New Churches Podcast

Episode 739 Establishing healthy partnership between an established church and a plant can be a challenge. Ed Stetzer talks with Ron Edmondson about how to lead an established church to support church planting. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to get an established church focused outwardly Ways to involve established church staff and volunteers The value of doing a “faith in work” survey How to build partnerships with strong relational connections Signs of a good partnering relationship Helpful Resources: Ron Edmondson’s ministry leadership podcast and blog Ron’s book on the seven myths of leadership Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Places across the globe are having more success with the gospel than we are having. We need to learn from them. We also need to fuel their fire with what God has given us. — Ron Edmondson Casting vision helps a church be outwardly focused. — Ed Stetzer People are going to go where they want to go. Church planting matters. And the more we can put those two together, the more successful we’re going to be. — Ron Edmondson I had a church planting class create case studies on the way plants partnered with their primary sponsor church. Seven out of 10 had relational problems. — Ed Stetzer Seek more than money. If you don’t ask for my advice, you’ve already shot yourself in the foot. — Ron Edmondson There’s a difference between being having a partner and a funder. Finding the other things an established church can provide is really key. — Ed Stetzer A sign of healthy partnership is when both the planter and the pastor enjoy that relationship. It’s not just transactional. It’s not just the the dollars. — Ron Edmondson The post Leading an Established Church to Support Church Planting appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 738 Planters, lead pastors, apprentices – we all need to grow as preachers. Clint Clifton talks with Bryan Loritts and Bobby Jamieson about the “how to” of becoming a better preacher. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The value of apprenticeship Why feedback is important The importance of self-awareness Why preaching cohorts are helpful How a church is like a teaching hospital Helpful Resources: Books: The Dad Difference, Doctrine That Dances, Expositional Preaching, Crossover Preaching, Making a Difference in Preaching, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism Sermons: Ligon Duncan on Elijah Charles Simeon Trust Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): A big aspect of how our senior pastor has trained so many preachers is having lots of feedback. He will very humbly receive feedback on his own preaching. – Bobby Jamieson Church planting has kind of turned into the Wild, Wild West. So many planters just kind of went out there on their own. They haven’t really sat under consistent preaching. – Bryan Loritts I’ve talked to more than one church planter who basically said, “I started planting a church without really knowing what a church is and now I’m having to do this messy thing of rebuilding the plane in midair.” – Bobby Jamieson Karl Barth said he takes the text in one hand and the newspaper in the other. That’s one way I try to gauge the fruit of my ministry: Am I speaking to the particular idols of that given context and is that being worked into the lifeblood of our church? – Bryan Loritts I have interns join me when I’m preparing a sermon, by the time I have an outline. They come in with their own outlines and thoughts about how to apply the passage. We’ll go over our outlines. – Bobby Jamieson Churches should be teaching hospitals. The teaching hospital says, “We want to create, within the ecosystem of our hospital, room for residents to actually practice.” That’s what we’ve always tried to do.” – Bryan Loritts I encourage young preachers to make sure that in every point of their sermon they have explanation, illustration and application. – Bobby Jamieson The post Growing as a Preacher appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 737 How do you set goals for your church without slipping into pragmatism? Ed Stetzer talks with Ron Edmondson about “faith goals” and how to set them for your church. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What a “faith goal” is How to translate goals into action Balancing internal and external goals How to start the process of determining goals Unique aspects of goal setting in a church plant Helpful Resources: Pat Lencioni’s Working Genius assessment Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Does goal-setting presume on God? I do think goals are good. What’s it going to look like when what are we hoping to see happens? — Ed Stetzer If you’re making a goal and there’s no stretching in it, that’s not going to be a faith goal. God is in charge of the increase, so it may not happen the way you intended. — Ron Edmondson Do you have categories for different goals – internal staff goals and external partnership goals? How do you find a good balance? — Ed Stetzer Everything you learn from the people who have multiple staff, be willing to translate the principle. You don’t translate practices; you translate principles. Start with the end in mind. What are you trying to achieve? Then work backward from that. — Ron Edmondson If this is a faith goal, then where is God already working? We don’t want to go where God’s not at work. This is where it becomes a true faith initiative. — Ron Edmondson People tend to overdo goal-setting when they’ve never done it before. They end up with, like, 15 goals. — Ed Stetzer I use the last six weeks of the year to pray about and plan for the next year. Say, “If we’re going to take this church where it needs to go next year, what are the top two or three goals we need to have?” Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I always depend on that. — Ron Edmondson The post Creating Faith Goals for Your Church appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 736 “Pastor Dads” face tremendous challenges in raising children. Clint Clifton talks with Bryan Loritts and Bobby Jamieson about how to navigate the complexities. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Unique challenges Pastor Dads face What Pastor Dads sometimes get wrong The twin dangers of overcorrection  How Pastor Dads can have a positive impact on their children’s relationship with the Lord What to do when your children feel like they live in a fishbowl Helpful Resources: Bobby Jamieson’s book: The Path to Being a Pastor Bryan Loritt’s book: The Dad Difference Eugene Peterson biography: A Burning in My Bones Watch this tribute video about Clint Honor Clint by donating to the Clint Clifton Global Church Planting Fund Download your free copy of his book, Church Planting Thresholds Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Pastoring and being a dad overlap so much. The kind of issues you’re wrestling with dealing with messy stuff in people’s lives, you come home to somewhat similar messes. There is a sort of uncanny parallel. – Bobby Jamieson When I was aspiring for pastoral ministry, my biggest apprehension was the effect I’d seen pastoral ministry have on the children of pastors. I felt I was, by going into ministry, making the choice to give my kids a really rough upbringing. – Clint Clifton There can be great benefits and blessings to having your kids get front-row seats to what the Lord is doing in people’s lives, to just grow up immersed in the work of ministry. – Bobby Jamieson It’s important to embrace the tension. We want our kids to know they are definitely a priority in our lives, but we have to be careful of the idolatry of children. – Bryan Loritts I find myself often telling planters not to sacrifice their ministries on the altar of family. It’s possible to create an environment where our kids are the center of our universe. – Clint Clifton More than my dad’s sin, I remember his apologies. There’s no shame in apologizing to a middle schooler. – Bryan Loritts As a dad, I must put gospel distance between who I am and my kids’ behavior. If I look at my kids as a reflection of me, that’s going to lead to some very dark places. I am not my kid’s behavior and the freedom that comes with that is huge. – Bobby Jamieson The post Pastor Dad: Pastoral Ministry and Fatherhood appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 735 Most, if not all, church planters struggle with feeling inferior. Ed Stetzer, Scotty Smith and Adam Muhtaseb explain how to fight feelings of inferiority. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The danger of the Imposter Syndrome How common feelings of insecurity are among ministry leaders How to lead in a way that is both confident and humble  How leading from place of weakness can actually maximize growth What it truly means to “treasure the gospel” Helpful Resources: Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): We all live with Imposter Syndrome. As a church planter, most people would find me bold and brash, but I struggled with feelings of inferiority for the entire journey. @EdStetzer People would rather follow someone who’s real than somebody who’s always Superman. They’d rather you admit your weakness, point to Jesus and show His strength. @Adam_Muhtaseb Don’t be ashamed of your weakness. Learn what it means to lead as a jar of clay with the aroma of grace coming out. @Scotty Smith Lots of stories in Scripture are of those who felt inadequate for the task God had called them to do. @EdStetzer The very concept of inferiority presupposes comparison. I feel inferior compared to what? Comparison-ism destroys community. @Scotty Smith People see either your strength or Jesus’ strength. Let’s let our people see Jesus’ ‘ strength through our weakness. @Adam_Muhtaseb You know what’s better than the hardship of ministry? The beauty and faithfulness of the Lord. Learn every day to rely upon the God who raises the dead. @Scotty Smith The post Fighting Feelings of Inferiority appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 734 We know the value of building leaders, but what about when we need to hire? Clint Clifton talks with Todd Adkins and Jamie Caldwell about best hiring practices for a new church. