The Church Lobby

Karl Vaters interviews Rich Brown on the importance of long-term pastorates.Rich is the author of Extended Stays: A Closer Look at Longer Pastorates. He has served for decades as a pastor and in Christian higher education. Currently he serves with IPM (Interim Pastor Ministries).In this conversation, Karl and Rich talk about why long-term pastorates are good for the church, the pastor, the pastor’s family, and for the community we're called to reach.Including:Some shocking stats about pastoral tenureWhy a series of short-term stays can be problematicHow to make a long-term stay effective for everyoneHow to grow deeper through transition without relocationand more.From the Episode:Rich@interimpastors.comExtended Stays by Rich BrownInterimPastorMinistries.comThe Forgotten Church by Glenn DamanTurnaround Strategies For the Small Church by Ron CrandellTransforming Church in Rural America by Shannon O’DellGrowing Young - Fuller SeminaryChurch Revitalization in Rural America by Tom CheyneySmall Church Checkup by Kay Kotan & Phil SchroederLeading the Smaller Church by Glenn C. DamanTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl Vaters interviews Matt Henslee about the importance of having small church representation in denominational leadership.In addition to being a small church pastor and authoring/co-authoring several books, Matt has recently been appointed to leadership in his denomination (the Southern Baptist Conference) on both a regional and national level.Karl and Matt talk about how this came happened and how important it is for all church groups, including denominations, to make a place for small church pastors in leadership. Links from this Episode:Jonah Over CoffeeReplanting Rural ChurchesPreachingSource.com To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl interviews Jean Morgan, a small church pastor who wrote a Master’s thesis about the correlation between a pastor’s personality and the size of the church they serve.In this conversation, Jean and Karl talk aboutThe way Jean made this assessmentThe initial resultsThe possible impact of his results for us as small church pastors What we discover is that our effectiveness in small church ministry is less about our personality type and far more about1. Our feelings of effectiveness2. Listening closely to our calling, not to the outside voices that tell us we need to hit certain numbers3. How God can use any personality type to accomplish his will for his church Jean's Masters Thesis can be found here https://karlvaters.com/small-church-pastor-personality-types/To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl talks with Lori Andrews about trauma, its effect on the brain, and how to use this information as we lead through challenging times.Topics include:How can we help people cope with the constant flow of low-to-moderate-level trauma?The value of consistency in worship services.How to help kids prepare for children’s services.The neurobiological benefits of corporate worship. Lori has a doctorate in Education, specializing in chronic trauma and broken family systems, with training in neurobiology. She works with at-risk youth, and she has spent many years in small-church ministry. Links from this episode:Freshhope.usmentalhealthgracealliance.orgTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Karl interviews Drew Dyck about Writing for Ministry, includingThe differences between preaching and writingHow to get started writing for ministry publicationsWhat book publishers are looking for (including from small church pastors)Drew has spent decades as a writer and editor for major church publishers, and is the author of several books, most recently "Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control from the Bible and Brain Science (A Guide for Sinners, Quitters, and Procrastinators)."Links from this episode:“Your Future Self Will Thank You: Secrets to Self-Control From The Bible And Brain Science” https://www.drewdyck.com/your-future-self-will-thank-youTwitter Handle @drewdyckdrewdyck.com“Bird by Bird” by Anne LamottTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

Greg Atkinson is one the world’s leading voices in First Impressions for churches. He also wrote "Secrets of a Secret Shopper: Reaching and Keeping Church Guests" as a guide for small churches.In this conversation, Karl Vaters interviews Greg aboutOnline presenceHow everyone in a small church is on the First Impressions "team”Why small churches may need to work harder on First Impressions than our big church friendsA few tips for small churches to increase their first impression with little or no moneyTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

There’s a lot of talk lately about what it will take to recover from what we've all been through over the past two years. And understandably so. It will take years for us to get a grip on what has happened, what’s still happening and how it’s still changing everything.In this two-part series, Karl Vaters shares several lessons about responding, recovering and thriving through a challenging season. This information comes from hundreds of conversations he’s had with small church pastors, denominational leaders and others over the last 18+ months.In this episode (Part 2), Karl covers the four essential principles that have made the differences between1) churches that struggled the most during the pandemic, and will continue to struggle in the future, and2) churches that have stayed healthy, become stronger and are likely to thrive into the future.To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

There’s a lot of talk lately about what it will take to recover from what we've all been through over the past two years. And understandably so. It will take years for us to get a grip on what has happened, what’s still happening and how it’s still changing everything. In this two-part series, Karl Vaters shares several lessons about responding, recovering and thriving through a challenging season. This information comes from hundreds of conversations he’s had with small church pastors, denominational leaders and others over the last 18+ months. In this episode (Part 1), Karl covers:The two dangerous extremes people have found themselves in – and the way path to health againThe two keys for churches to recover and thrive in the coming yearsThe three most important principles for small churches moving forwardTo get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

An interview with Craig Forrest, who’s spent decades shooting and editing film and video for ministries and network TV.Craig is passionate about helping people communicate the message of Jesus in a compelling way. In this interview, Karl Vaters talks with him about video ideas and tips that can be used in any size of church on a limited/nonexistent budget.CraigForrest.com (https://www.craigforrest.com/)MatchstickMedia.org (https://www.matchstickmedia.org/)Six Ways to Sunday podcast (https://soundcloud.com/craig-d-forrest-813372280)For a Transcript of this episode visit the Pivot Blog Support This Work:Visit the Website (https://karlvaters.com/)Subscribe to weekly Newsletter (https://karlvaters.com/subscribe/)Contribute financially through Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/karlvaters)Visit our Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrcGS0_tkxklJyB7wn9-aZA) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Recorded in an RV at the Big Little Church conference in Camas WA, Karl talks with four people who host conferences for small church leaders. The conversation covers:Why they started their small church conferencesWhat big church conferences can do to include the needs and voices of small church leadersFirst steps if you want to host a small church conferenceGuests:Carl & Kalani Culley of BigLittleChurch.comDale Sellers of 95Network.orgChris Vitarelli of SmallChurchBigDeal.comLinks from Episode:Big Little Church Conference (http://www.biglittlechurch.com/)Small Church, Big Deal (http://smallchurchbigdeal.com/)95Network (https://www.95network.org/)First 5 app - Devotional tool (https://first5.org/)To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.