
#389: The Tension Between Organizational Progress and Pastoral Care Within The Church with Michael Olson
From Beyond Sunday Worship Leader Podcast by David Santistevan: Worship Leader, Blogger, Teacher
April 30, 2026 · 1h 22m
About this episode
The episode discusses the balance between organizational efficiency and pastoral care in the church, featuring a conversation with Michael Olson about his experiences and insights.
One of the practices that I believe is important for the church in America is to regularly evaluate and interrogate the systems we operate by. What can often pass as biblical is actually just business. What we believe to be Christian is actually just American. When we evaluate the systems we are shaped by, we are more prepared to pivot when our systems hurt people. When the efficiency of our churches miss what the Bible calls us to. Is it all bad? Of course not. Is it all broken? Of course not. The church imperfect. We are imperfect. I am far from perfect. But if we don’t have the courage to ask questions we can focus more on organizational progress than we do pastoral care. My conversation today is with my good friend Michael Olson. Michael is an author, musician, and worship leader. He’s a recording artists. He traveled the world playing drums for Michael W Smith. Over the last 16 years he’s led worship at two of the fastest growing churches in America. He’s also written a beautiful new memoir called Daddy Set The Church on Fire: A Journey Toward Restoration. At the heart of this book is the reality that Jesus is making all things new. The church is broken. We are broken. This…
People in this episode
Host: David Santistevan
Guest: Michael Olson
Topics covered
- organizational progress
- pastoral care
- church systems
- worship leadership
- redemption
Keywords
- church
- pastoral care
- organizational progress
- worship leader
- redemption
- Michael Olson
- David Santistevan
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Daddy Set The Church on Fire: A Journey Toward Restoration
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