Sunday By Design
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Press kit · September 15, 2026
Everything you need to book it.
Bios in three lengths, print-resolution cover art, the stories that make the best radio, and ten questions you can hand a host. Take what you need. Nothing here requires asking first.
The full jacket, flat. Hardcover, paperback, and ebook, September 15.
If you only read one thing
Growing churches are not doing seven brilliant things.
They are doing the same seven small things, every week, until those small things become the standard. The service starts when it says it will. The order does not change. The first five minutes are scripted. A guest cannot leave without being known. There is one clear ask. Somebody reaches out before Monday. Four numbers get counted and studied.
Nothing on that list is clever. Every item on it is a discipline. Sunday By Design is the walkthrough for installing all seven, in the order that makes them compound.
One Sunday in Charlotte
10:58 to 11:19
The service was advertised for 11:00. Every mark below is in the book.
A welcome team volunteer of four years was asked what time she tells her family to pick her up. "Twelve-thirty. I used to say noon, but…" She let the sentence go. She didn't need to finish it.
She stopped trusting the clock because the clock stopped earning trust. Every person pulling into a half-empty lot at the advertised start time is running the same calculation she did.
The spine of the book
The seven switches
The order is the argument. Switch 1 builds the trust that makes Switch 2 possible, and so on down the list. Any summary that reorders them has the book wrong.
01Live in the Clock
02Lock Your Service Format
03Script the First Five Minutes
04Capture Every Guest
05Make One Ask
06Follow Up in 24 Hours
07CountSwitch 07 · count
He guessed 130.
There were 85.
A pastor explained that he does not track attendance, because his faith is in God building the church, not in numbers. Pressed for a guess, he said 120, maybe 130. The count that morning was 85.
Told the real number, his first response was not defensiveness. It was closer to grief. "But the room felt good today."
For your host or producer
Ten questions
- You say growing churches are not doing seven brilliant things. What are they doing instead?
- You walk into a church and you know within about ten minutes. What are you looking at first?
- Why does the clock come before everything else in the order?
- A pastor tells you, "our people don't mind that we run long." What do you tell him?
- What is the shoebox, and how many churches have one?
- Talk about the pastor who guessed 130 and had 85 in the room.
- Somebody listening is thinking, all this structure sounds like it leaves no room for the Spirit. Answer them.
- What does a second-seat leader actually do all week?
- What is the one switch you would tell a pastor to flip this coming Sunday?
- You lost your left hand in 2017. What did rebuilding teach you that no system did?
Sheldon J. Andrus III
Copy and paste
Bios, three lengths
Sheldon J. Andrus III is the founder of Andrus Advisory and the creator of SundayOS, and he partners with churches across the country on the strategy, structures, and systems behind sustainable growth.
Sheldon J. Andrus III engineered the systems behind some of America's fastest-growing churches, from 60 to over 15,000 in attendance. He now consults with churches across the country. He is the founder of Andrus Advisory, the creator of SundayOS, and the author of Sunday By Design: How Growing Churches Master Sunday.
Sheldon J. Andrus III is a second-seat leader: the strategist beside the visionary, the architect behind the growth of some of America's most influential churches.
Raised in New Orleans and formed at Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church under Bishop Paul S. Morton, he took the long way into ministry. He marketed for one of the nation's largest nonprofits and owned a regional restaurant franchise. In 2017, a life-altering accident took his left hand, and taught him more about rebuilding than any system ever has.
As Executive Pastor at Union Church under Pastor Stephen Chandler, he engineered the structure, systems, and team alignment behind growth from 2,000 members to 15,000 in three years. As Executive Pastor at The Word Church under Dr. R.A. Vernon, he rebuilt systems, reorganized ministries, launched two campuses, and redesigned the staff, a season crowned by 40 percent growth in attendance and one of the largest giving years in the church's 25-year history.
He is a graduate of St. Augustine High School in New Orleans and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from Ohio University. He lives with his wife, Bethany, and their giant schnauzer, Bruno.
Thirty endorsed it before it printed
Praise
Pastors from churches of every size, denomination, and season.
The fish are not the problem. The nets are.
We keep praying for a harvest while running a system that cannot hold the one already in the building. Sheldon has worked inside enough churches to see what we cannot see about ourselves, and he had the courage to write it down. Sunday By Design does not stop at the diagnosis. It hands you the repair.
Sheldon is one of the leading voices on how to actually run a church, day in and day out. I call him the Executive Pastor to the American Church. Most churches pour everything into getting people in the door, then wing whatever happens after. That’s the gap. Sunday By Design closes it.
Founder, ChurchCandy
Weekly I’m able to draw from his wisdom and counsel as I lead thousands of worshippers into the presence of the Lord. Sunday By Design gives us language and tools for Holy Spirit to flow freely.
Worship Artist
Repetition builds your reputation. One great Sunday is not hard to put on. Doing it week after week, across multiple locations, is another story. Sunday By Design is about the mindset needed to maintain excellence in the midst of growth.
Executive Pastor, VOUS Church
I believe in the principles and systems Sheldon Andrus teaches because I have personally witnessed them work. I have seen the effectiveness of what he implements, not only from observation, but from being in an environment where the systems have produced real results.
Minister of Music, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church
Sundays are when the gospel gathers a people, transforms their lives, and sends them into the world. Sheldon has done an incredible job writing a wise and practical guide to the intentionality and stewardship necessary to make that time together abundantly clear and even more fruitful.
Lead Pastor, AROMA Church
Sheldon does an excellent job communicating exactly what every church needs no matter the size!
Executive Pastor, La Viña Church NYC
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The art
Cleared for editorial use in connection with coverage of the book. Credit: courtesy of Tercet Press.
The book
Fast facts
| Title | Sunday By Design: How Growing Churches Master Sunday |
| Author | Sheldon J. Andrus III |
| Publisher | Tercet Press |
| Publication | September 15, 2026 |
| Formats | Hardcover, paperback, ebook |
| Extent | 210 pages, 6 × 9 |
| Paperback | 979-8-9972371-0-3 |
| Hardcover | 979-8-9972371-1-0 |
| Ebook | 979-8-9972371-2-7 |
| LCCN | 2026919188 |
| Category | Religion / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources |
Pull quotes
Structure is not at war with the Spirit. Order creates room for the miraculous.
Mediocre Sundays don't compound. Designed Sundays do.
We count people because people count.
The local church is the hope of the world. Build yours like you believe that.
Booking, review copies, permissions
Say what you need and it comes back the same day where possible. Sheldon also hosts his own show on the subject, so returning the favor is always on the table.
The podcast Instagram LinkedIn Andrus Advisory sundaybydesign.com