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.
How a 900-person church is raising $37.5 million
Hi Reader, Have you ever looked at the vision in front of you and quietly wondered, How in the world is this ever going to happen? 👉Maybe it's a building project. 👉Maybe it's reaching your community. 👉Maybe it's simply leading your church through a divided culture without losing people along the way. Today’s podcast episode reminded me that God-sized visions are supposed to feel bigger than you. Aaron Graham pastors a church of about 900 people in Washington, D.C., and right now they're...
Almost half your church trusts AI with their spiritual growth
Hi Reader, Did you know 48% of practicing Christians say they trust AI with their spiritual growth? This is not the casual attenders... not the Christmas-and-Easter crowd... this is practicing Christians. The people who show up, give, serve, and open their Bibles. According to recent Barna research, half of them now trust AI with their spiritual life. Before you move on, it gets more personal than that. Roughly one in three of your most committed members has already put AI's spiritual advice...
The day AI lied to me (with footnotes)
Hi Reader, While researching for AI and the Future Church, I spent a lot of time experimenting with AI tools. For all the impressive stuff, there was one fail I'll never forget. I asked an AI for research on church trends, and it confidently served up Barna data: Statistics, study titles, publication dates, and even links to the sources. One problem: none of it was real. The studies didn't exist. Barna never published them. And the links it sourced were dead. Every single one. The AI had...
On The Rise: A new gap between pastors and christians + Gen Z doesn’t trust anyone
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a new discipleship trend when it comes to the views pastors have about AI versus congregations. Also, Gen Z apparently trusts nobody, the challenge with celebrity Christians, and how being improbable is a great strategy. The Gap Between Pastors and Their Congregation Church leaders are much more cautious about AI. New Barna Research shows that...
What your guests feel that you’ll never hear about
Hi Reader, Your church probably has a great service. Visitors leave saying the music was good and the preaching was solid. But some of those same people never come back, and you and your team are left wondering why. 🤷 Will Guidara built Eleven Madison Park into the number one restaurant in the world, and he spent years studying the real reason people feel what they feel when they walk through a door. The difference between a church people return to and one they quietly stop attending often...
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...
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.