New Churches Podcast

Episode 784 In this second installment of “Transitions and Leaving Well,” host Ed Stetzer meets with returning guest Todd Adkins, the Director of Leadership Development at Lifeway, to discuss best practices in navigating the people and processes related to your current role. Tune in to discover why retaining relational currency is essential as you honor God—and His people—with your next steps. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The significance of clarity in communication How to categorize and prioritize your next steps Suggested timelines for communicating departure Why you should seek to work well amidst difficult people and circumstances How to wrestle well with God’s plan for your future 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): If we’re doing it right, our legacy is not just what we do, but also what was developed under our leadership. Take big responsibility in carrying that forward. — Todd Adkins Leaving well matters in ministry because the church is a community of people who know one another. They’re still going to know each other and be around one another after you leave. — Ed Stetzer It says a lot more about you than it does your organization when you don’t leave well. — Todd Adkins When you announce your transition, your church has to immediately start making decisions. If you’re the church planter, they will look to you. And when they can’t do that, it can be frustrating for them. — Ed Stetzer Leaving well means helping your people walk through their stages of grief. — Todd Adkins The post Transitions and Leaving Well: Part 2 appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 783 Host Ed Stetzer meets back up with Lifeway’s Director of Leadership Development Todd Adkins to discuss how you can transition out of your church plant with your congregation’s best interests in mind. Tune in to discover your responsibilities in stewarding your plant’s relationships and systems well as you follow God’s guidance for your life. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why your leadership pipeline matters from the start The best ways to avoid leadership uncertainty in your absence Why your game place for succession is of utmost importance How you can empower your successors in their decision-making skills Your biggest relational concerns as you step away from your church plant 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): Creating a culture that transitions well means creating one that develops well and intentionally. — Todd Adkins So much of church planting is connected with you as the planter. It’s very hard to extricate yourself from that. — Ed Stetzer Take a look at your systems and say, “Hey, are these set up to where somebody can step in and run? Are these are set up in a way that is not completely dependent up on my personality, gifts, and skillset?” — Todd Adkins You want to be sure that there’s a plan in place because in a leadership vacuum, the person with the loudest voice or the clearest new vision is the guy that gets to pick it up. And we know that’s not always healthy or helpful. — Todd Adkins There’s always going to be a part of us there as church planters because we helped launch this thing. In many ways, it’s our baby, and whether you planted it or it’s a ministry you started or a software you developed, it’s going to be hard to transition away from it. — Todd Adkins The post Transitions and Leaving Well: Part 1 appeared first on New Churches.

Author and pastor Jamaal Williams joins hosts Tony Merida and Vance Pitman to discuss how understanding community demographics can help churches tailor their ministry activities and better serve their community. They highlight the importance of cultivating a diverse church, mobilizing congregations for mission, and anticipating the needs of the American church. The chapter descriptions delve into tailoring ministry, understanding demographics for effective community service, serving the local community, and starting a new church with a strong team and emphasis on prayer.

Learn how to equip your congregation for evangelism by using the best tools, keeping the church's focus on evangelism, and sharing your own testimony. Discover Lifeway Research's statistics on what Americans are looking for in life and from your life story. Remain curious in your own spiritual walk with Jesus and explore effective ways to have faith conversations. Discover different approaches to evangelism, including the importance of personal relationships and storytelling. Get tips on encouraging evangelism in churches by staying curious, creating conversations, brainstorming opportunities, and addressing common needs.

