New Churches Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Description: Episode 687: Leaders are readers and if you’re not a learner in this day and age, you’ve got a short shelf life as a leader. But acquiring books is difficult for a pastor whose finances are limited. Trevin Wax and Todd Adkins point out several ways to read great books on a tight budget. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why it’s important to read widely Ways to read well when you can’t afford books How to know which books are worth investing in The importance of discerning which books to keep long-term and which to give away Helpful Resources: Lead your church into a multiplication mindset with our Sending Church Masterclass 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 got to have a mix of both “book smarts” and “street smarts.” In planting, you got to learn from experience, but what you know translates into practice. @TrevinWax You have to be selective. One of the best ways to do that is to find a couple other guys that are just as hungry to read as you are, because they’re going to help you by recommending good books. You often can borrow them from each other. @ToddAdkins If you can’t afford books, read good book reviews. A well-done book review will summarize the book really well in a short amount of space, and then will probably get into some kind of either criticism or appreciation of the book. @TrevinWax Some of the older books have moved into the public domain. Those are incredible books that have stood the test of time. @ToddAdkins Books are more and more expensive these days. There’s nothing wrong with rereading the best books. @TrevinWax Most of us have more books in our home than some of the great theologians and pastors of the Christian tradition ever had in their lifetime. Some of the great pastors and theologians didn’t have thousands of books. They had a number of books that they went super deep into. @TrevinWax Your local library has digital ebooks available. You’re not going to get great theological classics there, but if you want to read about history or biography, you’d be amazed at how many you can download. @TrevinWax The post Reading on a Budget appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 686: The old maxim is “Church planting and money – it’s hard to get them in the same room.” But host Clint Clifton and experienced planter Peyton Jones discuss why church planting actually is free and they sketch out a pathway for planting without raising and expending large financial resources. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How much money a Sending Church usually is putting into a plant When to start collecting offerings from the church plant How a homeless man changed Peyton’s mind about congregational giving How Paul laid the groundwork for the greatest kingdom expansion ever, without even preaching Two major bottlenecks to multiplication Helpful Resources: Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting Churches Reaching the Unreached: Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art 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): All the fundamental things needed for church ministry are free, and if you start there you’ll have a lot more positive experience when it comes to resources and and church planting. @ClintJClifton If you’re spending the majority of your time trying to raise money to throw a church service that people either do or do not come to, imagine getting in a time machine and going back to tell the apostle Paul what you’re doing. Paul’s most likely going to say, “You don’t have to do all that. I didn’t do all that.” — PeytonJones You should never let the lack of resources be an excuse for not doing what God’s put in your heart to do. @ClintJClifton We started pretty early on but we never push for tithing. We would just tell people to “give what’s on your heart” and we taught them cheerful giving. We typically found that if we trusted people to give out of worship, it was great. — PeytonJones Most churches around the world are not led by full-time vocational pastors. And yet the gospel has spread all all over the world – north and south, east and west, across mountains and oceans – and it did not do it on the backs of people who were paid for that work. @ClintJClifton I’m going to always work another job to not be a burden to the church, so the gospel can spread faster. — PeytonJones I think Covid was God tipping the hand, like “You can do this. You can get back outside and do stuff for free.” I think we got a taste, but I’m not sure we’ve swallowed the pill yet. — PeytonJones The post Church Planting is Free appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 684: One of the biggest challenges planters face is recruiting people and building them into a team. Host Clint Clifton explores the issue with Jamie Limato and Todd Adkins. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The difference between core teams and launch teams How a church planter can recruit team members when there’s nothing yet to show for their ministry. The Swiss cheese and grid methods of gathering a team How the leadership precedents you set are like kudzu What a pastor needs to know about coaching when he’s building his team 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): One of the biggest barriers church planters often face is recruiting people into a team when there’s really no momentum for a church plant. @ClintJClifton The higher level of competency and capacity leaders you are trying to recruit, the more important clarity is, because they are going to dig down into the layers of what you just said. They’re going to ask more questions. And the best thing to do is answer their question before they ask it. @ToddAdkins We don’t know whether a person is living out the values and vision unless we ask questions and listen. —Jamie