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In this interview, Spencer Dalke talks with senior research associate Lionel Young about how the global church reshapes our understanding of faith, mission, and Christian unity. Young challenges the assumption that Christianity is primarily a Western movement, highlighting instead how the gospel is advancing through diverse cultures worldwide. He explains how engagement with the global church can expose blind spots in Western theology and offer fresh perspectives on issues like community, suffering, politics, and social responsibility while pushing believers back to Scripture for deeper clarity. Young presents the global church as a gift that calls Christians toward humility, partnership, and collaboration, encouraging Western believers to move beyond an American-centered mindset and join with the worldwide body of Christ in a shared mission to bring the Gospel to all nations. The historic church as a global community. Understanding global church unity vs. secular multiculturalism. Applying four gifts of a global church to our church life in America. “What I'm not saying in this is that engagement with the global church changes our theology. I'm saying it requires us to refine our theology in that we go right back to Scripture for a better understanding of our theology.” Featured work: “Every Church Needs the Global Church” Connect with Lionel Young on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Cambridge Center website. For more faith-filled, Gospel-centered content, download the Pilgrim Radio app today on Google Play and Apple, or stream at PilgrimRadio.com.
Most church finance reports put people to sleep, but they don't have to. In this episode, Scott and A.J. walk through three financial reports every church should be sharing with its congregation, including one that almost no church is currently doing. These reports go beyond the standard budget line items to give leaders and members a clearer, more motivating picture of where the church stands financially and where it is headed. Scott Ball and A.J. Mathieu are the co-hosts of the Church Revitalization Podcast, produced by the Malphurs Group, a consulting and coaching ministry dedicated to helping churches become healthier and more effective. Scott serves as the President of the Malphurs Group, and A.J. is a ministry consultant and coach on the team. Together they bring practical, research-informed guidance to pastors and church leaders each week. [2:37] Report 1: The Giving Trend Report and what it reveals over time [7:09] Report 2: A fresh approach to presenting your church budget [12:55] Report 3: The Giving Units Report that most churches are not tracking [15:29] Why showing giving unit trends on screen can be powerful for the congregation [18:45] How to close your financial report with transparency and encouragement Free 7-Day Trial: https://healthychurchestoolkit.com Episode Article: https://malphursgroup.com/343 Facebook: https://facebook.com/malphursgroup Instagram: https://instagram.com/malphursgroup YouTube: https://youtube.com/themalphursgroup X: https://x.com/malphursgroup
1. Groups that primarily Disciple• Primary engagement is spiritual growth• What their felt need is, Spiritual Void.• Team responsible—Spiritual Formation Team2. Groups that primarily Connect• Primary engagement is Serving.• What their felt need is, Value.• Team responsible—First Impressions or Serving Teams3. Groups that primarily Send• Primary engagement is causation.• What the felt need is, Make a Difference• Team Responsible—Mission Team4. Groups that primarily Care• Primary engagement is support.• What their felt need is, Vitalization.• Team responsible—Care & Recovery Team ★ Support this podcast ★
The Great Commission - The Call of Every Church emphasizes that making disciples is not a task for a select few but the mission entrusted to every believer and every local church. This sermon explores God's heart for the nations, the church's responsibility to proclaim the gospel, and the call to participate faithfully in evangelism, discipleship, and global missions.Series: Firm Foundation - The Heart of Our FaithSpeaker: Benjamin MathewScripture: Various ScripturesSermon: 11Notes: https://1drv.ms/b/c/2d96a468bbf967d6/IQCDM_UNN3YJQZoRi8ynCPUkAZd0cYaCBWaTZzYQ8b7kuPs?e=mOxbYX
May 31, 2026 At the end of the Matthew’s Gospel, we receive our orders as the disciples of Christ and Church members. Our mission as a Church is to make disciples by baptizing and teaching everything Christ has commanded. Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20
This week on Family Policy Matters, host Traci DeVette Griggs welcomes Erica Spivey, Senior Director of Training and Church Mobilization at Baptist Children's Homes of North Carolina, to discuss their new initiative to equip churches to care for the nearly 11,000 children in foster care across the state. Learn more about Every Child, Every Church
Building From Burdens - Study 24 Nehemiah 11:1-24 People The Church Needs Nehemiah 11 presents a powerful portrait of the kind of people every church truly needs—willing, working, worshiping, watchful, and faithful individuals who embrace their role within the spiritual community. Far from a mere list of names, the chapter reveals a diverse body of believers, each fulfilling distinct yet essential functions: leaders who lead by example, courageous men and women who stand for truth, diligent ministers who prepare for service, joyful worshipers who begin thanksgiving in prayer, vigilant watchmen who protect holiness, and humble servants who labor unseen. The passage underscores that God's work advances not through spectacle or numbers, but through ordinary people surrendering their comfort, convenience, and self-interest to live in the holy city of God's presence. It challenges every believer to examine their own posture: are they merely spectators, or are they committed to stepping into the city, serving with purpose, and honoring Christ in every role, no matter how small? Ultimately, the chapter calls the church to recognize that every person, regardless of visibility or gifting, has a vital place in God's design, and that true spiritual vitality arises when all are faithfully fulfilling their God-ordained purpose.
Every follower of Jesus has been given something — a spiritual gift that the church desperately needs. In Part 2 of our series on Word gifts, we explore three of the most misunderstood gifts in the body of Christ: Leadership, Shepherding, and Evangelism. What does kingdom leadership actually look like? Who carries the shepherd's assignment? And why does evangelism make so many church people uncomfortable? This message is an invitation to stop sitting on the sidelines and step into what the Spirit has entrusted to you.
What if the reason your church isn't growing is that you're fighting against who you actually are? In this episode, we tackle one of the most misunderstood topics in church planting and church growth: the power of owning your church's brand. We explore why contextualization that's celebrated on the mission field gets criticized in the local church, and what the New Testament actually says about picking a lane and reaching a specific people. Whether you lead a small church, a multisite, or you're in the early stages of planting, this conversation will challenge how you think about mission, identity, and sustainable church growth. New one-day events for pastors and church leaders every quarter at breakinggrowthbarriers.com.
Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by Ronee de Leon, Executive Director of Partner Church Success at TouchPoint Software. With nearly two decades of ministry experience and now serving churches across the country, Ronee brings a unique perspective at the intersection of systems, strategy, and shepherding. Are you relying on attendance and giving numbers to understand your church? Wondering how to actually “see” your people as your church grows more complex? Ronee shares a practical framework for turning data into meaningful ministry action. You can't shepherd what you can't see. // One of the biggest challenges Ronee sees across churches is a lack of visibility. While most churches are passionate about reaching people, many rely on high-level metrics—attendance and giving—that only tell part of the story. As churches grow (especially beyond 300 people), intuitive leadership alone is no longer enough. Leaders can't be in every room, and without deeper insight, they miss critical moments in people's lives. The result is a gap between what leaders think is happening and what's actually happening in people's spiritual journeys. From data to discipleship. // Ronee emphasizes that data itself is not the goal. Rather, discipleship is. The opportunity for churches today is to transform raw data into actionable insight that helps people take meaningful next steps. Instead of just knowing how many people are in groups, leaders should be asking deeper questions: Who is still engaged three weeks in? Who dropped off halfway through? What patterns are emerging in people's participation? These insights reveal where discipleship is thriving and where it's stalling. The four stages of data-driven discipleship. // To help churches think clearly about this process, Ronee outlines a simple framework: conviction, collection, clarity, and care. Conviction asks whether leaders truly believe data collection matters enough to prioritize it. Collection focuses on consistently gathering meaningful data, not just sporadically. Clarity is the ability to interpret that data, moving from information to insight. And finally, care is where action happens – using those insights to connect with people and shepherd them effectively. Every church, she notes, is somewhere along this progression. Where most churches get stuck. // Many churches struggle in the gap between collection and clarity. They gather data but don't translate it into meaningful action. Data becomes a warehouse rather than a tool. The shift happens when leaders move from asking “What happened?” to “What does this mean and what should we do next?” This requires intentional conversations, regular review rhythms, and a willingness to engage with the data rather than ignore it. Drifting is the key moment to watch. // One of the most important indicators Ronee highlights is disengagement. When people begin to drift—missing groups, serving less, or disengaging from community—it often signals deeper issues. Behind that drift could be doubt, divorce, depression, diagnosis, or financial stress. Without visibility, churches miss the opportunity to respond. But with the right systems in place, leaders can proactively reach out, offering care at the exact moment it's needed most. From surveillance to stewardship. // Data collection isn’t surveillance, but rather stewardship. When used correctly, data enables pastors and leaders to care for people more effectively. A simple phone call or conversation, prompted by data, can change someone's trajectory. Ronee shares examples of pastors identifying disengaged individuals, reaching out, and discovering significant life challenges—leading to holistic care that addresses spiritual, emotional, and practical needs. Culture matters more than tools. // While technology plays an important role, culture is the starting point. Churches must first align around why data matters. Without that shared conviction, systems will fail regardless of how advanced they are. Teams need clarity, support, and accountability to consistently engage with data. Leaders must normalize conversations about it by reviewing insights in meetings, celebrating wins, and integrating it into everyday ministry rhythms. Measuring what really matters. // One of the most important shifts happening today is moving beyond weekend attendance as the primary measure of health. Many churches are discovering they are actually ministering to two to three times more people than their weekend numbers suggest. This broader view changes how leaders think about staffing, engagement, and discipleship pathways. It also raises a deeper question: are we promoting participation, or are we cultivating transformation? To learn more about TouchPoint Software and access the free church health assessment, visit touchpointsoftware.com/unseminary. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. You know, we say here at the podcast that it’s like stuff you wish they taught in seminary. And 100% know that today’s topic is one of those that they’re not talking about in seminary, but for particularly my executive pastors, senior leader type people that are listening in, you think about this almost every single day. And your team interacts with it multiple times a day. And it’s something you’re gonna wanna lean in on for an incredible conversation today with Ronee de Leon. She is the Executive Director of Partner Church Success at TouchPoint Software. If you do not know who TouchPoint Software is, you have been living under a rock. It’s a church management and engagement platform that serves churches across the country. She brings over 18 years of experience working in and alongside ministry, combining strategic systems, thinking with a deep heart for shepherding. TouchPoint, this is an incredible organization, has a mission for helping churches transform their data into discipleship, and they really talk a lot about engagement. And so we really want to dive in with this today. Ronee, thanks for being here. Thanks for being on the show.Ronee de Leon — It’s my pleasure. It’s great to be back, Rich. Thank you.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good to have you back on. Slightly different context, but same kind of conversations, but glad to have you back on. Why don’t you bring us up to speed? Tell us a little bit about the Ronee story and tell us a little bit about TouchPoint. How’s all that work together?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I have been on a journey. Anybody following the Lord, I feel like is on a fun adventure with Jesus. And I have definitely felt that in the last couple of years. I’ve been at TouchPoint for a little less than two years. But before that, I was at a large multi-site mega church based in Columbus, Ohio, and just grateful for the way that the Lord pivots us in our journey when it’s time. And so I had the opportunity to move from serving one church to lots and lots of churches across the country. And I just, it’s such a privilege to serve the bride of Christ in the way that we do at TouchPoint, like you said, through technology, but it’s so much more than that.Rich Birch — Yeah. and I want to take advantage, friends, I want to take advantage of the with the fact that Ronnie’s here. You see churches across the country. You’re working with churches across the country. You have a great experience. And friends, if you’re listening in today and you’re like, oh, like we already have a system like this, I want you to listen in because we’re not we’re not here to sell you on anything. We want to have a bigger conversation, ask some bigger questions, to help you wrestle with and think about this issue, but frankly, to take advantage of your position TouchPoint because you see so much. Rich Birch — When you think about the landscape of churches, when they’re looking at, you know, particularly the leaders, we’re thinking about executive pastor type person, when they come to actually knowing their people, where are their people are at at their church, Where what does a landscape look like for us on that front? How do we know kind of the people in our church? How do we get a sense of who are they? What are they do and how are they engaging with us?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I love the church, Rich. I recently have been kind of working through the language with the Lord of, I think the calling on my life is to be the best maid of honor to the bride of Christ that I can be. So it’s such a unique vantage point… Rich Birch — I love that. Ronee de Leon — …at TouchPoint serving churches all over the country, like you said. The church has a lot of passion and we’re doing a lot to reach people. But some things that I see are that we still have visibility gaps and why that matters is because churches cannot shepherd what they cannot see.Rich Birch — So true.Ronee de Leon — And so we we’ve got a lot of people in our care, but if we’re just taking ministry snapshots instead of understanding meaningful steps as people take their discipleship journey, we’re still struggling with visibility into what’s actually happening in our church.Rich Birch — Wow, I’m looking forward to digging into that. I know many of us, ah you know, I like to call it the nickels and noses issue. Like we know, in fact, probably 100% of the pastors that are listening in today, they know how many people attended last weekend. And they probably know generally where things are at on the revenue side, particularly, hopefully on the expense side too. But that’s just a really high level, maybe not that helpful, if I hear what you’re saying. Where does the picture start to break down when all we see is these two? If if if we’re just looking at these two numbers, how does that kind of limit our ability? I like that, you know, to see our people, to ultimately disciple them.Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say there is a ton of opportunity to transform data into discipleship. And when we stay high level, we’re missing the opportunities that double clicking into those things would allow us.Ronee de Leon — Like you said, with an attendance example, we know how many people are in groups. Sometimes that’s roster based. Churches really are getting into this might know what their retention rate is, you know how many people actually are staying in groups over the course of the season. But like if we keep clicking and keep drilling into this, there is the ability for us to understand as people are engaging in these groups and disengaging from these groups. Ronee de Leon — You know, who’s still connected. three weeks into the season, six weeks into the season, 12 weeks into the season, and who’s not? And why did they fall off? And so there is a high level view that’s helpful year over year, season to season. But again, we’re missing a lot of discipleship opportunities by not drilling down into this to kind of these personal levels.Rich Birch — Yeah, well and I can imagine as particularly as our churches grow, I think ah there’s a lot of leaders in the church that are like really intuitive leaders and they like to kind of like get in a room and like, I can feel this thing. I just know how it’s going. But as the church grows and becomes you know, more complex, that’s harder to do. You can’t, you just can’t, you can’t get in all the rooms. There’s, there’s, you can’t be in more than one place at once. If you have multiple locations, you can’t do that. And so how, as that happens, what are the kind of maybe questions that you see leaders asking that that doesn’t work anymore though? They can’t get answers out of that. They want answers for that, but they just can’t get it. What, what are those? Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say, Rich, intuition is God-given…Rich Birch — Right. Ronee de Leon — …but feelings are fleeting, right? Rich Birch — So true.Ronee de Leon — I’m a big believer in facts are our friends. So we’ve we’ve got to have the data and make data-driven decisions. But I think the questions that leaders are are trying to answer that sometimes they can’t with those feelings. In my experience, it feels like the breaking point of visibility is around like that 300 mark. If your church is growing to or above around 300, your, your staff’s eyes just can’t see everything anymore on a weekend.Ronee de Leon — And so the questions that I think we want to answer that we, we lose visibility to as we grow and bigger churches obviously suffer from this as well, but we want to know who’s new. We want to know who’s stalling in their discipleship journey. We want to know who needs care, who’s drifting. And, that’s the part, Rich, that I think is is really important. Because when people are drifting from something that they were previously engaged in, it’s probably the things of life that they’re going through that we, the church, are responsible for caring for them and connecting with them, shepherding through.Ronee de Leon — You know it’s it’s a bunch of Ds, Rich. It’s doubt. It’s divorce. It’s depression. It’s diagnosis. It’s economic duress. It’s disgruntlement. It’s distraction. It’s all of these things that we can’t see if we’re not double clicking. But but we want to know who’s drifting. We want to know who needs care and we want to show up in a timely mannerRich Birch — Okay, that’s fantastic. I love the D list as well. Good, great preacher. Lots of Ds there. I love it. So let’s double click another D on this this. I know you have a framework to help churches wrestle through this, to to actually you know get beyond just these kind of high level to undersee, both see these people and understand them, move them along. Do you want to kind of talk us through this framework? Give us a high level over and then maybe we’ll kind of dive into pieces of it.Ronee de Leon — Yeah, let’s alliterate some more. Rich Birch — Love it.Ronee de Leon — Like I said, I was on church staff for a long time. Rich Birch — Yes, exactly. Ronee de Leon — It feels like it’s more memorable, right? Rich Birch — Yes.Ronee de Leon — So um this is a really simple framework that really is more stages. It’s a progression. But even though it’s simple, whether they know it or not, every church is in one of these stages when it comes to data-driven discipleship.Ronee de Leon — And so four kind of C’s of this or stages are conviction, collection, clarity, and care. And I’ll just give a brief description of each of those…Rich Birch — Yeah. Ronee de Leon — …and then we can go dive in a little bit deeper.Ronee de Leon — But conviction, really the question that we’re answering here is, do you truly believe this matters even when it’s not easy? So leaders believe that shepherding is important, but do we want to move into doing it proactively? And are we comfortable using data as a tool to do that well? So that’s kind of the conviction piece. Do you really believe that this matters?Rich Birch — Yep.Ronee de Leon — Collection then, are you committed to consistently gathering the data that’s needed? Not just once, but as a rhythm. It’s hard work, but it is a worthy cause, a valiant effort.Ronee de Leon — Let’s move to clarity real quick. Rich Birch — Yep.Ronee de Leon — Again, the question we’re answering is, now that you have the data, do you have the insight? Do you really see what it’s telling you and what are we doing with it? Ronee de Leon — And then the last one, care, of course, is where we’re acting on the insights to connect with our people. Will you actually act on the insights and shepherd people or will it stay theoretical? That’s that’s kind of where we’re headed with this.Rich Birch — Okay, that makes sense. So again, so that’s conviction, collection, clarity, and care. I’d love to talk about collection a little bit. So I think our churches would love to collect data. And in fact, I know there’s lots of leaders that are listening in that are like, they’re like, yeah, that sounds right. I would love to get more data. I’m just not sure how to do that. How do we build a system for collecting that data, for getting, you know, even the things you talked about, people dropping out of groups, you know, not just people rostering, but like, how do we, how do we do that? What’s the starting point for collecting data?Ronee de Leon — To be honest, I think the starting point is your culture. Rich Birch — Okay. Ronee de Leon — I think that this is often an upstream problem when we think it’s a downstream one. I think that we think people just need to follow up or just be more regular about it. But if we don’t have a strong culture around why we gather the data and what we’re doing with it, there’s just a lack of clarity with the team. So I think culture really matters as a starting point. Of course, we can get into…Rich Birch — That’s good.Ronee de Leon — …of of how to collect it. But I think we have to start there.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s a good insight. Because I can see where, yeah, we have to even just at a high level, is this a is this a conversation where we’re willing to have, want to have, want to be a part of, and we’ve got to deal with it, like you say, upstream rather than, okay, let’s dive into the actual tool first. Let’s figure out you know how important this is. Rich Birch — But my experience…I’m going to play a little bit of devil’s advocate on this question. Hopefully you can take it Ronee. Our relationship can sustain that. Ronee de Leon — Yeah.Rich Birch — But like, I feel like churches collect more data that they than they use. Like I I’ve bumped into churches where they’re like, yeah, we’ve got this data, but we’re not actually doing anything with it. What’s the difference between a church that does that? Like that just sitting on data, not using it. And one that actually can gain some clarity from it. What’s the pivot between collection and clarity? How do we do that?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, the difference is data and discernment. A church that’s collecting information knows what happened, but a church with clarity understands what it means and what to do next. And like you said, we’ve got to be willing to talk about it. We have to spend the time to translate it. It is a pivot. That raw data is is rarely helpful. And um to what do they say to to push back on your pushback?Ronee de Leon — I am surprised as I deal with churches, how many of them don’t have all the data. I think sometimes we make an assumption that above a certain size, they just collect group data and they take attendance and that’s what they do.Ronee de Leon — Or our volunteers check in or our kids and students check in regularly and they’re excellent at it. I find that that is actually less frequent of a case than than I think you or I would hope to believe.Rich Birch — Okay, that’s cool. Well and so again, I said, we weren’t going to be like selling TouchPoint, but I do want to understand kind of your unique position on this issue. How is TouchPoint accelerate… because to me, I think the model turns here on this collection clarity issue. It’s like, man, we’ve got a, we have to use technology to enable us to collect data. And then that And then have some sort of intermediating technology that helps us gain better clarity on that. Talk us through where is TouchPoint’s kind of expertise in these these two parts of the four Cs?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say that TouchPoint obviously helps with collection. We’re a church management software with some unique features that are going to help you get um an intuitive kind of collective view of people’s engagement.Ronee de Leon — So we offer things like engagement scores, which which not a lot of church management softwares have kind of baked into it. We want you to understand that overall participation and be able to see what level at what levels people are engaged and as they’re disengaging. There are ways to do that and and other softwares, but TouchPoint does have some unique kind of approaches to that built into the software.Ronee de Leon — I would say another piece to this that kind of separates us is we have a team of consultants and those consultants are not only partnering with churches as they’re kind of getting up and running in TouchPoint to learn how to use the system.Ronee de Leon — We’re kind of ministry consultants. We often, just a couple of weeks ago, I had a church in Texas approach me and say, you know, we have a lot of great people on our staff, but to be honest, a lot of them have transitioned from the marketplace. We don’t know what we don’t know. What processes should we have? What should our baptism process look like?Ronee de Leon — And so we have a whole team as part of our TouchPoint team that sits with churches and helps strategize around ministry philosophy and best approaches. And so I’d say that’s another place where we we kind of shine in the space. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great.Ronee de Leon — Everybody in the space wants to see the church win. Everybody has good hearts. And I can only speak to the team that I’m on. And these guys, they really counted a privilege to serve the church.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s, that’s amazing. Like, and and you can see, you know, a church when this is done well, when you have got a solution like TouchPoint at the core of what you’re doing, it ends up touching all of your processes. It doesn’t surprise me that a church like that would reach out and say, Hey, like, can you help us work through because you start to see the value of like, man, if we can embed this into the core of what we do, we get a better, like you say, it’s not just like, oh, look, we get a good engagement score. It actually helps us minister to people better. It actually helps us to, and so it makes sense to me that you find yourself in increasing conversations that are obviously related to technology. They they have a, for lack of better word, a touch point to technology, but they are, they’re also, you know, other kind of related systems in the church. Rich Birch — So obviously, ultimately, this all points towards care, maybe paint a bit of a vision for us, maybe think of a church that’s doing this well. That’s like, hey, here’s some of the telltale signs that they’re actually following through that they’re, yes, they’ve got, they’ve at a high level kind of culture, they’ve got this conviction. Yes, we’re going to do that. They’re, they’re finding lots of places to collect data that doesn’t seem intrusive. They’re ultimately gaining some clarity on that. And that’s translating into real world care. Give us some, a few pictures of what does that actually look like when you’re like, oh, that’s working well.Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say um one of the best kind of tells of this is we hear less and less stories of people disengaging and nobody knew and they were hurt by that. We missed an opportunity to care for or connect with them when those things of life came up.Ronee de Leon — You know, it’s as simple sometimes as a phone call or a text, a conversation on a weekend when when the data is showing you that this person has been disengaging or not around, to to just reach out and say, hey, how you doing? You know, this is not um surveillance. This is stewardship. This is this is caring for our people. Ronee de Leon — And there’s a story out of the church where where I used to work that I love and I still tell just because of the multifaceted kind of piece of the engagement that came out of it. So a campus pastor who was using data really well saw an individual in his church on a list of people who were disengaging. And so he reached out and he learned that this individual had lost his job that was causing doubt in his faith. And he was actually beginning to struggle with some depression. Rich Birch — Wow.Ronee de Leon — You know, if we play that scenario out, if we never saw that, we didn’t reach out, what happens to that guy? You know, the story could have looked very, very different.Ronee de Leon — But because that pastor was able to use the data for the purposes of discipleship and make that connection, we we saw him and connected him. We were able to address his physical needs. You know, there was some assistance the church could provide or or point him to. We were able to help with mental needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs. There was pastoral care and Christian counseling. And so, so many different ways that we were able to engage and and and walk alongside this individual. Like I said, the way I think the church wants to and should be, but we maybe would have never known about that individual if we hadn’t had the indicator ah because of the data.Rich Birch — Yeah, so you something you said there caught my attention. I'm like, oh, we got to loop back around on that. The example used there, you talked about the campus pastor type person. They had like a disengagement report. There was like the system ended up generating, hey, here’s a list of people. I’m assuming by what you said, here’s some people who you know I you should connect with.Rich Birch — Talk to me about how that happens. I I I'm not like I’m not putting down any other solutions out there. I’ve worked in a number of them. I have not had that experience where it’s like, hey, these are some people you should talk to. Talk to me about how TouchPoint actually does that. What does that look like at at the level of a church? How how do we get to the point where we’re using this well enough that we can have a report like that, that we could actually take action on? That’s incredible.Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say um it comes down to consistency in some ways, right? You build some reports in your system. TouchPoint has a lot of unique reporting that we can do to surface that data for you. But no matter what system you’re using, I would say if you and your team aren’t using some something as simple as absentee report of some sort, people who have been missing three or more consecutive weeks from groups or something like that.Rich Birch — Volunteering, yep.Ronee de Leon — I mean you can start there and and it’s really that easy. But there are more complex ways to understand rather than the arbitrary, I want to call everybody who’s missing three weeks, understand as personal participation patterns change. And that is a really unique approach to it. Rich Birch — Wow.Ronee de Leon — And I would say it does take a software like TouchPoint or even one that TouchPoint just partnered with called Path we’re getting into seeing those personal participation patterns and that’s where I think we get into some secret sauce and just be able to show up in a really timely manner.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s incredible. Like being able that that to me, friends, okay, I’m just going to stop pretending like I’m not biased. Like I’m biased. You should be checking out TouchPoint. But like the the I was I tried. I held for almost 20 minutes. I tried to be the the but the unbiased, you know, second voice or whatever. Rich Birch — But but I think a part of the all of these systems have, for years, have like, this is the thing that’s all been talked about. Like, this is going to be amazing. But actually what they end up doing is being, they they’re just like warehouses of data. Like it’s just, it’s just a big list. It’s basically a complex spreadsheet of people’s names. And that’s not helpful. That doesn’t actually help us. And the the vicious cycle I’ve seen with my team is our people, our people people, the people that actually interact with our folks, they don’t see the value in this helping them. So then they don’t end up interacting with the tool and giving data and all of that stuff because they’re like, well, this doesn’t actually help me do my job. So why am I interacting with it? What I love about TouchPoint is we’re saying, hey, how do we get to the to the idea of a personalized path, a personalized understanding of where people are at? That’s, you know, that’s incredible.Rich Birch — So you’ve worked with lots of churches, hundreds of churches, and, you know, lots all across the country, great, lots of different contexts. What trends are you seeing right now that church that are helping churches think about engagement differently than maybe a few years ago, that things that are like, okay, this is, you know, kind of the cutting edge stuff we we should be thinking about, you know, in the in the future, what are some things we should be looking at?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I’m really grateful that in the last few years, I think there has been started to see a shift, at least in churches moving from simply gathering the data to asking what they can do with it. How can we actually leverage this for discipleship? I think churches are taking that more seriously. It even used to be a little taboo for churches to gather data. That’s not the case anymore. And and I’m grateful for that.Rich Birch — Right.Ronee de Leon — I see that moving in a really positive direction. I’m seeing churches being willing to evaluate their technology stack, which I think is really important. Again, we’ve been gathering the data long enough long enough.Ronee de Leon — If it’s not useful, what are what are we doing? What are we doing with it?Rich Birch — Right. Why are we doing this?Ronee de Leon — And so yeah, understanding is our technology really serving us well and as a tool exactly for those people you just mentioned. Your people people, your pastoral people, is it quick and easy and getting them to their people more quickly? Ronee de Leon — And then even the idea of decisions being made around data about specifically the actual size of our ministry. I think this has been said for years now, pre-COVID it was true. Now it’s it’s even more true. Weekend service numbers don’t tell the whole story… Rich Birch — Right. Ronee de Leon — …of who is in and around our ministry pond. And we have to understand that and start making decisions around that.Rich Birch — That’s so true.Ronee de Leon — Or in those spaces, how are we discipling them towards the importance of the weekend service and that gathering? And so, I’m just seeing some things shift in that area as well. Executive pastors don’t love this conversation, Rich. I’m just going to throw that out there. Because a lot of our staffing ratios are based on weekend service attendance numbers, but we’re actually serving. The patterns that I’m seeing are somewhere between two and a half to three times that number of people in our ministries.Ronee de Leon — So there’s there’s a lot of movement in the world of data, but those are some of the things that are kind of surfacing that I think is really helpful and productive for churches.Rich Birch — Okay, I want to, I would like I said, I was want to take advantage of your expertise. An area that, speaking in this whole this consistency issue, hey, how do we keep our people engaged, keep our staff, our volunteers, key volunteers engaged in um collecting data and, you know, ensuring that they’re engaging with the tool. What have you seen as best practices either on the front end, like, hey, when we’re rolling out a new system, if we’ve, if we’ve switched, say, for instance, if you’re listening in and you want to switch to TouchPoint, what are some best practices on that front or just ongoing to keep our people using this? How do we, how do we, yeah, what’s what’s best practice on that front?