or subscribe, then there's an ad that blocks the text you're trying to read. Soon you don't even remember why you clicked on the site in the first place, and the content's no longer worth what you paid to get to it. Or you try to sign in on an account and you can't...
Don’t settle for an impact smaller than you’re called to make. It's time to unlock your potential and lead confidently into a future filled with growth — for yourself, your church, and your mission. Get access to some of my best leadership content, only published in my newsletters.