Practical Church

We know how discouraging it can be to pray, prepare, and serve as faithfully as you can, but not see any growth in your church. How can you get people to invite their friends, coworkers, and classmates? What does it look like to even create a culture of invitation at your church? The good news is there there are some very practical things you can do to help people invite their friends. Don't sit in frustration, take steps in making invitations the norm and not the exception. In this episode, we share 5 ways to create a culture of invitation at your church. Welcome to welcome to episode 189 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the five tips we discuss: Encourage people to invite their friends Preach to Christians knowing there are non-believers in the room Have a quality Sunday service Prioritize your serve teams Spend time, effort, and money on social media Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

You've been praying and dreaming about what your church could be and the impact it could have. But, you're not sure how to get people on board with your mission or even how to best articulate it. In fact, you're not even sure if you have a compelling vision for your church plant. If you can relate to any of this, you'll want to check out today's Practical Church Planting podcast episode. In today's episode, we share 6 tips for creating a compelling vision for your church plant. Don't waste time wondering how to create a compelling vision when you can use these 6 tips and make one. Welcome to welcome to episode 188 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode: Don't focus on statistics Don't focus on big dreams Outline practical steps of how you will accomplish your mission Share a story of a real person Speak positively of other churches/what God is doing in your area Give a clear next step at your meetings Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How can you make the most of a church planting network? Welcome to welcome to episode 187 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to get the most out of a church planting network. We discuss: Don't pick a network based on what you can get from them Pick a network you believe in Commit to network gatherings/events Proactively find ways to serve and support the network Find a church in the network to partner with, plant, or support Be humble and ask lots of questions Join a network Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How can you find leaders for your new church plant? Welcome to welcome to episode 186 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we talk about seven qualities that can help you determine current and future leaders for your launch team and church plant. We discuss: Uninitiated desire to help Initiated excitement to help People who do more (or better) than asked Financial giving to the church Buy-in in disagreement Social media engagement with the church Track record with other churches (is it bad?) Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

It's impossible to know everything there is to know about planting a church before you do it. Welcome to welcome to episode 185 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we discuss these five things that church planters often don't think about before planting: What they want the church to look like in three years The long-term importance of outside support Clearly defining your spouse's role How often will you preach? Creating a culture of serving rather than programs of serving Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What changes should be made to your church's finances when crisis hits? Welcome to welcome to episode 184 of Practical Church Planting.  All churches face financial difficulties at some point. Given COVID-19, many churches are experiencing crisis together. In this episode, we discuss these six tips for budgeting your church's finances during crisis: Be proactive Anxiety increases where budgeting decreases Freeze non-essential spending Locate a minimum financial threshold for big cuts Budget with wise counsel Be honest with your people (eventually) Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What have we taken away from being online only for over 3 months? Welcome to welcome to episode 183 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we discuss these 5 reflections as we get ready to regather in person on Sunday for the first time on over 3 months: Online church isn't church Sunday's are not just about the service The Sunday gathering leads to other opportunities Focus on your solid core Your people are a blessing Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What causes some churches to grow while others stagnate or decline? Welcome to welcome to episode 182 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we discuss these four characteristics that growing churches typically have in common: They have a realistic financial plan and stick to it There is seasoned leadership influencing big decisions The staff is bought into the mission They have relationships with churches/networks/denominations Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Should you live stream your church service? Welcome to welcome to episode 181 of Practical Church Planting.  As churches across the country slowly begin to regather in person, should you throw up a camera and live stream your service? After all, you've been doing online-only services for a while. In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why we don't think that's the best idea. A bad looking live stream isn't neutral The cost isn't worth it for church plants/smaller churches Poor audio quality makes it hard to engage Poor camera angles make it hard to engage If you can't create a separate stream designed specifically for a stream, don't do it Reach is secondary to impact Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

As COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen, when should your church gather again in person? Welcome to welcome to episode 180 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why you may not want to regather in person as quickly as you can: A higher-quality online service may be better than a low-quality in-person service + a low-quality online service Loosening your restrictions once you regather could be tricky Enforcing restrictions could do harm Thinking long term is the job of the leader Just because people understand things are different doesn't mean they will stick with it You can't go back to online-only once you begin meeting in person Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.