Episode 780 Hosts Tony Merida and Vance Pitman spend time with author and pastor Jamaal Williams to discuss Scripture’s example of the multi-cultural church through the lens of Jamaal’s book, In Church as It is in Heaven. Discover the steps your church can take through prayer, hospitality, and curiosity, that your local expression of the body of Christ would begin to look more like the one in heaven. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to disciple your congregation through education and representation The importance of separating cultural Christianity from true faith in Christ Why your church needs an intentional plan for unity How the spiritual disciplines unite us corporately What God has gifted us to celebrate as a unified body! Helpful Resources: Jamaal’s Book: In Church 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 multi-ethnic church is not a new thing; it’s a New Testament thing. — Vance Pitman A multi-ethnic kingdom culture is simply a church that welcomes people from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and that seeks to disciple them in the likeness of Christ without them feeling the need to check their ethnicity at the door.  — Jamaal Williams Throughout the Bible, we see God gathering together people from every nation and tribe, and if this is a theme throughout the biblical narrative, then we should be striving for that here and now, not waiting for that in heaven. — Jamaal Williams It was an undeniable mark of the first-century church that the gospel reconciled people who should not have been reconciled. What’s tragic about where we live today, after what we have walked through in America these last few years, is that the world should be able to look at us and see something different. — Vance Pitman We ultimately see hospitality in how Jesus welcomed people—no matter who they were, no matter how broken they were, no matter their background. He sat with them, ate with them, made space for them. And as Christians, the way forward is to model hospitality.  — Jamaal Williams Be intentional about this Idea of pursuing multi-unity. We’re not talking uniformity but unity, which means diversity within the unity. It’s a celebration of who God made us to be. — Jamaal Williams The post Cultivating a Multiethnic Kingdom Culture appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 779 Host Ed Stetzer meets with Executive Director of Lifeway Research Scott McConnell to discuss their recent findings on evangelism and gospel conversations in the United States. Tune in to discover why your expectations of pushback may be holding you back from the worthwhile, hope-filled message that the world is desperate—and curious—to hear. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The significance of evangelism in church planting The pros and cons of memorizing your own gospel presentation The spectrum of engagement among professing believers in the United States Steps you can take to evangelistically mobilize your congregation How our personal relationships pave the way for community outreach Helpful Resources: Lifeway Research/Evangelism Explosion Study: Americans’ Openness to Talking about Faith 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): If you’re going to bring up your faith with somebody, there’s a pretty good chance they’re actually going to be curious about it. — Scott McConnell We should be sharing the benefits of our faith with the world, which we should be singing about on Sunday Mornings and meditating on throughout the week. But too many of us are not used to putting these benefits into words. — Scott McConnell Though there’s an increasingly negative perception of Christianity, there are those in the world who have a good perception of you as you have built relationships with them as a neighbor. It’s appropriate for you to initiate a faith conversation. — Ed Stetzer In most areas of discipleship, the longer you’re a Christian, the more like Christ you look. But when it comes to evangelism, that’s not showing to be true. We’re seeing older saints being unwilling to bring up faith in conversations with others. — Scott McConnell Half of Christians say they’re ready to share the basics of becoming a Christian. But we must be ready for any opportunity to share those basic steps. — Ed Stetzer We have to remind each other that our message is hope-filled. Too often we get stuck on the fact that we’re coming across as pushy or rude. If we believe we have a message worth hearing, the gospel is that message and it’s our responsibility to share it. — Scott McConnell The post Are Americans Open to Talking About Their Faith? appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 778 Host Tony Merida chats with pastor, author, and long-time ministry partner J.D. Greear to discuss the basics of the Christian faith in an age of deconstruction, as gleaned through the New Testament book of Romans. Tune in to discover the power of the gospel alive in the Word—and in the lives of God’s people—still today. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Romans’ framework for relevant essentials of the Christian faith today How to address questions of the 21st century, just as Paul did for the early church Ways to dissect Christian culture from the essence of true Christianity What social media takes from our in-person relational opportunities How understanding the basics of the faith equips us to live on mission Helpful Resources: J.D.’s New Book: Essential Christianity 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): Deconstruction understood from one angle is not altogether a bad thing if you’re trying to separate some of the artificial constructs built into Christianity. — J.D. Greear Paul wants the gospel to saturate every aspect of the Roman church’s being so that it’s not just a book about personal salvation, but also a book about community and mission. — Tony Merida There is still this ancient power in the gospel that is not found through clever illustrations and cultural trendiness. Romans is just putting on display the raw power of the gospel. — J.D. Greear Social media is not a great place for deep dialogue, especially about emotional concepts. Making disciples is a life-on-life thing, not an instant messenger thing. — J.D. Greear What people don’t realize is that for every one conversation I tell you about, there were nine that crashed and burned and were just awkward. But you have to be out there with your radar on saying, “God, what are you doing around me? And where am I supposed to put Your Word into the places, questions, and needs I see?” — J.D. Greear The post Essential Christianity appeared first on New Churches.

