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The Gavin Adams Leadership Podcast — 138 episodes

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Title
1

Your Church Is Full of Stories That Never Reach Sunday

2

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

3

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

4

The AI Question More Churches Should Begin Asking

5

The Hidden Cost of a Hurried Pastor

6

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

7

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

8

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

9

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

10

Why Your Volunteer Appeals Keep Failing

11

Why Pastors Delay What They Already Know Needs to Change

12

Your Sunday Service Order Might Be Killing Your Sermon

13

Why Talking About Generosity More Is Not Moving People

14

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

15

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

16

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

17

No Church Leader Sets Out to Build an Unintentional Church

18

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

19

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

20

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

21

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

22

Why Stagnant People Create Stuck Churches

23

Clarity Over Coverage: The Messaging Shift Your Church Needs

24

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

25

How to Build a Culture of Participation in Your Church

26

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

27

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

28

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

29

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

30

Why Great Church Services Are No Longer Driving Church Growth

31

You Can Grow a Church and Still Stall Discipleship

32

The Right Message isn't "Right" for Everyone

33

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

34

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

35

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

36

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

37

When Engagement Becomes the Goal

38

Why Full Calendars Rarely Produce Growing Disciples

39

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

40

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

41

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

42

Why Sunday Afternoons Discourage Faithful Pastors More Than They Expect

43

Stop Creating the Anxiety You’re Complaining About

44

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

45

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

46

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

47

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

48

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

49

Why Kids Ministry Gets Results and Adult Ministry Gets Stuck

50

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

51

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

52

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

53

Why Repeating Last Year’s Calendar Is Costing You Momentum

54

How Intentional Leaders Make Hard Decisions That Move the Church Forward

55

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

56

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

57

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

58

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

59

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

60

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

61

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

62

When Gratitude Gets Hard: Finding God in the Grind

63

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

64

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

65

How Smart Churches Turn Year-End Giving into Mission Momentum

66

Preaching Under Pressure: How to Prepare Without Performing

67

The Leadership Factory Every Church Needs

68

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

69

How to Lead When Sunday Goes Sideways

70

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

71

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

72

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

73

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

74

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

75

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

76

How to Create Financial Margin Without Losing Your Mission

77

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

78

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

79

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

80

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

81

Can One Question Really Change the Direction of Your Church?

82

Stop Treating Leadership Like It’s Less Spiritual

83

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

84

Why Your Health Becomes Your Church’s Ceiling

85

Preaching Fills the Seats—Leadership Builds the Church

86

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

87

Stop Trying to Outdo Last Sunday: Why Faithfulness Beats Flashiness

88

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

89

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

90

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

91

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

92

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

93

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

94

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

95

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

96

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

97

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

98

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

99

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

100

The Volunteer Schedule Hack Your Church Hasn’t Tried Yet

101

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

102

Stop Avoiding Structure: The Backbone Every Thriving Church Needs

103

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

104

Why Your Sermons Don’t Stick

105

What Is Your Purpose When Preaching?

106

8 Bold Church Values That Actually Drive Growth

107

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

108

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

109

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

110

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

111

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

112

Why Your Church Feels Busy But Stuck

113

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

114

The Fine Line Between Pastoring and Pleasing

115

5 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Working

116

How to Engage the Biblically Illiterate Without Watering Down Truth

117

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

118

The Critical Connection Between Leadership and Church Health

119

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

120

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

121

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

122

Sunday Pressure Release: God Presses Where Pride Puffs

123

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

124

The Management Mistake That’s Quietly Costing Your Church

125

5 Signs Your Sermon Isn’t Working

126

Sunday Pressure Release: Pressed But Not Crushed

127

Feeling Stretched Thin? Use Scarcity to Sharpen Your Strategy

128

Stop Resisting the Organizational Side of Church

129

Most Pastors Are Tracking the Wrong Numbers

130

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

131

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

132

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

133

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

134

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

135

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

136

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

137

The Dangerous Difference Between Empathy and People-Pleasing

138

The 7 Deadly Pressures Crushing Pastors