Josh Hayden

Josh Hayden is the Co-Founder and Co-President of `Iwa Collaborative, which helps leaders fly high and live low as they lead through change processes in their community. He is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Ashland, Virginia. For over 20 years, Josh has worked and led ‘remissioning’ trainings in nonprofit organizations, church plants, and established churches. He has a doctorate in leadership and organizational change from Duke Divinity School. Josh is the author of Remissioning Church: A Field Guide to Bringing A Congregation Back to Life (2025), a new release in the Missio Alliance & IVP Book Series. The Haydens live near Richmond, Virginia.

Latest Articles

Featured image for “When The Gears Are Stuck: Navigating Change When Change Feels Impossible”
Josh Hayden

When The Gears Are Stuck: Navigating Change When Change Feels Impossible

Featured image for “Jesus’ Whole Field Mission”
Jon Hietbrink

Jesus’ Whole Field Mission

Featured image for “The Whole Church for the Whole World”
Angie Ward

The Whole Church for the Whole World

Featured image for “The Problem(s) with Evangelism”
Gino Curcuruto

The Problem(s) with Evangelism

Featured image for “Mission Shapes Us In The Going”
Jacob Hoyer

Mission Shapes Us In The Going

Featured image for “Rejecting a Colonial Approach to Evangelism”
David Fitch

Rejecting a Colonial Approach to Evangelism

Featured image for “Evangelism: The Good News Gone Badly”
Gino Curcuruto

Evangelism: The Good News Gone Badly

Featured image for “Jesus As Entrepreneur (and Other Unhelpful Leadership Metaphors)”
Emily Beth Hill

Jesus As Entrepreneur (and Other Unhelpful Leadership Metaphors)

Featured image for “Learning a Better Way to Practice Mission”
Dishon Mills

Learning a Better Way to Practice Mission

Featured image for “Faithful Mission Through The Chaos (Part 2)”
David Swanson

Faithful Mission Through The Chaos (Part 2)

Featured image for “Faithful Mission Through The Chaos (Part 1)”
David Swanson

Faithful Mission Through The Chaos (Part 1)

Featured image for “The Welcome Rise of Co-Vocational Church Planters”
Brad Brisco

The Welcome Rise of Co-Vocational Church Planters

Featured image for “Radical Discomfort: The Crux of Incarnational Mission”
Steph Armstrong

Radical Discomfort: The Crux of Incarnational Mission

Featured image for “Christianity’s Growing Cultural Identity Crisis”
Robert Chao Romero

Christianity’s Growing Cultural Identity Crisis

Featured image for “Rewilding the Mission of the Church”
Rowland Smith

Rewilding the Mission of the Church

Featured image for “Jesus as CEO (and Other Unhelpful Leadership Metaphors)”
Emily Beth Hill

Jesus as CEO (and Other Unhelpful Leadership Metaphors)

Featured image for “I Need A Good Shout!”
Natasha Sistrunk Robinson

I Need A Good Shout!

Featured image for “The Loaves and Fish Paradox: Planting a Church While Bi-Vocational”
Macho Lara

The Loaves and Fish Paradox: Planting a Church While Bi-Vocational

Featured image for “2023: A Year In Review”
Missio Alliance

2023: A Year In Review

Featured image for “Tired of Feeling Guilty for Feeling Tired”
Mandy Smith

Tired of Feeling Guilty for Feeling Tired

Featured image for “The Speed of Love”
Andrew Arndt

The Speed of Love

Featured image for “‘Holisticostal Mission:’ Paradigm Shifts in Theology and Practice (Pt. 2)”
Graham Joseph Hill

‘Holisticostal Mission:’ Paradigm Shifts in Theology and Practice (Pt. 2)

Featured image for “‘Holisticostal Mission:’ Paradigm Shifts in Theology and Practice (Pt. 1)”
Graham Joseph Hill

‘Holisticostal Mission:’ Paradigm Shifts in Theology and Practice (Pt. 1)

Featured image for “Surprised by God at Tables: Extending the Eucharist Into the Neighborhood (Pt. 2)”
Gino Curcuruto

Surprised by God at Tables: Extending the Eucharist Into the Neighborhood (Pt. 2)

Featured image for “Surprised by God at Tables: On The Eucharist as Mission (Pt. 1)”
Gino Curcuruto

Surprised by God at Tables: On The Eucharist as Mission (Pt. 1)

Featured image for “The Least of These: Reflections on Learning to Practice a Faith Without Margins”
Angie Ward

The Least of These: Reflections on Learning to Practice a Faith Without Margins

Featured image for “Reflections from the Boundary Zone”
Mayra Ramos

Reflections from the Boundary Zone

Featured image for “Seminaries in the Crucible: What Will Emerge? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 2)”
Kyuboem Lee

Seminaries in the Crucible: What Will Emerge? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 2)

Featured image for “Seminaries in the Crucible: What is Being Forged? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 1)”
Kyuboem Lee

Seminaries in the Crucible: What is Being Forged? (Disruption in Theological Education, Pt. 1)

Featured image for “Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 2: The Future of Giving)”
Kris Beckert

Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 2: The Future of Giving)

Featured image for “Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 1: The Origins of Giving)”
Kris Beckert

Disrupted Giving: An Uncomfortable Opportunity (Part 1: The Origins of Giving)

Featured image for “Christians and the Forgotten Federal Indian Boarding School Connection”
Mariah Humphries

Christians and the Forgotten Federal Indian Boarding School Connection

Featured image for “What Will Keep Us from Building a Church in the Ruins?”
Kyuboem Lee

What Will Keep Us from Building a Church in the Ruins?

