Practical Church Planting: Recent Episodes
Practical Church Planting
Practical church planting exists to give you practical tips, advice and encouragement when it comes to planting and growing healthy churches. Whether you are interested in planting a church, are in the process of planting a church, or just want to learn more about building healthy churches, you’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Sermon points
- Give specific exampleswhen making a point
- Work in multiple illustrations/stories per sermon
- One main idea/final point
- Connect the sermon to a next step at your church
- Now what?
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
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Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Do a service run-through
- Send your announcements out ahead of time (to the person doing them)
- Clean the parking lot (whether your location or not)
- Have a new guest gift people actually want
- 3-4 announcement maximum
- Add signage
- Pre-service huddle
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Kids don’t have to do more than other kids
- Kids need discipline and behavioral expectations
- Do not worry if your kids act like kids
- Ask for approval before sharing stories
- How you parent can’t help or hurt your leadership
- Work to ensure your kids know you love them more than you love the church
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Kids don’t have to do more than other kids
- Kids need discipline and behavioral expectations
- Do not worry if your kids act like kids
- Ask for approval before sharing stories
- How you parent can’t help or hurt your leadership
- Work to ensure your kids know you love them more than you love the church
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 REASONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- They move
- They never get connected
- They are upset about something
- They attend infrequently
- They don’t align with the vision/direction
- They don’t give financially
- You encouraged them to connect with a church they can connect with
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 REASONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- People have a defined timeline to make a decision
- Less wasted time for prep and planning
- Much easier to call people to take action
- Keep (or gain) people’s trust
- Instincts are more effective than you think
- People want to be a part of something
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TASKS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Giving follow up
- New guest follow up
- Sermon prep
- Social media videos
- Website check
- Meetings
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Two ministry nights a week
- I don’t take morning meetings
- Monday’s are my longest days
- Two meetings a day max
- Respond to all emails/requests
- I will work later/extra on occasions it is needed
- Inbox zero + task list 0 end of each day
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Marco Polo
- Trello Board
- Email (messaging expectations!)
- Group text (or group messaging app)
- Google Drive (sermon notes / events checklist)
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Have a visitor focused website (address, service time, “I’m new”)
- Create a welcoming first impression
- Create a simple + personal connection process
- Give them a next step
- Invite them back
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 4 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Put your repeated tasks to show up weekly in our calendar
- Add blocks to calendar as things arise
- On the day before (end of work day or evening) = Schedule tasks from your task manager
- You will always get more done if you calendar out your day
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 2025 CHURCH PREDICTIONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE:
- Hand out invite cards multiple weeks before that Sunday
- Create a shareable graphic
- Take some time during announcements 2 weeks before talking about invitation + a downloadable shareable graphic
- Schedule more people to serve
- Know what the service/Sunday will be like over a month in advance
- Share something you will be doing at the service
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 2025 CHURCH PREDICTIONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE:
- Being willing to sound partisan where Scripture is clear will attract people to your church
- There will be an increase in American church attendance
- You can have the largest Easter/Christmas/Special day attendance in your church’s history
- Vertical video is not going anywhere (invest in it!)
- Your Sunday experience will determine if people stay (saw a post about how no one leaves a church because of the screens/lighting…) - In America, we have options. For me, I am going to a church that is organized and that I can invite people to…
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
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Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 METRICS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Sunday Attendance
- Small group attendance
- Unique giving units
- Connect cards
- Members doing what you ask them to do
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
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Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Understand their importance
- Types of stories ranked
- When to do them
- Humor/story telling is a skill.
- Do not read personal stories
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 QUESTIONS I ASK IN THIS EPISODE
- Are they a part of your church? (Internally is always ideal)
- Do they show up every Sunday
- Do they give financially
- Are they involved in all the things a member/partner should be doing?
- Are they competent for the position of need?
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 APPS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Calendly
- Todoist
- Logos
- Google Drive
- MarcoPolo
- Trello
- Planning Center
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 4 STEPS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Make it clear and obvious how people can get more information
- Input new guest info on Sunday afternoons
- Have an automated system of texts + email
- Have a personal follow up system that you are tracking
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Record a short welcome video
- Post more than just your weekly sermon
- Organize your homepage by playlists
- Create a custom URL
- Scripture reference in the title + description
- Thumbnail images
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Video of your people answering one question about your church
- Video from of one person/couple sharing their story and how your church has impacted them
- Snacks/food
- Promote it
- Baptisms
- Shirts, socks, or swag giveaway
- Decorate the lobby
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 REASONS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- It’s not simple to sign up/express interest in serving
- You don’t follow up well when people sign up
- The bar is too low
- You give way to many options
- You have the wrong person leading the charge
- Unclear and/or inconsistent expectations
Get more church tips and advice
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 MYTHS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- 01:21 Ministry Myth #1: Talking About Money
- 06:36 Ministry Myth #2: Always Being Available
- 11:44 Ministry Myth #3: Ministry Must Be Hard
- 14:00 Ministry Myth #4: Cost as the Primary Decision Factor
- 17:56 Ministry Myth #5: Leadership is Lonely
- 19:50 Ministry Myth #6: There's a Best Way to Do Things GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
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Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Church email
- Record a video
- Some sort of church meeting
- One on one conversations
- Through small groups
- Online meetings
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Do a real service run through
- Play under all speaking moments
- Pre-service countdown video
- Have a consistent end of service
- Post-service music ready to go
- Bumper video/pre-sermon transition
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 MISTAKES I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Hosting your sermon on your church website
- Posting the livestream on your website
- Not having the 3 most sought after things on your homepage
- Outdated events + sermons!
- lack of pictures from your church
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- All groups should have the same curriculum
- You must communicate this and hold the line on this
- Groups should all run on the same schedule
- You need a plan for childcare (I recommend reimbursing)
- Start new groups, do not “multiply” groups
- Take group attendance
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 7 RECOMMENDATIONS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Find a consistent meeting spot(s) for non-Sunday activities
- Make sure the homepage of your website is extremely clear
- Engineer your space well
- Don’t elevate portable as better/holier than permanent
- Looking for space: Worry more about it being too big rather than too small
- Is it good for events + offices?
- Generally speaking
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
Click here to join the Practical Church Facebook group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast brought to you in partnership with Mission Support.
Mission Support
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Consistent time with Jesus
- Have specific times you’ll meet with people
- Prioritize your mornings
- Stick to the same sermon prep schedule every week
- Belong to a tribe
- Always remember the privilege it is to be a pastor
GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Click here to sign up for the Practical Church newsletter
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7 Tips to Avoid Distractions While Preaching This episode of the Practical Church podcast provides pastors and preachers with seven effective strategies to minimize distractions while delivering sermons. From managing smart devices to handling personal stories and self-deprecating humor, the podcast offers practical advice for creating a more engaging and less distracting preaching experience. Additionally, the episode addresses the challenge of maintaining order with disruptive children during services and discusses the importance of structured small group discussions for church community health. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of community in building new habits and improving personal growth. 00:00 Welcome to Practical Church: Enhancing Your Preaching Skills 00:27 Sponsor Spotlight: Mission Support 01:10 7 Tips to Minimize Distractions While Preaching 01:40 Smart Watch Management for Preachers 03:44 Managing Your Phone During Sermons 05:13 Dealing with Electronic Device Glare 08:57 Gestures and Movements: Keeping Audience Focus 10:24 Handling Water During Your Sermon 12:29 Navigating Self-Deprecating Humor in Sermons 16:21 Sharing Personal Stories Effectively 19:00 Boosting Small Group Engagement 21:47 Personal Growth Tip: Building Habits in Community 24:02 Addressing Disruptive Kids During Services 29:24 Closing Thoughts and Resources
In this episode of the Practical Church Podcast, Dylan shares his journey of taking a break from the podcast and its return through a partnership with Mission Support, focusing on content while backend tasks are managed by Mission Support. The primary focus of the episode is on exploring seven ways to increase giving within the church community.
Here are the 7 ways discussed on this episode:
- Mention it every week (especially if you don’t pass a plate)
- Quarterly giving statements
- Make it a value at your church
- Connect stories to generosity
- Talk about it with no qualifications
- First time giving follow up email
- Be honest when you have needs / if things are tight
Dylan also shares a personal observation on the benefits of proposing meeting locations closer to oneself to save time and offers a personal growth tip on transforming frustration into hope through actionable planning. Additionally, a listener's question regarding the use of church management apps and the challenge of engaging congregation members with new software is addressed.
00:00 Welcome Back to the Practical Church Podcast!
00:28 The Journey of the Practical Church Podcast
00:53 Partnership with Mission Support: A New Chapter
01:25 What's Next for the Practical Church Community
02:07 Diving Into Today's Episode: Increasing Church Giving
02:47 7 Effective Strategies to Boost Church Giving
24:37 Personal Growth Tips: From Frustration to Hope
27:31 Q&A: Navigating Church Management Software
—— GET MORE CHURCH TIPS AND ADVICE
Missionsupport.com/practical
Practical Church Facebook Group
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 4 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Auditorium (pipe and drape - rope off chairs - put less chairs out
- Lobby (pipe and drape - stanchions - use closest rooms if portable for kids space - signs to direct people)
- Kids (it can be too big! - Room dividers - pipe and drape - smaller rooms - more kids together
- Parking lot - Cones - Signs
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 8 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Umbrellas when it rains (even if you don’t get every person)
- Parker(s) in the parking lot
- Make your connect area obvious
- Coffee area should be accessible and not crowded
- Clean your facility
- Acknowledge new guests every Sunday
- Introduce yourself to people who are new
- Have clear signage
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Do not apologize
- Invite questions
- Expect resistance & give people time to come around
- Bring your leaders in first
- Include it in your preaching
- Live with low-level frustration
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 7 WAYS I SHARE IN THIS EPISODE
- Prioritize a physical option
- Have a digital option
- Reference it every Sunday - and be clear what to do with it
- Give (and mention) a gift people actually want
- Limit number of things to fill out
- Designed well + easy to write on
- Have it readily available + pens
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 6 WAYS I RECOMMEND IN THIS EPISODE
- Get people serving
- Assume many people haven’t been to a single week of your sermon series
- Invite people to something (Christmas / Easter…baptism, and event…)
- Challenge people, but don’t guilt them (do they know you want them to come more??)
- Engage people online (remind them you exist)
- Ensure your leaders prioritize the gathering
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 7 RECOMMENDATIONS I MAKE IN THIS EPISODE
- Fountain ink pen
- Standing desk + walking pad
- 3 ring leather sermon notebook (half sheets of paper) $70
- Pulpit with cup holder halfway down
- Todoist
- Calendly
- Logos
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 5 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Don’t put your main scriptures on the screen
- Don’t give people the option to sit so far apart from each other
- Don’t ask people too many options (serving, groups, etc.) - get them in and then give options later
- Restrict your available time to meet with people (same amount of available time - just more focused)
- Ask people to step into bigger roles (they won’t ask themselves
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE 6 WAYS TO CREATE MORE ENERGY ON A SUNDAY MORNING
- Music playing
- Close your auditorium doors until 10 minutes before service starts
- Play under announcements/end of service/speaking transitions
- Have a clear end of service
- Lead from stage - regardless of number of people
- The vibe starts with you and your leaders
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE MY 5 2024 CHURCH PREDICTIONS
- Churches that understand they have a “new” church will do better than those who don’t
- In person Sunday attendance is still a vital metric to track and lead people towards
- Churches that raise (or keep) a high bar for their leaders will be more effective than those who make excuses
- Livestream/online engagement will be the biggest missed opportunity to reach new people
- Jesus focused churches will (continue) to be the most New Testament-reflective churches
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 7 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Personal stories are always best
- Story stories (fictional or non) are second best
- Don’t be the hero
- Self-deprecation is useful if there is trust
- Use them to illustrate points - more likely to remember!
- Practice them out loud (practice the punch line
- No one cares how much you know until you tell a story
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Get my Best Minute newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 7 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Go faster with worship lyrics
- Turn off the fading of text
- Use all caps for worship lyrics and no grammar
- Limit text on each slide (two lines for worship, one point for sermon)
- Print out sermon notes for screens and go over them before the service
- Use big fonts
- Don’t leave up irrelevant slides
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
THE BEST MINUTE NEWSLETTER
This episode was brought to you by The Best Minute newsletter.
Build better habits, become more productive, and grow in your life and leadership. All in under 60 seconds per week. Click here to get The Best Minute.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 7 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Recognize there are new people every week
- Always give a brief recap/context in the beginning of your sermon
- Make it clear exactly what you want a new person to do
- Have an automated follow-up process
- Specifically reach out on any places of interest
- Invite them to come back
- Inspire your serve teams to be intentional
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Replicate
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
AWESOME MARRIAGE
This episode was brought to you by Awesome Marriage.
Check out Sustaining Your Marriage In Ministry today and use the code PC10 for 10% off.
Go to awesomemarriage.com for all your church’s marriage needs. You can email Christina at christina@awesomemarriage.com to learn more about how Awesome Marriage can help you.
HERE ARE THE 6 CONSIDERATIONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Same URL/social media handles
- Create/schedule a consistent rhythm
- Put your sermon only on your website
- Short vertical videos are king
- You don’t have to be on every platform - post where you’ll be consistent
- Have the right expectations
- Don’t use social as a bulletin board
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Todoist
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
AMBASSADORS MINISTRIES
This episode was brought to you by Ambassadors Ministries.
Ambassadors Ministries help local churches and ministries employ staff as "missionaries" to their own congregations and communities through fundraising, coaching, and administrative backing all at no cost to the organization. Click here to grow your team!
HERE ARE THE 6 CONSIDERATIONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Quarterly giving statements
- Mention giving every week
- Tie generosity to stories
- Don’t apologize for preaching about it
- Make it a membership expectation
- Be generous yourself
- Make it easy to give
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Christ-Centered Preaching
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
AMBASSADORS MINISTRIES
This episode was brought to you by Ambassadors Ministries.
Ambassadors Ministries help local churches and ministries employ staff as "missionaries" to their own congregations and communities through fundraising, coaching, and administrative backing all at no cost to the organization. Click here to grow your team!
HERE ARE THE 6 CONSIDERATIONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Name it something in English
- Avoid a church name that is widely known
- Avoid a church name that is known locally
- Pick a name where you can find consistent social media handles + URL that ends in .com
- Be conscious of picking a geographical or local landmark name
- Know this: in the beginning people will ask why your church is named what it is, after a while no one will care
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Subsplash
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
AMBASSADORS MINISTRIES
This episode was brought to you by Ambassadors Ministries.
Ambassadors Ministries help local churches and ministries employ staff as "missionaries" to their own congregations and communities through fundraising, coaching, and administrative backing all at no cost to the organization. Click here to grow your team!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- A reliable sermon writing process
- Engage people right away
- Preach to believers knowing there are non-believers present, and assume the believers weren't there last week
- Practical out-loud beforehand
- One point per slide
- Aim 2-3 stories/illustrations
- Create tension
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
The Coaching Habit
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast. In this episode, I share 8 tips for better church announcements.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
AMBASSADORS MINISTRIES
This episode was brought to you by Ambassadors Ministries.
Ambassadors Ministries help local churches and ministries employ staff as "missionaries" to their own congregations and communities through fundraising, coaching, and administrative backing all at no cost to the organization. Click here to grow your team!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- My sermon writing process
- Create a consistent sermon writing schedule
- Blook calendar your sermon prep
- Use digital commentaries
- Get one week ahead
- Create artifical deadlines
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Planning Center
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast. In this episode, I share 8 tips for better church announcements.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
MISSION SUPPORT
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support.
Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 6 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Check your email less
- Take email off your phone
- Schedule when you will check it
- Inbox 0 (dylandodson.com/blog/email)
- Make it a rule to respond to all emails within a timeframe
- Don’t use email as a task manager
- Remember: emails come from people, and to ignore emails means you are ignoring people
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Calendly
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast. In this episode, I share 8 tips for better church announcements.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
MISSION SUPPORT
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support.
Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 8 TIPS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Welcome new people every week
- 3-4 announcements at most
- Keep it under 3 minutes
- Send them prior to Sunday
- Go over them in run-through
- Be clear on common phrases
- Keep them relevant to the majority of people
- Announce things no more than 3 weeks out
SUBMIT A MINISTRY QUESTION
To submit a question for a future episode, head to dylandodson.com/podcast.
Recommended Resource
CSB Pew Bible
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
MISSION SUPPORT
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Do not multiply (split) your groups
- All your groups need to run the same (you can have extras, just not groups)
- Push groups a few times a year (ideally during a break)
- Do not try to be all things to all people
- Write an easy to follow group leader guide
SUBMIT A MINISTRY QUESTION
To submit a question for a future episode, head to dylandodson.com/podcast.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
The Church Co
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
MISSION SUPPORT
This episode was brought to you by Mission Support. Stay focused on your mission and let Mission Support help you with everything you didn't go to seminary for! Get support from experts with decades of experience working with churches who know your unique needs and challenges. Click here to talk with a guide today & love being a pastor again!
HERE ARE THE 5 REASONS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- You’ve accepted the mindset that ministry has to be hard
- You don’t have a consistent work schedule
- You don’t have healthy ministry boundaries (phone, email, availability)
- You don’t take (enough) breaks (this includes your weekly rhythms)
- You don’t sleep enough
SUBMIT A MINISTRY QUESTION
To submit a question for a future episode, head to dylandodson.com/podcast.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast. In this episode, I share 4 tips for starting new things in ministry and why you should be careful about you how talk about your job in public.
THE PRACTICAL CHURCH NEWSLETTER
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
HERE ARE THE 4 WAYS I DISCUSS IN THIS EPISODE
- Do your most important work when you’re at your best
- Create consistency in your schedule (yes you have to be flexible, but not 100%)
- Make it a schedule you enjoy
- Walk through of my typical weekly schedule
SUBMIT A MINISTRY QUESTION
To submit a question for a future episode, head to dylandodson.com/podcast.
Recommended Resource
Google Workspace
Welcome to the Practical Church podcast. In this episode, I share 4 tips for starting new things in ministry and why you should be careful about you how talk about your job in public.
The Practical Church Newsletter
If you're looking for more practical insights to grow in ministry and some free resources, subscribe to the Practical Church newsletter.
And to connect with me online, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram.
Recommended Resource
Bible Project
Welcome to the final episode of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, Dylan shares 6 things he would tell his original church planting self about church leadership.
Links discussed in this episode:
Subscribe to the Dylan Dodson Church Leadership Podcast
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- Amazon
Want to be on the Dylan Dodson Church Leadership podcast? Click here to submit yourself to be on the show.
Subscribe to the Best Minute Newsletter here.
Click here to access the Growing Your Launch Team Course.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While many things may change in ministry, there are some things that need consistency to help your church thrive. In this episode, we discuss 6 of those things.
Welcome to episode 321 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 things we discuss in this episode:
- Ministries
- Sermon prep process
- Personal devotions
- Language for connecting, giving, etc.
- Service beginning and ending on time
- Serving expectations
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Leading in ministry requires caring for people. In this episode, we share 7 ways to better shepherd your people.
Welcome to episode 320 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Initiate meetings with your people
- Ask how you can pray and follow up
- Set reminders to follow up
- Preach to wounded people who want to be there
- Consistent personal spiritual disciplines
- Find ways to communicate church updates with your people
- Online engagement
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Recently, New City Church turned 6 years old. In this episode, Dylan shares 6 church planting reflections on what he has learned over the last 6 years.
Welcome to episode 319 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 reflections we discuss in this episode:
- Developing a preaching rhythm takes time
- Be proactive about meeting your people
- Be conscious about time with your family
- Create weekly rhythms
- Have a consistent meeting to share ministry and life
- You cannot compensate for a lack of spiritual practices
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Feeling stuck in ministry? In this episode, we share 7 questions to ask yourself in ministry.
