New Churches Podcast

Episode 697: No planter goes in thinking it’s going to be easy, but none knows quite how hard it’s actually going to be. Host Clint Clifton discusses the incredible benefits of endurance in planting with Jeff Belcher and Amanda Hudson. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The importance of staying through difficulty and the fruit of endurance Why longevity in a community enables others to entrust you with valuable resources How to navigate in a transient context and guard against the temptation to not get close to people Advice for new church planters about “buckling up” for longevity  How enduring seasons of difficulty prepares you to experience a “sweet season” Helpful Resources: Clint’s article: Church Planter Postpartum Depression? 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): I often tell church planters that the only way to ensure you won’t be a failure before you plant a church is to refuse to quit. Church planting is so challenging and if you have an escape hatch, the odds are when things are really intense, you probably will walk through one of those escape hatches. @ClintJClifton We like the idea of being a consistent factor, a foundational person and a familiar face. It’s encouraging, especially for people who don’t take church life seriously, to see us always present. — Amanda Hudson I look back at the seasons of difficulty as a gift now, where in the midst of them I saw them as the worst possible thing that could happen. If you stick it out when things are crushingly difficult, there comes a day you look back and say I’m so glad I didn’t quit. @ClintJClifton Looking back is essential in the Christian life. When we remember past trials and we’ve seen the ways that God’s brought us through, that can definitely be powerful in moving us forward through the challenges in church planting. — Jeff Belcher If you’re starting to wonder, “Did I do the right thing?” – the the answer is yes. Don’t don’t quit. Don’t give up. Church planting is difficult. We’re fighting for the eternity of people and so there’s a real adversary in the midst of that. @ClintJClifton We refer to one another all the time as family, and families don’t quit one another. If we as planters come before our congregants and say we’re a family, then what does that say if we bail out when things get hard? That’s not the nature of the family of God. — Jeff Belcher Walking away, like a father walking away from his family, is devastating. If when things get hard, we walk away, then that says a lot about the God we’re proclaiming to people. Commitment to church family is just foundational to planting. — Jeff Belcher The post The Value of Staying Put appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 696: When a church sends out a planter, the relationship hasn’t ended; it’s just begun. Host Clint Clifton discusses with Jason Robertson and Dannie Williams how Sending Church pastors can provide meaningful support to planters as they face their inevitable challenges. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The importance of helping a planter enjoy the ministry Ways to encourage planter spouses in the challenges they face Specific stories about having a planter’s back in difficult situations How you can help by advocating for that planter with other pastors Signs a church planter is going through a terminal type of discouragement 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): In the church I planted 20 years ago, we didn’t have a lot of meaningful encouragement outside of our church. It became a real lonely experience at times. @Jason Robertson If they have a project early on, we participate in it. The journey is so serious but it can be fun, so just have fun with the planter. @Dannie Williams Sometimes church planting spouses get the short end of the stick. They often are doing a lot of the heavy lifting for none of the recognition. It’s important to encourage church planting wives. @ClintJClifton We did a retreat and one of the planter wives started crying with gratitude of how they had been treated like royalty. We just want to say to them, “We really do care about you. This is not just religious talk. It’s the real deal.” @Dannie Williams One of our church planters got Covid and it ended up becoming pneumonia. He was in the hospital and we could not go in. His spouse could not be with him. We started every single day having a worship service and prayer meeting outside his hospital window. @Jason Robertson It’s one thing for me to go to a random church that I don’t know and say, “Hey, will you support me?” It’s another thing for you to speak on my behalf with that pastor. @ClintJClifton I think of it as if I were out there, what would God do for me? What kind of commitment would he have? He’s going to be motivating people to rally to the cause of kingdom advancement that you are part of. @Dannie Williams The post Supporting Those You Send appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 695: How you plant a church is shaped by missiology and what you end up with is shaped by ecclesiology. Host Ed Stetzer hashes through different approaches to both with Nathan Knight and Rivers Partin. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Nuances in the theological motivation behind three church plants Ways to strike a balance between alleviating earthly suffering and eternal suffering. How to explain to your people what it means to be “incarnational” Why ecclesiology is more than bylaws you use when your church encounters a problem How being a church differs from being a mission idea or mission outpost Helpful Resources: Ed Stetzer’s book Breaking the Missional Code Ed Stetzer’s article What 9Marks Purists Should Know About Church Planting Christopher Wright’s book The Mission of God Brad Briscoe’s books: Missional Essentials, The Missional Quest, Next Door as It Is in Heaven 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): The Christian understands that there’s more to this than trying to alleviate earthly suffering, but we have a deeper desire to relieve eternal suffering. @NathanKnightDC My motivation is we see the kingdom of God breaking into the world. Part of our mission is to work to make the world more like Jesus would want it to be. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” @EdStetzer We use very incarnational language: We’re the way Jesus shows His love to people in our neighborhood. We want to see people’s eternal destiny being changed. We also start with it’s an act of worship to serve and the results are up to the Lord. — Rivers Partin It’s a kingdom work even if I don’t see someone repent that day, because we’re bringing about restoration in this place. We’re planting seeds and we’re allowing the Lord to to do the growing. — Rivers Partin So much of the epistles are concerned about people not persevering and enduring. So when you think about the mission of the church, I’m going to front-load knowing so much of the work of the Church is to make sure and get the person to their deathbed still following Jesus under the power of the Holy Spirit. @NathanKnightDC Your ecclesiology really matters. It’s one of the things that I think people don’t think about until there’s a problem. They think of ecclesiology as almost like the bylaws to use when we have a problem, but I think ecclesiology is a display of God’s glory that really matters. @EdStetzer We spent most of our time just trying to understand what a church is and what a church does, what a pastor is what a pastor does, since that’s what we were endeavoring to be. As a consequence we front-loaded all that ecclesiology into the work of the church so that she would be set up to take in those new believers and then orient into our life together. @NathanKnightDC The post What is the Mission? Why Does it Matter? Part 2 appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 694: What is the mission of the church? To many, the answer seems obvious but the topic actually is pretty significantly debated. Host Ed Stetzer engages the subject with two guests – Nathan Knight and Rivers Partin – who approach it from significantly different directions. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How “bless and impact neighbor” intersects with “evangelize and congregationalize” What “the BLESS acronym” stands for How “equip the saints for the work of ministry” fleshes out in mission How community impact and making disciples relate to each other Whether community restoration is integral to church planting Helpful Resources: Craig Ott: The Mission of the Church: Five Views in Conversation Christopher Wright: The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission Michael Reeves and Daniel Hames: God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert: What Is the Mission of the Church?: Making Sense of Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission 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 lack of clarity about the mission is actually a pretty recurring problem. We assume a lot about the church and what it is, about the mission and what it is, about the gospel and what it is. @EdStetzer Our mission is really centered around neighbors being neighbors to one another, resting in the love of God for themselves and sharing that love with neighbors. — Rivers Partin We see the mission of the church is to make disciples. So our mission statement is “Restoration Church exists to make disciples that delight in the supremacy of Christ here in Washington, D.C., and beyond.” @NathanKnightDC I’m doing kingdom work and when I make the world more like Jesus would want it to be, I join Jesus on His mission. @EdStetzer If someone wasn’t living out their faith in their community – having compassion for the hurting, wanting to bring the beauty of Jesus into broken spaces – I would say that what’s underneath is they’re not rightfully seeing the beauty of Christ. — Rivers Partin The Bible has more to say about the work of the church than the average Christian thinks it does, and the more that we give ourselves to understanding what the Bible actually teaches about the work of the church, the church will be healthier. @NathanKnightDC Our purpose is not cleaning the park. Our purpose is bringing restoration to something that is broken because that’s what the Lord does in our lives. Picking up the trash is a step toward being able to share our story. — Rivers Partin The post What is the Mission? Why Does it Matter? Part 1 appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 693: Many times, church planters are disappointed when they work hard to rustle up support but walk away empty handed. Host Clint Clifton talks with seasoned Sending Church pastors Jason Robertson and Dannie Williams about why pastors who love church planting might say no when approached for funding. