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.
Going viral might be the worst thing for your ministry
Hi Reader, When was the last time you felt stuck? So many leaders delay because they can't choose between options, or haven't got the confidence to move forward. Getting stuck is a trap. A trap you can escape. Seth Godin has a fascinating way of getting to the heart of leadership problems, and he's back, candid, personal, and full of only-Seth insights. In our latest conversation, Seth challenges us to look at the things we assume can’t change and ask what might really be holding them in...
Should your kids keep talking to Grandma after she dies?
Hi Reader, For all of human history, death has been final. AI is about to make it feel optional. Last year, an app called 2wai released a promotional video. It opens with a pregnant woman calling an AI version of her late mother for parenting advice. Then it fast-forwards: the AI grandmother reads bedtime stories to her grandchild, and years later gives advice to her adult grandson. All of it was generated from three minutes of video recorded before she died. The video got over 22 million...
On The Rise: What do we call an AI? + The billion dollar question and talking to orangtangs
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a series of seemingly unrelated articles and posts that are all about getting you unstuck. So many leaders (like me) are great at getting in their own way. Today, Glenn Packiam, Kevin Kelly, Seth Godin, Charlie Munger and an Orangutan will help you make some progress. Is Talking to AI the Same as Talking to a Person? Glenn Packiam weighs in. I...
Who do you call when you don’t know what to do?
Hi Reader, Leadership can get surprisingly lonely. You’re making decisions that affect your staff, your church, your family, and sometimes thousands of people. But when you’re the one everyone else comes to for answers, who do you call when you don’t know what to do? That’s one of the things Annie F. Downs and I unpacked in our latest conversation. Annie has built what she calls a personal “board of directors.” Different people she trusts for different parts of her life. Some are mentors....
Andy Stanley interviewed me on AI. Here’s where we landed.
Hi Reader, On my podcast, I’m usually the one asking the questions. But this time, Andy Stanley and Holly Stoddard invited me to North Point Community Church to have a conversation with their staff and the Irresistible Church Network of 230+ churches around the world. The topic was AI, mental health, and what church leaders need to be thinking about right now. And they went straight to the questions I think you need to be wrestling with right now. 👉 What happens to your church if AI disrupts...
Swap your phone for a face
Hi Reader, In some recent talks I gave, I asked the audience whether anyone thought people were better off after twenty years of social media. The unanimous answer? Nobody thinks we are. Two decades into the social media experiment, we: are lonelier than ever. have bigger mental health challenges than ever. are more polarized and divided than we've been in our life time. The technology that was supposed to bring us together drove us apart instead. AI is, in my view, only going to make all of...
On The Rise: The Gospel Coalition won’t publish you if you do this. + A 1 Star review you need to read
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, The Gospel Coalition comes out against AI, and I tend to agree with them. A one-star review that is probably going to make your day, why 91% of your employees are napping, and the best leadership book I've read in years. If You Use AI, The Gospel Coalition Won’t Publish You Actually, they have a point. Maybe you saw this over the summer, but the...
Missed it? The replay for What AI Is Doing To Your Church is available now
Hi Reader, This week, thousands of you showed up to talk honestly about what AI is doing to culture, congregations, and teams. Why does this matter so much? Because the stakes are real. People are already turning to AI with the questions they used to bring to the church, and the window to lead through this shift (rather than react to it) is closing fast. So, if you missed a session (or want to rewatch), the full recording of What AI Is Doing To Your Church is now available. Watch the replay:...
It's finally here 🎉
Hi Reader, Today's the day! After two years of research, writing, rewriting, and more conversations about AI than I can count, AI and the Future Church is officially out. The book is designed to help you position your ministry for optimal growth and impact in the AI era (which we've entered, by the way). It's not about prompting. It's about the impact AI will have on people and how you can use this moment as a chance to reach and help more people than ever. To tell you the truth, at some...
The AI conversation your leadership team isn't having (yet)
Hi Reader, You and your leadership team are probably talking about AI. But what do you actually talk about? If your team is like most, it's some version of this: Should staff use AI for sermon research? Do we need a policy? Is it okay to use ChatGPT for the bulletin? Those are fine questions; I've asked them, too. But that conversation is about prompts and productivity... it's about whether AI is a useful tool in your hands. There's a second conversation almost nobody is having. It's about...
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.