Welcome to episode 318 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the questions we discuss in this episode:
- Would I want to go to this church if I didn't work there
- What would I advise my friend to do about that situation
- Is my problem strategy or execution
- Do I need to try harder or try something different
- Am I willing to look foolish today so I can learn something that will make me better tomorrow
- What if I set a firm deadline and no longer pushed it back
- What do I have planned this week that energizes me
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
There are certain assumptions about ministry and pastoring that we don't think are wise. In this episode, we share 7 ministry ideas we reject.
Welcome to episode 317 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 ideas we discuss in this episode:
- Multiply small groups
- Don't look at people's giving
- Sermon writing can't be done early
- You can't enjoy your job most of the time
- You should always be available
- God will provide (how you want) if you're faithful enough
- Serve where you are gifted
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
What are things you can do that actually reduce the number of people who will take next steps at your church? In this episode, we discuss common things churches do (and should change!) that result in fewer sign-ups.
Welcome to episode 316 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Using specific email addresses
- Making signing up on your website confusing
- Not linking direct URLs in emails/social media/digital
- Not having someone at your connect table
- Sharing things too far in advance
- URL/social media handles are different
- You don't follow up on inquiries (or you do it too slowly)
Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check out Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com for more information.
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
There are a lot of pressures and challenges in ministry. In this episode, we share 7 tips on how to reduce stress in ministry.
Welcome to episode 315 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Consistent preaching prep rhythm
- Creating ministry work boundaries
- Decide when you will and will not meet with people
- Remember: you can only do what you can do
- Take time for physical exercise
- Proactively take advantage of your schedule
- Prioritize space to encourage yourself in ministry
------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check out Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com for more information.
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- Amazon
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
There are many different products and services you need for your church. In this episode, we share 9 that we use at New City Church and would recommend.
Welcome to episode 314 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 9 products we discuss in this episode:
- Subsplash
- Planning Center
- Clearstream
- Mailchimp
- The Church Co
- Propresenter
- Premier Pro
- Google Workspace
- Sunday Social
------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check out Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com for more information.
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- Amazon
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
How do you know when it is time to stop a ministry that is no longer effective? In this episode, we share 6 reasons to help you think through if it is time to close something down.
Welcome to episode 313 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 reasons we discuss in this episode:
- You have no one who wants to lead it
- You're more afraid of what someone will say than the actual ministry closing
- There is a gap between what people say and what they do about it
- There is something new you want to do that needs resources
- If it didn't currently exist you wouldn't start it
- You would advise someone else in a similar situation to close it down
------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check out Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com for more information.
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
- Amazon
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
Things change all the time, so how can you best keep your people in the loop? In this episode, we share 8 ways you can communicate important changes at your church.
Welcome to episode 312 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 8 ways we discuss in this episode:
- From stage
- Pre/post & bathroom graphics
- Small group leader guide
- Church email newsletter
- Email from leadership
- All church text
- Social media
- Personal social media
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
Healthy ministry is ministry that can last over the long haul. In this episode, we share 6 things you can do to help you make it.
Welcome to episode 311 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Give yourself clear end times on sermon prep
- Take email off your phone and check it less
- Have clearly defined ministry boundaries
- have a robust spiritual life
- Consistent sleep patterns
- Time away from your phone every day
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
We all want to engage people with the Gospel. In this episode, we share 7 ways to engage more people on Sunday mornings.
Welcome to episode 310 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 things we discuss in this episode:
- Encourage new guests to try you multiple times
- Encourage/challenge your people to make their local gathering a priority
- Acknowledge the feelings of a new guest in your follow up process
- Sunday specific events
- Improve your gathering environment
- Tell your people your desire
- Give more responsibilities to people
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
In this episode, we answer ministry questions asked in our Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Welcome to episode 308 of Practical Church Planting.
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
------------------------------- Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
In this episode, we answer ministry questions asked in our Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Welcome to episode 308 of Practical Church Planting.
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
------------------------------- Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
In this episode, Dylan answers ministry questions asked in our Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Welcome to episode 308 of Practical Church Planting.
Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
------------------------------- Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
As we begin a new year, we are back with our third annual church predictions. In this episode, we share 5 predictions for 2023.
Welcome to episode 307 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the predictions we discuss in this episode:
- Short vertical videos should be your prioritized social media content
- Churches that embrace hybrid ministry while emphasizing in-person community will do well
- Churches that consistently have 40+ minute sermons will struggle
- Livestream is the biggest front-door opportunity for your church
- Churches must allow staff to do freelance/side jobs if they want
------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you’ll get 10% off your product or service.
Join the Practical Church Academy
For more in-depth and highly practical ministry training, check out the Practical Church Academy today.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want want to go even deeper to get the training you need to lead a church that thrives? Join the Practical Church Academy.
There are certain assumptions about ministry we may hold that simply aren't true. In this episode, we discuss 6 of them.
Welcome to episode 307 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 false assumptions we discuss in this episode:
- Waiting is inherently more holy
- Sermon prep must be done on Saturday
- What you want to do is "wrong"
- Your church will be a lot different
- You need a compelling reason to plant a church in your area
- Quick changes are always bad
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
Mission support comes alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you'll get 10% off your product or service.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Welcome to our last episode of the year. In this episode, we reflect on and evaluate our 2022 church predictions.
Welcome to episode 306 of Practical Church Planting.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
What are some practical ways to care for your people well? In this episode, we share 6 ways you can do just that.
Welcome to episode 305 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Prayer cards
- Proactively reaching out to meet when you hear/sense a need
- Be intentional with your time on Sundays
- Have a healthy goal of meeting with people
- Ask good questions is the best counsel
- Set reminders to follow up
------------------------------- Small Group Training Webinar On Thursday, December 15, at 2 PM Eastern, Dylan will be hosting a highly practical training on running small groups at your church. He’ll walk through how to run groups, get more people into groups, how to write group leader guides, and more.
Click here to register.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When it comes to preaching effective sermons, there are a few common mistakes to avoid. In this episode, we share 7 common preaching mistakes.
Welcome to episode 304 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 mistakes we discuss in this episode:
- Starting with information
- Preaching an encyclopedia sermon
- Preaching everything with the same weight
- No handles
- No sharing of personal struggle
- Preaching too long
- Having no tension
------------------------------- Small Group Training Webinar On Thursday, December 15, at 2 PM Eastern, Dylan will be hosting a highly practical training on running small groups at your church. He’ll walk through how to run groups, get more people into groups, how to write group leader guides, and more.
Click here to register.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
If you want to remain faithful in ministry for the long haul, there are certain practices and habits that are needed to sustain you. In this episode, we share 6 habits to help you stay faithful and avoid poor decisions in ministry.
Welcome to episode 303 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 habits we discuss in this episode:
- Bible reading 5-6 days a week
- Consistent (ideally more than once a month) meetings with a trusted friend asking real questions
- Consistent date nights with your spouse
- Pre-determines ministry boundaries
- Take multiple breaks a year
- Get around other pastors/ministry leaders
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
Mission support comes alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you'll get 10% off your product or service.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
One of the challenges churches face is making sure people know and are up to date with everything going on in the life of your church. In this episode, we share 5 simple ways you can do that.
Welcome to episode 302 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 5 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Add givers to your newsletter
- Start your sermon with an important announcement if you can't preach it
- Host a church business meeting over Zoom
- Be intentional about personally telling people things
- Make sure staff/leaders know what is coming up
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
Mission support comes alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you'll get 10% off your product or service.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
One way to easily avoid the feeling of busyness in ministry is to proactively plan when you are going to complete certain tasks. In this episode, we discuss 6 of those tasks that should be planned every week.
Welcome to episode 301 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tasks we discuss in this episode:
- Scheduling social media
- Sermon prep schedule
- Writing the newsletter
- Uploading the sermon
- Looking up new givers and following up
- Cleaning/Sunday prep
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
Mission support comes alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
P.S. Tell them you heard about Mission Support from Practical Church Planting and you'll get 10% off your product or service.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
When bringing on new leaders and/or staff, there are some important things that can make the transition healthy for the long haul. In this episode, we share 5 pitfalls that are easy to miss when bringing on new leaders
Welcome to episode 300 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the pitfalls we discuss in this episode:
- Being too accommodating
- Not asking the uncomfortable but needed questions
- Inconsistent follow-up
- Not being clear on what will not change
- Not encouraging their feedback and input
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
Mission support comes alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
Preaching prep webinar On Thursday, November 3, at 2 PM Eastern, Dylan will be hosting a training on sermon prep. He'll walk through his sermon writing routine, share some practical tips on how to make your sermon/teaching prep more seamless, and answer your questions.
Duration: Roughly 60 minutes. 30 minutes of walking through my routine and sharing tips. Up 15-30 minutes of live Q & A. Click here to register.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
How can you keep everyone at your church in the loop with things your church has going on? In this episode, we share 6 ways to spread the word about events at your church.
Welcome to episode 299 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Facebook events
- Upcoming events on the homepage of your website
- Small group leader guide
- All church text
- Instagram post that can be shared as a story
- Bathroom graphic
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
In this episode, we answer ministry questions asked in our Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Welcome to episode 298 of Practical Church Planting.
---------------------------------------- Mission Support Mission Support knows you want to be effective in ministry, but if you are like most pastors you probably feel like you never have enough time, energy or expertise to get everything done.
We come alongside pastors like you as a guide to provide the expertise to do the things you don’t know how to do and give you back the time you desperately need.
So whether it is bookkeeping, SEO, Payroll, websites or one of our other services, talk with a guide today at missionsupport.com and go from feeling scattered to focused on your mission. It’s possible to love being a pastor again.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Life and ministry can have its stressors and difficulties, but there are things you can do to remain healthy in ministry. In this episode, we share 5 practical things you can do to avoid burnout in ministry.
Welcome to episode 297 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 5 things we discuss in this episode:
- Have a hobby
- Don't worry about what people think about your purchases
- Proactively plan time for yourself, your spouse, and your kids
- Set work boundaries
- Go ta ministry gathering/conference
---------------------------------------- Get more done and be less stressed If you want some highly practical tips and resources on productivity, check out dylandodson.com/productivity. There you'll find Dylan's latest productivity resources, as well as his weekly newsletter The Best Minute.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
There are many various things happening at your church that people can sign up for. Be it groups, serving, an event, and more. In this episode, we share 6 specific ways you can get more people to sign up at your church.
Welcome to episode 296 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 things we discuss in this episode:
- Make it possible to sign up when you mention it
- Be very clear what to do with the sign up
- No guilt, tell them why
- Push sign ups with a deadline
- Plan to push sign ups for a couple of weeks in a row
- Short code texting with keywords
---------------------------------------- Get more done and be less stressed If you want some highly practical tips and resources on productivity, check out dylandodson.com/productivity. There you'll find Dylan's latest productivity resources, as well as his weekly newsletter The Best Minute.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
All of us want to see more people meet Jesus and grow in a relationship with him. In this episode, we share 7 practical things you can do at your church to see that happen.
Welcome to episode 295 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 strategies we discuss in this episode:
- Talk about inviting people from stage often
- Grow your YouTube presence
- Have an engaging online presence
- Do proactive follow up
- Mention new guests every Sunday
- Explain everything
- Digital next steps
---------------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check about Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com/practical for more information.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
If you want to be healthy in ministry, there are certain things in your life that you need to be proactive about instead of reactive to. In this episode, we discuss 7 things in your life that need proactive boundaries.
Welcome to episode 294 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 boundaries we discuss in this episode:
- Porn
- Social media/phone use
- Reading
- Time off/away
- Prayer
- Time with your spouse
---------------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check about Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com/practical for more information.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Sometimes in life, ministry, and/or work you hear things that sound obvious, but still is something you hadn't thought of before. In this episode, we share 6 helpful tips for ministry that you can do, some of which you might not have realized.
Welcome to episode 293 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Childcare reimbursement
- Flexible PTO
- Dream about what you want to do
- You can be friends with people in your church
- You can set a healthy schedule
- Personal invitations > general asks
---------------------------------------- Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check about Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com/practical for more information.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While there are certain repeated questions new churches get, there are different repeated questions you get when your church becomes more established. In this episode, we discuss 5 questions you get often as an established church.
Welcome to episode 292 of Practical Church Planting.
Ambassadors Ministries If you wish you had a large paid staff and more leaders that could give dedicated time to the mission of your church, check about Ambassadors Ministries. At no cost to your church, they will coach your leaders to fundraise full, part-time, or supplemental salary and support you in all the administrative tasks of fundraising, so you can remain focused on the hard work of ministry.
Check out ambassadorsministries.com/practical for more information.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When you're a new (or newer) church, there are a few questions you will get often. In this episode we discuss 6 of those questions and how you can think about answering them.
Welcome to episode 291 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 questions we discuss in this episode:
- Why you choose the name of your church
- What is your (typically the lead pastor) education?
- Who your church is associated with
- What the vision of your church is
- What type of church you are
- Assuming there isn't much for you to do
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Many churches have some sort of group ministry at their church. Regardless of how they function at your church, there are a few principles that are universal in their helpfulness. In this episode, we share 6 of those tips.
Welcome to episode 290 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Provide a leader guide or curriculum for your group leaders
- Schedule a couple of breaks throughout the year
- Track attendance
- Share announcements in the leader guide
- Cap your groups and don't force multiplication
- Push group sign-ups when breaks end
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While there may be obvious things you should cover in a welcome or new members class, what are important things that are easily overlooked? In this episode, we share 7 helpful things to cover that you might miss.
Welcome to episode 289 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 things we discuss in this episode:
- Start with something fun/interesting
- History of your church
- Expectations of members
- Church beliefs on secondary issues
- Staff & elder pictures
- Overview of the Gospel
- A tour of your meeting space
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Building community is a vital part of a healthy church. In this episode, we share 9 events you can try at your church and how we actually do them.
Welcome to episode 288 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 9 events we discuss in this episode:
- Trivia night
- After church cookout
- Outdoor movie night
- Fantasy football league
- Chili cook-off
- Bingo night
- Trunk or treat
- Pizza in the park
- Bracket Challenge
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Sermon slides are a helpful tool to keep people engaged while preaching, but they can also cause a number of distractions during your service if they are not done well. In this episode, we share with you 7 tips for better slide transitions during your sermon.
Welcome to episode 287 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Slides inputted and edited before Sunday
- Print outline/notes for screens person (+ livestream) with notes for ques
- Talk through screen points during run-through
- One sentence/phrase per slide
- Try not to leave slide transition timing up to your screens person
- Turn down fading between slides
- Fill in the blank notes can help retention and focus
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Want to preach effective sermons without spending an unnecessary amount of time on sermon prep? In this episode, we give you 7 ways you can do it.
Welcome to episode 286 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Same time every week
- Same setup every week
- Large block of uninterrupted time (with a deadline)
- Get ahead
- Review sermon with others
- Focus on one thing to improve on at a time
- Preach a lot of sermons (with good study habits)
------------------------------------------- CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Ministry can at times be unpredictable and stressful, but there are things we can do to make it better. In this episode, we share 6 small hacks you can easily try.
Welcome to episode 285 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 hacks we discuss in this episode:
- Give yourself 2 weeks to choose from by prepping your sermon ahead of time
- Make a "to do list" of things coming up in your weekly newsletter
- Use Siri/Google for time sensitive reminders
- Suggest the time/place when meeting with someone
- Work a full Monday
- Plan out your next workday at the end of your current workday.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want our sermons to not simply involving information, but lead to people taking steps in their faith. In this episode, we share 6 ways you can be more practical in your sermons.
Welcome to episode 284 of Practical Church Planting.
- Give a simple and specific way to pray this week
- Give a simple and specific action item to do this week
- Give some practical examples of how to do what you're asking people to do
- Explain things like your friend who has never been to church is there
- Assume people want to take a step
- Celebrate the effort, not the result
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Discouragement in ministry happens to everyone, so how can we endure it well? In this episode, we share 6 tips for dealing with discouragement in ministry.
Welcome to episode 283 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss:
- No major decisions on Monday
- Work on Monday
- Find a pastor to meet with regularly
- Be honest with your elders/leadership team
- Put vacations/time away on your calendar
- Discouragement is normal, staying there consistently is a warning
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In this episode, I (Dylan) share 9 church planting regrets.
Welcome to episode 281 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the regrets I discuss in this episode:
- Church planting residency
- More & better training
- Clear & defined planting timeline
- Sermon work/coaching sooner
- More clarity around my management team
- Two monitors
- Logos for sermon prep
- Consistent working calendar
Interested in sending Dylan a MarcoPolo message? Download the app and then send Dylan a Facebook message or an email at dylandodson@newcityrdu.com with your phone number.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In this episode, we answer ministry questions asked in your Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Welcome to episode 281 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Interested in sending Dylan a MarcoPolo message? Download the app and then send Dylan a Facebook message or an email at dylandodson@newcityrdu.com with your phone number.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When it comes to planting a church, what you might think is most helpful in raising money and gathering a team might not be as helpful as you think. At the same time, there are things that can make a bigger difference than you might realize. In this episode, we share 6 underrated church planting tactics. Welcome to episode 280 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 6 underrated tactics we discuss in this episode:
- A defined timeline
- Talk about why you want to plant this church
- Tell me a story of what God is doing
- Speak well of what God is already doing in the community
- Have a network/denomination on board
- Tell me what your family thinks
Here are the six tactics we discuss in this episode:
- Prospectus
- Talking about not wanting to be a large church
- Post-launch timelines
- Talking about statistics about your area
- Talking about how different your church is going to be
- A sophisticated discipleship plan
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When it comes to planting a church, what you might think is most helpful in raising money and gathering a team might not be as helpful as you think. In this episode, we share 6 overrated church planting tactics. Welcome to episode 279 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tactics we discuss in this episode:
- Prospectus
- Talking about not wanting to be a large church
- Post-launch timelines
- Talking about statistics about your area
- Talking about how different your church is going to be
- A sophisticated discipleship plan
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Encouraging your people is practical way for us to live out the good news of the Gospel. In this episode, we share 6 ways you can do just that.
