If you woke up in a third-world jail cell with one phone call, who would you ring to get you out? That person has high agency—the ability to get things done even in impossible situations.

Stu, Tim, and Joel explore what high agency means for Christian leadership and ministry, building on last week's conversation about Blue Ocean Strategy and Stu's PhD research. They dive into an essay by George Mack on high agency and unpack five low agency traps that hold us back: the vague trap (being captured by problems instead of solutions), the midwit trap (overcomplicating things), the attachment trap (being stuck on ideas without knowing why), the rumination trap (frozen by "what if" loops), and the overwhelm trap (paralyzed by too many options).

It ends with a theological reflection: does the Holy Spirit help us change our agency? Tim emphasizes faithfulness in small things and not equating high agency with cultural success. Stu argues that to be in Christ is agency itself—being active Christians, not sedentary ones, expressing the newness Jesus gives us in our generation.

Timestamps
00:00 - Intro: Who would you call from a third-world jail cell?
03:50 - Why Christians tend to be conservative and what holds us back
14:48 - The Vague Trap: Being captured by problems instead of solutions
20:55 - The Midwit Trap: Overcomplicating agency and seeking validation
25:26 - The Attachment Trap: Being stuck on ideas without knowing why
38:25 - The Rumination Trap: Frozen by "what if" loops
46:04 - The Overwhelm Trap: Starting with the smallest first step
53:18 - Does the Holy Spirit help us change our agency?

Discussed on this episode
High Agency essay
Chesterton’s Fence
The Wright Brothers

Are our churches unintentionally approving exclusivity?

Stu, Tim and Joel dive deep into the research behind Stu's PhD on the Shock Absorber, youth ministry and generative intergenerational ministry—and why most churches experience cultural lag that makes them irrelevant.

Motivated to understand why young people leave the church, Stu shares why he started (and restarted) his PhD, using what he has learned from 20 years in youth ministry and 13 years planting Soul Revival.

The conversation explores the meditative benefits of writing and walking, the imposter syndrome Stu feels in academia, and the "clown suit" metaphor—how Christians became irrelevant trying to be cool instead of just being confident in Jesus. They discuss Blue Ocean Strategy and why Soul Revival looks to be a pioneer in ministry instead of competing for the same young people.

Stu explains how the PhD work has moved from "moderate intergenerational ministry" to "generative intergenerational ministry" by combining Kendra Creasy Dean's and Erik Erikson's work. This reveals the gap in youth ministry literature and highlights how the homogeneous unit principle creates a gravitational pull toward exclusivity.

The Shock Absorber model flips the script: young people can experiment on how to be a Christian in new cultural contexts, while adults provide theological grounding and wisdom. It's about having both segregated youth spaces AND accessible intergenerational spaces—the fifth way of doing ministry.

As Tim notes towards the end: this only works because we're co-adopted by the same Saviour, which makes humility between the generations possible.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro: the meditative benefits of writing and walking
12:50 - The motivating factors behind Stu's PhD
31:49 - Soul Revival helped people be confident and Christian
1:00:37 - Generative intergenerational model
1:25:50 - Tim's Takeaway

Discussed on this episode:
Guy Goma: The Wrong Guy
Jenn's Interview - The IT Crowd
Moving beyond the shock absorber: The place of youth ministry—past, present and future, by Stu Crawshaw
The Child in God's Church, by Tim Beilharz
Glenn Maxwell produces one of the greatest ODI knocks of all-time
High Agency, by George Mack
Kenda Creasy Dean
Erik Erikson
The Generative Church, by Corey Seibel
Soul Revival Late Night at Sydney Airport

Our culture tells us that independence is everything — but what if true flourishing happens when we give some of it up?

Joel and Tim explore how commitment to a local church is not just a spiritual act, but something deeply human. They unpack how technology, hyper-individualism, and cultural values can isolate us, while the church pulls us back into the kind of community God designed for our good.

From the sociology of connection to the theology of commitment, this conversation challenges us to see that infringing on our individuality might actually be the healthiest thing for us — because we are made to be together.

Timestamps
00:00 – Intro: Isolation vs. community
22:47 – Commitment vs. loneliness
35:40 – How community shapes identity
41:12 – Inviting others into connected community
59:09 – Tim’s takeaway: Spend more time at church

Discussed on this episode
Friedrich Nietzsche
Casey Neistat
Why We Need the Church Now More Than Ever, by Carmen Joy Imes
Nijay Gupta Substack
Dominion, by Tom Holland
Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids-and How to Break the Trance by Nicholas Kardaras
Jonathan Haidt
After Babel
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory