The Gavin Adams Leadership Podcast cover art

All Episodes

The Gavin Adams Leadership Podcast — 156 episodes

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Title
1

When Funding the Mission Becomes the Mission

2

The Second Half of the Year Isn't a Continuation. It's a Decision.

3

Why Your Non-Givers Aren't Giving (And What to Do About It This Month)

4

The Difference Between a Generosity Moment and a Generosity Movement

5

Halfway Through 2026: What You Haven't Named Is Already Deciding for You

6

The Trust Tax: What Every Direction Change Is Really Costing You

7

What Your Mid-Year Giving Numbers Are Actually Telling You

8

You Lost Their Trust Before Sunday Morning Even Started

9

One Question That Fixes The Awkward Giving Conversation In Your Church

10

What If Your Culture Isn't What Your Team Tells You It Is

11

A Straightforward Way To Break Through Church Growth Barriers

12

Why Familiarity Is a Real Threat to Your Church's Growth

13

Why Your Guest Gift Is Working Against You

14

Your Vision Moment Doesn't Have a Production Problem

15

Your Church Already Has a Strategy. The Question Is Whether You Chose It.

16

Your Church Will Never Be More Intentional Than You Are

17

You Can Be Liked or You Can Lead. Too Many Pastors Want Both.

18

Correctness Isn't Influence: How Leaders Mistake Accuracy for Effectiveness

19

Your Church Is Full of Stories That Never Reach Sunday

20

Feedback Is Data. You're the One Who Has to Decide What It Means.

21

Loyalty-Based Giving Is Fading. Here's What Comes Next.

22

The AI Question More Churches Should Begin Asking

23

The Hidden Cost of a Hurried Pastor

24

You Don't Have a Volunteer Shortage. You Have a Movement Problem.

25

Empathy Isn't Softness. It's the Reason Your Message Gets Heard.

26

They Are Not Fighting Your Vision. But They Are Grieving the Transition.

27

Why Your Volunteers Keep Disappearing (And Why Thanking Them Won't Fix It)

28

Why Your Volunteer Appeals Keep Failing

29

Why Pastors Delay What They Already Know Needs to Change

30

Your Sunday Service Order Might Be Killing Your Sermon

31

Why Talking About Generosity More Is Not Moving People

32

What Do You Say When There Aren’t Many Life-Change Stories to Tell?

33

Why So Many Lead Pastors Feel Stuck Doing Work Someone Else Should Own

34

What To Do If Your Church "Feels" Great But People Aren’t Growing

35

No Church Leader Sets Out to Build an Unintentional Church

36

The Death of Expert Culture and the New Rules of Church Leadership

37

Why Church Activity Makes Us Believe Discipleship Is Happening (Even When It’s Not)

38

When Your Team Can’t Handle Feedback: How to Build Resilience Without Lowering the Bar

39

Trust Is Now Harder To Earn Than Ever — And That Should Change How You Lead

40

Why Stagnant People Create Stuck Churches

41

Clarity Over Coverage: The Messaging Shift Your Church Needs

42

The Right Way: You Don’t Have a People Problem. You Have a Pathway Problem.

43

How to Build a Culture of Participation in Your Church

44

How to Involve "How" Implementors During "Wow" Visionary Meetings

45

The Transformation Economy: Why Great Church Experiences Aren’t Producing Real Change

46

People Don’t Leave Churches. They Leave Leaders They No Longer Trust

47

Why Your Church Can’t Out Content the Internet and What To Do Instead

48

Why Great Church Services Are No Longer Driving Church Growth

49

You Can Grow a Church and Still Stall Discipleship

50

The Right Message isn't "Right" for Everyone

51

Faithful, Busy, and Stuck: Why Your Shapers and Stewards Stop Growing

52

Meet the New Believer in Your Church: Hungry, Overwhelmed, and Unsure What to Do Next

53

Meet the Seeker In Your Seats: They Are Asking One Question

54

You’re Not Discipling Everyone. You’re Discipling Four People.

