The Faithly Podcast invites you into conversations with faith-driven leaders about life, leadership, and the changing landscape of ministry.
Each episode offers a look at the challenges and lessons learned in spiritual leadership—from personal growth and family rhythms to innovative practices and new resources shaping the Church today. Whether you're a pastor, volunteer, or simply someone called to serve, you'll find stories, insights, and practical takeaways to help you lead with clarity and conviction.
Join us each week for thoughtful conversations that encourage, equip, and remind you that you’re not in this alone. Learn more at Faithly.co.
Join Alicia Lee in this episode of the Faithly Podcast as she sits down with Jef Fite, Founder of CoreC Leadership, to discuss healthy leadership and why spiritual formation alone does not automatically prepare someone to lead an organization well.
Drawing from nearly four decades of leadership experience across various companies, Jef explains why leadership should be treated as a craft that requires intentional formation and practice. He introduces the CoreC Leadership Framework, beginning with calling and moving through caring, character, competence, clarity, culture, and coalescence.
Together, Alicia and Jef explore common warning signs of leadership problems in churches, from exhausted pastors and unclear responsibilities to slow decision-making and recurring conflict. Jef encourages pastors not to view leadership gaps as failures, but as invitations to keep growing, reminding them that faithfully stewarding their calling also means developing the skills needed to lead people well.
Website: https://corecleadership.com
00:00 Introduction: When Leadership Challenges Disguise Themselves as Something Else
01:15 Jef's Faith Story: From Two Weeks Old in the Nursery to Family Legacy
03:50 Four Decades in Corporate Leadership: From Steamroller to Servant
07:55 The Heart Behind Core C Leadership: Why Pastors Need Leadership Formation
10:04 From Retirement to Calling: How Core C Leadership Was Born
14:52 Spiritual Growth Isn't Leadership Growth: Why Formation Matters
17:49 Identity Before Activity: Why Leadership Must Start With Who You Are
21:48 The Seven Core Cs: A Framework for Healthy Church Leadership
26:08 Warning Signs: How Pastors Can Recognize Leadership Challenges
29:41 Growth Pains: When Success Exposes Leadership Weaknesses
31:58 Good People, Bad Systems: Solving Clarity and Alignment Problems
34:53 The Invitation: Why Senior Pastors Don't Have to Know It All
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29 Sept 2026
Creation Care is Discipleship - Brendan McClenahan | Faithly Podcast
This week on the Faithly Podcast, Alicia Lee welcomes Brendan McClenahan, Church Engagement Manager at Plant With Purpose and one of the creators of TEND, for a thoughtful conversation about discipleship and creation care, diving into what it looks like for churches to build deeper relationships with God and the world around them.
Brendan shares how TEND grew out of lessons Plant With Purpose has learned through its global work and explains why creation care is not simply a political issue, but a deeply biblical one. He challenges Christians to see their neighbors as image bearers and potential partners, sharing how simple practices like composting, community gardening, shared meals and prayer can create genuine opportunities for connection and spiritual growth.
Together, Alicia and Brendan explore how churches can move beyond separating discipleship from outreach and instead learn to live the Gospel alongside their neighbors in everyday life. Through stories from TEND communities, Brendan offers a practical vision for ministry that is relational, decentralized, and rooted in a shared mission: helping people grow in faith while participating in the restorative work God is already doing around them.
Website: https://tendlife.org/
00:00 Introduction: Creation Care Across the Political Spectrum
01:24 Brendan's Journey: From Music to Ministry to Plant With Purpose
04:41 What is Plant With Purpose? Transforming Lives Through Regenerative Agriculture
06:38 The Birth of TEND: Bringing Plant With Purpose's Model to the U.S.
07:33 Three Broken Relationships: God, Neighbors, and Earth
09:45 How TEND Works: A 10-Week Journey of Discipleship and Outreach
12:31 Partners, Not Projects: Seeing Neighbors as Image Bearers
17:28 Is Creation Care Political? A Biblical Perspective
24:46 The Compost Story: When Neighbors Say Yes
30:51 From Compost to Christ: A Family's Journey to Faith
33:23 Reuniting Discipleship and Mission: The Tiny Gospel Problem
38:32 A Vision for Pastors: Getting Back to Coffee and Prayer
43:14 Next Steps: How to Get Started With TEND
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22 Sept 2026
Playing the Long Game - Pastor Justin Buzzard | Faithly Podcast
In this episode of the Faithly Podcast, Alicia Lee is joined by Pastor Justin Buzzard, Lead Pastor of Garden City Church in Silicon Valley and author of Date Your Wife and The Big Story, for an energizing discussion about what it means to stop playing small with your life.
Justin reflects on planting Garden City Church with just a few people and limited resources, noting the importance of staying faithful through both growth and difficult seasons, and why pastors and men especially need strong, genuine friendships. He also shares the unexpected story behind him making a college football team at age 47, decades after an injury ended his first opportunity to play, and how the experience is teaching him about discipline and perseverance, as well as trusting God through adversity.
Throughout their conversation, Alicia and Justin explore biblical masculinity and the belief that many men hold back from fully using the gifts and influence God has entrusted to them. Rather than allowing fear or past disappointment to define the future, Justin encourages listeners to pay attention to God-given desires and take meaningful risks, while trusting that God is bigger than the challenges standing in their way.
Website: https://www.justinbuzzard.net/
00:00 Introduction: Chasing Good Desires with All Your Heart
00:52 From Instagram Reel to College Football: The Unexpected Call
01:08 The Power of Long-Game Friendship: 15 Years of Emails
05:12 A Mom Who Pulled Over: The Star Wars Salvation Story
06:56 Falling in Love with the Local Church in College
08:11 Silicon Valley: Seventh Generation California and the Call to Influence
12:00 Three People, Three Thousand Dollars: The Garden City Church Plant
14:07 Fifteen Years of Ups and Downs: COVID, Church Sends, and a Seven Million Dollar Gift
16:33 Playing the Long Game: Why Pastors Need to Stay
18:18 Bruised, Sore, and All In: The Reality of Football at 47
23:47 Be a Man: The 21 Marks of Biblical Masculinity
27:00 Raising Three Sons in Silicon Valley: Desire, Discipleship, and Public School
28:54 Stop Playing Small: What It Means to Be a Godly Man Today
31:05 Area of Influence: Know It and Grow It
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