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The two sides to hiring How to make great use of stipends Indications a full-time ministry role is needed The danger of drifting toward complexity How pastoring relates to policy Helpful Resources: Todd Adkins’ 90 Second Leadership videos Watch this tribute video about Clint Honor Clint by donating to the Clint Clifton Global Church Planting Fund Download your free copy of his book, Church Planting Thresholds Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Most church planters think they’ll have multiple full-time staff members. We’re still starry-eyed and optimistic and we haven’t been punched in the in the nose yet by the difficulties of church planting. — Clint Clifton The people you can afford early, you don’t want very long. – Jamie Caldwell We always tell church planters to act their age. Church planters go out and they want everything that every church has. Often they’re trying to do too much too fast, instead of doing a few things really well. — Clint Clifton If you’re bringing somebody from outside, you better be crystal clear on your vision, values, systems and structures. They’re going to make decisions that are outside of what you would want and sometimes it’s not their fault because we haven’t been clear. @Todd Adkins God will give you the church He wants you to have, with the people He knows you need. It’s your job to know them well enough to put them into into place. – Jamie Caldwell Churches will drift toward complexity, not simplicity. You need to be really tight on what you do and what you don’t do, because it’s really hard to kill stuff off later on. @Todd Adkins We cannot neglect that God’s got a sovereign strategy. We can’t jump to Step 2 and start writing policies about hiring until we have a picture of what God is doing and we’re willing to just scrap the rest of it. – Jamie Caldwell The post Best Hiring Practices for a New Church appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 733 Everything about planting screams, “Emergency!” Host Ed Stetzer talks with Scotty Smith and Adam Muhtaseb about the importance of taking the long view on church planting. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to build at the beginning things that become part of the fabric of the church The twin values of mechanics and organics What “living in the whole story of God” means How to personalize taking the long view What it means to live and lead at “the pace of grace” Helpful Resources: Scotty Smith books: Unveiled Hope, Objects of His Affection, Everyday Prayers Adam Muhtaseb podcast episodes: Leading and Loving Difficult Team Members, Raising Pastors from Within Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Church planters come in and they’re so drunk with the vision. The only thing they’re thinking about is the launch service. It’s not even like, “What do I do the week after?” @EdStetzer I realized early on we were going to absolutely need to do the mechanics but equally the organics. The Lord’s building for eternity, not next week. @Scotty Smith From the beginning, our vision was to be a church planting movement. So I set up systems, values, programs, etc. to build our church toward that. @Adam_Muhtaseb A lot of the church planters I’ve worked with think pragmatically about getting a job done and they lose what Scripture says is central, which is a love for Jesus. @Scotty Smith In the U.K. I lived on this one-lane road and every day I walked by this church that has been worshipping in the same space for over 1,000 years. I don’t hear lot of church planters even talk about 100 years from now. @EdStetzer You should be spending just as much time working on the church as you are working in the church. @Adam_Muhtaseb The good news for some church planters is you don’t have to work 80 hours a week. if you do, that’s called idolatry. @Scotty Smith The post The Long View: Church Planting with End Goals in Mind appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 732 Regardless of a church’s financial situation, every pastor can benefit from having a “No. 2.” Host Clint Clifton talks with Todd Adkins and Jamie Caldwell about important aspects of adding executive leadership. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why executive leadership isn’t irrelevant in new churches How an executive leader can level up everybody’s church experience The importance of “doing life” with your No. 2 Why you will need to walk yourself back from getting involved The importance of “culture fit” Helpful Resources: Watch this tribute video about Clint Honor Clint by donating to the Clint Clifton Global Church Planting Fund Download your free copy of his book, Church Planting Thresholds Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): You need a guy riding shotgun with you. Whether you pay that guy or not, you need this role. @Todd Adkins You’re looking for somebody who’s going to complement the giftings of the senior pastor. The executive pastor may look a little bit different in one situation than it does in another. @ClintJClifton In a church-planting environment, there’s there’s no way not to do life together. You got to be staying in your house all