55

When Engagement Becomes the Goal

56

Why Full Calendars Rarely Produce Growing Disciples

57

You May Not Have a Discipleship Problem—It Could Be a Design Problem

58

The Story You’re Telling Yourself About Your Church Might Be Holding It Back

59

When Trust Breaks Down, Giving Slows Down: The New Generosity Challenge for Churches

60

Why Sunday Afternoons Discourage Faithful Pastors More Than They Expect

61

Stop Creating the Anxiety You’re Complaining About

62

Giving Isn’t a Financial Issue—It’s a Spiritual Problem

63

The Power of a Goal: Why Churches Need Something Clear to Aim At

64

"Building the Plane While Flying It" Only Works When the Destination Is Clear

65

The New Giving Reality: 5 Shifts Every Growth-Minded Pastor Must Understand

66

Start With Who: The Missing Step in Sermon Planning That Shapes Disciples

67

Why Kids Ministry Gets Results and Adult Ministry Gets Stuck

68

How One Church Turned Its Budget Into a Vision Tool and Raised $115,000 Without a Capital Campaign

69

Why Your 2026 Church Calendar Is Full but Your Mission Feels Stuck

70

2026 Won’t Change Itself: How Intentional Pastors Design the Year They Actually Want

71

Why Repeating Last Year’s Calendar Is Costing You Momentum

72

How Intentional Leaders Make Hard Decisions That Move the Church Forward

73

Stop Hoping People Engage: 5 Intentional Ways to Increase Attendance, Groups, Serving, Giving, and Inviting

74

Breaking the Cycle: How Christmas Ends the Pressure to Prove Yourself

75

The Year of Intentionality: 50 Ways to Stop Leading Reactively and Build a Church That Grows

76

The Ministry Model Makeover: How Intentional Leaders Design What Their Church Actually Needs

77

Accidental Leadership Is Costing You Growth. Intentional Leadership Can Change Everything.

78

Add Some "Stick-to-itiveness" To Your New Ministry Strategy

79

Who’s Really in Charge? The Hidden Pressure Behind Every Unclear Ministry Role

80

When Gratitude Gets Hard: Finding God in the Grind

81

Are We Settling for a Selfish Revival? The Real Change God Wants to Bring

82

Pastor From Your Gift: How Every Pastor Can Build a Thriving Church

83

How Smart Churches Turn Year-End Giving into Mission Momentum

84

Preaching Under Pressure: How to Prepare Without Performing

85

The Leadership Factory Every Church Needs

86

7 Lessons from Non-Profits That Could Transform Your Church’s Generosity

87

How to Lead When Sunday Goes Sideways

88

Stop Thanking People for What Already Happened to Drive More Giving in Your Church

89

Why Mission Drift Happens (and How Great Leaders Stop It)

90

When What’s Written on the Wall Isn’t Happening Down the Hall

91

6 Leadership Actions Every Pastor Needs to Move from Stuck to Strategic

92

When Ministry Hurts Home: How to Stop Leading the Church at the Expense of Your Family

93

When You Wonder If It Was Worth It (and Why It Still Is)

94

How to Create Financial Margin Without Losing Your Mission

95

The Offering Pressure: Why Pastors Feel It and How to Finally Relieve It

96

Caring Without Crumbling: 3 Rhythms to Keep Pastoring from the Heart

97

How to Turn Your Church’s Vision Into Reality (in 3 Practical Leadership Steps)

98

When Should You Speak Into Cultural Moments? A Pastor’s Framework for Hard Sundays

99

Can One Question Really Change the Direction of Your Church?

