

Trench Talk
Practical Shepherding
Practical Shepherding is a Gospel-driven resource center for pastors and church leaders to equip them in the practical matters of pastoral ministry. In this podcast, pastor Brian Croft sits down with other pastors to discuss the gritty details of pastoral ministry. Our goal is to examine the life and work of a pastor and give helpful guidance for our brothers laboring with us. This is a podcast by pastors for pastors. We are in the trenches of ministry with you, and we want to equip you to continue in this task.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 12, 2024 • 43min
Ep. 241: Writing Books together with James Carroll
Explore our resources onlineRequest a stay at The Shepherd’s House in 2024Women’s MinistryContact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify(02:23) Introduction and how Brian and James got to this point(04:26) Background and ministry of James Carroll(08:55) How Facing Snarls and Scowls came to be(18:11) How Being a Pastor came to be(21:56) How Practically Trained Pastors came to be(32:13) What is Pastoral Perseverance about?(38:47) Friendship, Final word and prayer Purchase Pastoral PerseverancePurchase the Practical Shepherding Pack

Feb 6, 2024 • 32min
Ep. 240: Bullies against the Pastor
Show notes coming soon.

Jan 30, 2024 • 33min
Ep. 239: Bad ministry advice we've been given
Explore our resources onlineRequest a stay at The Shepherd’s House in 2024Women’s MinistryContact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify(02:04) Biblical Understanding(03:39) Life: “You’ve got to have more faith”(05:53) Preaching: “You’ve got to find your own set of jokes”(07:45) Altar call: “Learn how to manipulate the emotions of your congregation”(10:56) Friendship: “don’t make friends in the church”(12:23) Ministry: “change everything at first”(14:16) Ministry: “You can only spend 5 years at a church”(16:51) Preaching: “Don’t write your own sermons”(18:00) Ministry: “you can’t build a church on doctrine”18:37 Ministry: “Grow the church by catering to needs”(19:51) Ministry: “throw away the methods of how church used to be done”(23:40) Training: “don’t get in the way of a persons calling”(25:31) Preaching: “Have your pulpit ready for the recent headlines”(27:10) Preaching: “you can adequately shepherd the flock from the pulpit”(28:25) Ministry: “if you do everything right you will have ministry fruit” (30:00) Final word and prayer

Jan 23, 2024 • 32min
Ep. 238: Evaluating accusations against a pastor
Explore our resources onlineRequest a stay at The Shepherd’s House in 2024Support the ministry with a financial giftContact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify(02:59) Biblical understanding(08:31) Serious accusations where an investigation must take place (11:15) Different levels of accusations and how to handle them(13:48) The importance of qualified Elder/Pastors within the church(16:46) Technology and the secret lives of pastors(19:21) Technology and the destruction of ministries through false accusations(23:22) Advice to pastors to minister in the tension(29:15) Final word and prayer

Jan 16, 2024 • 32min
Ep. 237: Evaluating a lack of ministry fruit
Explore our resources onlineContact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or SpotifyFind more information about Practically Trained Pastors in Spanish(02:25) Biblical foundation(08:15) Faithfully evaluating spiritual fruit(14:13) Lack of fruit and evaluating calling(19:48) Fruit from following a faithful ministry(22:04) Lack of fruit tied to gifting(25:11) Finding a pastoral mentor to help grow in gifting(26:19) Is faithful ministry enough to be labeled as fruitful?(31:11) Final word and prayer

Jan 9, 2024 • 38min
Ep. 236: Pastors using Social Media
Explore our resources onlineRequest a stay at The Shepherd’s House in 2024Support the ministry with a financial giftContact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify(01:58) Biblical Foundation(05:37) Jim’s complicated relationship with social media(10:17) Brian’s intentional use of social media(14:39) Awareness in social media use(19:32) Avoiding conflict on social media(24:37) Guarding from sensual vices on social media(26:22) Leveraging social media for faithful ministry purposes(36:13) Final word and prayer

Dec 12, 2023 • 41min
Ep. 235: Unjustified Pastoral Termination
Explore our resources onlineRequest a stay at The Shepherd’s House in 2024Contact us if we can serve youWrite a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify(03:34) Biblical foundation(09:46) The use of NDA’s in unjustified terminations (11:29) How this HappensPainting the picture Reasons why this happens(17:42) Unclear expectations of the qualifications of a pastor(19:50) The hiring process is broken from the beginning(23:48) You upset the wrong personWhat do you do?(25:58) Challenge the termination honestly(28:45) Amend the NDA(30:47) Encouragement to the congregation(32:50) Challenge the leadership(36:15) Final word and prayer

Dec 5, 2023 • 45min
Ep 234: Reflecting on 15 Years of Practical Shepherding
(02:20) How Jim, as an outsider, viewed the beginning of the ministry (07:04) Brian’s reflecting on how the ministry began(09:18) Auburndale Baptist Church as Practical Shepherding began (17:03) Who came up with the name Practical Shepherding and why?(22:00) The formation of the ministry(27:20) What does a typical week look like for you?Find out more about the NAMB Replant Cohort(30:40) How will the growth of the ministry continue to help pastors thrive?(34:28) How do you evaluate the core calling when opportunities of growth arise? The event mentioned has already taken place at the time of posting (36:58) The stewardship of the ministry for years to come(39:51) Jim’s view from the beginning of the ministry(43:53) PrayerThank you to all who have supported the ministry through out the years!

Nov 21, 2023 • 34min
Ep. 233: When your wife is done with ministry
Access our resourcesContact us and recommend a podcast topicWrite a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify(02:20) Biblical foundation(08:28) Where do you start?(16:54) Steps to reconciliation(25:35) Your priority in ministry is your wife(31:26) Final word and prayer

Nov 15, 2023 • 25min
Ep. 232: Welcoming new members well
Explore our ResourcesLook into staying at The Shepherd’s HouseGive a financial gift that Helps Pastors thrive(01:53) Biblical framework(04:20) Challenges in bringing in new members(05:20) Shepherding the delivery person(08:49) Challenges in a Revitalization context(10:00) Practical Ways to welcome new members wellWelcome them through preachingWelcome them through living life togetherWelcome them through connecting them to othersWelcome them through connecting them to servingWelcome them through theological contextualizationWelcome them through committed prayer(22:13) Final word and prayer