New Churches Podcast

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode 681: Sometimes church planters feel tension between being a pastor and a husband and father. Host Clint Clifton and guests Kathy Litton and Noah Oldham discuss how to deal with the practical issues “Pastor Dad” can face. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What makes a church planting couple thrive Common struggles church planting families face How church planning families release pressures What a planting wife can do if her husband’s service is harming the family Questions planters need to ask their families regularly Helpful Resources: Books mentioned in this podcast: Pastor Dad: Scriptural Insights on Fatherhood The Pastor’s Kid: What it’s Like and How to Help 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): Families deal with these issues every single day. When they are ignored over the long haul, it will be destructive to their marriage, to their witness, to their relationship with their children and to their church plants. – Kathy Litton There’s so much pressure to take time away from the home. Most church planters are willing to sacrifice for the mission of God and what they don’t realize is they’re not just sacrificing themselves but also sacrificing their wife and kids. @NoahOldham Sometimes being a pastor can feel at odds with being a dad and a husband. I remember one family member saying to me at one point, Can I get my dad back? I don’t need my pastor right now; I need my dad. @clintjclifton When I thought about “pastor dad” early on, what I thought was teaching all about teaching and discipling. But my wife helped me understand she doesn’t need me to be her personal Bible study leader. What she needs me to be is a shepherd who listens intently and with compassion. My kids need that. @NoahOldham My wife sometimes is used as an agent of God to rattle my attention back to where it should be on family matters. I get all laser-pointed at something and sometimes I’m not able to see the more important matters in the home. @clintjclifton We all need a plurality of voices speaking into our lives. So many times church planting wives don’t feel they can share with anybody about issues going on in their home because it’ll taint their view and they’ll leave the church. @NoahOldham The post Pastoring at Home 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 680: Serial church planting hasn’t seemed to be a valued option in the world of church planting. Ed Stetzer talks with two experienced sequential planters – John Worcester and Jared Huntley – about the nuts and bolts of planting a church, positioning it for long-term efectiveness, then moving on to plant another. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why it is important that we think in terms of and create pathways for serial church planting What it looks like to be a sequential planter What the finances of serial planting look like Where the energy and motivation for sequential planting come from The family implications of moving frequently Helpful Resources: Ed Stetzer’s book: Planting Missional Churches Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer Are you ready to explore our Church Planting Masterclass? Do you think our Sending Church Masterclass could be helpful to you? Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes. Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches): I get a plant up to support level, work hard to find the takeover pastor and then turn it over. God puts it together in various kinds of ways. The denomination has helped at various times. Churches and individual friends helped us various ways. Every time we plant, we start over and piece it together. – John Worcester If it sounds exhausting and draining to you, then it’s probably not how you’re wired and you probably shouldn’t do it. Starting new things energizes and excites me. I didn’t set out to be a serial church planter. I just realized I’m gifted at it. @Jared Huntley One of the benefits of being a serial church planter is that you learn from your mistakes and you’re able to be a more effective church planter. @Jared Huntley Our experience has been that it’s been really good for the family. It’s helped make us more dependent as a unit on one another rather than them getting dependent on on their peers. Our kids learned how to meet new people and go new places and do different things. – John Worcester Most church planters in North America see church planting as an entrepreneurial beginning to something that’s probably a long-term vocation. They’re going to be pastor of this church. But many church-planting missionaries tend to birth missionaries. @EdStetzer There’s a fine line between being wired and gifted by God as a serial church planter and being discontented and restless. That’s something each person has to wrestle through on their own and it can be helpful to invite others in to speak into that. @Jared Huntley Some of the things to look for to discern whether this might be something God’s calling you to is if you’re energized by starting new things. Are you a self-starter? Do you have a track record of people following your leadership? Are you able to articulate and cast vision in a compelling way that other people want to get involved and jump in? Are you able to develop leaders? @Jared Huntley The post Serial Church Planting 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 679: Hector Medina came from a gang background and hated God and Christianity. Now he serves as pastor of Salvo Por Gracia in Claremont, California. Host Clint Clifton talks with Hector and his wife, Alicia, about how God miraculously took them from the brink of divorce to a fruitful ministry in church planting.  