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.
Christians are contributing to the chaos. (Let's talk about it.)
Hi Reader, Let's be honest. If your social feed looks anything like mine, it's gotten more polarized, more angry, and frankly just more weird. The weirdest part is, Christians aren't exempt from that. If anything, we're contributing to it. I've been sitting with this for a while now, and I finally put it on camera: when Christians lose their minds, people lose their faith. I think about that a lot, because I don't think most of us realize what's actually at stake every time we post, share, or...
On The Rise: Why It’s Hard for People To Attend Church, Being Cheap and How to Not Be So Critical
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, a perceptive article on why it’s hard for some families to attend church on Sundays, what being cheap really costs you, how to be less critical and how to finally stop procrastinating. Some Insights Into Why Weekends Don’t Work For Churches Some empathy for people who aren’t there every Sunday It’s easy to get pastors ranting about people who...
AI sermon prep checklist
Hi Reader, When it comes to AI in sermon prep, much should you use AI? Let it write a first draft? Let it guide you?Look, sermon writing is hard. I get it. Here's waht I believe (not think, believe): If you skip the struggle, you skip God. If you outsource the wrestling match to AI—the part where the text does its work on you first—you bypass the whole point. The question isn't whether to use it... that ship has sailed for most of us. The question is where it actually helps, and where it...
Why your church isn’t multiplying and how to fix it.
Hi Reader, What’s the single biggest reason most churches plateau or decline? According to Dave Ferguson, it comes down to one word: no. This challenged me, because I always advise leaders to say no more often. But are there cases where this blocks your church's growth and your growth as a leader? Well, yes. Dave Ferguson is the founding pastor of Community Christian Church in Chicago and president of Exponential, one of the world’s largest church-planting networks. Recorded backstage at...
The Good News? There's No Bad News.
Hi Reader, Ready for some good news today? There's no bad news. Only news. That's something Rich Birch told me years ago when we were launching Connexus Church together. It was an aside, but it's stuck with me ever since. Rich served as our Executive Pastor for a few years, and I imagine like most Lead Pastors I always wanted to hear the bad news first and then have him give me any good news when he was updating me. One day, he looked at me and said: "There's no bad news. Only news." “...
On The Rise: The latest on Christians, Pastors and AI, and how to get Banned From Flying United
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, Christians and pastors are embracing AI, and the younger you are, the more you worry about its threats. Plus, I give you my rule of thumb on how to know if you’re overusing AI in sermon prep. Also, the best book I’ve read all year (or in many years) and some encouraging news on speakerphone use in public. What Christians (and Pastors) Think...
You didn’t start it, here’s how to lead it anyway.
Hi Reader, What does it take to lead a church you didn’t start and keep it healthy for 14 years? Rich Villodas knows. He took over from Pete Scazzero at New Life Fellowship in Queens at age 32, with Pete staying on staff, and has been leading what is now a church of 80 nations ever since. In this conversation, we dig into what it actually takes to be the next leader. We discuss the skills required, the shadow you’re stepping into, and why ego and insecurity are the real threats to a healthy...
Pastor's AI survival guide
Hi Reader, The challenges with AI aren't just coming... they're here. Teenagers are talking to AI companions instead of real people Someone in your congregation could already be using an AI resurrection app to "talk" to a deceased loved one People are already having theological conversations during the week... with chatbots So, I made something for you. The Pastor's AI Survival Guide: 6 Ways to Prepare Your Church A free field guide—short, practical, and built for the conversations you're...
Sin has a mass-marketing strategy. Here’s how it works.
Hi Reader, I don’t think about spiritual warfare the way I used to. Theologian Joel Muddamalle helped change that in today’s conversation and I think it’ll shift something for you too. The line that stopped me: the dark forces of this world are experts in mass-marketing sin. Not isolated temptations in dramatic moments, but a sustained, sophisticated campaign—and your devices are the primary channel. We cover a lot of ground in this one: 👉 How sin moved from a one-off temptation to a...
People are lonelier than ever — and AI got there before the church did
Hi Reader, 72% American teenagers are already turning to AI for companionship. That's not just extreme cases or the troubled kids; that's three in four teenagers going to a machine for connection. Yeah. I know. And it's happening today. In your church. We're not (just) talking about a guy who married his chatbot. We're talking about the teen who moved to a new town and tells an AI about his day because it's easier than telling a human he's lonely. Or the grieving student who processes her...
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.