Here are the 6 ways we discuss in this episode:
- Speak highly/well of your people
- Celebrate your differences
- Track prayers and pray for your people
- Reach out to people when they make an impact
- When preaching on challenge topics, encourage your church knowing many are striving after Jesus
- Always remember you are preaching to wounded people
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In this episode, we share 5 tips on how to do pre-marital counseling. Here are the 5 tips we discuss in this episode:
- The pre-marriage course by Alpha (themarriagecourse.org)
- Set expectations up front
- Plan within your already decided boundaries
- Ask questions more than give advice
- Talk about sex/birth control
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In this episode, we break down Dylan's sermon prep process and give highly practical tips on tweaks you can make to your own. Welcome to episode 276 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 7 steps we discuss in this episode:
- Knowing what you're going to preach
- Sermon prep setup
- What studying/writing looks like
- Finding stories/illustrations
- Work on your intro last
- Timeline for sermon prep
- How small group guides, slides, and everything else that comes from the sermon works
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Ministry exists to serve other people and help them experience Jesus. This means ministry consists of meeting with and spending time with people. In this episode, we share 6 tips on how you can do that more effectively. Welcome to episode 275 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Use a 3rd party tool
- Keep standard meeting times
- Make a note right away when offering to get together
- Questions are better than answers
- Emphasize you're not in a rush
- Make a note to follow up in a week
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code "practical" at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When preaching through books of the Bible, there are some important things to keep in mind to help people stay engaged. We share six of them in this episode. Welcome to episode 274 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six tips we discuss in this episode:
- Give brief context of the book every Sunday
- Explain the characters every Sunday
- Keep your recaps brief
- Use phrases like "if you have been with us"
- Remember: it will always be someone's first time
- Make each sermon stand on its own
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code "practical" at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Regardless of church size, all churches could use more volunteers. In this episode, we share with you 8 tips to attract and keep them. Welcome to episode 273 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 8 things we discuss in this episode:
- Be clear on expectations upfront
- Talk about needs from the pulpit
- Make connect cards accessible in service with a serving option
- Follow up within one working day
- Limit how much someone can serve
- Clear scheduling/expectations/training
- Share stories of how serving changed a life
- Do yearly membership follow up
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code "practical" at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Using stories well can dramatically improve your effectives when preaching and teaching. In this episode, we share 6 tips for telling better stories. Welcome to episode 272 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Assume people will stop listening
- Share them in the present tense
- Don't make yourself the hero
- Message review
- Never read them
- Story tracker
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code "practical" at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Ministry can be difficult and discouraging, however, it doesn't mean you are being unfaithful. There are disappointments everyone faces in ministry, and in this episode, we discuss 7 of them. Welcome to episode 271 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 disappointments we discuss in this episode:
- Embarrassment/shame when hardly anyone shows up
- People close to you will leave your church
- People will say there are interested and hardly, if ever, come
- Living with low level frustration from others
- Disappointment with yourself
- Financial ability
- Your church making a smaller difference than you thought
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code "Practical" at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
A lot has changed in the last two years, including habits and practices around church involvement. In this episode, we share 6 trends that have emerged that aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Welcome to episode 270 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the 6 trends we discuss in this episode:
- Infrequent church attendance
- People wanting to watch a service/sermon
- Needing a quality online presence
- Groups = most engagement
- Fundraising still works
- People want to know what the Bible says
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Healthy small groups are vital to healthy churches. In this episode, we share 9 practical things you can do to help ensure you are writing and creating good small group leader discussion guides for your groups. Welcome to episode 269 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 9 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Sermon based is the easiest/most consistent
- People will already have done their homework (if sermon based)
- Start with a couple of announcements
- Do some ice breakers
- Break up Biblical text into multiple sections with a couple fo questions and a brief description
- Include questions about life and experiences, not just bible and theology
- Avoid inductive Bible study questions
- Keep it to 6-8 questions
- Send the guides out before Sunday
IMPROVE YOUR CHURCH WEBSITE This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
If we are not careful, the work of ministry can become busy and all-consuming. In this episode, we share some practical things you can do to ensure you are living at a sustainable pace for the long haul. Welcome to episode 268 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Schedule big rocks at the beginning of the month
- Solidify your boundaries
- Weekly calendar
- Bo ok with only doing what you can do
- Prioritize life-giving ministry moments
- Have a hobby
Improve your church website
This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
As New City closes in on 5 years as a church, we share 9 reflections we have learned about leading and pastoring. Welcome to episode 267 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 9 reflections we discuss in this episode:
- It's better to have not than have the wrong people leading
- Be proactive in how you talk about money
- Faithful pastoring is much more than preaching
- Less is more
- Read more books from older people and/or older books
- It's better to focus on who you have than who you could have
- It's better to try new things that fail than never try anything new
- Sunday morning attendance isn't the best indicator of faith and dedication
- Having a high quality online presence is easier than you think.
Improve your church website
This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While there are certain things that are contextual to churches in their given areas, there are also general principles all churches and leaders should have in place to ensure a healthy church. In this episode, we share 7 specific pieces of advice that are helpful to all church leaders regardless of context. Welcome to episode 266 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 7 things we discuss in this episode:
- Eldership process in place
- Work boundaries
- Sexual guardrails
- Itemized budget
- Applying the Gospel before fixing the problem
- Clear, practical, and realistic launch plan
- Local friends
Improve your church website
This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
It is easy to miss things that new people see and care about. In this episode, we share 6 of those extremely important things churches should stay on top of that are easily missed. Welcome to episode 265 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the 6 things we discuss in this episode:
- Up to date website
- Consistent social media presence
- Clean facility
- Smooth kids check-in process
- Acknowledgment new people might be there
- Proper follow up
Improve your church website This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
When meeting with and counseling people in your church, there can be an internal pressure to think you have to have all the right answers. In this episode, we share questions to ask that are often more helpful than giving advice. Welcome to episode 264 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 7 questions we discuss in this episode:
- What would you like to see happen?
- How would you want to go about doing that?
- How is this impacting what you think about God?
- Why do you think this upsets you so much?
- If you could do it over again, what would you do differently?
- Repeat a question if you didn't get a real answer
- Is there anything I can do to help you?
Improve your church website
This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
All preachers want to improve their skill in preaching but might not know the best way to go about doing it. In this episode, we share 6 practical things you can do to improve your skills. Welcome to episode 263 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode: * Preach as much as you can * Reduce your notes * Listen to 3 people for 3 months * Ask 3 people to give you feedback. Even better = ask 2 people for feedback once a month for 3 months. * Listen to your sermon (audio only) * Read books on communication
Improve your church website
This episode was brought to you by The Church Co. Get 40% off the first two years and have a fast, mobile-friendly, and well-designed website for your church. Use the promo code Practical at checkout to get 40% off and get a better website today. Visit thechurchco.com/practical for more info.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want our worship services to be as distraction-free as possible, but how do we turn that aspiration into a reality? In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to have smoother services. Welcome to episode 262 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Service run through
- Consistent service run through time
- Sermon slides ready before Sunday
- Print sermon notes for production volunteers
- Two minute pre-service countdown
- Confidence monitor
- Giving constructive feedback to production volunteers
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
James Clear writes, "you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems." So how can we ensure we have the proper systems to hit our aspirations? In this episode, we shave six systems you should have in place to improve your ministry.
Welcome to episode 261 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 systems we discuss in this episode:
- Preaching
- Follow up
- Task/request keeping
- Setting up meetings
- Daily calendar
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Free does not always mean you should use it. Sometimes free can cost you more money in the long run. But in this episode, we share 9 free resources that your church can use with confidence.
Welcome to episode 260 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 9 free resources we discuss in this episode:
- Todoist
- Google Workspace
- OBS
- Logos
- Practical Church Planting resources: Sermon series artwork, newsletter, practical preaching course
- Anchor
- Calendly
- Mailchimp
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
All of us in ministry lead people older than us. The younger you are, the more intimidating this can be. In this episode, we share with you seven tips on how to better lead those older than you.
Welcome to episode 259 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- Your age is a bigger deal to you than to them
- Cool and hip isn't a positive
- Be conscious of what you wear
- Credibility takes time
- The age and stage of your church impacts initial trust
- It's ok to simply ask questions and listen
- Genuinely think you can learn from those older than you
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In a time when church involvement continues to shift, how can we know if we are actually engaging our people well? In this episode, we share six church metrics you can track that show if your people are engaged with your church.
Welcome to episode 258 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six metrics we discuss in this episode:
- Group attendance
- Giving units
- Giving unit average
- Number of unique people who served in a month
- Connect cards received
- Tracking attendance/metrics at any consistent non-Sunday service you do
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
As we begin a new year, we are back with our second annual church predictions. In this episode, we share 9 predictions for 2022.
Welcome to episode 256 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the predictions we discuss in this episode:
- Churches that engage their people the best during the week will see the most numerical growth
- Growth in giving will outpace growth in attendance
- Bible teaching will be more evangelistic than topical series/life skills help
- Online church focus will swing back to in-person gatherings
- Churches that prioritize an online presence will grow in person much more than those that do not
- Large numbers of pastors will continue to resign
- Simplified churches will engage people better than complex ones
- People will care more about community than what church has the best options for them
- The ability to grow is greater than the ability to shrink
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
As we come to the end of 2021, we look back on our 2021 church predictions. How did we fare? Find out in this episode.
Welcome to episode 256 of Practical Church Planting.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know engaging people online is important, but what are some of the best ways to do that? In this episode, we share six types of online content your church can create to reach more people.
Welcome to episode 255 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six types of content we discuss in this episode:
- Sermon Clip
- Bible in a minute
- Online Bible Study
- Bible characters/topics
- Bottom line graphic
- Facebook questions as a text post
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want to help people grow closer to Jesus, but how can we know whether or not that is happening? In this episode, we share seven different ways you can know whether or not disciples are being made in your church.
Welcome to episode 254 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven measurements we discuss in this episode:
- Groups
- Financial giving
- Attendance
- Bible reading plans
- Serving
- Membership
- Anything you want to do that you can track
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
There are a lot of things needed when planting a church, but are some of the most important things? In this episode, we share 4 in particular that new churches need in order to be healthy.
Welcome to episode 253 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the four key things we discuss in this episode:
- Discipleship plan
- Outside counsel
- Elder process
- Church Budget
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know the discouragement of people no longer coming to our churches. In this episode, we share six reasons in particular that often lead to people no longer coming (and what you can do about it).
Welcome to episode 252 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six reasons we discuss in this episode:
- The preaching is not engaging
- They are not welcomed
- They are not followed up with
- There is no energy in your service
- You meet at a non-ideal time
- People feel guilted or obligated to do things
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Mistakes are bound to happen, but what about ones that are easily avoidable? In this episode, we share six common mistakes churches make.
Welcome to episode 251 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six mistakes we discuss in this episode:
- Non-geographically targeted Facebook ads
- Not uploading separate, sermon only video
- Not updating their website
- Not giving people time to turn in their Bible's
- Thinking free is cheaper than spending money
- Not taking advantage of "big" days
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Healthy additional staff raise support to join your church's staff is a great way to grow your staff team and help you build a healthy church.
Welcome to episode 250 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six tips we discuss in this episode:
- Ask people to raise support
- Avoid giving all responsibilities away until full support is raised
- Raise support for full time or part time, but make it clear
- Set a clear end date
- Use a 3rd party service
- Be prepared to answer questions from your congregation
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
You have to pick songs every week for your weekend service(s), but is it possible to do it in a more effective and helpful way? In this episode, we share six tips for choosing songs for your weekend service.
Welcome to episode 249 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six steps we discuss in this episode:
- Get ahead in sermon prep
- Go over your sermon with your worship leader
- Use a song bank
- Consider who is playing that week
- Suggest songs, don't choose them
- Last minute changes are exceptions
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
With all that goes on in vocational ministry, it can be easy to lose sight of things. In this episode, we share six important reminders for pastors and church leaders.
Welcome to episode 248 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six reminders we discuss in this episode:
- You are not cool
- You will not save your city
- You're willingness to be vulnerable will determine how lonely you feel
- You will underestimate your influence in people's lives
- You can get more done than you think
- It is a privilege to do what you do
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Most churches have some sort of group structure. So how do we get more people to sign up and engage in your groups? In this episode, we share eight practical tips for more small group sign ups at your church.
Welcome to episode 247 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the eight tips we discussing this episode:
- Take group breaks
- Push group sign ups a few times a year
- Have groups on your connect card
- Have a pre/post group graphic
- Have your leadership in groups
- Don't multiply groups
- Have all groups follow the same structure
- Talk about your group
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
You're in vocational ministry because you want to help people experience and know Jesus. So how can you help more people do that? In this episode, we share six underrated church growth strategies.
Welcome to episode 246 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six strategies we discuss in this episode:
- A consistent preaching prep schedule
- Automated follow-up process
- Acknowledge new people with a connect card every week
- Meet with new people quickly
- Consistent social media handles
- Proper outdoor signage
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know that ministry can be full of distractions. Many external, but many self-imposed distractions as well. So what we can we do about them? In this episode, we share seven simple ways to overcome distractions in ministry.
Welcome to episode 245 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While there are many helpful things churches should do to engage people with the Gospel, there are also things to avoid. In this episode, we share six unhelpful things you and your church should not do.
Welcome to episode 244 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six things we discuss not doing in this episode:
- Think social media is the best way to keep your church informed about upcoming events
- Using personal social media for fundraising
- Not starting your service on time
- Not having an automated follow up process
- Not having your address and service time(s) on the homepage of your website
- Insinuating your church is "different"
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
One of the best ways to keep your church up to date with what is happening at your church is through a church newsletter. But can you make and send one people will actually read? In this episode, we share seven tips to make your newsletters more effective.
Welcome to episode 243 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the tips we discuss in this episode:
- Once a week, every week
- The shorter the better
- Plain text
- Space out the text
- Only include events happening within a few weeks
- Send it from the pastor's email
- Us an engaging P.S. at the end
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want more leaders in our churches, but how can we get more of them? In this episode, we share seven tips for building leaders in your church.
Welcome to episode 242 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- Invite them to take a step
- Give away responsibility
- Setup quick feedback loops
- You must be willing to let it go
- Make no promises
- have the courage to say no
- Don't answer questions they can answer
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While preparing for sermons takes a lot of work, does it have to feel like hard work? In this episode, we share five tips to make your sermon prep seem effortless.
Welcome to episode 241 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five tips we discuss in this episode:
- Create a consistent schedule
- Get ahead
- Talk through your sermon with others
- Plan your series out ahead of time
- Invest in your startup
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Ministry can be hard, but it doesn't always have to be as hard as we make it. In this episode, we share seven things you can do that will make your life in ministry easier.
Welcome to episode 240 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the seven things we discuss in this episode:
- Get ahead on sermon prep
- Use a song bank for worship
- Set a consistent schedule
- Do fewer things
- Talk about money
- Always respond to email
- Find a task manager that works
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
If we were to plant New City today, what are the things we would focus on? In this episode, we share seven things church planters (and existing churches) should do.
Welcome to episode 239 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven things we discuss in this episode:
- Upload sermon audio and video from day one
- YouTube
- Preach through books of the Bible
- Weekly newsletter
- Monthly non-churchy event
- Volunteer assimilation
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
There are many ideas in ministry that sound good on the surface but aren't actually true. In this episode, we discuss five popular ministry ideas that are wrong. Welcome to episode 238 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five wrong ideas we discuss in this episode:
- All you have to do is be faithful
- Theological training is overrated
- Your meeting space isn't that important
- Preaching the Gospel doesn't involve strategizing
- Ethnic diversity happens organically
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Money can be tight for churches and church plants, but there are certain things well worth the investment. In this episode, we share five recourses that churches should be spending money on.
Welcome to episode 237 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the five resources we discuss in this episode:
- Presentation software
- Financial software
- Church database system
- Online engagement
- Church website builder
- BONUS: Growing your launch team course
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Ministry can be difficult and discouraging, but it is worth it. In this episode, we share six encouragements for smaller churches.
Welcome to episode 236 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six encouragements we discuss in this episode:
- Your church technically isn't that small
- You don't have to be all things to all people
- Don't be afraid to ask other churches for resources
- Focus on one issue at a time for a season
- Create a weekly schedule rhythm that works for you
- You have nothing to prove and no one to impress
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Engaging infrequent church attendees has always been a desire for churches. As we move out of COVID and the changing dynamics it has brought us, this challenge is as great as ever. In this episode, we share 7 ways to engage infrequence church attendees.
Welcome to episode 235 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven ways we discuss in this episode:
- Get people serving
- Have a quality livestream
- Be proactive with groups
- Work on your social media/YouTube channel
- Don't complain about or guilt your people into coming
- View this as an opportunity, not a problem
- Always assume many people haven't been to a single week of your sermon series
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world (behind Google). Yet, many churches miss out on simple things they can do to make a big improvement on their channel. In this episode, we share with you eight simple things you can do today to drastically improve your channel. Welcome to episode 234 of Practical Church Planting.
Be sure to check out New City's YouTube channel for practical examples of all eight of these tips.
Here are the tips we discuss in this episode:
- Update your header image
- Record a short welcome video
- Organize your homepage by playlists
- Proper thumbnails
- Descriptions
- End cards
- Custom URL
- Create one consistent non-sermon video a week
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want to effectively communicate while preaching. However, some commonly used phrases can cause people to disengage. In this episode, we share seven preaching phrases to avoid.
Welcome to episode 233 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven phrases we talk about in this episode:
- The Bible says
- We all know
- Turn in your Bibles (with no context)
- Naming people in your church (with no context)
- Any reasons as to why you're not prepared enough
- Anything that puts people on the defensive
- Apologizing for preaching on any specific topic
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want to better connect with new people who come to our church. One of the best ways to do this is to get guests to fill out a connect card. In this episode, we share with you seven ways to make that happen.
Welcome to episode 232 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- Mention your connect card every Sunday
- Get it professionally printed
- Ask for minimal information
- Create an obvious place for new people to go
- Give a good gift
- Have connect cards near their seat
- Have someone available right after service
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In this episode, we share (what we believe) are helpful opinions you should in regards to ministry and church planting.
Welcome to episode 231 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 12 opinions we discuss in this episode:
- You should look at your people's giving
- Never say you are busy
- Be intentional about getting a woman on staff
- Preach through books of the Bible
- Don't preach longer than 35 minutes
- Have a simple discipleship plan
- Don't start your church planting journey with a traditional service
- Get feedback on your messages prior to preaching them
- Partner with established organizations in your city to serve your community
- Have a church planting budget from day one
- Send quarterly, not just yearly, giving statements
- Do a service one through before every service
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
What are some important markers of a good sending church/church planting residency? And if you lead a church that wants to plant churches, what things should you look for in a future church planter? In this episode, we share eight things future church planters should look for in a sending church.
Welcome to episode 230 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the eight things we discuss in this episode:
- Track record
- Theological alignment
- Lead pastor buy-in
- Hands-on opportunities
- Location
- Network/denomination affiliation
- Does your wife like the church
- Do you like and want to emulate the sending church
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Every church faces the challenge of finding a meeting space. In this episode, we share why we believe a 24/7 facility is better for your church plant than being portable.
Welcome to episode 229 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the six reasons we discuss in this episode:
- Outgrowing your space is an advantage
- People are more likely to serve
- It gives your church more credibility
- Sunday services will go smoother
- Having a place to work
- Hosting events at your church
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
What are some of the best tools for church planters? In this episode, we share some of the tools and resources we recommend to help you start and grow a healthy church.
Welcome to episode 228 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the eight tools we discuss:
- Todoist
- Calendly
- Google Drive
- Logos
- Big name software
- Text In Church
- Mail Chimp
- Church Website builders
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want to plant healthy and growing churches, but health and growth do not happen by accident. In this episode, we share five things that church planters should have plans for, and how to plan for them, in order to faithfully reach their community.
Welcome to episode 227 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five types of plans we discuss:
- Fundraising
- What you're going to do pre-launch
- Discipleship
- Online engagement
- Structured calendar
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While Disney World is a much different environment than a church, there is a lot of best practices churches can implement from Disney. In this episode, we share some the things church planters should (and shouldn't) emulate from Disney.
Welcome to episode 226 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six things we discuss in this episode:
- If you ask for specific information, follow up about it
- Answer questions you know people will ask
- Friendly environments cannot be overstated
- Preparation leads to a much better experience
- You miss out if you don't go in-person
- Think through the accessibility of your church
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
For many churches, women make up over half of the congregation. At the same time, many churches have very few women in leadership capacities. In this episode, we share five ways to encourage women in leadership at your church.
Welcome to episode 225 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five things we discuss in this episode:
- Ask women to fill needed roles
- Have a woman on stage every Sunday
- Get feedback from women on your sermons
- Be flexible with working hours
- Be clear about what you believe
This episode is brought to you by FaithStreet FaithStreet is a new kind of mobile app for churches. It’s focused on discipleship and community, not just communications.
It strengthens people’s commitment to the church and each other. It builds community by prompting prayer, generosity, reflection, fellowship and teaching as daily practices.
Interested or have questions? Head to faithstreet.com/practical. Practical Church Planting listeners can receive 20% off your subscription.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
One thing every church faces is finding a place to gather for worship. While the perfect location does not exist, there are important things to consider when looking for a space to meet. In this episode, we talk about 8 things in particular to look out for.