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, what you’re kind of hinting towards is a little bit around change management and the stick-to-it-ativeness around that, right?Rich Birch — Yes, yes.Ronee de Leon — There is a leadership coaching company that I’ve worked with in the past that talks about to achieve anything, you need clarity, support and accountability. And I’m a really big believer in that clarity. Again, we’ve talked about what are we doing? Why are we doing it? Support is do we have the tools and the training to make that happen?Ronee de Leon — The biggest lacking piece that I see often in church world is the accountability side. Rich Birch — Right.Ronee de Leon — You know, we we wrestle with the idea of grace and truth. And a lot of times we want to lean really heavily into the grace side of things. I think there is a huge opportunity for accountability to be reframed in church world. It doesn’t have to be a drop the hammer approach. Rich Birch — Sure.Ronee de Leon — You know, it’s seeing people do the right thing and helping them continue to do that. So I would say if you don’t have all three of those pieces, you’re probably going struggle to achieve just about anything. And the part, like I said, that I see really, really with area for opportunity in the church world is that accountability piece.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s great. Any that I think that’s a clear framework. That’s like the cost of the price price worth the price of admission of today’s episode right there.Rich Birch — Clarity, support, accountability. That’s fantastic. On the accountability side, how do we do that? What what what are some ways to, ou know, I’m thinking carrot and stick. It’s like I can we’ve celebrated where it’s like, hey, look at this person. This department’s doing a great job with this. How how else are should are have you seen churches that are particularly effective at driving that kind of consistency, driving accountability? What are they doing to ins ensure or that that’s, you know, that’s actually happening in their organization?Ronee de Leon — Yeah. Casting the vision of this being stewardship, I think really matters. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Ronee de Leon — You know, there’s a verse in Hebrews that talks about, your church leaders will be accountable to the Lord for the people they’re shepherding. And so I think really, casting the vision around stewardship as part of that. But then practically it can’t be weird to talk about it.Rich Birch — Right.Ronee de Leon — You know, let’s talk about it in department meetings. Let’s talk about it and celebrate in staff meetings. Let’s bring it up in one-on-ones. Pull the technology up with the people that you lead and look through the lists and say, what are the stories? How are things going? You know, how can I support you as you move this forward? But I just think it can’t be weird to talk about.Ronee de Leon — So between taking the stewardship side seriously and just starting to incorporate it into every conversation, every meeting, if it matters to us, and it does. It does because people are the mission of the church, right? How do we just continue to build that culture around it?Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s so good. So you’ve put together a great resource that I want to make sure, if you’re listening in friends, you’ve invested almost 30 minutes here, you need to jump on this resource, like super helpful: the church health assessment. Talk us through what is this tool? How will it help? Why should we jump on board? You know, what what what kind of conversation could it help us with but with our team even this week?Ronee de Leon — Yeah. The church health assessment is looking at five widely accepted kind of industry benchmarks to understand how your church is comparing to those. So like we talked about earlier, this could give you a starting place to understand, according, you know, based on those benchmarks, how is your church doing? How are a few of these ministries doing? And then it’s, it’s probably going to highlight somewhere specific for you to start drilling into and double clicking on. So, that assessment is going to be at TouchPointsoftware.com/unseminary. Rich Birch — Ooo, look at that. Ronee de Leon — Like I said, it’s going to take you, if you’ve got the data, which is part of this conversation, right?Rich Birch — Yeah.Ronee de Leon — But if you know the numbers, it’s only going to take you two or three minutes to get these five key areas kind of benchmarked to understand how your church is performing compared to those accepted benchmarks.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s amazing. Like, again, friends, I would love for you to check that out. We’ll put a link in the show notes to that. Thanks for doing that. What a great gift, tool for people that are listening in. That’s super helpful. I appreciate that. I think I can see where this kind of thing could be super helpful for us, even to have like a bit of a leadership conversation around, let’s do it and then talk about it together. It’s a good conversation. Rich Birch — So taking a step back, if I’m if i’m an executive pastor or senior leader who’s listening in, and I feel like I’m constantly, or we’re mostly reacting. We’re constantly reacting to problems at our church. You know, we’re not getting ahead of this. We’re not seeing kind of data but as it, you know, we’re not developing, like you say, ahead. We’re just, it’s stuff happens and then we you react. How could we use data to help us get ahead of that rather than, you know, just reacting all the time? What’s one of the first areas we should look at and consider as a church?Ronee de Leon — Yeah, I would say that a simple place to start is kind of revisiting this framework of conviction, collection, clarity, and care. And ask yourself, what C is my church stuck on? Where are we stuck in this journey? And dive in there, ask the questions, reach out to another church who maybe is doing this really well. But that’s where I would say, practically, I would ask yourself, where are you on this kind of progressive journey of data-driven discipleship?Rich Birch — Yeah, so good. This has been a fantastic conversation. If you were, I’m going to get one more last question in for you here. What’s one question you wish every church leader who’s listening in today would would ask about their church that almost nobody’s asking right now, that’s thinking about this area, that’s thinking about like, hey, what are we, you know, here’s a question I wish we were thinking about that we’re not thinking about today.Ronee de Leon — Yeah, churches are asking a lot of good questions. And I love this topic. I’m passionate about data-driven discipleship.Rich Birch — Love it.Ronee de Leon — But I think the question behind the question behind the question kind of comes down to: are we promoting participation or are we cultivating transformation? And that’s what I hope that we’re asking through this kind of sea of data and everything that we’re we’re looking at. The core of things. Are we promoting participation or are we cultivating transformation for the people of our churches?Rich Birch — Well, this is fantastic. There’s a ton we could talk about on this front. This has been helpful conversation for us today. Friends, I want to encourage you to take the church health assessment. Give us that address again that we want to send people to.Ronee de Leon — It’s going to be at touchpointsoftware.com/unseminary.Rich Birch — Great. Well, you can do that right in your phone right now. We’d love for you to go and check that out. We’ll put a link to that. Anywhere else we want to send people online, Ronee, if they want to track with TouchPoint or maybe we’re sitting in today and we’re thinking, you know what, maybe we should relook at this area. I’m not super happy with what’s going on with our, you know, church management software. Where do we want to send them online to get more information and about what what you guys do?Ronee de Leon — Go ahead and just check out touchpointsoftware.com. I would recommend you get a demo. Like I said, it’s kind of a conversation that churches are having right now, evaluating their tech stack. If you haven’t looked at it in a while, just take a look, maybe just look around and we would love the opportunity to connect with you and demo TouchPoint for you. So that same website without the backslash, get a demo and we’d we’d be just thrilled to have a conversation with you.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s that’s good. Friends, I just want to endorse that. I think that’s a great next step for lots of our churches that are listening in today. Listen, friends, your team spends a lot of time in this in this tool. Whatever you use on this front, they spend a lot of time on it. It’s worth a sober second look. It’s worth, if you haven’t looked at this in a while, to take a step back and say, hey, let’s take a look at this again. And TouchPoint would be a great one to for you to to to take a look at and say, hmm, I wonder if maybe we should be looking at a change.Rich Birch — So Appreciate that, Ronee. It’s so great seeing you again. I’d love to have you come back on in the future. I’m sure there’s more we could talk about, but thanks for being here today.Ronee de Leon — Sounds good. Thank you, Rich.