Episode 777 Host Ed Stetzer joins his with long-time friend, colleague, professor, and ethics expert Scott Rae to discuss how pastors and planters can better address the week-long needs of their congregations. Tune in to discover the unique vantagepoints of bivocational pastors and how we can empower our people at the intersections of their work and ministry. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why our contributions in the workplace are so much more than a means to an end Ways to intentionally engage the challenges of your people throughout the week How to train your congregation to sense what God is doing amidst their daily lives The significance of connecting your Sunday sermons to your people’s work and personal time The impact of representing your people in all walks of life from the pulpit—from the businessman to the retiree to the stay-at-home mom 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 more familiar I am with what the people I’m serving are doing during the week, the better equipped I’ll be in making my applications to them. — Scott Rae I’d love to see our preachers apply the fruit of the Spirit to the workplace. Think about it: who would you rather hire? Somebody characterized by the fruit of the Spirit or by the deeds of the flesh? It’s not a tough call. — Scott Rae Scripture’s example is not merely a one-way conversation with the pastor’s teaching, but a mutual understanding of the Galatians all holding one another up and bearing one another’s burdens. — Ed Stetzer It is in the discussions, relationships, and small groups where people are growing spiritually. We want our people to dwell together in the Word of God, not just hear it preached. — Ed Stetzer Dignify the work that God has called you to do. Work was ordained in Genesis 1-2—not in chapter 3—because our work is not our penalty. Yeah, it’s fallen, but God cursed the ground, not our work. — Scott Rae The post Connecting Sunday and Monday appeared first on New Churches.

Pastor and author J.D. Greear discusses the impact of gospel-centered preaching. Topics include addressing the heart in preaching, finding adoration in Sunday service, reading the Old Testament in a New Testament context, relaying all pulpit messaging back to Christ, and the motivational shift through Christ-exalting worship.

Episode 775 Host Ed Stetzer meets with author, ethics expert, and his own colleague Dr. Scott Rae to chat about the ethical implications of ChatGPT and its impact on preachers, planters, and pastors today. Tune in to discover why AI can’t replace the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God’s people. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How sermon prep relates to physical fitness Why discipline and accountability are non-negotiables in this modern preaching age The dangers of keeping pace—or failing to do so!—in the realm of technology How AI differs from the vetted resources we know and trust The role of the Holy Spirit in each and every step of your preaching process Helpful Resources: Ed’s sermon at Talbot Chapel: Grace Alone Kenny Jahng’s ChurchLeaders Episode: What Church Leaders Need to Know about AI Mihretu Guta’s ChurchLeaders Episode: How the Church Should Respond to the Ethical Dangers of AI Yvonne Carlson’s ChurchLeaders Episode: How to Use AI Effectively in Your Ministry 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 have no difficulty with bivocational church planters utilizing someone else’s sermon outline, though it’s a question of attribution and more. Whereas AI is a plagiarism machine that gathers and brings together other people’s thoughts. — Ed Stetzer I’m troubled to think that the temptation to use AI for more and more and more will eventually become irresistible, to the point that it’s writing a first draft and you’re becoming an editor rather than someone generating it from scratch. — Scott Rae You can have ChatGPT write you a script, but you’re basically just a voice actor reading a script. Pastors can be good at articulating things, but that’s not the same as wrestling with the text for what God has for the people He has called you to lead and serve. — Ed Stetzer The pastor should have the experience we’ve all had of beating our heads against the wall until the light comes on and you realize what the text is saying and how it connects to your people. It’s that “Aha!” moment that I’m afraid ChatGPT may rob you of. — Scott Rae Most of us overprepare for our sermons and have way more content that we can actually cover in the time allotted to us. The Spirit’s work in sermon preparation is just as much as the delivery itself. I don’t want to use tools that short circuit the activity of the Spirit, but enhance it. — Scott Rae I want to wrestle with what I’ve prepared, what I think God wants me to deliver to my audience, what is consistent with the author’s intent, and what is the appropriate application to the text. — Scott Rae The post AI and the Ethics of Preaching appeared first on New Churches.