Leaders in Living Rooms

Most pastors know exactly what they want their church culture to feel like. The trouble is that almost nobody has put enough words around it to teach it. In this conversation, Sean Morgan sits down with Jenni Catron, culture strategist and longtime ministry executive, to talk about what happens when a church grows beyond the people who “just get it.” Jenni explains why culture can’t stay “caught” once you have multiple departments, campuses, and remote team members. She also shares the onboarding experience she built to teach values through stories, how to revisit your values without tearing up the foundation, and why the next tier of leaders is where culture most often breaks down. Along the way, she and Sean tackle the cost of skipping team retreats, how to measure culture honestly, and the fear that keeps leaders from naming what’s true. If you lead a growing or multisite church, this one will give you practical language and systems you can use this week.

Welcome to Episode 170 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

Filipe Santos, lead pastor of Echo Church in Silicon Valley, returns to Leaders in Living Rooms four years into his succession, and he's refreshingly honest about what he's learned. After more than a decade as executive pastor, Filipe unpacks how he learned to lead as himself instead of wearing someone else's armor, why the applause that comes with a new title is more dangerous than most of us admit, and the unexpected rhythms (like ditching the green room) that keep his heart in check. Then he and Sean dig into multisite. Filipe shares hard-won lessons from two mergers and a campus launch, why multiplication amplifies your culture instead of fixing it, and what changes when you stop asking "how do we grow our church?" and start asking "what is God doing in our region?"

Welcome to Episode 169 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

Most pastors treat a sabbatical like a finish line: hold on until it arrives, then collapse into it. But what if there is a better way? In this solo episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean shares what he learned from his own sabbatical, including what he'd do again and the one thing he'd change. He talks about why you can't flip a switch on the way out or the way back in, and why he redirected his inbox to a folder he never plans to open. He also explains what it looked like to step away from the need to produce. If a sabbatical is on your horizon, this is a practical, honest look at how to prepare well.

Welcome to Episode 168 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

Do you actually have power, and what are you supposed to do with it? On this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with author Andy Crouch, whose landmark book Playing God reframed how a generation of Christian leaders think about power, for a conversation most leadership podcasts won't touch. Andy makes the case that power isn't a necessary evil to be minimized or hidden behind a flat org chart; it's a gift, and the only thing that keeps it from corrupting is sacrificial love. Sean and Andy unpack why isolation (not authority) is the real danger every leader faces, and how the healthiest churches build real accountability without pretending power doesn't exist. If you've ever felt uneasy about your own influence, this one will hand you language and a working model you can use this week.

Welcome to Episode 167 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with Matt Brown, pastor of Sandals Church, to unpack the tension pastoral leaders feel when the roles of friend, pastor, and boss collide in the same relationship. Matt challenges the instinct to soften hard conversations for the sake of the relationship, showing instead that clarity delivered with genuine care is what actually protects trust and long-term health on a team. Together, they explore how effective leaders learn to address problems early rather than let them fester, why staff exits — handled well or poorly — leave a lasting imprint on a leader, and how building a team strong enough to be submitted to is one of the most underrated marks of mature leadership.

Welcome to Episode 166 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with author and leader Dave Ferguson to reflect on the lasting impact and evolving lessons of Hero Maker and kingdom multiplication. Dave challenges the misconception that becoming a "hero maker" means sacrificing leadership influence, showing instead that pouring into others is the key to compounding long-term kingdom impact. Together, they explore how effective ministry leaders change the way they keep score, shifting focus from Sunday attendance to tracking their sent "family tree" of church planters, and explain why adopting fresh leadership language is essential for reshaping organizational culture and future paradigms.

Welcome to Episode 165 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

How do you step into the lead pastor role of a massive, multi-site urban church at a young age? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, host Sean Morgan sits down with Josiah Jobe, lead pastor of New Life Community Church in Chicago. Spanning 26 locations, over 40 worship services, and utilizing multiple languages, New Life represents a highly complex and deeply scaled urban ministry. Josiah candidly shares his initially reluctant journey toward pastoral ministry, fighting a distinct call during his youth and navigating the immense pressure and expectations that come with following in the footsteps of his father, Mark Jobe. Together, they explore the profound lessons learned from watching a father's decision-making process, the critical baseline of matching public and private integrity, and how keeping strict structure at home ultimately fuels a leader's health for the ministry.

Welcome to Episode 164 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

What happens when the pressure to perform as a ministry leader completely hollows out your internal world? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with pastor, author, and former NFL player Dr. Derwin L. Gray for an incredibly raw and vital conversation on pastoral wholeness. Too many pastors are fluent in the language of emotional health but completely starving for a theology that transforms their real, everyday pain. Pulling from the insights of his upcoming book, It’s Time to Heal, Dr. Gray unpacks why your accomplishments can never fix your soul, how to navigate habitual patterns that keep you feeling stuck, and what it practically looks like to lead from a place of profound spiritual redemption rather than performance. If you are tired of pretending you are fine while carrying unaddressed wounds, this episode is a compassionate, urgent roadmap back to the heart of Jesus.

Welcome to Episode 163 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

How do you transition a historic, world-changing church into a new season without losing its DNA? In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Andy Wood, Senior Pastor of Saddleback Church, to pull back the curtain on the messy, rewarding reality of leading major institutional change. Andy shares his raw, firsthand experiences transitioning from planting a tight-knit congregation to navigating the vast scale of Saddleback. Together, they break down what it practically looks like to fuse a historic legacy of evangelism with a deeply rooted culture of prayer, providing leaders with a masterclass on navigating the loneliness of senior leadership, building scalable organizational systems, and pacing change at the "speed of trust."

Welcome to Episode 162 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

In this episode of Leaders in Living Rooms, Sean Morgan sits down with Fr. James Mallon to explore what it really takes to move a church from maintenance to mission. Drawing from his experience revitalizing struggling parishes, Fr. James shares the realities of church turnaround, the weight of leadership, and the deep cultural shifts required to reclaim a missional identity. He unpacks the tension between shepherding and evangelism, the danger of inward-focused church culture, and the critical role of the Holy Spirit, leadership development, and intentional systems like Alpha in sparking renewal. This conversation offers both encouragement and practical wisdom for leaders navigating change and longing to see genuine transformation in their churches.

Welcome to Episode 161 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.