In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How God can take the most broken of souls and redeem it for His purposes That our investment in gospel work sometimes pays off in ways we can’t imagine  How God uses our feeble efforts to do things we don’t even know about  That God can continue to give hope in the face of difficulty  How church planting is like a sheet of plywood 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): No one really wanted to do anything with me in life. Society, my family, school, everywhere I went, that was the life I lived. — Hector Medina I was such a baby believer, and I didn’t have nobody to walk with me, to guide me, or to tell me, “It’s all going to be okay. Trust God.” For me, giving up was the easiest, healthiest option for both of us, before he would kill me or something. — Alicia Medina Hector and Alicia’s story is a story where God began to work in them and they, with obedience, stepped one step right in front of the other, and eventually God prepared them and equipped them for the work. @ClintJClifton I needed to be humbled to enter this church planting. I think God was like, “Man, you can’t enter this like this.” — Hector Medina One of the primary reasons church planters quit is because of isolation. @ClintJClifton Finally, I said, “I need help. I know God’s called me. I just don’t know how to do it.” — Hector Medina Church planting is a difficult and dangerous sport, but it’s worth it in the end, as God uses us to establish churches that become rooted in our community and proclaim the gospel of Jesus to others for generations. @ClintJClifton The post From the Brink of Divorce 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 678: As a church planter, what does “sustainable” mean to you? Host Ed Stetzer discusses various aspects of quickly becoming sustainable with experienced planters Jared Huntley and John Worcester. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The “three self” idea of church planting How a planter can, from the beginning, plan for his own successor What a reasonable amount of time is for a church to be financially self-sustainable How to introduce the principle of giving to new believers The value of holding up leadership that exemplifies giving 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): I think a church planter should be consumed with “How am I going to reach the most people in the fastest possible way?” If he does a good job with that, then long-term sustainability takes care of itself. – John Worcester An equal emphasis needs to be placed on developing leaders around you. If you can’t plant with a team, try to raise up a team as quickly as possible. If everything is dependent upon you as the planter, then you don’t have something sustainable. @Jared Huntley Too many people say success is a full-time pastor pastoring a self-supporting church. It doesn’t have to be a full-time pastor. That is not the biblical norm and around the globe that’s certainly not the case. @EdStetzer I like being intentional about giving other people space to lead and platforming other people. You should be aware of areas where you’re weak and allowing other people to run in their lane where they might be gifted in an area where you’re weak. @Jared Huntley You have the best opportunity for the fastest growth momentum, the younger the church you’re in. As a planter, put your energy into getting the momentum to reach a lot of people as fast as you can. It’s out of that mix that you create the larger group where you find leaders. – John Worcester We don’t want to sell our souls to get there, and we’ve got to trust God to bring about that growth. But there is a practical component to this: If more people don’t start attending our church, then you’re not going to become financially self-sustainable. @Jared Huntley In the early days, when it’s evangelistic growth going on, I don’t emphasize giving a lot on Sunday mornings. Say something about it but don’t make it a big push. But when people are going to join the church, I teach about tithing and giving, and I promote leaders who are examples of giving. – John Worcester The post Becoming Sustainable Quickly 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 677: It’s hard to get people who are on your side to give you honest feedback, but without it a leader is doomed to failure. Host Ed Stetzer talks with Dan Darling and Jessica Thompson about creating an environment for constructive criticism in your ministry. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to solicit and receive constructive criticism from trusted advisors Insights about receiving feedback and passing it on to others Some qualities to look for in people who will work around you How constructive critical feedback can be redemptive for you Why it’s hard to receive feedback and the role of emotional IQ Helpful Resources: Dan Darling’s free course: Using Online Conversations for Good Michael Godfrey free article: Brutal Feedback is Your Friend 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): It is hard to get people who are on your side to give you brutally honest feedback. All kinds of people want to give me brutal feedback, but not all are there to do it constructively in ways that are helpful. @EdStetzer I think this is vitally important for every leader by allowing people into your inner circle who have permission to give you criticism. I’m not talking about cynics. If you start out pushing away honest criticism, what happens is you create this bubble around you. That’s really dangerous for a leader. @Dan Darling I think ultimately you have to ask yourself, are you actually open to receiving the feedback? I think you have to separate what is being shared from your emotions, and really try to listen, ask questions and understand before reacting. Then you figure out what you can learn from it and improve.  – Jessica Thompson You may also need to think about the structure of your team. It’s very easy for a leader to surround themselves with people who are sycophants. You want people on your team who believe in you, but also know that you have frailties. @Dan Darling It’s hard to receive feedback because we’re all insecure at some level. We all want to hear the good parts of the annual review, but not the bad parts. @EdStetzer You need people in your life who don’t just feed your ego, but fill your gaps. You have to invite them in and have those relationships where you’re open to hearing that.  – Jessica Thompson A leader without a cycle of feedback is ultimately doomed to failure. Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Profuse are the kisses of an enemy.” @Dan Darling The post Brutally Honest Feedback 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.