Welcome to episode 224 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 8 things we discuss in this episode:
- Parking
- Location
- Kids space
- Bathrooms
- Number of chairs
- Lobby/gathering area
- Staging
- Screens
This episode is brought to you by FaithStreet FaithStreet is a new kind of mobile app for churches. It’s focused on discipleship and community, not just communications.
It strengthens people’s commitment to the church and each other. It builds community by prompting prayer, generosity, reflection, fellowship and teaching as daily practices.
Interested or have questions? Head to faithstreet.com/practical. Practical Church Planting listeners can receive 20% off your subscription.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In order to plant a church that thrives, there are a few things planters should know. In this episode, we share 6 questions in particular planters should be able to answer in order to plant a healthy church.
Welcome to episode 223 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the six questions we discuss in this episode:
- Who is my tribe
- What's my fundraising plan
- What would I want the church to realistically look like in 3 years
- What is my spouse going to end up doing
- Can I name 10 pastors in my area
- Who are you planting where you're planting
This episode is brought to you by FaithStreet FaithStreet is a new kind of mobile app for churches. It’s focused on discipleship and community, not just communications.
It strengthens people’s commitment to the church and each other. It builds community by prompting prayer, generosity, reflection, fellowship and teaching as daily practices.
Interested or have questions? Head to faithstreet.com/practical. Practical Church Planting listeners can receive 20% off your subscription.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
As COVID cases continue to go down and vaccines continue to roll out, many churches are wondering how to encourage their people to re-engage with their church in person. In this episode, we share six ways you can do just that.
Welcome to episode 222 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 things we discuss in this episode:
- Don't be afraid (or apologize) for talking about it
- Encourage others to invite people back
- Cut your live stream at the end of service and address those in the room
- Pick a day and make it a big deal
- Use your weekly newsletter
- Get vaccinated
This episode is brought to you by FaithStreet FaithStreetis a new kind of mobile app for churches. It's focused on discipleship and community, not just communications.
It strengthens people’s commitment to the church and each other. It builds community by prompting prayer, generosity, reflection, fellowship and teaching as daily practices.
Interested or have questions? Head to faithstreet.com/practical. Practical Church Planting listeners can receive 20% off your subscription.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How can you run an effective elder or leadership meeting? Especially since these meetings can look different than a typical staff or one on one meeting. In this episode, we share 7 tips for how to run them well.
Welcome to episode 221 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Send updates/agenda ahead of time
- Start/end on time
- Share trackable metrics
- Don't ask for decisions on non-relevant items
- Meet on a consistent schedule
- Share names and specific situations
- This isn't just a business meeting
This episode is brought to you by FaithStreet FaithStreet is a new kind of mobile app for churches. It's focused on discipleship and community, not just communications.
It strengthens people’s commitment to the church and each other. It builds community by prompting prayer, generosity, reflection, fellowship and teaching as daily practices.
Interested or have questions? Head to faithstreet.com/practical. Practical Church Planting listeners can receive 20% off your subscription.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Be sure to check out the Growing Your Launch Team online course that is available now. Click here if you want a highly practical plan to grow your team and reach more people.
Every preacher wants to get better at preaching, but it does not happen automatically. The good news is there are specific things you can do to get better. In this episode, we share seven of those things.
Welcome to episode 220 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- Preach the same sermon multiple times
- Preach your sermon out loud on your own multiple times
- Listen to a couple of preachers at a time
- Never give excuses when preaching in any environment
- Connect somewhere you will be given opportunities to preach
- Read books on communicating
- Preach expositional sermons
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Be sure to check out the Growing Your Launch Team online course that is available now. Click here if you want a highly practical plan to grow your team and reach more people.
Ministry requires change, but how can you lead effective change in your church without upsetting people? The good news is that it is possible. In this episode, we share 7 ways you can do it.
Welcome to episode 219 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- Except and empathize with pushback
- Be clear about the why
- You don't have to have an answer for every objection
- Do not make exceptions
- Bring vision, not apologies, to new decisions
- Default to transparency
- Test potential decisions on trusted church members
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
All of us want to grow our churches to reach more people with the good news of the Gospel. But growth is hard and can even be awkward. So in this episode, we share seven things you can do to create momentum to reach more people.
Welcome to episode 218 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the tips we discuss in this episode:
- Make a big deal about Christmas and Easter
- Don't launch on a big church day
- Have something to invite people back to on big days
- Celebrate your church's anniversary every year
- Schedule a baptism Sunday
- Pick a non-traditional "big day" and make a push for that day
- Set one-year goals and 90-day goals.
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
What does it look like to stay focused and productive with all of the demands of ministry? The good news is that ministry does not have to always feel "busy." In this episode, we share seven things you can do to focus better and get more done.
Welcome to episode 217 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven ways to create an environment of focus and productivity we discuss:
- Read Deep Work
- Schedule three hours a day of no interruption
- Schedule your5 day ahead of time
- Turn off notifications on your phone
- Invest in your workspace
- Find a focused work environment
- Be done when you're done
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Churches often run on really tight budgets, so it's always a great day when you find an area you can cut costs in while still maintaining the same quality of ministry. In this episode, we share with you eight ways your church can save money without sacrificing its mission.
Welcome to episode 216 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the eight money savers we discuss in this episode:
- Ask for church plant discounts
- Look for non-profit discounts
- Rechargeable batteries
- Tell people about bank drafts
- Create an Amazon Smile account
- Wet-erase volunteer lanyards
- New guest gifts
- Sharing specific needs with your church
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all want people who come to our church to be welcomed and cared for. In this episode, we share with you nine easy and practical things your church can do to help ensure a welcoming experience.
Welcome to episode 215 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the nine things we discuss in this episode:
- Use umbrellas when it rains
- Don't use a doorstop
- Always have parkers in the parking lot
- Make the connect area obvious
- Use lanyards
- Make the coffee area accessible
- Keep your facility clean
- Make how to give obvious
- Acknowledge new guests every Sunday
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare a sermon, and after preaching it, it's done with. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, we share with you seven ways to get more out of the sermon beyond your weekend service.
Welcome to episode 214 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven things you can do to get more mileage out of your sermon that we discuss:
- Sermon clip
- Bottom line graphic
- Instagram Story quiz
- Blog post about a sermon point or verse
- Weekly email devotional focusing on a key concept of the sermon
- Sermon based small groups
- Storing your sermons for future reference
Connect and never miss an episode: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
In order to plant a healthy church, you need a community of people who will join into the mission of the church. But there are things we can do that will make it unlikely for people to do that. In this episode, we share six reasons people won't join your launch team (and what you can do about it).
Welcome to episode 213 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six reasons we discuss in this episode:
- You have no launch plan
- You don't preemptively answer questions
- You have no outside authority
- You aren't clear on what it means to join the team
- You aren't sure where in your community the church will be
- You can't articulate why you are planting this church
CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
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As pastors and ministry leaders, we are involved in all sorts of varying decisions, tasks, and problems. It can be easy for people and things to fall through the cracks, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, we share with you six things you can do to ensure people and tasks don't fall through the cracks.
Welcome to episode 212 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the six things we discuss that you can do:
- Create a system to handle all email
- Put due dates on all your tasks
- Create a system of quickly tracking though and requests
- keep all tasks in one place
- Schedule out your entire day
- Use a shutdown routine everyday
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
- Apple Podcasts
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
The financial health of your church plays a big role in carrying out your mission. The good news is that money doesn't have to be a taboo subject for your church. In this episode, we share seven ways to build a culture of generosity at your church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 211 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 things we discuss:
- You have to talk about giving
- You have to (personally) be generous
- Share quick stories of the impact your church has made
- Mention giving every week
- Make it easy and obvious for people to give
- Proactively keep your church updated on big picture financials
- Emphasize this is their church
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know what it's like to spend hours preparing a sermon only to see people disengaged and not paying attention while we are preaching it. In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to keep people better engaged during your sermon.
Welcome to welcome to episode 210 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 7 tips we discuss:
- Start with a story
- Practice out loud beforehand
- One point per slide
- Preach as if there are non-believers in the room
- 35 minutes or less
- Include others in the sermon writing process
- Include at least 2-3 stories or illustrations
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know the frustration of planning, preparing, and working towards our various church events only to have a much lower turnout than expected. The good news is that there are practical things you can do to keep your church calendar in front of your people. In this episode, we share with you eight of those things.
Welcome to welcome to episode 209 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the eight things we discuss in this episode:
- Weekly newsletter
- Addevent.com
- Bathroom graphic
- Next steps
- Personal social media
- Pre/post slides
- Text in church
- Website homepage
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
While creating a great livestream experience can require money and expertise, there are a few free things you can do to increase your quality. In this episode, we share with you seven free tips for doing just that.
Welcome to welcome to episode 208 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven things we discuss in this episode:
- Mark where you singers/preacher will stand
- Don't show the whole stage
- Place your camera at eye love with the people on stage
- Limit how many places you stream to
- Avoid showing seats/people
- Don't show the auditorium pre-service
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
As we end 2020, we are making predictions on what Church in 2021 will be like. From what type of churches will grow in 2021 to what will look different.
Welcome to welcome to episode 207 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven 2021 church predictions we share in this episode:
- Many churches will almost get back to pre-COVID numbers, but most of the new numbers will be from new people and not from people returning
- Churches will see more engagement in their small groups than their Sunday gatherings
- Churches that invest in their livestream will see the most physical growth
- You will not see many new families with young children visit your church until the fall of 2021
- Churches that lack an outward community focus will continue to see a decline in giving
- House churches will become more popular than they are now
- Smaller churches will see a higher percentage of growth than larger churches
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
What are the most helpful metrics your church should be tracking? Not everything you can track is helpful, but some things churches don't track often are. In this episode, we share with you seven helpful metrics your church should track.
Welcome to welcome to episode 206 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven metrics we discuss in this episode:
- Attendance
- Giving (regular & outside givers)
- Number of donors
- Website views
- Assets
- Social media follows
- Connect Cards
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How do you display worship lyrics or sermon points? Are the screen displays you use helpful or distracting? In this episode, we share eight practical things you can do today to improve your screen display(s) at your church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 205 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the eight things we discuss in this episode:
- Go faster with your worship lyrics
- Limit the overlapping and fading of words
- Only show one sermon point per slide
- Limit how much text is on the screen at one time
- Add backgrounds to your worship slides
- Limit backgrounds on your sermon slides
- Print sermon notes out for your screens volunteer and talk through them before service
- Use big fonts
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
The #1 question that all church planters ask is how to gather a team to start a church. We all know we should meet people build relationships, but what can you do that in an effective way? In this episode, we share 6 practical things to do to help gather people pre-launch.
Welcome to welcome to episode 204 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six tips we discuss in this episode:
- Have a launch plan to share with people
- Don't try gathering people more than 9 months out
- Schedule fun events
- Have an active social media presence
- Talk about your mission (statement) often
- Talk about your financial needs and ask people to give
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How can you best walk your people through pain and tragedy? What are things that are helpful and unhelpful? In this episode, we share practical things to help people who are suffering, and it isn’t always what you think.
Welcome to welcome to episode 203 of Practical Church Planting.
Here at the tips we discuss in this episode:
- Don’t tell them you understand or relativize their pain
- Tell them you are thinking about them or are praying from them
- Don’t ask if there is anything you can do, specifically ask to do something
- Schedule time to be together and only talk about their pain if they want to
How do you know when or if your church is ready to plant a church? Is it just something that will happen eventually, or are there signs that your church is ready? The good news is that there are indicators that show if your church is ready, and we discuss seven of them in this episode.
Welcome to welcome to episode 202 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are seven signs your church is ready to plant that we discuss in this episode:
- Your financial situation is solvent
- Your church isn't struggling to gather your people
- You can financially support your church plant
- You're not worried if your church is going to survive
- You're not working 60 hour weeks
- Your people can get behind planting a church
- You have someone to plant a church
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Figuring out a good livestream setup can be confusing, especially if you don't have much experience in this area. In this episode, we walk through what our livestreaming setup looks like at New City and breakdown the equipment that we use.
Welcome to welcome to episode 201 of Practical Church Planting.
Below is the equipment we use and discussed in this episode. Click here to see a video of our setup.
- Our main camera for the sermon: Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4k
- Our camera for worship: Panasonic HC-VX981K
- Our switcher for switching between cameras/screens: Blackmagic ATEM Mini Switcher
- Our streaming software: Open Broadcast Software
- What we use to get our stream on Facebook and Youtube at the same time: Castr
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
One of the most helpful and interesting things for church planters is to hear the stories of other church planters. In this special edition episode of the podcast, you'll hear the church planting journey of Adam Pickard and Citizens Church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 200 of Practical Church Planting.
Click here to learn more about Citizens Church and/or to connect with Adam.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How do you know the difference between desiring to plant a church and when you should actually pursue that desire? As we all know, God's timing is often different than our own. The good news is there are some tangible markers of when you should begin your church planting journey. In this episode, we share five signs of when you should actually pursue planting a church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 199 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five signs we discuss in this episode:
- Your willingness to serve at a smaller church with a no-name pastor
- Your willingness to raise your own financial support for a church planting residency
- Your willingness to submit yourself to an assessment process
- Your willingness to let your spouse make the final decision on your church plant
- Your willingness to live in a lower society-economic status than your friends
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Sermon prep takes a lot of time and effort. But what if there was a way to reduce the amount of time it takes and make your sermons better? In this episode, we share six practical things you can do to spend less time on sermon prep without reducing the quality of your sermons.
Welcome to welcome to episode 198 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six things you can do to reduce your sermon prep time that are discussed in this episode:
- Schedule and uninterrupted 3-4 hour time block
- Schedule sermon prep at the same times each week
- Prioritize sermon prep for when you are at your best
- Give yourself a defined end time
- Use online/software tools
- Use a sermon outline
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Most church planters have a desire to connect with other churches and pastors in the area. The problem? It's hard developing those relationships? The good news is there are some things you can do to help you connect with other churches and pastors in your area. In this episode, we share six specific things you can do to help you not feel so alone.
Welcome to welcome to episode 197 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
Here are the six things we discuss in this episode:
- Ask to take pastors to coffee or lunch so you can hear their story and ask questions about their experience
- Have specific questions and bring something to take notes
- Follow up with three takeaways
- Be careful how you promote your church online
- Attend their church on a Sunday
- Find a local pastor gathering and prioritize going
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Pastors are called to care from people and emails come from people. If you have trouble staying on top of your email, you're missing out on loving your people well. The good news is that email doesn't have to be overwhelming. In this episode, we share with you seven practical things you can do today to stay on top of your email and love your people well.
Welcome to welcome to episode 196 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode:
- View unanswered/forgotten emails as a problem
- Don't view your inbox as a task list
- Create separate folders if necessary
- To stay at Inbox 0, live by these two rules: Only open it once & deal with or move it once you do
- Unsubscribe to all emails the first time you receive them
- Deal with all currently/inboxed emails
- Check your email less.
Email script to help you get to inbox 0 Afraid you might miss something critical while clearing out your inbox? Simply send an email like the one below to all the critical people in your contact list:
Subject: Got a pressing issue I haven’t dealt with? Can you re-send your email?
Hi Friends,
I’ve decided to get to inbox zero and start organizing my workflow in a new way.
To that end, today I’m going to delete every email that’s over 30 days old.
I apologize for not getting back to you on the relevant matter. If it’s still a current issue for you, do you mind resending me the email?
I promise I’ll be responding much faster in the future.
Thanks! I appreciate you!
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
There has been a lot of talk about the "new normal" that COVID-19 has created. The truth, however, is that we are not currently living in a "new normal." COVID-19 will certainly change a lot of things, but our current season is not how life will be like forever. This means that there are some normal things that COVID-19 won't change, and we want to be sure churches continue to do things well. So what exactly are some of those things? In this episode, we share four specific normal things COVID will not change.
Welcome to welcome to episode 195 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the four normal things we discuss in this episode:
- The importance of the physical worship gathering
- The importance of online engagement
- The negative or positive effect of livestreaming
- The need for local community
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We often hear about the difficulties of ministry. But does ministry have to be as miserable as we can sometimes make it sound? It does when we believe five particular lies about what ministry has to be like. If you want your ministry to be life-giving and instead of life-sucking, you'll want to see if you have bought into any of these 5 lies.
Welcome to welcome to episode 194 of Practical Church Planting.
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
We all know what it is like to have new people come visit your church only never to see them again. At the same time, we know growing churches have somehow figured this out. The good news is there are tangible things we can do to help new guests return. In this episode, we share 5 things you can do to make it more likely new guests will return.
Welcome to welcome to episode 192 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 5 differences we discuss in this episode:
- Follow up is quick and intentional
- Social media is engaging and consistent
- There is an intentional follow up plan in place
- New people are recognized every week
- The Sunday environment is warm and friendly
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
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We all know what it's like to wish we could have done things differently. When it comes to church planting, the mistakes we make can sometimes have big consequences. I (Dylan) have made a lot of mistakes that, and six in particular anyone can learn from. Check out this episode and see if you are doing any of these six things.
Welcome to welcome to episode 192 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six things Dylan would have done differently that we discuss in this episode:
- Have smaller runway
- Have clearer next steps (particularly at initial meetings)
- Not focused on big dreams
- Have more confidence in making decisions
- Quicker feedback loops
- Spent more time finding a network/church planting residency
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
Do you know if your church's website has everything it needs to answer the most pressing questions people have when visiting your site? Are new guests not coming because you don't have the most vitally important information on your homepage?
Here's what we know; if we make it hard for people to find the information they need, we may never see them on a Sunday. In this episode, we share six of the most important and basic things your homepage needs to connect with new guests. Don't miss out on connecting with more people because you are missing any of these six things.
Welcome to welcome to episode 191 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these six things your church's homepage needs:
- Physical address
- Service times
- Plan a visit
- If you are meeting in person or online due to COVID
- Pictures of people at your church
- Give option on your menu
- Plus a bonus tip!
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What should you do when you feel God might be leading you to plant a church? You're excited and nervous, but what are you supposed to do about this prompting? The good news is that there are practical next steps that you can take, and it doesn't have to be as confusing as you might think. In this episode, we'll share with you what you should do next.
Welcome to welcome to episode 190 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the six next steps we discuss in this episode:
- Tell three people and ask them what they think
- Look into and reach out to church planting networks
- Join a local church and serve in a significant way
- Reach out to pastors in your area about meeting and hearing their story
- Figure out your needed theological training
- Don't rush your decision but do take steps
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We know how discouraging it can be to pray, prepare, and serve as faithfully as you can, but not see any growth in your church. How can you get people to invite their friends, coworkers, and classmates? What does it look like to even create a culture of invitation at your church? The good news is there there are some very practical things you can do to help people invite their friends.
Don't sit in frustration, take steps in making invitations the norm and not the exception. In this episode, we share 5 ways to create a culture of invitation at your church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 189 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the five tips we discuss:
- Encourage people to invite their friends
- Preach to Christians knowing there are non-believers in the room
- Have a quality Sunday service
- Prioritize your serve teams
- Spend time, effort, and money on social media
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you.
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You've been praying and dreaming about what your church could be and the impact it could have. But, you're not sure how to get people on board with your mission or even how to best articulate it. In fact, you're not even sure if you have a compelling vision for your church plant. If you can relate to any of this, you'll want to check out today's Practical Church Planting podcast episode.
In today's episode, we share 6 tips for creating a compelling vision for your church plant. Don't waste time wondering how to create a compelling vision when you can use these 6 tips and make one.
Welcome to welcome to episode 188 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:
- Don't focus on statistics
- Don't focus on big dreams
- Outline practical steps of how you will accomplish your mission
- Share a story of a real person
- Speak positively of other churches/what God is doing in your area
- Give a clear next step at your meetings
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you.