Featured image for “How Complete Is Your Gospel?”
Sean Palmer

How Complete Is Your Gospel?

Featured image for “The Dangers of Misunderstanding Privilege”
Dominique Gilliard

The Dangers of Misunderstanding Privilege

Featured image for “Why Worship Together? Three Paradigms of Congregational Worship”
Glenn Packiam

Why Worship Together? Three Paradigms of Congregational Worship

Featured image for “Finding Courage to Build, Even During a Pandemic”
Russell Lackey

Finding Courage to Build, Even During a Pandemic

Featured image for “Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Part 2”
Rose Lee-Norman

Jon Houghton

Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Part 2

Featured image for “Embodying the Imagery of the Prophets”
Josh Funk

Embodying the Imagery of the Prophets

Featured image for “The Potential of Faithful Presence During a Pandemic”
David Fitch

The Potential of Faithful Presence During a Pandemic

Featured image for “Colonialism and Mission: 4 Lessons We Must Learn from History”
Anthony Siegrist

Colonialism and Mission: 4 Lessons We Must Learn from History

Featured image for “Caring for Orphans Globally: How Can the Church in the West Do Better?”
INFEMIT

Caring for Orphans Globally: How Can the Church in the West Do Better?

Featured image for “I Don’t Have Time to Talk About “Women’s Issues””
Mandy Smith

I Don’t Have Time to Talk About “Women’s Issues”

Featured image for “The Good News for an Increasingly “Post-Truth” Society”
Joel Yoshonis

The Good News for an Increasingly “Post-Truth” Society

Featured image for “Whatever You Do, Do Not “Just Do It””
Greg McKinzie

Whatever You Do, Do Not “Just Do It”

Featured image for “Mental Illness: 7 Practices for Ministering Well—Even if You’re Not A Mental Health Professional”
Amy Simpson

Mental Illness: 7 Practices for Ministering Well—Even if You’re Not A Mental Health Professional

Featured image for “The Church Needs to Be a Place for Radical Innovation: Here’s How”
Anthony Siegrist

The Church Needs to Be a Place for Radical Innovation: Here’s How

Featured image for “Christianity Isn’t Personal or Public—It’s Both”
Andrew Arndt

Christianity Isn’t Personal or Public—It’s Both

Featured image for “How A Theology of the City Helps the Whole Church: A Review of Urban Spirituality by Karina Kreminski”
Mandy Smith

How A Theology of the City Helps the Whole Church: A Review of Urban Spirituality by Karina Kreminski

Featured image for “3 Practices that Welcome Heaven Into Your Neighborhood”
Karina Kreminski

3 Practices that Welcome Heaven Into Your Neighborhood

Featured image for “A Lenten Prayer of Repentance for When We Have Failed Our Neighborhood”
Karen Wilk

A Lenten Prayer of Repentance for When We Have Failed Our Neighborhood

Featured image for “Whose Job Is It to Care for the Poor?”
Paul Koshy

Whose Job Is It to Care for the Poor?

Featured image for “Emboldened for Mission and Ministry: An Interview with Tara Beth Leach”
Derek Vreeland

Emboldened for Mission and Ministry: An Interview with Tara Beth Leach

Featured image for “The Last Evangelical”
Geoff Holsclaw

The Last Evangelical

Featured image for “Armed Only with Vulnerability: Sean Palmer on the Mission of God”
Derek Vreeland

Armed Only with Vulnerability: Sean Palmer on the Mission of God

Featured image for “The Missio Alliance Essential Reading List of 2017”
Juliet Liu

The Missio Alliance Essential Reading List of 2017

Featured image for “Man to Man: 5 Reasons I’m Going to SheLeads”
Geoff Holsclaw

Man to Man: 5 Reasons I’m Going to SheLeads

Featured image for “How (Not) to Use the Word ‘Orthodox’: Thinking Through Faithfulness for Mission”
David Fitch

How (Not) to Use the Word ‘Orthodox’: Thinking Through Faithfulness for Mission

Featured image for “The Real Mission of Worship”
Tara Beth Leach

The Real Mission of Worship

Featured image for “The Church’s Transformative Power is Molecular”
Mandy Smith

The Church’s Transformative Power is Molecular