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What if the reason your church isn't growing is that you're fighting against who you actually are? In this episode, we tackle one of the most misunderstood topics in church planting and church growth: the power of owning your church's brand. We explore why contextualization that's celebrated on the mission field gets criticized in the local church, and what the New Testament actually says about picking a lane and reaching a specific people. Whether you lead a small church, a multisite, or you're in the early stages of planting, this conversation will challenge how you think about mission, identity, and sustainable church growth. New one-day events for pastors and church leaders every quarter at breakinggrowthbarriers.com.
Pastor Ricky Gravley- A sermon preached Sunday Evening, on April 5, 2026.
Search free creative resources and you'll find endless options - most of them terrible. We tested hundreds of sites, downloaded the assets, and built a curated list of free stock photos, fonts, and music that are actually reliable and high quality. ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:08 - Kaboompics 8:31 - New Old Stock 13:30 - Sunday Screens 14:22 - Wonderhunt 16:03 - Iconify 20:34 - Zapsplat 26:15 - DrawKit 28:49 - QR Code Generator IMPORTANT LINKS - Kaboompics: https://kaboompics.com/ - New Old Stock: https://nos.twnsnd.co/ - Sunday Screens: https://sundayscreens.com/samplepack - Wonderhunt: https://www.wonderhunt.co/films - Iconify: https://iconify.design/ - Zapsplat: https://www.zapsplat.com/ - DrawKit: https://www.drawkit.com/ - QR Code Generator: https://www.qr-code-generator.com/ THE 167 NEWSLETTER
Message from Pastor Bryan Lamb on March 8, 2026
Every Church Needs a Guy Like Hur by Pastor David Goodson
Churches say they want hard conversations. They say they're ready to change. And then the STM arrives. Part 2 of the STM roundtable with Roger Sparks and Harv Roosma moves from the structure of this ministry into the raw material they actually work with: human nature. Forgiven, being sanctified, still human. People talk, Roger says plainly, as long as they sense you're going to agree with them. The real work begins when you don't. The surface issues vary — declining attendance, unaddressed conflict, gender disagreements, councils stretched thin, vision that's gone fuzzy. But underneath almost all of it is the same thing: a trust deficit. When trust breaks down, everything else follows. And Jason, who has watched more church conflict than most as a stated clerk, names the failure mode he's seen destroy congregations: when councils start deciding what to share and what to control, the congregation already knows. Trust, once lost, is very hard to get back. The antidote isn't a program. It's the thing Roger keeps coming back to — talk to each other instead of about each other. Pray for each other, not just about each other. Harv talks about the profound satisfaction of preaching on forgiveness, feeling the pushback from people who aren't sure they want to go there, and watching something break open. Roger talks about the honor of being trusted with someone's pain. Both talk about the same miracle: you walk in as strangers and leave as friends. When Dan asks what settled pastors can do to protect their churches, the answers are disarmingly simple — be honest, go talk to people yourself, don't give anyone a stick to hit you with, love your Bible, love your people, practice humility over flash, keep vision sharp, and address things before they fester. **Timestamps:** - 0:00 — Intro - 1:06 — Harv: trust building before the hard questions - 2:20 — Roger: human nature — people talk as long as they think you'll agree - 2:51 — The goal: not agreement, but understanding - 3:27 — When trust is the core problem - 4:13 — Common issues: communication (Roger) - 5:57 — Harv: declining attendance, gender conflict, leadership gaps, unaddressed issues, vision ambiguity - 8:13 — Jason: communication and trust as the underlying root - 9:11 — How to work through a trust deficit - 10:34 — "Pray for each other, not just about each other" - 11:28 — The joys of STM ministry - 12:40 — Harv: the joy of walking a church through forgiveness - 13:20 — Roger: the honor of being trusted with someone's pain - 14:42 — "You come as strangers, and through the miracle of the gospel, you leave as friends" - 15:36 — What can settled pastors do to protect their churches? - 16:23 — Roger: be honest, go talk to people, love the Bible and love people, humility over flash - 18:31 — Harv: clarify vision, gospel focus, train leaders, address issues - 19:49 — Communication deep dive: council transparency - 22:39 — Jason: when councils control the narrative, trust evaporates - 23:40 — Harv: listening groups and solution thinking - 26:25 — Roger: don't treat STM as a stigma - 27:09 — Harv: we have so much to celebrate; God is doing great things - 28:13 — Jason: if God is calling you to STM, reach out to Roger, Harv, or PCR Join and support us on Substack: https://themessyreformation.com/ Intro music by Matt Krotzer
Join us every Sunday at 10am at River of Life church in Guilderland, NY Find us online at facebook.com/riveralbany or riveralbany.com. Podcasts of the Sunday message can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, YT music, or Soundcloud.
Hi everybody! Please check out my NEW podcast, Every Church Flourishing at www.EveryChurchFlourishing.com or podfollow.com/ecf. Don't miss the earlier BeachCast.tv episode in THIS feed about Kid Rock Vs. Bad Bunny and Progressive vs. Conservative Christians. On this inaugural episode, hosts Dr. Chase Thompson and GCA Assistant Director Pastor Chris Cole discuss the importance of ministry TOGETHER, and interview the directors of the Great Commission Association of churches located in North/Central California. Rational Ministry Topics covered: Interview with the senior directors of the Great Commission Association, including Dr. Mike Stewart, Dr. Se J. Won, Pastor Christopher Cole and School Superintendent Ms. Lanette Lazano. A move of God at a local church in Salinas, California that took the pastor by surprise. Free ProPresenter program called FreeShow: https://freeshow.app/features Review of FreeShow, a free alternative app to ProPresenter Living in Indonesia and visiting Singapore for medical care as a missionary. Great prayer resources Crazy, Beyond The Pale. Topics covered: Chupa Chups Bubble Gum Soda Tasted and Reviewed on a scale of 1 Spurgeon (gross!) to 5 Spurgeons (The Prince of Sodas!) Medical Halitosis. Keywords church, ministry, community, Great Commission Association, COVID-19, church support, church leadership, podcast, church flourishing, relationships, Building Community in Ministry, Navigating Church Leadership Changes Summary In this episode of the Every Church Flourishing podcast, hosts Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase Thompson discuss the importance of community in ministry, share personal experiences from recent church services, and explore the impact of COVID-19 on churches. They interview the senior directors of the Great Commission Association (GCA), highlighting the organization's role in supporting churches and fostering relationships among church leaders. The conversation emphasizes the value of collaboration and the need for churches to work together to flourish in their mission. takeaways Community is essential in ministry, as Jesus sent disciples two by two. The Great Commission Association is a diverse network of churches. Healthy churches adapted more quickly to COVID-19 challenges. Relationships in ministry foster support and collaboration. GCA provides resources and care for churches in need. Personal experiences in ministry can be deeply impactful. Humor can play a role in connecting with church members. Church attendance has significantly changed post-COVID. The importance of being on mission together cannot be overstated. Every church has the potential to flourish with the right support. titles Building Community in Ministry The Role of the Great Commission Association Sound Bites "We are a phone call away." "We are a family of churches." "We are a mission agency."