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How can you make the most of a church planting network?
Welcome to welcome to episode 187 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to get the most out of a church planting network. We discuss:
- Don't pick a network based on what you can get from them
- Pick a network you believe in
- Commit to network gatherings/events
- Proactively find ways to serve and support the network
- Find a church in the network to partner with, plant, or support
- Be humble and ask lots of questions
- Join a network
Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How can you find leaders for your new church plant?
Welcome to welcome to episode 186 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we talk about seven qualities that can help you determine current and future leaders for your launch team and church plant. We discuss:
- Uninitiated desire to help
- Initiated excitement to help
- People who do more (or better) than asked
- Financial giving to the church
- Buy-in in disagreement
- Social media engagement with the church
- Track record with other churches (is it bad?)
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It's impossible to know everything there is to know about planting a church before you do it.
Welcome to welcome to episode 185 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these five things that church planters often don't think about before planting:
- What they want the church to look like in three years
- The long-term importance of outside support
- Clearly defining your spouse's role
- How often will you preach?
- Creating a culture of serving rather than programs of serving
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What changes should be made to your church's finances when crisis hits?
Welcome to welcome to episode 184 of Practical Church Planting.
All churches face financial difficulties at some point. Given COVID-19, many churches are experiencing crisis together. In this episode, we discuss these six tips for budgeting your church's finances during crisis:
- Be proactive
- Anxiety increases where budgeting decreases
- Freeze non-essential spending
- Locate a minimum financial threshold for big cuts
- Budget with wise counsel
- Be honest with your people (eventually)
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What have we taken away from being online only for over 3 months?
Welcome to welcome to episode 183 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these 5 reflections as we get ready to regather in person on Sunday for the first time on over 3 months:
- Online church isn't church
- Sunday's are not just about the service
- The Sunday gathering leads to other opportunities
- Focus on your solid core
- Your people are a blessing
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What causes some churches to grow while others stagnate or decline?
Welcome to welcome to episode 182 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these four characteristics that growing churches typically have in common:
- They have a realistic financial plan and stick to it
- There is seasoned leadership influencing big decisions
- The staff is bought into the mission
- They have relationships with churches/networks/denominations
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Should you live stream your church service?
Welcome to welcome to episode 181 of Practical Church Planting.
As churches across the country slowly begin to regather in person, should you throw up a camera and live stream your service? After all, you've been doing online-only services for a while. In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why we don't think that's the best idea.
- A bad looking live stream isn't neutral
- The cost isn't worth it for church plants/smaller churches
- Poor audio quality makes it hard to engage
- Poor camera angles make it hard to engage
- If you can't create a separate stream designed specifically for a stream, don't do it
- Reach is secondary to impact
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As COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen, when should your church gather again in person?
Welcome to welcome to episode 180 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why you may not want to regather in person as quickly as you can:
- A higher-quality online service may be better than a low-quality in-person service + a low-quality online service
- Loosening your restrictions once you regather could be tricky
- Enforcing restrictions could do harm
- Thinking long term is the job of the leader
- Just because people understand things are different doesn't mean they will stick with it
- You can't go back to online-only once you begin meeting in person
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Developing these skills will help you be a more effective pastor in our culture today.
Welcome to welcome to episode 178 of Practical Church Planting.
Skills are abilities that can be developed and improved. In this episode, we discuss these six vital skills we all need to be effective pastors in our world today:
- Face to face conversations about difficult topics
- Always reply to your emails
- A system for tracking prayer requests
- Owning your calendar
- Theological clarity and conviction
- Healthy work boundaries
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Here are some helpful things to think about as we move through COVID-19.
Welcome to welcome to episode 178 of Practical Church Planting.
As we consider what gathering as a church might look like in the coming months, you will hear a lot of varying thoughts an ideas. As you prayerfully make important decisions, we discuss these six things you'll want to consider:
- What people say they will do and what they actually will do is not always the same
- Be as clear and firm as you can when sharing decisions
- Updates are better than changes
- Think three months out (would I do this for three months?)
- Wisdom > expertise
- Your leadership lid is determined by your ability to live with low-level frustration
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If you want your full-time salary to come from your church, you need an actual plan to get there.
Welcome to welcome to episode 177 of Practical Church Planting.
If your desire is to not be a bi-vocational church planter and instead work full-time on and in your church, you need a plan to get there. Assuming "I'll get there when the church can afford to pay me" is a sign that you'll never actually get there. In this episode, we share these five reasons as to why you need a plan to become financially supported by your church:
- It's easy to not take fundraising seriously when you have a backup plan
- If you can't raise money you can't plant a church
- You won't take fundraising seriously until it's too late
- You can't hit a theoretical goal
- Your source of income isn't holy
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Want to make your online service more engaging?
Welcome to welcome to episode 176 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these seven things you can do to create a more engaging online service:
- Use two service hosts
- Use different shots/service elements
- Ask people to comment and share
- Have one service time (and pick a good time)
- Use a close shot of the pastor
- Include main points of the sermon (and worship lyrics if possible)
- Get others involved
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What can you do to increase giving when it is down?
Welcome to welcome to episode 175 of Practical Church Planting.
What can you do when finances are tight and giving is down? In this episode, we discuss these seven practical things you can do to increase giving at your church:
- Be honest about where your church is at financially
- Give people a reason to be hopeful for the future
- Share stories of how your church is impacting people
- Don't guilt people into giving more
- Never apologize when talking about giving
- Send quarterly giving reports
- Talk about giving every week
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Here are some things you can do to improve your online service during COVID-19.
Welcome to welcome to episode 174 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these 8 things you can do to create an even better online service:
- Go live or use premier at a set time so people can watch together
- Prioritize the initial stream
- Have a countdown timer
- Don't aim to recreate the same looking Sunday service
- Encourage people to connect with you online every week
- Have a service host
- Use service elements
- Include worship if you can
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How can you lead your church well during the pandemic?
Welcome to welcome to episode 173 of Practical Church Planting.
In the midst of so much uncertainty, churches have a lot to figure out. In this episode, we discuss these four things you can do to help lead your church well during this time:
- Assume nothing will return back to normal for 3 months
- Your digital response will heavily impact your physical presence
- Give up on how you used to do things, but don't give up
- Start planning for what you were wanting to change
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How can you best preach to an online audience?
Welcome to welcome to episode 172 of Practical Church Planting.
During the coronavirus pandemic when all of us are preaching to an online audience, we discuss these eight tips for a better online experience:
- Look into the camera the whole time
- Don't acknowledge your feelings about it
- Don't forget about the children
- Set the camera at eye level
- Display verses/points if you can
- Have a stagnant background
- Have more than one camera angle if possible
- Record audio to something other than the camera if possible
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Here are some practical things your church can try as we move online during the coronavirus.
Welcome to welcome to episode 171 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share feedback on the new things we tried this week, as well as new ideas to try in the weeks to come.
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Here are some practical things your church can try as we move online during the coronavirus.
Welcome to welcome to episode 170 of Practical Church Planting.
We discuss these nine things your church could do or try during the coronavirus:
- Pre-record and post sermon as live using OneStream
- 5-minute devotionals
- Resources pages on the church website
- Online prayer gathering
- Online communion
- Coronavirus giving fund
- Church Online from Life Church
- Individually email all church members
- Serve a retirement community/neighborhood
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Learn some of the best tips for effective fundraising.
Welcome to welcome to episode 169 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, I (Dylan) have a conversation with Jordan Penley, one of the best fundraisers I know. In this episode, you'll get tips and advice on the best way to raise financial support.
Want more help with fundraising? Connect with Jordan Penley at JordanPenley.com.
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Consistent gatherings pre-launch are vital for a healthy new church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 169 of Practical Church Planting.
In order to have effective outreach events as you serve the community and build a launch team, they need to be built around, not be in place of, consistent launch team gatherings.
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How can you create values for your church that your church actually values?
Welcome to welcome to episode 168 of Practical Church Planting.
How can you ensure the values you have for your church are actually values your church holds and accomplishes? In this episode, we discuss these four tips for effective core values:
- Limit how many you have
- Make the memorable
- Attach values to your behaviors
- Tweak them if you need to
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Being overwhelmed shouldn't be a given in ministry.
Welcome to welcome to episode 166 of Practical Church Planting.
It's commonplace to hear how "busy" everyone seems to be. The problem, however, is that when you read the Gospels you never get the sense that Jesus was every rushed or busy. This means being overwhelmed is not a badge of honor.
In this episode, we discuss these four reasons why pastors are often overwhelmed when it is own our fault:
- You don't proactively schedule your time
- You don't have a clear definition of what an emergency is
- There is a lack of discipline in how you handle your time
- You check your email too much
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There is always a lot to do in ministry. Here are some tips for how you can be more productive.
Welcome to welcome to episode 165 of Practical Church Planting.
Most people would say they want to be more productive, but often feel overwhelmed by all they have to do. In this episode, we discuss five easy tips you can implement right away to help you be more productive.
Click here to read Dylan's blog on the same topic.
Here are the five tips we discuss:
- Don't check email/social media until lunch
- Schedule your day ahead of time
- Start the night before
- Spend time with Jesus in the morning
- Set a hard end time to your workday
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Here are some resources we have found helpful.
Welcome to welcome to episode 164 of Practical Church Planting.
There are a lot of helpful tools and resources for churches. In this episode, we briefly discuss 13 different resources we use at New City Church that might be helpful to you and your church. We discuss these 13 resources:
- Planning Center
- Propresenter
- Nucleus (web & social)
- Acts 29
- Quickbooks
- Google Suite
- Subsplash
- Zoom
- Adobe
- Spotify
- Text in Church
- Mailchimp
- Groupme
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What is your sermon prep process like?
Welcome to welcome to episode 163 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share what Dylan's sermon prep process looks like. No matter what yours may look like, you need a process if you want to preach the best sermons you can.
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Do you make any of these mistakes?
Welcome to welcome to episode 162 of Practical Church Planting.
None of us are perfect preachers, but sometimes we can make mistakes that are easily fixable so long as we are being intentional about getting better. In this episode, we discuss these five mistakes preachers often make:
- Complexity over simplicity
- Length over impact
- Impressive over impressionable
- Podcast over people
- Behavior over Gospel
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What is the best way to preach?
Welcome to welcome to episode 161 of Practical Church Planting.
Is it better to preach expositionally or topically? The reality is both methods and be done faithfully and effectively. In this episode, we discuss both methods and share these four reasons as to why we lean towards expositional preaching:
- People want to know what the Scriptures actually say
- People need to learn how all of the Bible is helpful
- People are confused about the hard passages they read.
- Personal experience: I (Dylan) always get better feedback from expositional sermons
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Contextualization should be rated, not overrated.
Welcome to welcome to episode 160 of Practical Church Planting.
Contextualization is important and helpful in helping you reach the people in your area. However, it can also be overrated and even unhelpful if we make it a bigger deal than it should be. In this episode, we discuss these four reasons as to why contextualization is overrated:
- Building relationships doesn't need a contextualization study
- Helpful, engaging, and applicable preaching works everywhere
- Contextualization can become an excuse for inaction
- The best way to contextualize is to do things and see what works
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Be firm on your theological convictions. Here are some reasons why.
Welcome to welcome to episode 159 of Practical Church Planting.
It can be hard to be honest with people on certain theological positions your church might hold. However, it is better for you and your church not to shy away from these things. In this episode, we discuss these four reasons why you shouldn't be weak on your theological convictions:
- Long term headaches are much worse than short term uncomfortableness
- Be a shepherd not a sheep
- People need clarity to make the best decision for them (and your church)
- People will respect you/your church
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Is your children's ministry safe?
Welcome to welcome to episode 155 of Practical Church Planting.
Is your children's ministry area safe? Not only that but does it also appear safe? The safety of kids is vitally important for their well-being, as well as for the comfort of the parents dropping their kids off. One of the quickest ways to have first-time guests not return is missing the mark in this area.
So in this episode, we discuss these six standards you should set for the safety of your kid's ministry:
- Men should never change diapers
- Men should never take kids into the bathroom
- Have (at least) two leaders per room
- Entrances & exits should be properly accounted for
- Know your ratios
- Have outlet covers
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How is your kid's check-in process? Let's make it better
Welcome to welcome to episode 157 of Practical Church Planting.
The kid's ministry check-in process is a vital but often overlooked area that can cause either positive or frustrating experiences at our churches. In this episode, we discuss these six things you can do to ensure your check-in process goes smoothly:
- Allow for self check-in
- Have a plan for new families
- Use Planning Center
- Have reliable wife in the kid's area
- Have at least two volunteers working check-in
- Print tags for families as they are walking in
Welcome to welcome to episode 155 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
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Church finances can lead to all sorts of issues if you are not careful.
Welcome to welcome to episode 156 of Practical Church Planting.
While no one sets out to run into issues with your church's finances, it can easily happen if we are not intentional with our systems and structures. In this episode, we discuss these four ways your church can be transparent with its finances:
- Send quarterly updates
- Involve your management/elder team
- The lead pastor should take his hands completely out of the finances
- Involve volunteers (who also give)
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Being a young pastor can have its challenges. Here are some things that may help.
Welcome to welcome to episode 152 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.
There are both advantages and disadvantages to being a young pastor. In this episode, we discuss these five tips to help you out:
- Learn from your congregants, you don't have to disciple all of them
- Be intentional about what you year
- Pick a few people to be intentional with to start
- Show your people you care and they will listen to your preaching
- Don't be weak on your theological positions
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Watch out for these things.
Welcome to welcome to episode 154 of Practical Church Planting.
As we enter into a new year, there are things we should do and avoid if we don't want our churches to struggle. In this episode, we share these six things that may cause your church to struggle in 2020:
- If you aren't clear about your mission and/or vision
- You livestream when you shouldn't
- You don't record your sermons
- Lack of committed time in prayer
- You aren't confronting your own issues
- You're not honest/upfront about church finances with your people
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How to reach more people in 2020.
Welcome to welcome to episode 153 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
It's the start of a new year and you likely want to engage with and reach more people this year. Because of that, we share these four ways you can do exactly that in 2020:
- Social media presence
- Serve event/events
- Talk about your mission more often
- Be proactive about planting a new service or church plant
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.
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We all agree the Gospel is the most important thing, yet it's easy to forget.
Welcome to welcome to episode 152 of Practical Church Planting.
Most would agree that the Gospel should be somehow shared in every sermon. And yet, sometimes it's hard to connect it to a particular passage you may be preaching out of. Or perhaps with everything you are trying to say, you simply forget it. In this episode, we share these four reasons why we should include a Gospel presentation in every sermon:
- Many of your people can't tell you what the Gospel is
- Not everyone listening is a Christian
- People need to be reminded of the Gospel
- Scripture points towards Jesus
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A better staff equals a better church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 151 of Practical Church Planting.
The growth and development of church staff directly impacts the growth, development, and health of a church. In this episode, we share these five reasons to do year end reviews with your staff:
- Clarity in staff performance
- Set expectations for next year
- Development doesn't happen by accident
- You measure what you care about
- High achieving organizations do it
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How can we connect better with non-believers?
Welcome to welcome to episode 150 of Practical Church Planting.
All of us desire to reach and connect with those who don't yet know Jesus. However, some of that disconnect comes from when we do things that non-believers do not understand. So in this episode, we discuss these five things you can do to make your services more understandable to non-believers:
- Avoid phrases like "we all know"
- Christianese is not your friend
- Tell people where they can find the Biblical text you are preaching from
- Assume your closest non-believing friend is there
- Tell people where to go for next steps
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What we wish we knew then.
Welcome to welcome to episode 149 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss these three things that Dylan wished he understood better before planting a church:
- It takes years to build trust and relationships
- Newness will create excitement for a while but vision is needed to sustain it
- You can't rush preaching development
What we wish we knew then.
Welcome to welcome to episode 149 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
In this episode, we discuss these three things that Dylan wished he understood better before planting a church:
- It takes years to build trust and relationships
- Newness will create excitement for a while but vision is needed to sustain it
- You can't rush preaching development
Connect and never miss an episode.
Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.
How a lot of money was raised in not a lot of time.
Welcome to welcome to episode 148 of Practical Church Planting.
Recently at New City Church (where we lead), we raised $117,515 in financial commitments in three weeks towards our move into a new building. That's a lot of money given the size of our church. So in this episode, we discuss these four thoughts on how it happened:
- People need to know there is a need
- People need to feel the need
- Shorter time frames are often better than longer ones
- We were honest about what was at stake
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What should you do when you don't know what to do?
Welcome to welcome to episode 147 of Practical Church Planting.
We all face times when we have to make a decision but we aren't sure what to do. How should we respond in these moments? In this episode, we share these four thoughts on what to do:
- Pray for wisdom well before you need it
- Allow others to speak into the process, then listen
- Is your primary motivation God-honoring?
- Make a decision
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We all make mistakes. Often similar ones.
Welcome to welcome to episode 146 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
No one plants a church with all of the answers. We all face similar difficulties and challenges which means we are likely to make similar mistakes. In this episode we share these four common mistakes church planters make to help you on your journey:
- Holding on too tightly to future plans
- Not being clear enough about finances
- Hesitancy in making decisions
- Focusing on what you want to do over what you can do
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You don't need everything, but you do need somethings on launch day.
Welcome to welcome to episode 145 of Practical Church Planting.
You don't have to have everything figured out on launch day, but you do need to have some things in place on day one. In this episode, we share these five very important things all churches should have on launch day:
- Sermon recordings
- Website/social media
- Serve team assimilation
- First-time guest follow up
- Online giving/giving processes
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- Apple Podcasts
- Google Play
- Spotify
- Stitcher
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You don't have to have everything figured out on day one.
Welcome to welcome to episode 144 of Practical Church Planting.
There is a lot of pressure to have everything figured out for your church on launch day. While there are certainly many good things we should have in place, we don't have to have everything figured out. In this episode we share these five things that won't kill your church if you don't have on day one:
- First year preaching calendar planned
- Membership process all figured out
- Small group assimilation
- Full band every week
- Leadership pipeline
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Some reflections on preaching through one book in a year.
Welcome to welcome to episode 144 of Practical Church Planting.
This year we did something different at New City Church and spent most of the year preaching through one book of the Bible (1 Corinthians). Here are four thoughts on how it went:
- I (Dylan) learned a lot
- Our people saw the relevance of Scripture
- Our people learned the importance of context
- Our people came hoping to learn what Scripture means and how to apply it
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Preaching to a small crowd can be tough. Here are some tips.
Welcome to welcome to episode 142 of Practical Church Planting.
All of us have or will be in a situation where we will preach to a small crowd. This is especially true as you work to gather a launch team and start a new church. Because of that, we share these five tips for preaching to small crowds:
- People don't think it's as small as you
- Pretend there are more people
- Don't apologize for or reference numbers
- Avoid the temptation not to "preach"
- Lack of response doesn't mean lack of engagement
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We need church plants in the South.
Welcome to welcome to episode 141 of Practical Church Planting.
Contrary to what many may assume, the American South actually needs more church plants. In this episode, we discuss these four reasons why:
- A lot of people are moving to the South
- Familiarity with the church ≠ familiarity with the Gospel
- The South is the most churched region of the United States, and our churches need help
- Don't overcomplicate it
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Make the most of your preview services.
Welcome to welcome to episode 140 of Practical Church Planting.
Having a couple of preview services before the launch of a new church is a great idea. In this episode, we discuss these five things in particular to look out for when you do them:
- The energy in the parking lot/lobby
- What questions people are asking
- How many connect cards were filled out
- Parents feedback on kids space
- Where do people sit
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We all want to save more money. Here are some things you can try.