Limato Leading as a coach, for me, moved ownership for every single problem from them being dependent upon me to them taking ownership and responsibility. And now it was shared leadership. —Jamie Limato True success in ministry is transferring ownership to others, developing leaders to the point where they feel  they are equipped for that work. It is a really fulfilling experience to have people around you who are doing the things you set out originally to do. @ClintJClifton There’s a very good chance that those people you start with will not be as excited about the ministry when  it starts to take root and grow and multiply. @ClintJClifton The power of story is really compelling but it must be tied back to a specific value. @ToddAdkins The post Building a Team for Your New Church appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 683: Sometimes church planters get a sense of entitlement about monetary support. Host Clint Clifton and Peyton Jones, author of  “Church Plantology,” discuss why a church might not want to support a planter and the best way to approach a prospective Sending Church. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The No. 1 reason people are going to fund you What a planter should keep in mind as he approaches a church for support The importance of humility when you ask for funding The value of asking questions before starting your pitch Why a church planter should consider a potential Sending Church’s own mission goals Helpful Resources: Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting Churches Friend Raising: Building a Missionary Support Team that Lasts 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 first time I got my NAMB letter, it said, “Thank you for what you’re doing.” I sat at my kitchen counter and wept. I had been church planting for years on multiple continents, but I had never ever had anyone thank me. — PeytonJones A lot of churches have allocated money in their budget to support missions and church planting. Just because church planting money is sitting in a church’s account doesn’t necessarily mean they are or should give it to you. @ClintJClifton Church planting assessments can be the death knell of a church planter. Everything sounds wonderful until that one question: What are you doing now in your community? If there is no action, it’s all smoke and no fire. — PeytonJones Church planters don’t often consider the stewardship responsibilities of a Sending Church pastor when they ask for money. They don’t put themselves in the shoes of that pastor. @ClintJClifton If I were a planter going into a prospective supporting church, I might start with questions: What are you passionate about? What kind of ministries do you like to support?” And I’m assessing whether I’m a good fit with this church. If I’m not, I can say to the pastor, “I don’t know if I’m the right fit for you.” — PeytonJones You want to hear what a pastor’s pinch-points are in getting the church jazzed about mission. Then you want to show how your relationship with the church can actually be a means to that end. @ClintJClifton When the church is reviewing who they’re going to cut to invest in someone else, guess who’s going: people with no relationship. — PeytonJones The post No One Owes You Support appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 682: Every church planter has experienced the link between prayer and progress in the ministry. It’s easy, however, to focus more on progress than on prayer. Host Ed Stetzer talks with Dan Darling and Jessica Thompson about the crucial relationships between prayer and progress in the life of the church planter.  In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How the work of planting and the need for prayer often intersect in desperation Ways the work of church planting can change your prayer life How a church planter can maintain vibrant dependence on God How God can miraculously intervene when we become utterly dependent on Him Practices that can help entrepreneurial types build prayer into their lives Helpful Resources: Free ebook: Praying Bold Prayers 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 can focus so much on the the work of the Lord and not the Lord of the work. But as church planters we find ourselves dependent on the Lord and and His work every day, begging Him to do the work. @EdStetzer In church planting, there’s so much doing, you might be tempted to not pray. But there’s a desperation too. When you’re starting a new work, you can’t help but pray. It seems to me they work together. @Dan Darling This is a stereotype but the kind of people attracted to church planning seem to be people who are not naturally contemplative. There’s jet fuel drinkers and candle burners, and overwhelmingly the church planters are the jet fuel drinkers. @EdStetzer What you can do is continually pray and have a heart attitude of dependency on the Lord and then cultivate that in your church. You are cultivating a life of prayer in your church so it is an overflow of what you are already doing and it’s coming out in your church.  – Jessica Thompson Henry Blackaby says that God purposely calls us to things bigger than ourselves so that we’re dependent on him. I found that to be so true. @Dan Darling I’ve never been more dependent on the Lord than when I’m in a church planting situation. The frailty of the situation, the desperation of the need and the focus of the church planting team – for me, those moments point us to a deeper and more profound moment of prayer. @EdStetzer A lot of times people link prayer to progress. We need to be real careful when we’re doing that because I know some men and women with incredible prayer lives who don’t have thousand-member churches. But that doesn’t mean their prayers aren’t just as earnest and persevering.  – Jessica Thompson The post Prayer and Progress appeared first on New Churches.