Church Changer

We cannot afford to ignore the AI revolution. Generative AI has passed fringe and fad status and has brought widespread disruption. Church leaders should view AI as an opportunity to embrace. Joining us is early adopter and entrepreneur, Kenny Jahng, to help us understand AI and strategize how church leaders and pastors can leverage AI to spread the Gospel and elevate our ministry.

Too often conversations about race and diversity only happen on the heels of tragedy. As churches, our goal must be to make the pursuit of diversity a part of our culture. To keep the conversation ongoing. To keep hands open and hearts filled with empathy. Wayne Francis, Lead Pastor of The Life Church in New York provides practical steps for you and your church to become a part of the solution as agents of reconciliation and change.

How do you navigate the natural tensions between church leaders and the staff creative team? Leaders push for results, while creatives push the envelope and sometimes all you end up with is frustration on both sides. Executive Pastor, Ben Stapley, shares clear tactics to build better team dynamics, minimize communication gaps, and increase effectiveness.

Talking with and about our LGBTQ+ friends can generate fear and anxiety for church leaders. It's a conversation that's deeply personal, highly emotional, and often confusing. How do you welcome people with open arms, showing grace, while remaining anchored in the truth of scripture? Art Pereira, Director of Community Care for Revoice, offers us a guide for loving the LGBTQ+ community.

Is the church experiencing the Great Resignation… of volunteers? It's time to rethink how you recruit, retain, and reward your volunteers. Pastor Kayra Montanez shares how the church must invest in its people and envision them to use their gifts to serve others.

Is your church staff weary, distracted, and depleted? Those of us working in ministry too often feel we are just getting by with no capacity for extra: surviving not thriving. Let 2023 be the year you invest in and improve the emotional health of your staff. Liquid Church's Discipleship Pastor Mike Lee offers a pathway to cultivate healthy spirituality and relationships at your church!

Your vision requires provision! Every church should launch a Christmas Offering Campaign by Thanksgiving. Hosts Tim Lucas and Lauren Bercarich offer a step-by-step guide on how to make this happen. Our guest, Nithin Thompson, Lead Pastor of City Alliance Church, shares his story of success.

It's time for churches to adopt a 21st Century model where online and in-person ministries work together seamlessly. Dave Adamson, author of MetaChurch, maps out how ministries of all sizes can effectively use technology to reach more people and make disciples. Learn how your church can extend its influence far beyond the walls of a building.

After the summer slump, it's time to recall your congregation, engage young people, and attract new guests by launching strategic community outreaches. Get practical advice on launching successful outreaches for the Fall and Christmas seasons that match your timeline, budget, and goals. Liquid Church's Outreach Director Kristin Flynn prepares us to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Successful small groups build real community, but to pull this off you must invest in strategic small group campaigns, offer virtual and hybrid group options, and equip and energize your group leaders. Fall is coming, the time for action is right now! Liquid Church's Groups Director Danielle Botelho gives practical advice on how to improve your small group systems.

Thousands of Protestant churches are plateaued or declining, while other congregations nearby thrive. Warren Bird helps us explore an approach to combine forces and spark a revitalization through ministry mergers.