Welcome to welcome to episode 139 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
All of us are always looking for ways to save money for our churches. In this episode, we discuss these six things that we have done:
- Rechargeable batteries
- Ask for church planting discounts
- Buy limited amounts of merch
- Ask other churches for needs
- Let people know of your church needs
- Google Suite for non-profits
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Social media for church leaders is tricky.
Welcome to welcome to episode 138 of Practical Church Planting.
Personal social media use for pastors and church leaders can be tricky. In this episode, we share these five thoughts and considerations for how we should use social media:
- Supporting political candidates/causes will push some people away
- The rules are different for pastors/church leaders
- Don't just post about church/ministry/theology
- Be wary of legalism
- You don't have to post about every cultural event
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We tried Thursday night services. Here is what we found.
Welcome to welcome to episode 137 of Practical Church Planting.
Recently at New City Church we attempted Thursday night services. Here are reflections on how they went:
- I'm glad we tried it and would do it again
- Thursday nights need to be given as much effort as Sunday mornings
- Preaching Thursday makes Saturdays more relaxing
- Sermon prep was more difficult
- It's all about sustainability, other things will need to be cut
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How can we get people to join the launch team?
Welcome to welcome to episode 136 of Practical Church Planting.
Every church planter wrestles, prays, and hopes people will join the launch team of their church plant. After all, if you have no people, you have no church. In this episode, we discuss these six tips to do just that:
- Have a launch date in place
- Have something consistent to invite people to outside of events
- Have a closer launch date
- Give people things to do
- Pre-launch meetings need to be different than a Sunday service
- Ask people to be on it
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Most of us want to pray more than we do. Here are some steps towards making that happen.
Welcome to welcome to episode 135 of Practical Church Planting.
Prayer can be hard. The vast majority of people we know would say they wish they were “better” at it (i.e. took it more seriously and prayed more consistently).
Even as a pastor, this has been my (Dylan's) story. But earlier this year after being inspired yet again by someone who prayed well, I decided I didn’t just want to be inspired by others, I wanted to actually do something about it.
I’m still learning as I go, but I can at least say I really do pray now. At least more intentionally and earnestly than I did before. And so below are four simple steps I took that have vastly improved my prayer life.
Click here to read Dylan's blog on for simple steps to a more vibrant prayer life.
Here are the steps we discuss in this episode:
- Ask a few people around you for one to two specific things you can be praying for
- Create a written list of prayer needs
- Pray through your list and move on to the next item when you get distracted
- Commit to pray over that list for a brief amount of time each day
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Everyone faces difficulties when planting a church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 134 of Practical Church Planting.
Sometimes it can feel like we are the reason things don't always go they way we would like. The reality is, all church planters face difficulties. In fact, some difficulties are faced by every church planter. We discuss these seven in this episode:
- Your launch team won't be as passionate as you are
- Your launch team won't be as large as you thought
- Some people you expect to give financially won't
- Some people you expect will join your launch team won't
- Finding a space is often harder than you think
- Fundraising will keep you up at night, often
- Comparision will only hurt you
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When it comes time to add a second service, what should you do with your volunteers?
Welcome to welcome to episode 133 of Practical Church Planting.
Sooner or later, you may one day get to the point where you need to add a second service. There is a lot to plan for to make it happen, including how you are going to schedule your volunteers. In this episode, we discuss these five tips about making it happen:
- Whatever you do, don't make exceptions
- Schedule one team for both services
- Don't be afraid to raise the bar
- Avoid unneeded positions
- Be very intentional about culture
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Ministry can be stressful, these tips can help.
Welcome to welcome to episode 132 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Ministry can feel like you never get a break. These tips are designed to help remind us that we don't need to be (nor should be) always "on." We discuss these tips:
- Delete email from your phone
- Turn off all notifications, including texts
- Leave when you are done/plan to leave early
- Do your best and be ok with less than perfect
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Preaching through books of the Bible has a lot of benefits.
Welcome to welcome to episode 131 of Practical Church Planting.
Preaching through books of the Bible (and not just the short ones) is a great thing for your people and even you as the preacher. In this episode, we discuss these five reasons why:
- You'll preach texts you would never pick (and you're people are never taught)
- People want to learn what the Bible says
- The best way to learn the context of a passage is in its context
- Boring preaching bores people, not boring sermon series
- You'll personally learn more than in a topical series
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Church leadership can be difficult.
Welcome to welcome to episode 130 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share four tensions that are particularly felt in church leadership. We discuss:
- Innovating for the future while honoring the past
- Sticking to your convictions while empathizing for those who disagree
- Making the best decision while being misunderstood
- Being confident in what you are doing while being humble enough to continue to grow.
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Unlimited PTO is worth pursuing. Let us explain.
Welcome to welcome to episode 129 of Practical Church Planting.
Traditionally, employees get a certain amount of hours or days off based on how much they work, how long they have worked where they worked, and various other reasons tied to the number of hours worked per week. We think there is a better way. In this episode, we share these five reasons why you should consider unlimited paid time off for your church staff.
- You pay for value, not hours worked
- Your work is never fully done, so you're never fully off
- Don't let very few bad apples ruin it for everyone
- People who take advantage of this shouldn't be on your staff anyway
- This is one of the few "benefits" that can be offered to church staff
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Being ahead in sermon prep is really helpful. Here's why.
Welcome to welcome to episode 128 of Practical Church Planting.
While the thought of it may seem overwhelming at first, having more than just the sermon you are giving this week written is immensely helpful. In this episode, we discuss these six ways:
- Mondays have less pressure
- You aren't forced to come up with something each week
- There is more time to add stories/illustrations and to do any needed research
- More time to plan special elements in the service
- You can reorder sermons for a better fit
- You'll be glad you did
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Seminary is great, but it isn't everything.
Welcome to welcome to episode 127 of Practical Church Planting.
Like many things in life, there is only so much you can learn about being a pastor without real-life experience. In this episode, we discuss these 5 things that seminary can't teach you about being a pastor:
- What vocational ministry will be like for your wife
- How to pastor people
- How to have difficult conversations
- How to develop leaders
- How to lead when you don't know the best course of action
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The first year of church planting is hard. But what you face is common.
Welcome to welcome to episode 126 of Practical Church Planting.
There are many discouragements church planters will face in the first year of their church. The good news is that you are not the problem; your discouragements are common. In this episode, we discuss these five common discouragements planters face in year one:
- Declining attendance
- Financial pressure
- Launch team leaving
- The difference between theory and reality
- Before/after church
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Some tips for new preachers.
Welcome to welcome to episode 125 of Practical Church Planting.
Preaching for the first time (or first handful of times) is exciting but nerve-wracking. In this episode, we discuss these five tips for new preachers:
- Go through it out loud
- Preach however is most comfortable
- Practice in front of people
- Have a main point
- Don't listen to one preacher
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Here are some tools to help your church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 124 of Practical Church Planting.
There are many different needs of a church. In this episode, we share seven software programs we use at New City and would recommend to others. Click the names below to learn more about each product.
- Quickbooks
- Planning Center
- Nucleus
- Storytape
- Zoom
- ProPresenter
- Adobe Suite
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What are some helpful ways to respond when people have questions about your church?
Welcome to welcome to episode 123 of Practical Church Planting. Y
When someone asks to meet because they have "questions about your church," it could be because they are genuinely curious about some things, or because they have some issues they want you to address. Regardless of the reason behind that request, in this episode we share these 6 tips to help ensure these conversations go as well as they can:
- Be upfront about your church's beliefs
- Don't pretend you're open to certain changing your beliefs or practices if you're not
- Assume the best about their intentions
- Ask them the why behind the why
- Acknowledge that faithful Christians can disagree
- Remember: love is the most important thing
No church is perfect. Here are 5 hopes if our churches in the next 10 years.
Welcome to welcome to episode 122 of Practical Church Planting.
Because none of us are perfect, that means the churches we lead will not be either. But that doesn't mean we don't do the best we can to love and lead people like Jesus. Here are 5 hopes we have for the Church in the next 10 years that we think will help us do that even better:
- More women on church staffs
- More cross-denominational/network support
- More churches planting churches
- Better online engagement
- Less politics
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Support raising can be hard. Here is how to make it a little better.
Welcome to welcome to episode 121 of Practical Church Planting.
If you are a pastor, church planter, or part of a church plant, fundraising is likely something you have to deal with. Because of that, we share these six tips when it comes to raising support in this episode:
- In-person is always best
- Don't wait until you are desperate
- Give a deadline/follow-up date
- Share wins/updates
- Give an end date to your support ask
- Don't say no for people
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It's not a bad thing for pastors to know what their people are giving financially. In fact, we think it's a good idea.
Welcome to welcome to episode 120 of Practical Church Planting.
There seems to be this idea that it is better for pastors to not know who is giving what financially to their churches. We don't agree, and in this episode, we discuss these five reasons why:
- You "look" at most everything else
- It's a huge measure of spiritual maturity
- It alerts you to issues people may be dealing with
- There is no law against it
- Your pride may be the reason you aren't
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Church planting is hard, and it might be getting harder.
Welcome to welcome to episode 119 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
It can be argued that church planting today (in America) is more difficult than it has been over the past few decades. While there are some challenges with that, there is also opportunity. In this episode, we discuss these six challenges about church planting today:
- The novelty is gone
- People are less committed to faith
- Gimmicky advertising no longer works
- Large beginnings are more rare
- People need more vision
- Church plants can't offer some of the things modern established churches can
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Want to use social media more effectively?
Welcome to welcome to episode 118 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Engaging people online through social media is vitally important. In this episode, we share seven practical things you can do to reach new people and connect with your current people better. We discuss these seven tips:
- Use yellow emojis
- What you post is more important than when you post
- Always post in 3rd person
- Avoid posting text only
- No stock photos
- Consistency over quantity
- Quality over quantity
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Here are five important things to help you in ministry.
Welcome to welcome to episode 117 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Over the past few years, Dylan has learned a few things that have really helped him in ministry. Some may be obvious, others not so much. Here is what we talk about in this episode:
- Preach in clothes you are comfortable in
- Meet with people on your time
- Set a schedule that works for you
- Let people do what you aren't good at
- Know why you need to say no
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How can we know if our church is healthy?
Welcome to welcome to episode 115 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
How can we tell if our churches are healthy and on the right track? Attendance doesn't measure spiritual growth, and church size is rarely a barometer of how healthy a church actually is. In this episode, we talk about these six ways that help show the health of a church:
- Are people increasing their generosity?
- Percentage of people in groups
- Attitude/involvement of church staff
- People inviting their friends
- Social media engagement with your church
- Percentage of people who serve
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Need ideas for your Christmas sermon series (with a breakdown of what to preach each week)?
Welcome to welcome to episode 115 of Practical Church Planting.
Need help figuring out what your Christmas sermon series should be? We are here to help! In this episode, we not only share Christmas sermon series ideas (which you can find anywhere) but also breakdown what you can preach on each week in those sermon series (which you can't find anywhere). Here are some ideas:
- Carols
- He Shall Be Called
- Uninvited King
- Songs of Jesus
- God With Us
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How can you add a second service smoothly?
Welcome to welcome to episode 114 of Practical Church Planting.
There a varying reasons why it might be time to add a second service. In this episode where share 5 tips on how you can do this transition well.
- Keep both starting times between 9 AM - 11 AM
- Have a plan before you need it
- Be proactive is possible
- Explain the WHY (no matter what)
- Make adjustments sooner rather than later
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Here's how your church can make an impact.
Welcome to welcome to episode 113 of Practical Church Planting.
When it comes to impacting your community, consistency is key. While one-time serving events are good, building relationships will bring about a bigger impact. In this episode, we share five ways you can do that through your church.
- Give Club // New City $5 Give Club
- Small group serving projects
- Monthly collections
- Local school partnerships
- Local church planting
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Why it's actually a good thing to do things on your schedule.
Welcome to welcome to episode 112 of Practical Church Planting.
On the surface, it sounds crazy, maybe even wrong, but the reality is your time matters. In ministry, with the right intentions, we will often plan things for when it is best for others. But as church leaders, that isn't actually what is best for you or your church. In this episode, we share four reasons why you should meet with people when it is best for you. Here's why:
- It's not the best use of your time
- It takes a lot longer to find times that work
- People will respect your time more
- It's easier to schedule your time
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Seven tips for healthy church plants.
Welcome to welcome to episode 111 of Practical Church Planting.
If you want to plant a church or be a church that plant churches, there are a lot of important things to do to help ensure the health of the church plant. In this episode, we share seven vital things all church planters must do.
- Don't plant alone
- Meet with as many local pastors as you can
- Be honest with where you are at
- Focus on your strengths
- Live in the moment
- Don't pretend your church is something it's not
- Share the journey
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Become easier to find online.
Welcome to welcome to episode 110 of Practical Church Planting.
Regardless of the size of your church, there are things you can do to make your church more discoverable online. In this episode, we share six free ways you can make that happen. Here is what we discuss:
- Ask for Google reviews
- Ask for Facebook reviews
- Ask your people to engage your content
- Don't only post announcements
- Create a church Facebook group
- Google Adwords
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There are advantages to being a smaller church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 108 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
It can be easier to look at larger churches and want many of the things that they have. However, there are certain strengths and things that smaller churches have that can be harder to come by at larger churches. So in this episode, we share these six strengths of smaller churches:
- Community
- Great sense of ownership
- Easier for people to get plugged in
- Higher percentage of generosity in your people
- Easier to try new things
- Pastoral care
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Here are a few great podcasts for leadership and ministry.
Welcome to welcome to episode 108 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the nine podcasts we recommend in this episode:
- Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast
- Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast
- This Cultural Moment
- Pro Church Tools
- The Bible Project
- Radio Free Leader
- Ted Talks
- Unseminary
- Listen to other pastors!
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How can we avoid becoming inflexible leaders?
Welcome to welcome to episode 107 of Practical Church Planting.
No one sets out to be a leader who is "stuck in their old ways." Unfortunately, it can happen much easier than we think. In this episode, we share five thoughts on why leaders resist change. We discuss these reasons:
- It worked in the past
- New somehow is considered bad
- It's intimidating to learn something new
- Things are broken and we don't see it
- The new idea wasn't ours
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Small things can make a big difference to first time guests.
Welcome to welcome to episode 106 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we talk about things we often unintentionally do that can make new guests feel unwelcome. We talk about:
- No parking lot volunteers/distracted parkers
- Volunteers on phones
- Dirty/unkept facility
- No acknowledgment of new people
- No/poor signage
- Rules over relationships
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What should you do when someone signs up to serve?
Welcome to welcome to episode 105 of Practical Church Planting.
A solid follow up process is crucial for getting people to serve or volunteer at your church. In this episode, we share how we do it at New City Church.
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How can we make parents feel more comfortable when dropping off their kids?
Welcome to welcome to episode 104 of Practical Church Planting.
Parents (especially new parents or families visiting your church for the first time) are extra cautious about dropping off their kids to your church's kid's ministry. This means we need to do everything we can to make parents feel good about dropping off their kids so that they can actually enjoy the service. Here are 6 ways to make parents feel safer that we discuss in this episode:
- Safety serve team members
- Restrict access to the kid's ministry
- Room safety and security
- Have a visible evacuation plan
- Tags for kids and parents
- Shirts or badges for those that are serving
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Summers don't have to be a dead period in the life of your church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 103 of Practical Church Planting.
Summers can lead to less engagement (and people) for many churches. But does it have to be that way? We don’t think so. While people may travel more in the summer, it doesn’t mean churches have to suffer. Here are five ways churches can create engagement over the summer:
- Have a live Q&A Sunday
- Don't cancel groups all summer
- Try some church-wide events
- Put as much energy, effort, and prayer into your summer Sunday's as you do the rest of the year
- Don't make a big deal about the drop in attendance
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Here are some books to help take your ministry to the next level.
Welcome to welcome to episode 102 of Practical Church Planting.
Check out these non-ministry specific books (except #4) to help improve your ministry:
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt
- Do You Talk Funny by David Nihill
- Sticky Series by Larry Osborne
- Ted Talks by Chris Anderson
- Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo
- Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuck
- Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath
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Here's what you should think about when starting a student ministry.
Welcome to welcome to episode 101 of Practical Church Planting.
When starting a student ministry (middle and high school) there are a lot of things to consider? Do you wait until you have enough students, or do you start one in the hopes that it attracts students? What should the beginning phases look like? In this episode we discuss these four things:
- Go big at the start
- Embrace the small community
- Start slow and manageable
- Don't underestimate student's spiritual understanding
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The story of New City Church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 100 of Practical Church Planting.
Interested in Dylan's story of church planting? In this special episode, we share how New City came to be, and what Dylan has learned on the journey.
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Want a connect card people will actually fill out?
Welcome to welcome to episode 99 of Practical Church Planting.
Most churches have a connect card for new guests to fill out, but there is a difference between having a good connect card and a bad one. In this episode, we share six characteristics of an effective connect card and how to get more guests to fill them out. Here is what we share:
- Have one
- Keep it minimal
- Make it visually appealing
- Is it easy to write on?
- Talk about it every week
- Give a gift people actually want
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How can we welcome first time guests in a way that isn't awkward or forced?
Welcome to welcome to episode 98 of Practical Church Planting.
How can we welcome first time guests in a way that isn't intrusive and also isn't too stand-offish? The balance can be tricky, but in this episode we share these 7 tips:
- Volunteers in the parking lot
- Acknowledge they are present from stage
- Connect card
- Give a tour
- Do not ask if it is their first time
- Signage
- In the preaching
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Church lobbies can sometimes feel awkward. They don't have to be.
Welcome to welcome to episode 97 of Practical Church Planting.
Church lobbies can sometimes feel awkward. They can feel cold, unwelcoming, and even lonely. But they don't have to. Today we share these 5 tips on how to make them feel less awkward:
- Make it smaller
- Create spaces where people can naturally congregate
- Music, please
- Don't open your auditorium doors too early
- Have a lobby greeter
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Why do people join church planting launch teams?
Welcome to welcome to episode 96 of Practical Church Planting.
When it comes to building a launch team it can be easy to think of all the reasons why people won't join you on the journey of planting a church. However, there a quite a few reasons why they will. Here are 7 we discuss in this episode:
- Community
- People want to make a difference
- Their relationship with the planter
- Feeling like they are actually making a difference
- Being part of something from the beginning
- They have their own agenda
- They were asked
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Some tips on telling better stories.
Welcome to welcome to episode 95 of Practical Church Planting.
Good communicators not only use stories but know how to tell good ones. Stories help people connect better with the communicator and makes the content more applicable. In this episode, we share these 10 tips for telling better stories:
- Personal stories are always best
- The more removed you are from the story, the less effective it is
- Story stories are second best
- Don't be the hero of the story
- Keep it short
- Use stories soon after main points
- Tell them every week
- Practice them out loud
- Never look at your notes when telling a story
- No one cares how much you know until you tell a story
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How can we talk about generosity in a way that doesn't feel forced?
Welcome to welcome to episode 94 of Practical Church Planting.
Talking about giving and generosity is important, but how can we do it in a way that doesn't feel forced or weird? In this episode, we give these 5 tips:
- Talk about giving often
- Always explain why
- Encourage people to take steps
- Celebrate what their generosity has done
- Explain the need
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Some thoughts and tips on preaching.
Welcome to welcome to episode 93 of Practical Church Planting.
Dylan is no expert, but has learned a few things from preaching every week. Here are the last four (the first for were in our previous episode) of the eight lessons we discuss in this episode:
- People laugh and connect with things you often don't expect
- Less information is more
- You have more time than you think you do
- If it looks easy, it's because it's not
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Some thoughts and tips on preaching.
Welcome to welcome to episode 92 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Dylan is no expert but has learned a few things from preaching every week. Here are four of the eight lessons we discuss in this episode:
- Experience isn't the only thing you need to get better
- Nervousness does go away (or at least greatly reduces)
- Improvement is much slower than you would hope it would be
- Humor is important
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Church growth can sometimes be a taboo subject. Here is why it shouldn't be.
