Shawn catches up with old friend Jeff Kapusta, Senior Pastor of Lifepoint Church in Wilmington, N.C. They talk church planting, leadership, and the upcoming Courageous Pastors Gathering being hosted at Lifepoint this February 2024. Register fo

S2E5: Greg Surratt | The Need for Rest (Living Well & Finishing Strong)

Oct 24th, 2023 23m 15s

Join Greg and Shawn at The Courageous Pastors Gathering 2024 this February! To register: visit www.courageouspastors.com/gathering Use promo code "PODCAST" for a special rate! In this episode, Shawn is joined by Greg Surratt, founding Pastor of

S2E4: Rodney Gage | Achieving the Double Win (Success at Work AND at Home)

Sep 26th, 2023 34m 14s

In this episode, Shawn welcomes his friend Rodney Gage, Pastor, author, and co-founder of Rethink Life Church, to discuss the heart behind his bestselling book, "The Double Win: How to Win at Work and at Home." Rodney emphasizes the common stru

S2E3: Harold Melton | Social Justice: The Right Response & Making an Impact

Aug 29th, 2023 31m 41s

In this episode, Shawn Lovejoy sits down with Harold Melton, former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Having spent years working within the court system, Harold brings a unique perspective on the concept of justice, and defines it in

S2E2: Vance Roush, Overflow | Generosity in the Digital Age

Jul 25th, 2023 29m 59s

Did you know, in the next decade, that most people will be holding their wealth in non-cash assets instead of their checking & savings accounts? This shift is crucial for the local church to understand, especially when it comes to giving encour

S2E1: Chris Bell | What Kind of Culture Are You Setting?

Jun 29th, 2023 21m 50s

This week Shawn steps back to the mic to interview one of his first coaching clients ever, Chris Bell. Shawn and Chris talk about growing in healthy ways. Growth doesn’t always equal health. Bad things, like weeds, can grow quickly. Rather tha

Your marriage can tell a story bigger than you (Jeremy & Corrie Isaacs)

Oct 13th, 2022 45m 43s

In this episode, JC interviews his very best friend (and his wife’s bestie, as well), Jeremy and Corrie Isaacs. Jeremy and Corrie share a unique burden to minister marriages. They come from two different backgrounds. Jeremy’s parents had a soli

Don't underestimate where you are now (w/ Kyle Jackson)

Sep 29th, 2022 37m 3s

Kyle Jackson brings a unique perspective to the Courageous Pastors Podcast. Usually, with speak senior leaders, but Kyle brings his experience as a campus pastor and let us know things like: How to support the vision of the leader you’re foll

How to lead like a boss when you’re not the lead guy (w/ Kevin Lloyd)

Aug 25th, 2022 33m 31s

In this episode, Kevin and JC discuss Kevin’s journey from “his call” to pastoring to serving as an executive pastor— and how he knew he didn’t want to be the “lead guy” at the church but wanted to serve as the XP. It’s a good word. Most staff

What we’ve learned from 24 leaders of various ages and different races all serving in scattered places What we’ve learned from 24 leaders of various ages and different races all serving in scattered places

Aug 11th, 2022 34m 4s

In this talk we divide the content from the past 23 talks into 7 “buckets,” that is, 7 repeating themes we saw. #1 = Be you (not a knock-off of some other leader). #2 = Take care of you. You can’t pour from an empty cup, serve from dry well, ru

How to take the baton from a seasoned leader (so you can later hand if off to someone else) (with Clay Smith)

Jun 23rd, 2022 30m 3s

Clay Smith took over Johnson Ferry Baptist Church just before the pandemic hit. He was 40 at the time, following a leader who planted the church and had been there since he was 2. Now 43, Clay looks back and shares some of the lessons he’s lear

A healthy you creates a healthier org (w/ Jonathan Moore)

Jun 9th, 2022 25m 39s

Jonathan Moore is the Founding and senior pastor of NorthRock Church in San Antonio. He met Shawn at the Velocity Conference, over a decade ago, when Shawn was in Atlanta. NorthRock launched a campus during the middle of the pandemic AND relaun

Welcome to our tribe (w/ JC Worley)

May 26th, 2022 23m 2s

JC Worley leads Go Church in South Atlanta. He and his wife, Kimberly, lead Go Church. Go Church was the host location for the first-ever Courageous Pastors Gathering, and— more relevantly to this talk— JC is taking a more proactive role with C

Increase your “care equity” (w/ Michael Turner)

May 12th, 2022 34m 57s

Michael Turner is the founding and lead pastor of Turning Point Church in McDonough, GA— south of Atlanta. The church turned 19 in March 2022. Recently, Michael gifted everyone on his staff with a Fitbit— as part of a 30-day fitness challenge.

