The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast

The cultural moment we're in isn't just tense — it's a full convulsion, and it's landing in your church every Sunday. In this emergency panel episode, Ed Stetzer, Adam Mesa, and Sharon Hodde Miller debate when to speak up, when to be silent, how to deal with fallout, and how to pastor people in a deeply divided age.

This is the conversation many pastors are desperate to have but afraid to start.

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Life.Church Senior Pastor Craig Groeschel and his therapist, Dr. Wayne Chappelle, join Carey to talk about a wall Craig hit in ministry, that he thought might k*ll him.

They discuss what was at stake, how he got through it, what happens to leaders who don't take action, and how Craig recovered fully from what almost took him out. 

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Patrick Lencioni opens up about his dark night of the soul and his recent five-month sabbatical.

Plus, we discuss how we go to work to heal and the joys and challenges of leading next-gen leaders.

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Henry Cloud explains why leadership is not lonely, or at least, shouldn't be.

Plus, we discuss why founders hang on too long and why leaders have far more control than you think!

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Comedian and listener favorite John Crist returns to ask if we're being too critical of the church right now. Has our cynicism gone too far? 

Plus, we talk about finding hope and do a detailed breakdown of exactly what it takes to appear on the Tonight Show.

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Leadership expert Les McKeown talks about the rise of mini-celebrity pastors, the limits that places on church growth and team development, and how to overcome the growth barriers you're facing as church leaders.

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John Mark Comer talks about his 21-day venture into the desert and a silence unlike any he's known in his life.

Plus, he clarifies where he stands in terms of the left or the right (and the Christian past), discusses major challenges for modern discipleship and the church, and adds his own church trend.

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YouTuber Ruslan KD sits down to explain that ambiguity from preachers on cultural issues is costing them more than they think.

He shares how the next generation is looking to the church for what to think and how to think.

In this episode, we do a deep dive into how the next generation is leveraging YouTube and social media to preach the Gospel.

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Even as teenagers, Gen Zers Luke LeFevre and Daniel McLeod were preaching at their high school and at raves. They share why Gen Z is so bold, what's creating the surge in church attendance, and why so many Gen Z are not using their gifts in local churches, and how to change that.

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Is America in revival? Well, not quite, according to Barna CEO David Kinnaman, who joins Carey to discuss 2026 church trends.

New data shows overall American Christianity is still in decline AND that Gen Z men are dialing into Jesus, young adults are the most churched group in America, and that we're setting ourselves up for a succession crisis. 

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Carey Nieuwhof unveils 7 disruptive church trends to track in 2026. The trends include Gen Z leading a surge in young church attendance and a rise in women exiting the Christian faith.

Plus, Carey discusses discipleship by algorithm and why that makes it impossible to lead people with harmony.

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Former LCBC Senior Pastor David Ashcraft talks about the small church dysfunction he encountered when he arrived at LCBC when it was just a small church.

Plus, he discusses how it scaled into a mega-church of 22,000, succession, and how he repositioned the Global Leadership Summit for the future.

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Sharon Hodde Miller discusses entering ministry with idealism that is crushed when people break your heart and leave your church.

Plus, she discusses how to keep your heart engaged, learning to fight cynicism, and how to know when to speak into culture and when to keep silent.

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Theologian and church planter Dom Ruso offers lessons from church planting in Montreal, one of the most secular environments in North America, and how to reach a very difficult culture. 

He talks about the lack of theological training churches are facing, why we're probably not ready for real revival, and how to reach people most people think are unreachable.

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J.R. Briggs has studied the art of asking questions for ten years. He shares how the quality of your questions determines the quality of your life and leadership, how to use questions to get your audience's full attention, and why question-asking is a dying art.

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In this episode of the podcast, N.T. Wright discusses the forces that formed him into the scholar, priest, and writer he is today: his early influences, his calling, and what he gave up to pursue his writing.

He also shares his views on spiritual warfare and the problem of Christians demonizing their enemies.

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Lysa TerKeurst opens up about the end of her marriage and offers insight into the distinction between difficult and destructive relationships.

Lysa shares the biblical grounds for divorce, and Carey and Lysa discuss how to help people in a tough marriage.

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J.D. Greear shares the tension every pastor feels over when to speak out, how to speak out, and which issues should command a pastor's voice.

J.D. also discusses Charlie Kirk, the culture wars, and social outrage. 

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Dr. Caroline Leaf explains her philosophy on the distinction between the mind and the brain, and how to utilize your mind to combat stress, anxiety, and burnout. She also weighs in on AI and its potential to harm the mind and brain.

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