Welcome to welcome to episode 90 of Practical Church Planting.
You're involved in ministry because you want to see people take steps closer to and with Jesus. Ideally, the more people that do that, the better. But yet it seems like wanting to have a growing church is sometimes seen as a bad thing. In this episode, we share 4 reasons as to why we shouldn't apologize for wanting to reach more people. We discuss:
- Price point
- What are you buying it for?
- What other equipment will you need?
- What else can you use it for?
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What can we do to help create a culture of singing at our churches?
Welcome to welcome to episode 90 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
If you are a church or ministry leader, you undoubtedly would love to see your church full of people who are engaging in worship. The good news is that there are things we can do to help our people sing. In this episode, we discuss these 7 tips in detail:
- Having genuine band members
- Limit the number of songs in your rotation
- Programmatic worship hinders singing worship
- Pick songs that have easy melodies to sing
- Pick songs that go well with the sermon
- Don't put too many songs in your service
- Keep the songs your church likes to sing
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What should you think about when buying a camera for your church?
Welcome to welcome to episode 89 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
If you're a church plant or a smaller church with a small budget, how do you go about finding a camera you can use for pictures and/or videos? In this episode, we talk about four things in particular for you to consider.
- Price point
- What are you buying it for?
- What other equipment will you need?
- What else can you use it for?
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How can we preach in a way that connects with people who aren't sure what they believe about God?
Welcome to welcome to episode 88 of Practical Church Planting.
How can we preach in a way that engages and invites seekers and those who are not Christians to listen and follow along? In this episode, we give 7 tips for doing just that. We discuss:
- Always qualify Biblical context and characters
- Explain Biblical words
- Use stories/humor/illustrations
- Tell them where to find the Biblical text you are preaching from
- Acknowledge that they are present
- Answer questions you know they are asking
- Be honest about your weaknesses
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What should you do to make sure a first time guest doesn't return?
Welcome to welcome to episode 87 of Practical Church Planting.
We all want first time guests to return. We know that when a new person returns and gets connected, that is when life change can really happen. We also know that not every new guest will return. However, sometimes people don't return for reasons we can control. So in this episode, we share 7 ways to ensure first time guests won't return to help us think through whether or not we have some changes we need to make. We discuss:
- Having no one serving in the parking lot
- Having a bad kids check in process
- Naming people from stage
- Going way over time
- Not acknowledging new guests
- Assuming everyone knows the Bible
- Preaching as if no non-believers are in the room.
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How can you make the transitions in your service go smoother?
Welcome to welcome to episode 86 of Practical Church Planting.
Every service has transitions. Transitions between songs, announcements, the sermon, videos, etc. The good news is that they don't have to be awkward. In this episode, we discuss these five tips to help your service transitions go smoother:
- Talk through your service and your transitions
- Do a pre-service run through
- Practice your transitions again if there is a mistake
- Don't point out awkward transitions
- Avoid silent transitions
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Easter is one of the largest attended Sundays of the year for churches. What are you going to do to invite new guests back?
Welcome to welcome to episode 85 of Practical Church Planting.
Many people who don't normally attend or take part in a church will do so on Easter, so what is your church going to do to invite them to return for more than just one Sunday. In this episode, we discuss these six tips:
- Actually inviting them back
- Mention your next series
- Give out invites to your next series
- Don't over-emphasize Easter Sunday
- Have a follow-up plan before Easter arrives
- Give them a tour
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Anniversary services should be celebrated. Here are a few ways you can do it.
Welcome to welcome to episode 84 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Whether it's your first anniversary as a church or your 100th, anniversary services are worth celebrating! They are also a great way to add special elements to make the service a little different. In this episode, we share six things you can do in particular to make your anniversary service unique.
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What are some pitfalls that stop churches from launching well?
Welcome to welcome to episode 83 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
In the past 3-4 years since I (Dylan) began the journey of launching New City Church, I’ve connected with a lot of hopeful church planters. Some that are leading churches that eventually launched and are faithfully impacting their communities, and some that weren’t able to get off the ground.
Now to be clear, everything is under God’s control. You could be the best leader, speaker, and disciple maker in the world, but if God doesn’t move, nothing is going to happen. When I look at how New City came to be, all I can do is marvel at the many things God did that none of us can take any credit for.
With that said, I have noticed a few reasons why some church plants don’t make it off the ground, so in this episode, we discuss four reasons in particular.
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Want more people to show up on time for your services? Here are some things you can do.
Welcome to welcome to episode 82 of Practical Church Planting.
It can be hard and discouraging to begin a service with few people in the room. While there will always be latecomers, in this episode we want to share five tips on how you decrease the number of late arrives at your church.
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Sometimes we need to hear what we don't want to hear.
Welcome to welcome to episode 81 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share some thoughts on things we see churches do that aren't a fan of. To be sure, these are simply our opinions and there aren't wrong, we just think it would be better to not do them. See if you agree or disagree with our eight opinions in this episode.
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What we learned from Exponential.
Welcome to welcome to episode 80 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are six things we learned from the Exponential church planting conference.
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Adding a service for Easter could be a great idea.
Welcome to welcome to episode 79 of Practical Church Planting.
For most churches, Easter is one of the largest attended Sundays of the year. But what should you do if you are worried you might run out of space? Or maybe you are looking forward to a packed out service, but that might not be a good thing either. So in this episode, we share five reasons why you should consider adding an extra service for Easter.
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Is it better to meet in a portable location or a permanent one?
Welcome to welcome to episode 78 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Is it better to meet in a portable space, or in space your church can have 24/7? In this episode, we share the pros and cons of both situations to help you better decide what might work better for your church.
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How do you know if it's time to end a ministry or program?
Welcome to welcome to episode 77 of Practical Church Planting.
We've all been a part of or experienced a ministry or program that went on longer than it should, but how do we know when that is? In this episode, we share five signs that show it might be time to end a ministry or program in your church.
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Why there is nothing inherently wrong with using modern tools to lead people in worship.
Welcome to welcome to episode 76 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
"If we took away all the fancy lights and only used an acoustic guitar, would people still show up? If not, that's a problem." We have all likely heard someone make a statement similar to that. But in this episode, we want to share five reasons why that is the wrong mindset to have.
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How to make sure your church planting residency is right for you.
Welcome to welcome to episode 75 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Church planting residencies are a great way to train and equip yourself before planting a church, but they are not all equal. In this episode, we share six things to think about and look for in a church planting residency to ensure it is as helpful as possible.
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Should I attend seminary online or in person?
Welcome to welcome to episode 74 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
If you're considering seminary or any type of advanced education, you may have wondered about whether online or the traditional route will be better for you. In this episode, we share a few pros and cons of online seminary for you to consider in your decision.
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Want to keep people engaged during your sermon?
Welcome to welcome to episode 73 of Practical Church Planting.
You've worked hard on your sermon, prayed, and hope what you say helps people take steps closer to Jesus. But when people aren't listening, it's hard for them to take in what is being said. So in this episode, we share five ways to help people stay engaged during your sermon.
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Sermon writing can be a lot of work. Let's make it a little better.
Welcome to welcome to episode 72 of Practical Church Planting.
While many pastors enjoy preaching, writing the sermon can be strenuous and tiring at times. Because of that, in this episode, we discuss four things you can do to help make the sermon writing process more enjoyable.
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Church membership can be tricky. Here are some tips to help it go better.
Welcome to welcome to episode 71 of Practical Church Planting.
There is a lot that goes into church membership, from assimilating members, creating a membership process, church accountability, and more. In this episode we discuss these five tips to make it a little better:
- You should have it
- A process for joining the church
- Creating expectations for members
- Being upfront about your beliefs
- Membership renewal
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A lot goes into planning a sermon series. Here are some free resources that can help.
Welcome to welcome to episode 70 of Practical Church Planting.
More goes into a sermon that just preparing its content. We also have to think of sermon series graphics, videos, bumper videos, and more. Money is tight with most church plants, and so is available time. So in this episode, we talk about these four free sermon series resources:
- Ask other churches
- Canva.com
- Church Media Drop
- Church communications Facebook page
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Ministry can be grueling, so how can we stay healthy?
Welcome to welcome to episode 69 of Practical Church Planting.
It's pretty common to hear about ministry leaders burning out or having to step out of ministry due to moral failure. In this episode, we share six ways leaders can stay healthy in ministry. We talk about:
- Not neglecting physical health
- Prioritizing family
- Creating healthy boundaries
- Planning time to have fun and relax
- Take a Sunday off
- Go to a conference/join a ministry leader gathering
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Connect better with your people with this unique idea.
Welcome to welcome to episode 68 of Practical Church Planting.
If you work at a church you have undoubtedly been asked this question: what do you do during the week? In this episode, we share a fun way to answer that question, build more trust and connection between church staff and your members, and how you can let people behind the scenes of what working at a church is like.
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A healthy marriage leads to a healthy ministry.
Welcome to welcome to episode 67 of Practical Church Planting.
One of the difficulties about being in vocational ministry is how much you have to give. You give much of your time, money, nights, and days off helping other people. While that can be, and is, a privilege and a joy, it can also be hard at times. Because of that, there are times when you can (and should) do things to help encourage your wife and ensure she isn’t being burnt out. Here are three ways you can help your wife thrive in ministry that we discuss in this episode:
- Be picky about who is in your small group
- Your wife doesn’t have to be involved in the kid's ministry
- Make sure your wife has at least one (if not more) night out with her friends a month
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Are you making some easily avoidable mistakes on social media?
Welcome to welcome to episode 66 of Practical Church Planting.
Social media is vitally important in connecting with people in our culture. In this episode, we share seven mistakes we see churches make on social media and how you can avoid them. Here are the seven problems we discuss:
- Not taking social media seriously
- Spamming people with posts
- Using stock images
- Thinking social media is only for young people
- Not asking people in your church to engage your content
- Not using consist handles across platforms
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While launching large has a lot of benefits, having a small start can be helpful as well. Here are five dangers of launching large.
Welcome to welcome to episode 65 of Practical Church Planting.
There are some great benefits of launching with a large team. However, most churches don't. So in this episode, we want to share some encouragement to the majority of small church plants and share some of the dangers of launching large. We discuss these drawbacks for large church launches:
- It's harder to establish culture
- There isn't much time to create healthy systems and structures
- It's harder to get people connected
- The post-launch drop off can be more discouraging
- You only get one shot with most people
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Do you work with your spouse in ministry? Here are some tips for doing it well.
Welcome to welcome to episode 64 of Practical Church Planting.
In ministry, and in particular church planting, there is a good chance you have or will work closely with your spouse. So today, we share 4 tips for you can work with your spouse well while also protecting your marriage. Here is what we discuss:
- Recognize where you work well together and where you don't
- Don't take conflict personally
- Don't let your marriage revolve around ministry
- Make sure it's something you both want to do
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Seminary is not a replacement for local church involvement.
Welcome to welcome to episode 63 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
It can be easy to think that being involved in a local church isn't that important while in seminary. In this episode, we talk about why that isn't true, and how not being involved in a local church while in seminary is a huge detriment to your development. Here are four reasons why:
- Everyone needs a local church Community is a command of God
- The classroom is valuable, but real life happens in the local church
- The local church provides great opportunities for learning and growth.
- You can find your ministry "gems" in the local church
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Even with the best of intentions, church planters often still have these four unrealistic expectations.
Welcome to welcome to episode 62 of Practical Church Planting.
You've planned, prayed, and talked to a lot of people. You know church planting is going to be difficult and you want to be realistic. Unfortunately, there are some things you can't really know until you've experienced it. So in this episode, we share these four unrealistic expectations most church planters have.
- How many people will come to things
- How to move people to serve, give, join a group, etc.
- Underselling the huge need for organization
- That people don't need as much training as they really do
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You shouldn't be shy about including more apologetics in your sermon.
Welcome to welcome to episode 61 of Practical Church Planting.
Apologetics (defending the faith) is not something only seminary students or professors should engage in. In this episode, we give six reasons why you should include different aspects of apologetics in your sermons. The reasons why that we discuss:
- To show you aren't afraid of Truth
- Most people won't hear it anywhere else
- Many people reject Jesus out of ignorance
- People want to be called to something
- More non-Christians will show up
- Christians will be more encouraged in their faith
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When is the best time to hold a service?
Welcome to welcome to episode 60 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Choosing when to hold a service may be a bigger deal than we sometimes think. In this episode, we talk about what the research shows and when is the best time to hold worship services.
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Want to reach more young professionals?
Welcome to welcome to episode 59 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
If you are looking to connect more with young professionals in your area and at your church, this episode is just for you. The five ways we discuss in detail in this episode are:
- Events
- Social Media
- Facility design
- Worship style
- Opportunities to serve/lead
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Launch day is a big deal. Are you ready?
Welcome to welcome to episode 58 of Practical Church Planting.
While you won't have everything figured out on launch day, it is important to have some things figured out. Particularly things that make it easier for people to connect and want to come back. In this episode, we talk about 6 things you don't want to miss. We discuss:
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First-time guests gifts are a great way to connect with first-time guests.
Welcome to welcome to episode 57 of Practical Church Planting.
First-time guest gifts go a long way in helping first-time guests feel cared for and welcomed. In this episode, we share five possible first-time guest gift ideas you can use at your church. We discuss:
- Church information
- Mugs
- T-shirts
- Gift cards
- Charity donations
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Why you should about money more, not less.
Welcome to welcome to episode 56 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Money can be awkward and intimidating to talk about, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, it shouldn't be at all. In this episode, we share four reasons in particular why you should talk about money more often. Here are the four reasons we discuss:
- Money was the #1 thing Jesus talked about
- It is good for your people to give
- Talking about money often makes it no longer taboo
- Your church needs resources to do what God has called it to do
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What would we do differently if we were to plant New City Church over again?
Welcome to welcome to episode 54 of Practical Church Planting.
As we learn and grow, we all can look back on things we wish we would have done differently. In this episode, Dylan shares four things in particular he would have done differently and would advise others to consider when planting a church. We discuss:
- Set a clear launch date
- Begin weekly gatherings soon (different than a service)
- Be super clear about giving and financial needs
- Doing more research before picking a church planting residency
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DON'T FORGET: Get access to Practical Preaching today for only $59. The price increases to $99 after Sunday, December 16.
New City Church has grown 136% from November 2017 to November 2018. In today's episode, we share five practical reasons why.
Welcome to welcome to episode 54 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
To be clear, there are a lot of factors that go into whether or not a church is growing. And growth does not equal faithfulness. Having said that, we wanted to share some of the practical reasons God has moved in New City Church the way that he has. Here are five of the practical reasons for the growth that we discuss in this episode:
- We started small
- Our people put the mission first
- My preaching has gotten better
- We have a better system of getting people connected
- We know who we are trying to reach
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GREAT NEWS: Practical Preaching releases today. Head over and get the course today for only $59. The price increases to $99 at midnight on December 17, so get in on the discount before it goes away.
In honor of our Practical Preaching course being released, today we talk about 6 preaching myths we believe.
Welcome to welcome to episode 53 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we discuss six myths about preaching we believe. Some are even ones we may not overtly think are true, but we subconsciously believe as shown in our we approach preaching. Here are the six we discuss:
- I'll get better the more I preach
- I just need to preach the Gospel
- Longer is better
- The environment doesn't matter
- I can't get ahead
- I can't preach without notes
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DON'T FORGET: On December 10 we will be releasing our preaching course called Practical Preaching. This course is created to give you practical and applicable tips to help you become a better communicator. For the first week only the price of the course is only $59. On December 17, it goes up to $99. Make plans to get in on the course before the price goes up!
Asking others to join staff by raising support is a great way to move your mission further, faster.
Welcome to welcome to episode 52 of Practical Church Planting.
Asking others to consider joining staff through support raising is a great benefit for a number of reasons. Church plants, as we all know, are often very tight on money, but that doesn't mean churches can't still have more than one staff position from the very beginning. In this episode, we discuss three reasons in particular that it is a good idea for lead pastors in particular to invite others to join staff through support raising.
- Gives others ministry opportunities and experience
- It is a low risk for the church
- It moves the church further, faster
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***DON'T FORGET:***On December 10 we will be releasing our preaching course called *Practical Preaching.* This course is created to give you practical and applicable tips to help you become a better communicator. For the first week *only,* the course only costs $59. On December 17, the price goes up to $99. So make plans to get in on it before the price goes up! Now to today's show notes below.
Putting together a plan for the year ahead is a great idea. Here is how you can do it.
Welcome to welcome to episode 51 of Practical Church Planting.
It is no secret that the better we plan, the more we can accomplish and the better the things we do will go. In this episode we share why it is important to set a plan for 2019, and give practical ways you can create one for next year,
**Connect and never miss an episode** Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or New City Church's YouTube Channel.
Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group!
To celebrate 50 episodes of Practical Church Planting, we have two exciting things to share!
First, on December 10 we will be releasing our preaching course called Practical Preaching. This course is created to give you practical and applicable tips to help you become a better communicator. More to come soon!
Second, in honor of episode 50, we are doing a FREE giveaway. We are giving away three books to one winner. To enter, all you have to do is like our Facebook page, and subscribe to our email list. We will choose a winner on Wednesday, December 5. And without further ado, let's get to our 50th episode!
Do you want you and the leadership team at your church to lead more effectively?
Welcome to welcome to episode 50 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
We all want to be better leaders. In this episode, we share six things every leader and leadership team needs to know in order to lead more effectively. Here are the six things we discuss:
- Ignore your weaknesses
- Surveys are a waste of time
- Seek permission, not buy in
- Let squeaky wheels squeak
- Let dying programs die
- Plan in pencil
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Need help knowing what to post on Facebook throughout the week?
Welcome to welcome to episode 49 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
In this episode, we share a weekly template you can use to ensure you have something to post on Facebook every day of the week. Want even better news? This posts will also lead to more interaction and engagement. Here is the schedule we discuss:
- Sunday pictures
- Message quote
- Message clip
- People of [your church]
- Fun post
- Weekend video
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There are three very important things you need to have in place for proper financial accountability.
Welcome to welcome to episode 48 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Having proper financial systems in place is crucial to the integrity of your church, as well as for your church's protection. In order to ensure money is being handled properly, you must make sure you have the right systems in place for that to happen. The three financial systems we discuss in this episode are:
- Online giving
- Who/how to handle offering
- Systems of accountability
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What are some things to think through when looking for a place for your church plant to meet in?
Welcome to welcome to episode 47 of Practical Church Planting.
Finding a place to meet is a big decision for every church. When looking for a place to meet in for your church plant, what are some things to consider before committing to it? In this episode, we talk about:
- Auditorium size
- Location
- Kids space
- The feel of the building
- Parking
- How easy is it for new people to find?
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Announcements can be given in various parts of your service. What are the pros and cons of each spot?
Welcome to welcome to episode 46 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we talk about the four main spots announcements are often given in a service. We talk about the pros and cons for all of them and even give a few suggestions for which times we think are the best.
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If you're a preacher, you spend a lot of time working on your sermon. Why not make it go beyond Sunday?
Welcome to welcome to episode 45 of Practical Church Planting.
A lot of time is spent studying, praying, writing, and preparing a sermon. In this episode, we share three ways you can get more mileage out of your effort and help it connect even better with your people. Here are three ways you can do that:
- The sermon quote
- The sermon clip
- Sermon based small groups
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It is vitally important that who we are preaching to if we want to be the most effective we can be.
Welcome to welcome to episode 44 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Understanding your audience goes a long way in helping you become a more effective communicator. In this episode, we talk about three reasons and things to think about when it comes to who is showing up at your church. We discuss:
- Why understanding who you are preaching to will determine how you preach
- That you must decide who it is you should be preaching to
- How your preaching effects who will come
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We all have misconceptions going into church planting. Today we share three of the more common ones.
