elementum

elementum Partnering with young adult ministry leaders, dynamic young adults, church leaders and parents to engage 18-20somethings.

09/03/2026

You say you value what Jesus valued. But look at what you actually reward in your ministry — and see if those two things match.

What you reward you get more of. So if you keep rewarding the wrong things, don't be surprised when the wrong things keep growing.

DM us and we'll send you the full replay.

Attendance tells you who showed up. It doesn't tell you who's being formed.Two ministries can post the exact same number...
09/01/2026

Attendance tells you who showed up. It doesn't tell you who's being formed.

Two ministries can post the exact same numbers and be doing completely different work underneath — one building depth, the other building dependency on a good show.

Here's what's actually worth watching instead:

→ Initiative — are people moving from receiving to doing, without being asked?
→ Depth of conversation — are the questions people bring you getting more honest over time?
→ Multiplication — are people reproducing this in someone else, or only consuming it?

None of these show up on a normal dashboard. You have to actually pay attention to people to see them.

Want to go deeper on this? Free training waiting for you in the Training Room — link in bio.

08/27/2026

Your culture isn't what you say you value. It's what you model, reward, repeat, and protect — whether you're being intentional about it or not.

Those four things are running beneath the surface all the time. The question is whether you're going to shape them on purpose or just let them shape you.

We talked about this on Monday's live — full replay in Circle, link in bio.

If you couldn't look at attendance for a month, what would you use instead to know your ministry was healthy?A leader as...
08/26/2026

If you couldn't look at attendance for a month, what would you use instead to know your ministry was healthy?

A leader asked me this week what I've been celebrating in ministry lately. My answer wasn't a number. It was the depth of relationship I'm building with leaders, and how long those relationships are lasting.

Longevity and depth — not headcount — is what I'm actually proud of right now.

Formation shows up in the depth of your relationships, not the size of your room. Sit with that one this week.

Free training on this in the Training Room — link in bio.

08/24/2026

You want to build a leadership pipeline. But you haven't defined what a disciple actually looks like yet.

You can't build a strategy toward something you can't describe. If you can't define the destination, the pipeline doesn't know where to take people.

Before you worry about the system — answer the question.

DM us and we'll send you the full replay.

Most ministry leaders are so afraid of rejection that when someone hesitates, they push.A little harder. A little more c...
08/22/2026

Most ministry leaders are so afraid of rejection that when someone hesitates, they push.

A little harder. A little more convincing. They dress it up as vision-casting.

But a person who said yes because they felt like they couldn't say no — that person burns out, quietly disengages, and disappears. And then you're left wondering what happened.

The yes has to be free to mean anything.

When you give someone genuine space to say no, you're not weakening the invitation. You're protecting the relationship — and making the yes actually count for something.

That's what it looks like to build a team instead of fill slots.

Save this if you're in the middle of building your ministry team right now.

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08/20/2026

You've been doing discipleship without actually defining it.

John 17 is the clearest picture we have of what Jesus actually wanted for his followers — and most of us have never sat with it long enough to let it shape how we lead.

If you want a framework for evaluating where people actually are spiritually, start there.

We talked about this on Monday's live — full replay in Circle, link in bio.

How do you actually know when a relationship is ready for an invitation? Two questions:1. Do you have enough real conver...
08/18/2026

How do you actually know when a relationship is ready for an invitation? Two questions:

1. Do you have enough real conversation and observation to speak specifically into their growth and potential — not just generic encouragement?

2. Are you confident that if they said no, it wouldn't create tension between you?

If both are true, you're probably ready. If either one isn't, the relationship needs more time before the ask.

This is exactly the kind of thing we're working through in our current Team Building Cohort — save this one for the next time you're wondering if it's time to invite someone in.

Some of the best leaders you'll ever develop will tell you "not yet" more than once before they say yes.If you treat an ...
08/12/2026

Some of the best leaders you'll ever develop will tell you "not yet" more than once before they say yes.

If you treat an invitation like it needs an immediate answer, you'll lose people who genuinely needed more time to discern — not people who weren't cut out for it.

A "not yet" isn't a closed door. It's the start of a process. The leaders worth waiting for are usually the ones taking the ask seriously enough not to rush it.

Don't confuse hesitation with disqualification.

08/12/2026

You keep watching the numbers. And the numbers keep not telling you what you actually need to know.

Attendance can tell you who showed up. It can't tell you who's actually being formed.

There are 3 things worth measuring beneath the surface — and none of them are on your attendance sheet.

We talked about this on Monday's live — full replay in Circle.

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