Church Staff Book Club – Details, episodes & analysis

In this first episode, we dive into our own book The Come Back Effect and explore why how people feel at church is just as important as what gets done. From parking lots to greeters to follow-up teams, we discuss how emotional intelligence, hospitality, and intentional leadership create environments where guests feel seen, valued, and want to return.

You’ll hear:

• Why great systems alone don’t create great experiences
• How to help volunteers lead with empathy, not just efficiency
• Why church leaders sometimes feel like cogs and how to fix that
• What it means to be an “emotional bodyguard” for your guests

Whether you’re a solo pastor or on a big team, this episode will help you reframe how your church welcomes people and why that feeling matters more than you think.

📚 Book: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

💬 Let us know what stood out. Tag us on social or send us a message!

In this episode of Church Staff Book Club, Jonathan Malm and Jason Young dive into Chapter 5 of The Come Back Effect: “Think Scene by Scene.” You’ll learn why it’s not just about the stage or sermon, but every transition point guests experience at your church: parking, check-in, kids drop-off, seating, and even how they exit. These in-between moments are often where people feel the most confusion and where churches lose trust without realizing it.

Whether you’re a church staff member, guest services leader, or volunteer, this conversation will help you:

• Understand how guests emotionally experience your church “scene by scene”
• Map the guest journey to improve hospitality and clarity
• Train your volunteers to guide, not just greet, people
• Eliminate confusion and frustration from first-time experiences
• Become a helper in someone’s story, not a hindrance

📘 Get the book: [The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm]

🎧 Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

💬 Drop a comment or DM us with your biggest church hospitality question!

The guest doesn’t need you to be perfect. They need you to be present.

In this episode of the Church Staff Book Club, we break down Chapter 4 of The Come Back Effect and explore why presence beats performance in church hospitality. From the parking lot to the pulpit, your guests can tell when you’re distracted, rushed, or multitasking... and it matters. Whether you’re a pastor, volunteer leader, or on the greeting team, this conversation will help you lead with empathy, margin, and emotional awareness.

🎙️ In this episode, we cover:

• Why multitasking is the enemy of hospitality
• How body language (even your feet) tells people if you’re really listening
• The 4 biggest distractions that prevent us from being fully present:

  → Pressure, Pace, Performance, and People

• What to say when you do need to exit a conversation gracefully
• Why Sunday morning presence starts with weekday connection
• The difference between service and true hospitality
• How to train your team to slow down and show up for guests

📚 Book featured: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

👥 Who it’s for: Guest services teams, church staff, pastors, volunteer leaders, and anyone shaping the Sunday experience.

🛠️ Practical + relatable content for churches of all sizes. No book reading required.

💬 Question for you:

Have you ever felt like someone wasn’t really listening? How can we make sure our guests never feel that way?

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How well do you really know the people showing up at your church?

In this episode of the Church Staff Book Club, we unpack Chapter 3 of The Come Back Effect and dive into the challenge of creating welcoming church experiences. Not just for the crowd you already have, but for the guests God is sending your way.

🎯 Whether you’re a guest services leader, pastor, or volunteer, this episode will challenge how you think about hospitality, spiritual assumptions, church culture, and guest comfort.

🎙️ We discuss:

• Why some “welcoming” experiences actually make guests uncomfortable
• The difference between demographics and psychographics (and why both matter)
• How churches accidentally create experiences for staff instead of visitors
• What foot-washing and awkward song lyrics can teach us about cultural assumptions
• How to spot your real “target” guest and why specificity increases impact
• Why signage, language, margin, and pace make or break the guest experience
• The difference between hospitality and service (and why your church needs both)

👥 Who this episode is for:

Church staff, guest services teams, worship leaders, communications directors, hospitality teams, volunteer coordinators, and pastors who want to build a culture that makes people feel seen, known, and comfortable from the parking lot to the pew.

📚 Book featured: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

🎧 Subscribe for a new chapter each week as we walk through powerful leadership books so you never have to learn to lead alone.

💬 Question for you:

What’s one moment in your church that might accidentally make a guest uncomfortable? How could you tweak it to show care?

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What makes a guest feel welcome at church? Is hospitality a job description or a culture everyone shares?

In this episode of the Church Staff Book Club, we dive into Chapter 2 of The Come Back Effect to unpack why church culture isn’t built by greeters... it’s built by everyone. From volunteers and tech teams to senior pastors and worship leaders, your guest experience reflects what people feel before they hear the sermon.

🎙️ In this episode, we cover:

• Why “culture is what people whisper in the lobby”
• A powerful story about hospitality in rural Guatemala
• How unspoken behavior builds or breaks your church culture
• Practical ways to help people linger after church (and why it matters)
• Why the “production mindset” may be killing your margin for meaningful connections
• How to reinforce culture through stories, not just slogans

🛠️ Plus: We explore real, tactical solutions to shift a church culture—from service speed to bounce houses.

📚 Book featured: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

👥 Great for: Guest Services teams, volunteer leaders, church staff, pastors, and anyone shaping the Sunday experience.

💬 Leave a comment below:

What’s one small shift you could make to help your church feel more welcoming?

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🎯 Mistakes will happen. What matters is how your church recovers.

In this episode of Church Staff Book Club, we explore Chapter 6 of The Come Back Effect and talk about one of the most overlooked aspects of hospitality: how you respond when something goes wrong. From check-in meltdowns to crying babies in service, coffee spills, seating issues, and missed expectations, the question isn’t if mistakes will happen, it’s how prepared your team is to respond with empathy and warmth.

