Carey Nieuwhof
Founding Pastor | Connexus Church
My name is Carey Nieuwhof. I'm a former lawyer and founding pastor of Connexus Church. I'm married to Toni and we have two grown sons.
I'm incredibly passionate about helping people thrive in life and leadership.
That's why I write this blog, write books, like my latest best-seller Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects But Everyone Experiences, host a weekly leadership podcast, speak to leaders all over the world and produce courses like the The High Impact Leader.
As a kid, I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I'm not sure what needs to be wrong with a kid to want to be a lawyer, but all of that was apparently wrong with me.
I got distracted along the way. At 16 I walked into a local radio station and asked them to hire me, and to my surprise, they did. For the next 8 years radio was one of my part time jobs in my then hometown and later in Toronto.
I got into the law school of my dreams only to have two incredible things happen. I met the most amazing woman I've ever met in my first year of law school. We got married before we graduated. By far...she's the best thing to come out of law school for me!
But the second thing that happened was I experienced a call to ministry. I'd been a Christian since I was a young teenager, but I went through a crisis of faith in my late teens and early twenties. Before attending law school, I recommitted my life to Jesus. At the time, I simply thought it would mean I practiced law as a Christian (yes...that is possible).
Honestly, the call confused me as much as it compelled me. I spent a few years trying to figure out what it meant, praying through it and consulting wise people I knew. I finished law and out of obedience, enrolled in seminary.
In 1995, as I was wrapping up seminary, I started ministry as a student pastor among three little mainline churches an hour north of Toronto. When I started, one of the churches had an average attendance of 6 (not making that up). Much to my surprise (I never thought I'd stay this long), I had discovered a community I'm still a part of over 20 years later.
Our church has changed everything in those two decades...the music, the buildings, our governance, our mission, our vision....everything, really. We even left our denomination and now are a multisite church with three locations reaching over 1500 people each weekend. And Connexus is a North Point Strategic Partner. I love our team and love the mission we're on together.
Carey Nieuwhof knows something about burnout. He was crushed by its devastating effects while over-working as a lawyer. For the faith driven entrepreneur, success can be so much more than an all-or-nothing proposition. Tune in now for our encouraging conversation with best-selling author and pastor Carey Nieuwhof.