day not to do life with the people, because the church plant’s usually small and the team’s tight-knit. @ClintJClifton If you trust him, then give him the freedom to do the job. Nobody wants to get hired and then be led by the hand in this incredibly micromanaging process. – Jamie Caldwell Hire slowly and make sure there’s a culture fit before you pull the trigger. If there is any area in which they are different than you, make sure it’s an area you want to change in your culture. @Todd Adkins Know where you’re weak and then ask people to take on roles who can help you with those weaknesses. If they don’t know how to do it, learn together. – Jamie Caldwell Most church planters are gifted on the vision front. They often aren’t real good at the details and administration of the church’s life. Pray that God would provide somebody who could help you. @ClintJClifton The post Executive Leadership in New Churches appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 731 Did the pandemic affect your church differently than others? Host Ed Stetzer talks with Warren Bird about fascinating new research. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How church launches and funding were affected The effect on planters’ mental health How evangelism and discipleship fared The “big disappointment” in the research findings Advice for planters in light of in the research Helpful Resources: EFCA research: New Faces of Church Planting and Multi-siting PDF download: EFCA findings on the pandemic’s impact Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): Movie theaters and schools where, disproportionately, church plants meet, were shut down. It really had an impact on church planting. When schools started meeting again, many didn’t let anybody in from the outside, to create a bubble. @EdStetzer I was surprised at how few things dipped during the pandemic. I was brought to tears when I tallied the survey responses and I saw how many hundreds of churches launched during the pandemic. @WarrenBird New churches put a heavier emphasis on evangelism than discipleship, but discipleship increased. @EdStetzer We found that, both pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, evangelism was stronger than the discipleship component, but during the pandemic the discipleship meter was almost as high as the evangelistic meter. @WarrenBird I think it probably was the greatest time of church shifting and switching in our lifetime. I want new churches to be evangelized into existence. @EdStetzer While people are willing to gather in most places now, the volunteering piece – that second step of engagement – has been really slow. It did not surge back with the people coming back. @WarrenBird Can you imagine three years ago saying, “Hey, everyone, scan the QR code on your screen”? But now the grandmas are holding up their phones and scanning the QR code. It is fascinating how this has been accelerated technologically. @EdStetzer The post Did the Pandemic Change Church Planting? appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 730 Jesus said to make disciples, but how do we make disciples who make disciples? Host Clint Clifton talks with Dave Proffitt and Colby Garman about the challenge of discipling new believers. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How evangelism and discipleship rightly relate to one another Basic tools of discipleship Four discipleship “destinations” How long before a new disciple begins discipling another person A Bible verse that encapsulates the entire discipleship process Helpful Resources: Colby Garman’s Ten Rhythms of a Growing Christian Dave Proffit’s discipleship course: English, Spanish, Portuguese Watch this tribute video about Clint Clifton Honor Clint by donating to the Clint Clifton Global Church Planting Fund Download your free copy of his book, Church Planting Thresholds Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): We’ve created the separate categories of discipleship and evangelism. Jesus simply says our task is to make disciples. Evangelism plays that role of helping people understand who Jesus is and become disciples. The continuation of their growth is the ongoing work of discipleship. @Colby Garman Discipleship has a more academic part and then there’s the activity part. We’ve got to have the information but we’ve got to do the activity as well. – Dave Proffitt What we’ve seen in churches a lot is training and training but never having a use for that training. When somebody has something particular in view, they see learning as important and valuable. @clintjclifton There’s nothing more powerful than feeling out of your depth, so we have to push people to accomplish something they never thought they could do. @Colby Garman I believe if you teach something to somebody, that person should go right out and find an audience. I mean immediately. – Dave Proffitt Every aspect of the life of the church has a discipleship opportunity buried in it. How we see people serving, how we think about the membership process – all these things are discipleship. @Colby Garman The post Discipling New Believers appeared first on New Churches.