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Red flags that might steer away a pastor from supporting you What a pastor might do when approached by someone they think isn’t a good planting prospect Where pastors see the “sweet spot” in a planting prospect How a pastor who’s delicately stewarding resources might respond when a planter presents an unusually high monetary ask Three principles to keep in mind when making the ask 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): The red flag I react to the quickest is their disposition toward team ministry. You can tell pretty quickly if you’re dealing with a team player or with someone who just wants your money. @Jason Robertson Often church planters think all they need is money, and that’s the problem of youthfulness in church planting. We think we have all the tools and resources before we’ve actually tried to do the work. @ClintJClifton I met this one guy who was looking at planting as an experiment. If it didn’t work, well, it didn’t work. You can’t go into church planting like that. @Dannie Williams Some guys are overly confident. Arrogance and pride is never a good thing going into church planting. Some guys are too timid. When you’re out in front and driving a vision, that takes a balance of being courageous and and filled with faith and confidence. @Jason Robertson Either a person has a high view of God or a high view of himself. The higher the view of God, the more likely this guy is going to succeed, because a man needs to know God is sufficient and he’s not. @Dannie Williams Money won’t cause you to succeed; money won’t cause you to fail. @ClintJClifton Abraham would have never seen the ram in the bush if he hadn’t gone to the spot had the knife drawn back. @Dannie Williams The post Why I Would Never Support Your Church Plant appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 692: When you are planting a church in a community that’s new to you, getting deeply embedded in that community is extremely important. Host Ed Stetzer talks with Jeff Belcher and Amanda Hudson about the why and how of getting embedded in the fabric of your community. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Practical ways of getting deeper into the culture of a community How much you can learn by interacting with community and nonprofit leaders Ways people see you differently when you live among them The value of being covocational in a community Why incarnational ministry matters from a biblical perspective 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): Washington is a very diverse city where people like to talk and have conversations. It was just a matter of being outside on a Saturday. We have met more people just because of our dog. — Amanda Hudson Most places have a history. One key thing to ask is “What’s the history?” I want to become an expert on the city where I live. @EdStetzer There are lots of institutions that serve practical needs of the people but our church wanted to stand out. There’s something to being continually present that helps people see us as people who care about them. —Jeff Belcher I don’t think we can plant churches via remote control. @EdStetzer Living among our neighbors was incredibly valuable. In my 800-square-foot row home, we were averaging about 60 people a week because we were in a pedestrian context where people just walked to our house. —Jeff Belcher I have loved knowing the ins and outs of DC to give people peace of mind … to help someone who comes into the city know the important things of just daily living. — Amanda Hudson If we’re not living out the goodness of God before the people we’re serving, then we’re robbing others of the opportunity to see God in us. —Jeff Belcher The post Embedding Into the Fabric of Your City appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 691: Whatever you want to be true of your church in maturity must be embedded at the beginning. Host Clint Clifton discusses with Todd Adkins and Jamie Limato how a church planter should be thinking about his end goals from the very beginning. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why it’s detrimental for a planter to hold off until the church is “ready for that” How goals themselves can be recruiting tools What values you should be communicating from the beginning How choosing values is like buying a pair of pants Why the stories you tell are so important Helpful Resources: Atomic Habits by James Clear 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): James Clear says Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they were laying bricks every hour. Systems are greater than our goals, to some degree, and habits over outcomes. —Jamie Limato The regular rhythms of what you do day-to-day in pastoral work are going to affect the outcome a lot more than even your talking points or your big initiatives. @ClintJClifton Clear and compelling vision is your currency. You can’t buy your way to the church you want. You want to build your way to the church you want. @ToddAdkins Ultimately, creating more spaces on the net for people to take ownership is going to help lead to long-term success. —Jamie Limato We actually failed at some of those things, but we failed at the right things. Falling and getting back up seemed to further solidify a commitment to multiplication. @ClintJClifton Everything has an opportunity cost. Anything you say yes to is setting a precedent, and that precedent carried forward can grow out of control like kudzu. @ToddAdkins Whether your church is 5 years old, 10 years old, 20 years old or 1 year old, plant those seeds immediately and just wait to see them grow. Water them by celebrating and talking and telling the stories about it. —Jamie Limato The post Build in the Beginning What You Want in the End appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 690: Pastors often are criticized unfairly and need to forgive the sin, yet they also find themselves in the position of making mistakes that need to be forgiven. Host Clint Clifton explores various aspects of that challenge with Dave Harvey and Kathy Litton. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to fight the tendency to become hardhearted and thin-skinned How your response to others reveals your true grasp of the gospel That forgiving sets you free from bondage to resentment  The most difficult part of extending forgiveness How conflict can help you identify toxic elements in your life 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): A lot of church members see pastors like the customer service desk at Walmart. They feel free to speak more critically toward toward the pastor than they would otherwise. @ClintJClifton I’ve seen this issue with slander and also when I’ve made mistakes. We are called to love the church but it’s not because the church always embodies our beliefs on speech and forgiveness very well. I must be willing, like Christ, to pick up my cross and at times become the object of others’ imperfections, forgive and move on. @RevDaveHarvey The trajectory of a maturing pastor is continually to have a tender heart and continually to be thick-skinned. @ClintJClifton Ed and I call this “We’re smoking what we’re selling.” We have to go to the power of the gospel to move our hearts, to give us forgiveness, grace and mercy we cannot manufacture on our own. – Kathy Litton A spiral of anger and bitterness takes you to a place where you’re not healthy and can’t distribute the kind of grace people in your congregation really deserve. @ClintJClifton There’s a good outcome to own your sin and confess that and ask for forgiveness. It’s healthy for the church. It’s a signal that needs to be seen in the culture. I have to resist my flesh overtaking my spirit at that point. – Kathy Litton The most difficult part of forgiveness is that we have to absorb the cost of another person’s sin and allow it to end with us. That’s a tipping point. All I can offer people is the cross, because the gift we received from Christ was not “I’ll forgive you, but it can’t cost me.” @RevDaveHarvey The post Pastors are Professional Forgivers appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 689: Church planting families face complex issues in today’s increasingly secular social environment, especially when it comes to children in school. Host Clint Clifton tackles the multilayered topic with Noah Oldham and Kathy Litton. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How issues affect both planter families and church members Why there’s no one solution for these heart-wrenching and difficult decisions How to evaluate various schooling options How kids’ struggles with secular issues can galvanize Christian convictions Problems that can develop when parents over-isolate their children 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): Living in the urban core of Saint Louis, we were looking not only at low-performing schools but also the worldview being taught. We had to wade through that not only personally for us as a family but also for all the families in our church. @NoahOldham Our planting wives are very strong women who are navigating these rocky waters of increasing secularization of the schools. They don’t want to vacate secular spaces. So they’re working hard to stay engaged in the mission field but also be responsible parents. – Kathy Litton I’m raising adults, not kids, so I need I need these young folks in my household to be able to operate as adults. We came here to preach Jesus in a context of people who don’t know Jesus at all, so we’re on mission together as a family. @ClintJClifton I remember hearing Eric Mason at a conference challenge planters to not send their kids to live the mission for them. The challenge was to not send my kids to do my dirty work. I should be leading from the front. @NoahOldham It’s heartbreaking to watch your kids suffer and struggle, yet sometimes those struggles galvanize convictions in our children. The alternative to subjecting our kids to secular worldviews is isolating them, which can create this whole new set of problems. @ClintJClifton Most homeschool kids I’ve known are able to have adult conversations in eighth grade. Our desire is not to keep them from information but to filter that information and explain it to them, so they understand and are able to explain with both both biblical conviction and compassion. @NoahOldham The ultimate trust in the Father in this is really trusting Him with your kids. You don’t wait to trust God with children because now some new things must be considered with far more intentionality than we had before. – Kathy Litton The post Church Planter Kids in a Secular School appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 688: A lot of planters and pastors want to read more but they are strapped for time. Trevin Wax and Todd Adkins offer some immensely practical ways to read more when you’re really busy. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to make reading a priority Several different media that will help you read more How following a blogger may be better than reading the book More efficient ways to read books Why it’s important for preachers to read fiction Helpful Resources: Previous episode: Reading on a Budget 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): One of the things you have to do is to develop other leaders so you can hand stuff off and have enough time to read. @ToddAdkins You often can’t put yourself in the position to make the best decisions unless you’re reading well. @ToddAdkins I have books in different places. I encourage people to make use of space well. And there are ways you can nudge yourself into a reading posture, where reading is really just part of the day.@TrevinWax Communication is a work of imagination.@TrevinWax Reading more is about setting yourself up, in a world of distraction, to read well. I don’t have my phone sitting next to me when I’m reading. Eliminating distractions is massive. @ToddAdkins You have more time than you realize. If you want to read well, if you want to read widely, if you want to read a lot, have a book nearby all the time. And then in the dead times, you can knock out a chapter or two of a book.@TrevinWax If you just commit to reading just 20 minutes a day, you will work through more than a dozen books in a year. It’s not as hard as people think. It’s just the prioritizing of the time, eliminating distractions.@TrevinWax The post So Many Books, So Little Time appeared first on New Churches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.