Make your sermons more appealing and grow your church with a strategic preaching calendar. Hosts Tim Lucas and Lauren Bercarich share how to address people's needs while capitalizing on seasonal trends and rhythms in American culture. In this episode, we will walk through planning a preaching calendar for an entire year - going month-by-month to provide you with a clear map for the year ahead. Ultimately the goal is that we want to cooperate with and not compete with the calendar. Cooperating with the calendar means taking into consideration holidays, vacation patterns, the start of the school year, and much more. At the same time, you also need to understand people's needs, habits, and behaviors, which are also seasonal. This is crucial for meeting people where they're at.  To craft the best preaching calendar, you also need a multitude of distinctive voices and viewpoints around the table. Lead Pastors - you will be grateful for the creative ideas your colleagues bring to the conversation. This will make your life easier and your sermons better! Listen in for your month-by-month preaching guide! If you're a church leader looking for practical advice and real tools to help you get your job done and reach more people for Christ, Church Changer is for you. Join co-hosts Tim Lucas (Lead Pastor, Liquid Church) and Lauren Bercarich (Digital Director, Liquid Church) as they interview special guests, spotlight awesome churches, and share proven strategies in an easy-to-understand and approachable manner, so you can put them into practice at your church. We're sitting on a hinge point in history and the way we “do church” has forever changed. Together, let's push past organizational pain points and rip the lid off your leadership! New episode drops the first Tuesday of every month. For Leader Guides and to learn more about the Church Changer Network, go to ChurchChanger.com. Tim Lucas: Tim loves cheerleading for and collaborating with other churches! As the founding and Lead Pastor at Liquid Church in NJ, Tim is happy to share his learnings (the wins and misses) so others can increase their impact. Lauren Bercarich: Lauren's roots are in journalism and her heart (and current day job) are in ministry as the Digital Director at Liquid Church! She loves telling good stories and equipping other churches with practical tools that reap real rewards. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at Info@ChurchChanger.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/churchchangers/ (@ChurchChangers ) Check out our website at https://churchchanger.com/ (ChurchChanger.com) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/church-changer/id1614691860 (Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts) Plus… if you enjoyed the show, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Women should be the backbone of your strategy for re-building the post-pandemic church. The problem is, women hold only 10% of church leadership roles. Liquid Church's Pastor of Campuses and Teaching Pastor Kayra Montanez shares 3 best practices to empower female leaders. Best Practice #1: Upgrade Your People Practices: Here's one way to do that... offer a Flexible Schedule. A flexible schedule can look like offering work from home days, respecting guardrails around work hours, and offering flexible hours that accommodate personal appointments. It's understanding that kids get sick, schools close even when offices are open, and women are owning most of the “juggle.” What you communicate with a flexible schedule is TRUST. Learn more about why this matters and hear from our hosts what it looks like in practice! Best Practice #2: Be A “Door Opener” For Female Leaders: This is about 2 things: Putting females in positions that stretch them as leaders; and simultaneously mentoring them through it. The mistake churches make is they shy away from putting women in positions of influence and then they make it even harder for women to gain access to coaching or mentoring. But, there are women in your churches who have killer marketplace experience who could have a tremendous impact on your ministry Best Practice #3: Create A Culture Where Women Can Lead: Well, if you want to understand the holdup to a culture of female leadership, you have to understand the pushback. And the pushback for women comes from two categories: the “stained glass ceiling” and the “sticky floor”.  Credit to Kadi Cole for coining both terms. The stained glass ceiling represents things that aren't in a woman's control because they're not in charge. For example, equal pay for equal work or equal titles for equal work.On the other hand, the sticky floor represents “the attitudes and learned behaviors that women do to themselves that keep them from growing in their leadership abilities.” The sticky floor is different for every female… and when we take the time to uncover them, you can unleash your female leaders! If you're a church leader looking for practical advice and real tools to help you get your job done and reach more people for Christ, Church Changer is for you. Join co-hosts Tim Lucas (Lead Pastor, Liquid Church) and Lauren Bercarich (Digital Director, Liquid Church) as they interview special guests, spotlight awesome churches, and share proven strategies in an easy-to-understand and approachable manner, so you can put them into practice at your church. We're sitting on a hinge point in history and the way we “do church” has forever changed. Together, let's push past organizational pain points and rip the lid off your leadership! New episode drops the first Tuesday of every month. For Leader Guides and to learn more about the Church Changer Network, go to ChurchChanger.com. Tim Lucas: Tim loves cheerleading for and collaborating with other churches! As the founding and Lead Pastor at Liquid Church in NJ, Tim is happy to share his learnings (the wins and misses) so others can increase their impact. Lauren Bercarich: Lauren's roots are in journalism and her heart (and current day job) are in ministry as the Digital Director at Liquid Church! She loves telling good stories and equipping other churches with practical tools that reap real rewards. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at Info@ChurchChanger.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/churchchangers/ (@ChurchChangers ) Check out our website at https://churchchanger.com/ (ChurchChanger.com) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/church-changer/id1614691860 (Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts) Plus… if you enjoyed the show, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

If you want to stay relevant, the future of your church is hybrid. Hosts Tim Lucas and Lauren Bercarich explore 3 key ways to get your church's digital properties and strategies in shape to set your ministry up for success. Hack #1: Host a blog on your website and reverse engineer your content: A blog is a great tool for SEO and bringing new people to your website. The trick is to create a blog focused on what people want to read about, not what you want to talk about. Compelling blog content can drive new visitors to your website. Learn how to create content people are searching for! Hack #2: Start advertising on Google for FREE: When we talk about promotion, marketing, or advertising, the common hurdle most churches face is their budget. That's why “free” is so valuable! Learn about Google Ad Grants specifically for nonprofits, which could result in $120,000 of free advertising for your church each year!  Hack #3: Rename your videos on YouTube: Most churches already have a YouTube page, but they're not putting their best foot forward or following best practices. One of the most important things you can do is write your YouTube titles and descriptions in a way that's designed for search... after all, YouTube is actually the second largest search engine in the world. We'll tell you how! If you're a church leader looking for practical advice and real tools to help you get your job done and reach more people for Christ, Church Changer is for you. Join co-hosts Tim Lucas (Lead Pastor, Liquid Church) and Lauren Bercarich (Digital Director, Liquid Church) as they interview special guests, spotlight awesome churches, and share proven strategies in an easy-to-understand and approachable manner, so you can put them into practice at your church. We're sitting on a hinge point in history and the way we “do church” has forever changed. Together, let's push past organizational pain points and rip the lid off your leadership! New episode drops the first Tuesday of every month. For Leader Guides and to learn more about the Church Changer Network, go to ChurchChanger.com. Tim Lucas: Tim loves cheerleading for and collaborating with other churches! As the founding and Lead Pastor at Liquid Church in NJ, Tim is happy to share his learnings (the wins and misses) so others can increase their impact. Lauren Bercarich: Lauren's roots are in journalism and her heart (and current day job) are in ministry as the Digital Director at Liquid Church! She loves telling good stories and equipping other churches with practical tools that reap real rewards. We'd love to hear from you! Email us at Info@ChurchChanger.com Follow us on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/churchchangers/ (@ChurchChangers ) Check out our website at https://churchchanger.com/ (ChurchChanger.com) https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/church-changer/id1614691860 (Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts) Plus… if you enjoyed the show, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review wherever you listen to podcasts!

Take two minutes to meet Tim and Lauren and hear the vision for Church Changer. It's our goal to collaborate with church leaders and make your life easier by offering practical advice and real tools to help you get your job done and reach more people for Christ.