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.
On The Rise: Does weekly church attendance matter anymore (New Data)?
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, some really curious new data from Lifeway on how pastors view weekly church attendance compared to how Christians do, plus a different way to view it (from me). Also, the 30 best fiction books of the last 30 years, a book I have actually read and loved, and why we call a dollar a buck. How Regular Should Church Attendance Be? (New Data, Wrong...
Is your church overstaffed? Here’s how to tell.
Hi Reader, Ever feel like you're understaffed but still not making progress? What if the opposite is true—that your lack of progress is because you're overstaffed? In this week’s episode, I sit down with Amy Anderson, principal leader at The Unstuck Group, to talk about why overstaffing is silently holding churches back. We break down the numbers, reveal why growing churches have 30% fewer staff and 20% more volunteer leaders, and share what it looks like to build a team that multiplies...
On The Rise: Your congregation’s race to the bottom?
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a piece on how contracting has become a race to the bottom (and what you might do about it), what you should try before your next hire, how to read a P&L, and a quote I’m pondering about consequences. How Home Construction Became a Race to the Bottom Christians need to take vocation and work seriously. Every week you speak to professionals,...
Can you receive a call from God that turns toxic? Actually....yes.
Hi Reader, Let me ask you a tough question: Has your calling become more important than the One who called you? So many church leaders respond to a call and end up falling out of love with ministry, and sometimes God. Why do things go toxic so often? Too often? This week on the podcast, I sit down with Dr. Arianna Molloy—an organizational communication expert and award-winning researcher—to talk about something a lot of us wrestle with but rarely say out loud: When your sense of calling...
4,428 leaders are in. What about you?
Hi Reader, As of the day I'm writing this, 4,428 church leaders—just like you—are in The Art of Leadership Academy. If you're on the fence about creating a free account, I'd love to give you a bit more insight about what you can expect if you do. Scroll down to the bottom for some quick answers that might help you decide. Or if you're ready, you can join here. When I started in ministry, all I had was books, a few friends, and no real leadership community that could help me solve the...
Are you as vulnerable as you should be?
Hi Reader, Ever feel like you’re crushing it on the outside but crumbling on the inside? In this week’s episode of the podcast, I sit down with Kyle Idleman for one of the most honest conversations we’ve had yet. We talk about the thoughts most leaders never say out loud—like why we hide our struggles, how insecurity shows up even when we’re confident, and what it really means to take your thoughts captive. Kyle shares why your thought life might be the most important leadership frontier...
Pros and cons of a celebrity pastor culture
Hi Reader, The burning question: Is celebrity pastor culture good for the Church? Whether you like it or not, it’s part of the world we’re leading in. If you're like other pastors leading a local ministry, there's a big tension—it can make you feel like you're not enough, like you're compared to some of the most compelling communicators on the planet. And for some, it means chasing applause instead of faithfulness. But celebrity pastor culture isn’t all bad. Yes, there are dangers, but there...
Leadership insights from the unexpected
Hi Reader, Question for you: What if the leadership insights that could transform your church aren't coming from the places you'd expect? Let's talk about Jimmy Donaldson, who you may know as MrBeast. At just 26 years old, he's built an audience of over 380 million YouTube subscribers and 115 million TikTok followers. Those aren't typos. And I think his leadership principles here directly apply to what we're trying to do in ministry. What do you think? Join the conversation: 3 leadership...
On The Rise: High School students are antisocial
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, what should we do with buildings owned by dying churches? Plus the latest on teenagers’ historic anti-social tendencies, Tim Keller on preaching, and Swedish death cleaning. Can God Fix America's Housing Crisis? Some politicians have an idea of what to do with all those dying churches. I have a different idea. Dying churches generally have...
What's eroding trust in modern leadership?
Hi Reader, It's one of those sayings you've probably heard too many times: Trust takes years to build, and only seconds to break. Sure, it sounds like one of those cheesy sayings. But as a church leader, seeing headline after headline of others' moral failures, does it make you stop and think twice about it? I know for me it does. For the last 10+ years, I've said to my team (and as a reminder to myself) that trust is our "brand" and that one dumb move can end it all. While it's not all bad...
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.