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.
Should Your Idea Win if You're the Senior Leader?
Hi Reader, It's your job to bring your best ideas to the table as a leader. On a recent very important project, though, 100% of my ideas didn't win. And I'm the CEO of our company. The project? The cover design for my new book on AI and the Future Church that releases September 15th. Naturally, the publisher asked me what I envisioned for the cover. I really liked my last two books covers and thought we'd continue a theme. So I pitched some ideas (like a gear shift as the key metaphor). After...
On The Rise: Pastors Are Emotionally Better, Or Are They?
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, fresh Barna data tells a complex (but encouraging) story of how pastors are doing. Plus, we’ll look at 49 things you can do for fun, a history of the church growth movement, and a robot who can (skilfully) cook your eggs. Pastors Are Feeling Called But Not Satisfied New Barna data shows a complex picture Well, there’s good news and there’s other...
Is your life too cluttered? This is what happens
Hi Reader, Do you ever feel like your life is just...too full? Too much noise. Too much stuff. Too many responsibilities. Way too many tabs open in your brain all the time. I think a lot of us assume that if we just organize things better, work a little harder, or finally get ahead next month, the anxiety will calm down. But what if it doesn’t? In this episode, I sat down with Joshua Becker (Christian minimalist) to talk about minimalism, anxiety, margin, and why so many of us feel...
Is cost-cutting smart? No, it’s a trap.
Hi Reader, Eric Ries is the guy who invented the Lean Startup. If you’ve ever talked about minimum viable products or pivoting 👉that’s his language. He genuinely changed how Silicon Valley launches things. Eric takes his business/start-up expertise, and we go deep on the broke thinking that holds so many churches back. The assumption that the cheapest option is always the smartest one. Eric makes the case—with research and real examples—that it’s actually the opposite. Cheaper is off mission,...
Are you about to lose the ability to preach?
Hi Reader, Almost 2 in 3 pastors are now using AI for sermon prep. While I'm not here to tell you that's wrong (I use it too), I think there's an important question nobody's asking. Are you losing the ability to preach? Not your desire or passion, but your actual cognitive ability to wrestle with a text, sit with God, and bring something forged from real work to your congregation on Sunday. What's happening on university campuses right now should be a warning to every pastor who's let AI do...
On The Rise: Trouble for Worship Leader Mental Health + Old People Monopolies and Products Google Killed
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a surprising report that shows your worship leader might not be all right, plus, the courage to kill what you started, how the elderly are monopolizing politics and economies, and more. Worship Leader 8.5x Less Likely to Report Excellent Mental Health Not a crisis, but definitely a concern Checked in on your worship leader lately? Only 3.4% of...
She made history. Then the backlash started.
Hi Reader, Dr. Nicole Martin made history when she became the President and CEO of Christianity Today, the first Black woman to lead the publication in its 70-year history. Sadly, she walked straight into a firestorm. If you've ever been criticized for your leadership, lean in. Nicole believes that leadership is designed to kill you. So we talk about that. She gets into the full story 👉 the opposition research on her, the critics who called her a diversity hire, and why none of it stopped...
What if you became spectacularly unavailable this summer?
Hi Reader, Summer's here. My fave season by far. But for a lot of us, the question becomes whether you will ever get any meaningful time off. If you're like a lot of leaders (and like me twenty years ago), you'll schedule a couple weeks off but you'll keep working quietly just a few hours in the morning or a few issues along the way that came up that you simply "have to deal with". Why does that happen? And why does it happen to leader after leader after leader? Well, here's an answer that I...
On The Rise: All About Burnout and Recovery. + Pastors are NOT Quitting. What?
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today’s kind of special. 20 years ago this month I fell deep into full-on burnout. It would be months before I got my energy, heart, and soul back. All I felt in the spring and summer of 2006 was numb, dead. I thought my life and ministry were over. This week I released two episodes on my podcast looking back on what I’ve learned in the last two...
Blank space in your calendar is a trap.
Hi Reader, Twenty years ago, I burned out. A few days ago, I told you the full story on my podcast—how it happened, why it happened, and what it felt like. Here's the link in case you missed it. Today, in a fresh episode, I give you the recovery playbook. It's everything I've learned in the last twenty years on getting out of burnout and staying out of it. In this episode, I walk you through seven strategies I've lived personally, that have kept me (and a lot of other leaders) out of burnout...
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.