🎙️ You’ll learn:

• Why recovery is an emotional skill, not just a logistical fix
• How to empower volunteers to act without always needing a manager
• The difference between solving a problem and addressing a feeling
• Why silence or inaction ruins trust faster than the mistake itself
• How celebrating “off-script” hero moments builds a recovery culture
• What to say when a guest is frustrated and how to still win them back

🙌 Whether you’re a pastor, team leader, or volunteer, this episode is packed with real-life stories, actionable ideas, and powerful reframes that will help you create wow moments even when things go sideways.

📚 Book featured: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

🔧 Sponsored by: First Impressions — helping churches welcome guests from first visit to lifelong discipleship.

👉 What do your church’s small details communicate to first-time guests?

In this episode of Church Staff Book Club, we unpack Chapter 7 of The Come Back Effect and explore why everything communicates, from signage and cleanliness to sound levels, scent, and even the paper towels in the bathroom. Guests notice details that insiders overlook, and those details shape whether people feel welcome, safe, and like they belong.

🎯 In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why guests interpret details differently than regular attenders
• How small details communicate care, preparation, and belonging
• The five senses framework for evaluating your church experience
• How signage, sound, and cleanliness influence guest comfort
• Why insiders stop seeing what outsiders feel
• A simple weekly strategy to improve your church experience over time

🧠 Key Insight:

Hospitality isn’t about big moments. It’s about doing the small things well, consistently.

🙌 Whether you’re a pastor, volunteer leader, or guest services team member, this conversation will help you see your church through fresh eyes and create an environment where people feel at home.

📥 Download the Detail Walk Checklist: churchstaffbookclub.com

📚 Book featured: The Come Back Effect by Jason Young & Jonathan Malm

🤝 Sponsored by: First Impressions... helping churches create meaningful guest experiences.

Most church leaders are quick to focus on growth metrics but neglect the vital, secret ingredient: cultivating loving union with God. What if the key to sustained, healthy leadership isn’t just doing more for God but actually being with Him in deeper intimacy? Jason Young and Jonathan Malm unravel the vital mistakes pastors often make—speed, busyness, and a focus on performance—that drown out the whisper of God’s presence and lead to burnout and moral failure. In this episode, discover why the most driven leaders are often the most spiritually disconnected. We break down how speed and ambition shield us from self-awareness and intimacy with Jesus, showing how neglecting the elementary practices of slowing down, solitude, and Sabbath can quietly sabotage your leadership and personal health. You’ll hear stories of spiritual failures that happen behind the scenes, despite outward success—and why that disconnect is more common than we think. We explore practical tools like finding your desert, forming a rule of life, and creating rhythms of silence that rebuild your heart’s connection with God.We challenge the myth that productivity equals spiritual health, emphasizing that true leadership flows from loving union—an intentional, slower pace that invites God’s reorganization of priorities. If you’re overwhelmed, craving deeper connection, or worried about burnout, this episode will empower you to slow down and rediscover Jesus in the quiet. Perfect for pastors, ministry leaders, and anyone feeling the weight of relentless speed—this episode reveals how to lead from a place of love, not just action, and how to safeguard your soul in the chaos of ministry.Join us as we unpack the radical idea that to truly thrive, you must first stop and be with God. Your next level of emotional health and leadership begins here—because the best leaders are those who are loved well by Jesus first.

Explore the intersection of leadership, singleness, and marriage in this insightful episode of our podcast, as we dive into chapter three of The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero. Discover how personal relationships can enhance ministry impact and why integrating them is crucial for authentic leadership.

• Leadership formation through marriage and singleness
• Integrating personal relationships with ministry
• The role of relational intimacy in leadership
• Historical perspectives on single leaders in church history
• Practical tips for nurturing meaningful relationships in ministry

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:28 Purpose of the podcast
• 1:07 Leadership development through marriage and singleness
• 4:24 Navigating traditional views of marriage and ministry
• 10:03 Building intentional time with friends and spouse
• 16:21 Historical prominence of single leaders
• 21:46 Authentic intimacy and community in leadership

• The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero
• LobbyLabs.co - Church Leaders Community & Coaching
• Follow Jonathan on Instagram
• Follow Jason on Instagram

Subscribe for more insights on aligning personal health with ministry impact!

Every leader has a shadow — the hidden wounds, unconscious patterns, and untamed emotions formed long before you ever stepped into a leadership role. The question isn't whether your shadow exists. It's whether you'll face it before it starts leading for you.

In this episode, Jonathan Malm and Jason Young dig into Chapter 2 of The Emotionally Healthy Leader, unpacking one of the most uncomfortable (and most necessary) conversations in church leadership: the parts of yourself you'd rather not look at — and why those are exactly the parts that matter most.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What "the shadow" actually is — and how it quietly shapes every decision you make as a leader
• Why the cave you fear to enter might hold the breakthrough your leadership needs
• How your family system growing up is still running in the background of how you lead today
• Why the shadow shows up differently under stress than in everyday leadership moments
• Common ways the shadow surfaces in church leaders — from conflict avoidance to perfectionism to shutting down contrary opinions
• Practical tools to start facing your shadow, including naming your emotions, using a genogram, and seeking trustworthy feedback
• Why shadow work isn't optional if you want sustainable fruit in your ministry

Jonathan gets personal about his "not yet" defense mechanism, Jason shares how a strength can quietly become a shadow, and both of them make the case that what you refuse to see will eventually lead you.

🔗 Want a community of trusted leaders around you? Check out LobbyLabs.co — the coaching community for guest services and connections leaders.