Bolingbrook Couple, Both Pastors, Launch Leadership Podcast

BOLINGBROOK, IL — The husband-and-wife co-pastors of a Bolingbrook church have launched a podcast, hoping to share some of their leadership skills with the community. Jeremiah and Bianca Stingl, pastors of the Living Water Community Church, have released the first three episodes of "The Leadership Lab Podcast."

The podcast is an extension of a class the couple runs at their church, which seeks to help equip church members with leadership and service skills they can use in their everyday life. But the podcast also seeks to reach beyond the church's regular congregation, possibly providing a service for people who can't go to church or aren't religious, Jeremiah said.

"People are so busy. They find it hard enough to get to church, much less make an extra meeting at church," he said. "[The podcast] is a vehicle for us to get the information out to the people who want it."

The podcast explores the skills necessary of leaders, and how those skills can be used to enrich someone's personal, professional or religious life. One epidose references "leadership life hacks," or ways to improve the personal or family life through leadership skills. The subject matter does reference Christian ideology, but Jeremiah said they are seeking to cast a wider net to help people of all belief systems.

"We want to appeal to all walks of life," he said. "We want to make sure people can do everything they can to help others."

The podcast is recorded at Fountaindale Public Library, which rents out podcast equipment and studios to record in. The product sounds as polished as any other podcast, which Jeremiah says is a testament to the library's equipment. Jeremiah and Bianca also use their iPhones to video record the podcasts, so they can be watched on Youtube.

One inspiration for the venture, Jeremiah said, is "The Unstuck Church Podcast," which discusses trends in churches and how church leadership can tackle common problems. That podcast is similarly appealing to a broad swath of the public, helping provide a community service while exposing more people to the church.

"They're providing a service to people who don't necessarily go to church, but would like that information," Jeremiah said.

A new episode of the Leadership Lab podcast will drop every Thursday through late November, Jeremiah said. A second "season" of the podcast will likely run weekly from January to Memorial Day.

The podcast can be accessed through Apple's podcast service and Spotify. To view the video version of the podcast, click here.