Welcome to welcome to episode 43 of Practical Church Planting.
There are a number of misconceptions many of us have about church planting going in. In this episode, we share three of the more popular ones, and why they aren't what we think when we start out. In this episode, the three we discuss are:
- If I plant a "different" church than anyone else, everyone will come
- Growth is all about how good my preaching is
- That church planting gets easier over time
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Do you want to preach with fewer (or no) notes?
Welcome to welcome to episode 42 of Practical Church Planting.
As hard as it may be to believe, you can preach with minimal or no notes at all. In this episode, Dylan shares his six-month journey from using a lot of notes to using none. Here are the six tips that we discuss and you can implement to use fewer notes when preaching:
- Force yourself to take every step
- Use a standard outline each week
- Use more slides
- Commit to putting in the work
- Be ok with forgetting things
- Learn to trust yourself
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When is the best time to have your Christmas service(s)?
Welcome to welcome to episode 41 of Practical Church Planting.
Christmas Eve is the most popular time to have Christmas services, but is it the best time? In this episode, we not only share the best time of day to hold your service to reach the most amount of people, but also the day. Christmas Eve Eve (December 23) is a great time to have Christmas services for some of the following reasons we discuss in this episode:
- Very few churches are holding services at this time
- It gives people an opportunity to check out your church when they normally wouldn't be able to
- It allows people to serve/attend before the travel for the holidays
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$2 trivia night, what it is, and how you can do it.
Welcome to welcome to episode 40 of Practical Church Planting.
$2 trivia night is a monthly event we host at New City Church that has become a great place for our people to build relationships with each other and invite their friends. In this episode, we share what it is, why we started it, and how you could do something similar in your context.
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Not every decision turns out the way we would like. Here are 8 terrible decisions we have made at New City Church.
Welcome to welcome to episode 39 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share eight terrible decisions we have made in and since planting New City Church to encourage you that we all make mistakes. Sometimes bad decisions lead us to great decisions, and sometimes nothing good comes of it and you just have to move on. Here are eight decisions we have made at New City that didn't work out so well that we share in this episode:
- Church Bible reading
- Free pizza Friday
- Monthly service projects
- Family Fun Days
- Monthly launch team meetings
- Live Streaming services
- New City Media
- Finding a space to meet
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We answer your questions!
Welcome to welcome to episode 38 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we answer a few of your questions that have been submitted to us. If you have any questions about church planting and/or ministry you would like us to cover in a future episode, click here and submit them!
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The number of songs you do in your services affects more things than you may think.
Welcome to welcome to episode 37 of Practical Church Planting.
Does it matter how many worship songs you do in a service? In this episode, we talk about how the number of songs you sing impacts who you are going to reach, what the desired goal of your services are, and who will even show up at your church? There is no "right" amount, but understanding what you want to accomplish in your service goes a long way in deciding the number of songs you will do.
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Following up with first-time guests is vitally important. This resource will make it easier.
Welcome to welcome to episode 36 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
There are many different methods and ways to follow up with first-time guests. In this episode, we talk about Text In Church, which is the program we use to follow up with and connect with first-time guests at New City Church.
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Connecting college students to your church doesn't have to be a mystery.
Welcome to welcome to episode 35 of Practical Church Planting.
If you are near a college or university, you probably desire to impact those students with the Gospel. In this episode, we share five ways you connect with and involved college students in the life of your church. Here is what you can do to connect with more college students:
- Be relevant to them
- Recognize them
- Go to where they are
- Invest in them financially
- Give them significant roles to play
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Did you know there are many free options of kids curriculum that you can use at your church?
Welcome to welcome to episode 34 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share four free options of kids ministry curriculum you can use at your church. We also discuss some tips and give advice about what to do when it comes to kids ministry in general. The four kids ministry curriculum we discuss are:
- The Zoo
- Messages from Monsters
- Life Church Kids Curriculum
- Children's Ministry Deals
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If you have a church service, you have to plan it. Here is a blueprint for how you can plan and prepare your services every week.
Welcome to welcome to episode 33 of Practical Church Planting.
In this episode, we share the service planning blueprint we currently use at New City Church. From how we create our sermons, pick our songs, add any creative elements, and work to avoid the "why didn't we think of that?!" that can happen after your weekend services.
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We all want to preach (and hear) clearer sermons. In this episode, we'll share a sermon template that will help you do just that.
Welcome to welcome to episode 32 of Practical Church Planting.
We all want sermons that are clear, applicable, and help us see who Jesus is. But it can be hard to do that every week with various Biblical texts and topics. In this episode, we share a sermon template we've been using at New City church that helps us keep our messages clear and consistent regardless of sermon series, topic, or Biblical book. Here is the breakdown of the template:
- Create a tension
- What do they need to know?
- Why do they need to know it?
- What do they need to do?
- Bottom Line
- Why do they need to do it?
- How does the Gospel speak to this?
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Insta-stories are a great way to share with people what is going on at your church. Here are five tips to make them even better.
Welcome to welcome to episode 31 of Practical Church Planting.
Insta-stories area great tool for people to see what is happening at your church and for you to give people a sense of what it would be like for them to join you. In this episode, we share five tips that you can use to make your insta-stories more effective on Sundays. They are:
- Do 5-10 insta-stories, but no more than 10
- Take different types of pictures
- Make different types of posts
- Make it look like something is going on
- Use volunteers
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Service run-throughs can help your service(s) run way smoother.
Welcome to welcome to episode 30 of Practical Church Planting.
Going over your service before it's actually time for your service is a great way to get out the kinks, get everyone on the same page, and eliminate many of the surprises that could have happened during your service that you didn't expect beforehand. Even if you don't think you have enough going on in your service to "need" a run-through beforehand, in this episode you'll find why they are so important. We discuss:
- What a talk-through is
- What a run-through is
- Why it's important no matter how complex your service
- How to make sure your sermon slides are also done well
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There are two main reasons often given as to why churches get stuck at certain growth barriers. We share a third that may be hard to hear.
Welcome to welcome to episode 29 of Practical Church Planting.
As churches grow, there are certain times and growth barriers that they can get stuck on. Why do churches get stuck? Two main reasons are often given; they need to create better systems and process, and those that have been a part of the church find it difficult to see things changing. Those are two real and legitimate reasons. Today we share a third, and it has to do with poor leadership. Let us explain!
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Longer sermons aren't somehow better simply because they are longer. In fact, it could have the opposite effect.
Welcome to welcome to episode 28 of Practical Church Planting.
Longer sermons aren't more spiritual or better just because they are longer. In fact, going too long can actually hurt what you are hoping to accomplish. In this episode, we share 3 benefits of shortening your sermon.
- It keeps people engaged
- It keeps you focused
- It keeps you realistic about your abilities
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Church announcements aren't anyone's favorite. But they don't have to be awful either.
Welcome to welcome to episode 27 of Practical Church Planting.
Church announcements don't have to be the worst thing in the world. In this episode, share 4 tips to help your announcement slot go better during your services. Here are the tips we share:
- Keep them short
- Have 2-3 announcements max
- The 80% rule
- Don't put them at the end of your service
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or New City Church's YouTube Channel.
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Having information new visitors need most on the homepage of your website is vitally important.
Welcome to welcome to episode 26 of Practical Church Planting.
The people who visit your website the most are not the people in your church, it is people interested in visiting your church. Because of that, your homepage needs to have information that they need the most right away. Here are the three things we discuss in this episode:
- An "I'm new" or "plan a visit" tab in your header
- Service times
- Location
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Live streaming your services can actually have the opposite effect of what you are going for.
Welcome to welcome to episode 25 of Practical Church Planting.
There are good reasons to live stream a service, but we believe live streaming your services as a church plant can be and often is a bad thing. Why? Here are four reasons we discuss:
- Bad quality is bad for your church
- People aren't going to Facebook for long-form videos
- The cost/setup to live stream
- The poor return on investment for church plants trying to live stream
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or New City Church's YouTube Channel.
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Church planting should never be done alone. Let us a give you a few reasons why.
Welcome to welcome to episode 24 of Practical Church Planting.
Church planting is hard. We all need help and encouragement along the way. In this episode, we share four reasons why you should join a church planting network and/or a denomination. Here are the reasons we discuss:
- Accountability
- Resources
- Having a Tribe
- Mentoring
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Facebook Live is one way your church can connect and engage with more people. We've got some tips to help you utilize it more effectively.
Welcome to welcome to episode 23 of Practical Church Planting.
If you want to be more effective and engaging with Facebook Live, it takes more than winging it. In this episode we share 3 tips from what we have learned to help you utilize Facebook Live better. We discuss:
- Creating engaging content
- Why video quality matters
- Consistency is key
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Have a desire to plant churches but not be the lead planter? There is a (much needed) role for you to play.
Welcome to welcome to episode 22 of Practical Church Planting.
It takes a lot of people with different talents and gifts to plant churches. In this episode we talk about how you can be involved in church planting even if you don't want to preach every week or be the main visionary. There is still a much needed part you can play. We discuss: * How church planting isn't a one man job * How visionaries need people to implement ideas * How God wants us to utilize our specific giftings and experiences
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or New City Church's YouTube Channel.
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We all want to preach better sermons. Here are 6 tips to help us do just that.
Welcome to welcome to episode 21 of Practical Church Planting.
Here are the 6 things we discuss to help you preach better sermons:
- Know what you are going to say
- Practice what you are going to say out loud
- Too short is better than too long
- Don't start with a welcome
- Know your bottom line
- No one cares how much you know until you tell a story
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Want to reach more people with engaging content? In this episode we give you three resources to that will help your church do just that.
Welcome to welcome to episode 20 of Practical Church Planting.
It can be confusing and overwhelming trying to navigate how to communicate clearly what is going on in your church and also trying to stay on top of what it looks like to engage people online. When everything seems to change so quickly, what should you do? In this episode we share three resources that are particularly helpful in giving tips, advice, and ideas in how to do it. We talk about:
- Brady Shearer with Pro Church Tools
- The Church Communications Facebook group
- Gary Vaynerchuk
Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Sermon based small groups are a great way to run your groups. Here's how you can do them.
Welcome to welcome to episode 19 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
In this episode, we talk about how to do sermon based small groups and why they are so helpful for your church. We talk about:
- How to make it easy for people who missed the weekend service to still follow along
- The types of questions you should create
- How to make it easy for your small group leaders to facilitate
- How it helps people pay more attention during the message in your weekend services
Never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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You're starting the process of planting a church. That's great! Here's why you shouldn't start Sunday gatherings right away.
Welcome to welcome to episode 18 of Practical Church Planting.
When you are in the early stages of raising money, building a team, and sharing your vision, there is also a desire to start meeting on Sundays right away. We would caution against that. We explain why in this episode.
Engaging content is king. We've got two strategies you can implement this week on Facebook to help your church be more engaging.
Welcome to welcome to episode 17 of Practical Church Planting.
Consistent, engaging content is crucial to helping your church reach new people. In this episode, we share our two most engaging posts (in terms of likes, comments, and shares) that we post every week on Facebook. The good news? You can also begin using these this week. We talk about:
- Posting pictures from your weekend services and how we do it
- People of New City: what it is and how you can do it.
Never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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We all want to be more productive. The good news? There is something you can do that will help do just that.
Welcome to welcome to episode 16 of Practical Church Planting.
Ministry can be hard and unpredictable. However, it can be at least a little bit more predictable than we think. In this episode, we talk about what a block calendar is and how to use it. Here are the benefits and "how-tos" that we discuss:
- It makes you more productive
- It helps you feel (and be) more accomplished
- Helps other people respect your time
- Give yourself breaks in your schedule
- Adjust when necessary
- Set your schedule ahead of time
Never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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First time guests are great, but what can we do to connect with them and significantly increase the likelihood they will return?
Welcome to welcome to episode 15 of Practical Church Planting.
Weekly tours of your meeting space following your service(s) is a fun and great way to connect with first-time guests. In this episode, we explain why that's the case, and how to do it. We discuss how:
- It's unexpected
- It's fun
- It allows you to share some of your mission and vision
- It allows new people to meet each other
- It helps people familiarize themselves with your space (which is important even if it is small)
- Those a part of your church will know that when they invite their friends, there will be a space to ask any questions
Never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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What if you could impact your community in a big way every month without having to increase your budget? You can, with the $5 Give Club.
Welcome to welcome to episode 14 of Practical Church Planting.
The $5 Give Club is a great monthly outreach idea that doesn't cost the church any extra money and is something your people will love to get behind. In this episode, we share what it is, why you should do it (or something similar) and how you can make it happen. We discuss:
- How it increases generosity
- How people get to see the impact they made every month
- How people who are not part of your church can (and in our case have) participate
- How your people will love it and be proud of their church
- How it increases your outreach potentially without having to spend extra money or creating more systems
Never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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We all want to grow our small groups ministries (whatever you may call them), however, we believe multiplying groups is not the best option.
Welcome to welcome to episode 13 of Practical Church Planting.
It sounds counter-intuitive and seems to go against most of the advice we hear about small groups, but in this episode, we give you 5 reasons why multiplying small groups may not be the best thing for your groups ministry to grow and thrive. We also share our approach at New City. Here are the 5 reasons we advise against multiplying groups:
- It breaks up continuity
- It doesn't allow for deep relationships to develop
- People today need friends and friendships are hard to develop if you are always splitting groups apart
- It penalizes healthy groups
- Multiplying groups is extremely hard to do well, and very few churches do it successfully
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Should you have membership at your church? In this episode, we focus on the practical (not theological) reasons why membership is good for churches.
Welcome to welcome to episode 12 of Practical Church Planting.
While we would encourage membership from a Biblical perspective, it also has a quite a few practical implications as well. In this episode, we talk about how it helps you:
- Explain your mission and vision more effectively
- With accountability among your people
- Know who is truly committed
- Financially
- Because people desire to be a part of something
- Create ownership for your people
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Before your service begins, you should be intentional about when you open the doors to your auditorium.
Welcome to welcome to episode 11 of Practical Church Planting.
Keeping your auditorium (worship center, sanctuary, etc.) doors closed until a specific time before you service starts is a great idea, and share how we do it at New City Church. In this episode, we discuss a few reasons why you should try it:
- It creates energy
- There is momentum in movement
- People are more likely to sit next to each other
- It makes people talk to each other
- People are more likely to connect with someone
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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It may not seem like you need parking lot volunteers, but in this episode, we explain why they are so important.
Welcome to welcome to episode 9 of Practical Church Planting.
There are a number of reasons why having volunteers in your parking lot helping to park cars is vital to a great guest experience. Here are some of the reasons we discuss: * It creates energy
- It shows you are prepared and expect people to arrive
- It's unexpected for non-church goers
- It helps people feel welcomed right away
- It creates fun
- It can help you sell your mission to your team
**The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning** Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Every church needs more volunteers, but how do we balance that need with the need to make sure things are being done well?
Welcome to welcome to episode 9 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Even though all churches, and especially new churches, need all the help they can get. There is wisdom is still having a high bar of what to expect from volunteers. Here are some of the reasons why that we discuss in this episode:
- People notice straggles
- People will self-select out
- People want to be called to something greater
- First-time guest experience is huge
- Growing churches take this seriously
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Should you actually put out fewer chairs than you need for your weekend services? In this episode, we share why that is actually a good idea.
Welcome to welcome to episode 8 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Putting out fewer chairs than you need and then adding them as your seats fill up is really counter-intuitive. However, it's actually something you should do. In this episode, we talk about why you should and how you can do it. Here are the why reasons we discuss:
- It creates momentum
- People will actually sit together
- People will sit up front
- No one likes to stand
- Saving seats look bad to new guests
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Small groups, community groups, life groups, etc. Whatever you call them, how do you start a strong groups ministry at a church plant?
Welcome to welcome to episode 7 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Launching groups in a new church is hard. We did something we called Dinners for 6that allowed us to launch multiple healthy groups from the beginning. In this episode we talk about:
- Why starting groups as a church plant is hard
- Dinners for 6 are laid back and do not require a big commitment
- We connect better over a meal
- People will then sign up for a group with their dinners group
- It's an easy place to invite friends.
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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What should you do and what does it look like to meet with and grow your launch team prior to launch?
Welcome to welcome to episode 6 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
What should you do in the months leading up to launching a church? It's a critical time to build relationships in and grow your launch team and to prepare for the start of the church. In this episode, we talk about:
- Creating a consistent time to gather your team and invite new people
- Building momentum closer to launch
- Not holding formal church services before launch
- Have a defined timeline
- How far out to start meeting
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Raising money is a big part of planting a church. But what about raising money not just for your church, but also your salary? And if your not the lead pastor, can you raise support too?
Welcome to welcome to episode 4 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
Raising support can be very intimidating, but it's something everyone can do. It's also a great way for a church plant to afford multiple staff positions even from the very beginning. In this episode, we talk about:
- Asking in person is by far the best, followed by a phone conversation, then sending out support letters
- When making the ask (in person or on the phone) make your ask and then don't say anything
- Send a monthly update to all of your supporters
- Ask for a specific time period, we recommend one year or two at the most
- Give people a deadline to respond to your ask by (not too far in the future)
- Remember: people give to relationships and those they trust
- Don't say "no" for people
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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Everyone puts the scripture being taught from the sermon on your screens so everyone can follow along during the service? But is there a better idea? In this episode, we share why you should consider taking your main Bible passage(s) off your screens.
Welcome to welcome to episode 4 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.
There certainly is no right or wrong way to do it, but a New City Church, we don't put up our main Bible passage on the screen during our services. Here are the reasons we share in this episode:
- Non-Christians know for sure that we are reading/teaching from the Bible
- It encourages people to open up and actually read the Bible for themselves
- Some people will be opening up the Bible for the first time in their lives
- It's less intimidating for people who actually want to follow along in a Bible/device
- It helps keep people's attention
- People can read it again during the message
- When you put that page number on the screen, no one is embarrassed about trying to find the passage
The show releases every Monday and Thursday morning Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe:
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What does it mean to contextualize to who you are trying to reach, and why is it important? In this episode, we share how you can and should contextualize the Gospel to impact God has called you to reach.
Welcome to welcome to episode 3 of Practical Church Planting.
When it comes to contextualizing to our target, we need to understand that we cannot reach everybody. Instead, the more specific we can be on who we are trying reach, the more effective we can be. In this episode, we talk about:
- How you can't reach everyone
- Why young families are the default for many church planters
- How to find your target person
- We share who the "target" is for New City Church and what that means for us.
How can you use social media to connect with people and grow your church? Welcome to welcome to episode 2 of Practical Church Planting.
Social Media is a great tool that can help people discover you, learn about your church, and connect with you before they ever visit. Below are some things to consider, and what we talked about, in this episode.
- Have a social media presence and functioning website prior to launch
- Have consistent (i.e. the same) social media handles across all major platforms
- Post consistently so people know you are active and actually doing things
- Recruit people in your church to help
- Don't just post about upcoming events, offer value in your posting as well
- We also share what New City Church currently does on social
A lot goes into naming a church, but what specifically should we be thinking through when it comes to church names? In this episode, we share some very important, but commonly overlooked, aspects that should influence your decision.
When it comes to naming our churches, we need to be discoverable by people online. No one goes anywhere new these days without checking it out online first. This is especially true for a first-time guest visiting your church. Because of that, here are some questions to think through to make it as easier as possible for people to be able to find you online:
- Does a widely known North American Church have this name?
- Does a well-known church in your state have this name?
- Can you find social media handles and a website URL that all match?
- Is your church name in English (if you are an English speaking church)? Greek and Hebrew are great, but it is much harder to spell correctly and remember.