100

Stop Treating Leadership Like It’s Less Spiritual

101

Why Timid Men Are Just as Toxic as Controlling Ones (and What the Church Must Do About It)

102

Why Your Health Becomes Your Church’s Ceiling

103

Preaching Fills the Seats—Leadership Builds the Church

104

Why Leadership (Not Money, Buildings, or Programs) Is Your Real Growth Barrier

105

Stop Trying to Outdo Last Sunday: Why Faithfulness Beats Flashiness

106

Stop Pressuring and Start Them (Increase Discipleship Participation With This Shift)

107

One Size Fits… Almost Nobody: Why Your Discipleship Pathway Needs More Variety

108

When Worship Turns Too Personal: How “Me” Songs Are Quietly Weakening the Church

109

4 Warning Signs Your Discipleship Pathway Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

110

Excellence Without the Show: How to Keep Worship From Becoming Performance

111

Just Because You’re Preaching Doesn’t Mean Anyone Is Changing

112

You Can’t Force Growth: How to Create Conditions for Discipleship That Flourish

113

Less of Me, More of Jesus: Escaping the Pressure of the Spiritual Spotlight

114

Stop Wasting The OTHER 6 Days: How to Turn One Sermon into a Week of Discipleship

115

Content but Not Satisfied: The Better Way to Measure Your Ministry

116

From Cheesecake Menu to Clear Map: Why Your Church Needs Fewer Programs and a Stronger Pathway

117

The 5 Rights of Discipleship: Align Your Pathway, Accelerate Spiritual Growth

118

The Volunteer Schedule Hack Your Church Hasn’t Tried Yet

119

Stop Counting Attendance: 5 Church Metrics That Actually Measure Spiritual Growth

120

Stop Avoiding Structure: The Backbone Every Thriving Church Needs

121

Stop Praying for Revival If You’re Not Preparing for It

122

Why Your Sermons Don’t Stick

123

What Is Your Purpose When Preaching?

124

8 Bold Church Values That Actually Drive Growth

125

How to Preach the Truth When No One Wants to Hear It

126

Good Preaching Nerves vs. Bad Ones: How to Know the Difference

127

Lead Like You Expect God to Show Up: The Power of Sunday Expectancy

128

Tired of the Weekly Scramble? Build a Sermon System That Actually Works

129

The Gospel Is Offensive. You Don’t Have to Be.

130

Why Your Church Feels Busy But Stuck

131

Why Most Pastors Preach From Behind—And How to Get Ahead

132

The Fine Line Between Pastoring and Pleasing

133

5 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Working

134

How to Engage the Biblically Illiterate Without Watering Down Truth

135

Discipleship Is a Journey: Does Your Church Offer a Map or a Menu?

136

The Critical Connection Between Leadership and Church Health

137

Sunday Pressure Release: When the Church You’re Leading Doesn’t Match the Vision You’re Carrying

138

Outdated and Unaware: Why Yesterday’s Ministry Model Won’t Reach Today’s Mission Field

139

Is Passion Enough? Why Your Church Needs a System (Not Just a Mission)

140

Sunday Pressure Release: God Presses Where Pride Puffs

141

Why Saying “Yes” Is Costing You More Than You Think

142

The Management Mistake That’s Quietly Costing Your Church

143

5 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Working

144

Sunday Pressure Release: Pressed But Not Crushed

145

Feeling Stretched Thin? Use Scarcity to Sharpen Your Strategy

146

Stop Resisting the Organizational Side of Church

147

Most Pastors Are Tracking the Wrong Numbers

148

The 4 Relational Circles Every Pastor Needs to Stay Healthy, Connected, and Confident

149

The Church Gets Your Weekends — Does Your Family Get Your Heart?

150

Feeling Numb, Tired, or Checked Out? You Might Be Facing Leadership Fatigue

151

The Kingdom Isn’t Red or Blue: How to Shepherd Faithfully in a Politically Divided Culture

152

When the Pastor Can’t Pray: The Spiritual Pressure We Never Talk About

153

You Went to Seminary, Not Business School. Now What?

154

Sunday Is Not Your Super Bowl: Escaping the Pressure of Performance-Based Ministry

155

The Dangerous Difference Between Empathy and People-Pleasing

156

The 7 Deadly Pressures Crushing Pastors