Crisis creates space where we see what really matters (w/ Brandon Bilbo)

Apr 28th, 2022 30m 16s

When you meet Brandon Bilbo two things strike you: He’s a bit country, and He’s a brilliant leader Back in 2014 Brandon was a financial advisor, managing a $30MM portfolio. Then he felt called to plant Cross Church in Houma— 20 miles south

Focus on where you are, not where you were (w/ Adam Weber)

Apr 7th, 2022 21m 56s

Adam Weber shares words of wisdom with us in this episode of The Courageous Pastors Podcast. “Control what you can control,” he says, “and trust God with the rest.” We often do the exact opposite. We fret about the things outside our reach, bu

Don’t take it personal, but make it personal (w/ Pastor Quovadis Marshall)

Mar 24th, 2022 35m 22s

Pastor Q always knew— since he was first called— he would plant a church in his hometown. The church has just completed its sixth year. In his own words, “It’s been both better than I thought AND harder than I thought…” ++ Read more at www.Cour

Look back + live forward (w/ Jeff Leake)

Mar 10th, 2022 21m 53s

Jeff Leake has been pastoring a long time. He was the pastoral assistant 30 years ago. Two years in, the lead pastor moved to CA to work at another church… Jeff stepped into the interim role, then became the lead pastor. Today, he leads the sam

Two wings your ministry needs in order to fly (w/ Scott Wilson)

Feb 24th, 2022 22m 59s

Scott talks about “two wings” all leaders need in order to move their organization forward: Respect and Relationship. In the same way an airplane won’t fly without two wings, you can’t “fly” your church or ministry without these two… ✈️ If you

You can’t lead well if you can’t laugh well (w/ Andy Heis)

Feb 10th, 2022 29m

Andy begs pastors to find a band of brothers. Sure, he enjoys “talking church” and even theology (to learn, even with leaders who see things differently), but— even better than those conversations is the talks where you can be yourself. Where

Healthy churches impact cities; but healthy churches need healthy families (w/ Rodney Gage)

Jan 27th, 2022 26m 47s

If you, as a pastor aren’t healthy— and if your family isn’t healthy, you can’t lead a church well. And if the church isn’t healthy, it can’t impact the culture. So, everything the church does actually begins in the home— of the leaders. (This

Expect it to be difficult (w/ Ken Claytor)

Jan 20th, 2022 23m 30s

Ken reminds us, “Anything that’s worth ANYTHING is on the other side of hard.” You’ll set your expectation in the wrong place if you don’t expect a challenge… But, when we DO expect challenges, we’re prepared. We’ve counted the cost, and we’ve

You weren’t made to live in balance; you were designed to live in rhythm (Nick Newman)

Jan 13th, 2022 27m 44s

Nick leads Propel Church in North Carolina— a church that’s been around for 6 years. That means that HALF of their life has been DURING COVID. Several years ago, Nick found himself stuck in a drug addiction— one so bad, in fact, that he got exp

You can’t add days to your life, so add life to your days instead (w/ Brandon Goff)

Jan 6th, 2022 25m 56s

You see, we can’t necessarily tell what God’s will for us is a year from now. But, we can tell what it is for today… and this week. We often get side-swiped, stale-mated, and stalled-out because we don’t know where we’ll be 5 or 10 years from

Coachability is more important than competency (w/ Adam Bishop)

Dec 30th, 2021 27m 40s

“For his first 15 years,” Adam says, “I got to work as an assistant coach to several GREAT lead pastors.” In his mind, his stint as a youth pastor, an executive pastor, a small groups pastor, and more… those roles— with leaders helping him— emp