Hi everybody! Please check out my NEW podcast, Every Church Flourishing at www.EveryChurchFlourishing.com or podfollow.com/ecf. Don't miss the earlier BeachCast.tv episode in THIS feed about Kid Rock Vs. Bad Bunny and Progressive vs. Conservative Christians. On this inaugural episode, hosts Dr. Chase Thompson and GCA Assistant Director Pastor Chris Cole discuss the importance of ministry TOGETHER, and interview the directors of the Great Commission Association of churches located in North/Central California. Rational Ministry Topics covered: Interview with the senior directors of the Great Commission Association, including Dr. Mike Stewart, Dr. Se J. Won, Pastor Christopher Cole and School Superintendent Ms. Lanette Lazano. A move of God at a local church in Salinas, California that took the pastor by surprise. Free ProPresenter program called FreeShow: https://freeshow.app/features Review of FreeShow, a free alternative app to ProPresenter Living in Indonesia and visiting Singapore for medical care as a missionary. Great prayer resources Crazy, Beyond The Pale. Topics covered: Chupa Chups Bubble Gum Soda Tasted and Reviewed on a scale of 1 Spurgeon (gross!) to 5 Spurgeons (The Prince of Sodas!) Medical Halitosis. Keywords church, ministry, community, Great Commission Association, COVID-19, church support, church leadership, podcast, church flourishing, relationships, Building Community in Ministry, Navigating Church Leadership Changes Summary In this episode of the Every Church Flourishing podcast, hosts Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase Thompson discuss the importance of community in ministry, share personal experiences from recent church services, and explore the impact of COVID-19 on churches. They interview the senior directors of the Great Commission Association (GCA), highlighting the organization's role in supporting churches and fostering relationships among church leaders. The conversation emphasizes the value of collaboration and the need for churches to work together to flourish in their mission. takeaways Community is essential in ministry, as Jesus sent disciples two by two. The Great Commission Association is a diverse network of churches. Healthy churches adapted more quickly to COVID-19 challenges. Relationships in ministry foster support and collaboration. GCA provides resources and care for churches in need. Personal experiences in ministry can be deeply impactful. Humor can play a role in connecting with church members. Church attendance has significantly changed post-COVID. The importance of being on mission together cannot be overstated. Every church has the potential to flourish with the right support. titles Building Community in Ministry The Role of the Great Commission Association Sound Bites "We are a phone call away." "We are a family of churches." "We are a mission agency."
The Book of Acts is the second of a two-part work by Luke, the traveling companion and co-laborer of the apostle Paul. The first part of Luke's writings, Gospel of Luke, tells us all that Jesus began to do and teach. The second part, the Book of Acts, tells us what the risen and ascended Jesus continues to do through His church by the power of the Holy Spirit. The testimony of what Christ did in the early church is not only for our encouragement but also our instruction as we seek to be faithful to the mission of proclaiming the gospel and multiplying disciples.
Episode DescriptionIn this episode of the Lead Ministry Podcast, Josh Denhart sits down with leadership coach Vance Martin to unpack what it means to build a “move mental” ministry. They explore how organizational clarity, individual accountability, and team innovation work together to create not just programs, but a true movement of people on mission.If you've ever felt like your church is busy but not actually moving forward, this episode will equip and inspire you with a simple, biblical framework to realign your team and reignite momentum.Key Topics CoveredOrganizational Clarity – Why your team spins in circles without a clear, shared scoreboardIndividual Accountability – How healthy coaching replaces fear-driven control and manipulationTeam Innovation – How creativity flourishes when people know the vision and own their roleKey Quote“Clarity gives the right for accountability. Without clarity, leaders overextend grace instead of providing direction.” Scripture ReferencesMatthew 16:18 – “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”Hebrews 10:24 – “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” TakeawayMovements don't happen by accident. When leaders clarify where the ministry is going, hold people lovingly accountable, and create safe space for creative risk, the Spirit often uses that environment to multiply impact. Your job is to build a culture where your team knows the vision, knows their part, and feels both challenged and released to pursue it together.Call to ActionWe hope this episode encourages and equips you. Share it with a friend and stay tuned for more resources each week.Stay Connected for More ResourcesVisit our website: http://leadministry.comFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeadVolunteersFind us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadvolunteers
What makes a healthy church thrive and grow? Acts 14 reveals that strong churches are built on prayer, leadership, and accountability. Join Jim Scudder on InGrace as he continues exploring the seven essential things every church must do—and discover how your church can follow God's blueprint for lasting impact.
How can a church know it's truly fulfilling God's mission? In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas give us a pattern every church should follow — preaching the Gospel, strengthening believers, and persevering through trials. Join Jim Scudder on InGrace as he reveals the first keys to a thriving, biblical church.
In this special live recording from the N.C. Baptist Annual Meeting, episode host Aaron Wallace talks with Global Missions Coordinator Janet Packard and Pastor Neal Thornton about why caring for missionaries is part of the core identity of a Great Commission church. With more than 500 IMB missionaries from North Carolina alone, the opportunity to support them is vast and fruitful. This conversation explores what happens when churches take missionary care seriously. Janet Packard, N.C. Baptists' new global missions coordinator, highlights the value of starting with a missions assessment, a simple tool that helps churches identify how to build relationships with missionaries and engage strategically in the Great Commission. Neal Thorton, church planter and pastor of Coram Deo Baptist Church in Raleigh, shares why caring for missionaries enriches the entire church, creating a culture of “one another” compassion and helping believers see their Bibles and communities through a missionary lens. The conversation points to practical first steps, from praying for missionaries to reading biographies to forming long-term friendships with those serving overseas. Listen in to hear how N.C. Baptist churches can link arms with the hundreds of missionaries from North Carolina who need ongoing care, prayer and partnership.
Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Aaron Stanski, founder and CEO of Risepointe, a firm that partners with churches across the country to design and build facilities that amplify ministry impact. With more than 15 years of experience in church architecture, project management, and ministry leadership, Aaron and his team help churches navigate complex building challenges while staying focused on mission. Is your church facing growing pains—crowded lobbies, full parking lots, or overwhelmed kids' spaces—but unsure how to move forward? Aaron shares practical insights on how to approach facility planning strategically, align vision with budget, and avoid the costly mistakes that can slow down momentum. Overcoming the overwhelm. // When churches consider expansion or renovation, leaders often feel paralyzed by the process. Questions about cost, zoning, design, and disruption quickly pile up. Too often, churches jump straight to hiring an architect before defining their real needs. Instead, churches should first clarify what's working, what's broken, and what's next before anyone draws plans. Start with scope and budget. // The two guardrails of every successful project are scope (what you're building) and budget (what you can spend). Aaron warns that skipping this step often leads to beautiful drawings that churches can't afford. Risepointe begins with a Needs Analysis, an on-site deep dive into the church's DNA, culture, and challenges. The team listens to staff, studies how people use the building, and identifies bottlenecks—whether it's the children's hallway, lobby congestion, or limited parking. Only then do they define the right-size project and realistic cost range. The power of early engagement. // Most churches wait too long to start planning. Zoning approvals, fundraising, and construction all take longer than expected, especially in urban areas. Waiting too long forces rushed design work, unclear budgets, and lost ministry opportunities. You don't have to build everything at once. Start with a plan that captures the next few wins—like improving your lobby or kids' check-in—while preparing for long-term growth. Knowing when it's time. // Aaron says early warning signs include maxing out your primary service, overflowing kids' spaces, and parking lots at capacity. Many pastors misjudge space needs because they see the auditorium every Sunday but rarely experience the parking or early childhood chaos firsthand. Evaluating your entire Sunday experience—entry to exit—reveals where capacity problems really begin. Aligning buildings with ministry models. // Every church facility reflects a ministry philosophy—but those philosophies evolve. Where there used to be 40-year ministry cycles, now they are closer to 10 to 20. Churches shaped by the seeker-sensitive movement, for example, are now adapting to relational, community-driven models. Spaces that once emphasized rows and stages now need more environments for conversations, mentoring, and connection. A free resource for leaders. // To help churches begin the conversation, Aaron's team created a free guide called “10 Things to Get Right Before You Build.” The resource walks through key questions every church should answer before launching a building project—from clarifying vision and budget to preparing for change. You can download it and schedule a free consultation at risepointe.com/unseminary. To learn more about Risepointe's work helping churches align facilities with mission, visit risepointe.com/unseminary or follow Risepointe on Instagram for inspiration and project stories. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. I am so glad that you have decided to tune in. You know, across the country, we keep hearing about churches that are growing and we’re seeing swelling attendance and that’s good. Some of that is like a platinum problem though. It generates other issues that we have to think about. And so what what I did was pull on a friend of mine, Aaron Stanski, he’s the founder and CEO of Risepointe. He’s got 15 plus years of church design, leadership and project management and experience. Rich Birch — If you don’t know Risepointe, where have you been? You’re living under a rock. They’re church architects and designers. They have years of experience working with churches like yours, schools and nonprofits, and they offer a wide range wide variety of services, including architecture, interior design, graphic design, branding, and so much more. Aaron is, I like Aaron not just because he actually has got incredible skills. His team’s got incredible skills, but he really actually wants to help churches like you. And so Aaron, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I’m glad to be here, Rich. Rich Birch — It’s going to be good. Give give people, you’ve been on a couple of times… Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — …and but give us again, for folks that haven’t heard, the Aaron Stanski, you know, a couple bullet points. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — What did I miss? What do you want to fill in the picture? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, ah you know the quick story is grew up in ministry. My dad was a pastor growing up, planted a we planted a church in Boston when I was a kid. Went to school for engineering, worked for Harley Davidson Motorcycles, did big projects, project management and stuff for them for a while. And then felt called to ministry. Aaron Stanski — So left Harley Davidson, was on staff with Cru for a couple years doing college ministry before I jumped on staff at a fast growing multi-site church here in Chicago. So loved that, loved being part of that ministry team. And then, of course, we went through a big building project. So got to roll up my sleeves on the on the church staff side of things and hire architects and engineers and AV consultants and really kind of combine my my engineering mind and my ministry heart. And so absolutely love that process. And so, yeah, I’ve been helping churches now for the last 15, 16 years. It’s been an absolute blast. Rich Birch — So good. Well, the the kind of person I want to have in mind today, and so friends, if if you’re listening in, if this sounds a little bit like you, you’re going to want to pay close attention. So I’m thinking about that church, you know, the leader that looks around, they maybe have got, maybe they got two services. Rich Birch — They’re looking around and they’re seeing, ooh, they feel like maybe their growth ah is starting to create some pinch points. Maybe it’s in kids. Maybe it’s in adults. Maybe it’s their lobby. It’s they look around and they’re like, man, I just I feel like our facility might be holding us back a little bit. um And because I do bump into this in churches all the time. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — And there’s like, there can be like a certain amount of anxiety and fear around, gosh, when do I, what do I do? So when you talk to pastors, what do you know notice as one of the kind of most common point of confusion when it comes to starting or pulling the trigger, moving on with a building project, expansion project, try to improve things. Where are we getting this wrong? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I think ah like one, the whole process itself can just be completely overwhelming. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — Like immediately you’re confronted with, ah oh my goodness, like what’s the right solution? What is the, ah what is the town or the, you know, the jurisdiction going to allow us to do? What is this all going to cost? Where are we going to do church in the meantime if we’re having to fix this building or add on to it? Rich Birch — Yes, yes. Aaron Stanski — I mean, immediately all of these questions start to kind of well up and it can become ah really overwhelming for a lot of churches. Rich Birch — So good. So when when we step back, is there any one of those that you think in particular is like a piece of the puzzle that is the most kind of mysterious or is the most um confusing as as you that you bump into regularly with leaders? Aaron Stanski — I mean, I think the most confusing is probably like, what’s the right solution? Rich Birch — Okay. Yep. Aaron Stanski — A lot of times it’s a combination of like, you know, we feel like we’re out of space, so we have to add on. But if we do that, we’re going to have to modify what we already have. And what we have is old, or there’s some maintenance on it that we haven’t gotten around to. And like, what can we do in this space? And so actually the the right solution is is probably one of the most difficult things to kind of imagine for a lot of pastors. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — And, you know, then right behind that is like. What’s it going to cost? Right. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — I mean, you know, for the last four or five years, we’ve seen a lot of inflation. We’ve seen a lot of different things happening, like with pricing and stuff. And so what used to be a pretty easy calculation for us as churches now, it feels like it’s a lot foggier as far as like what what things are just going to cost. Rich Birch — Yeah. So I’ve heard church leaders at this this juncture, they start thinking like, okay, like we got to get an architect. Get me the architect, the the person that designed this building 25 years ago. Where are they? Are they still in business? And, you know, we start going down that road. I’m not even really sure what an architect does. Like, I obviously, you you draw things. But, like, help us understand what what is the piece of the puzzle that, like, an architect brings to the table. Aaron Stanski — Right. Rich Birch — And I know that’s, like, a subset of what you guys do. Pretend that I’m, like, super dumb because it’s probably not actually worry about pretending too much there. Explain what that is. What is that service? And is that actually what we need at this juncture? Is that the first question? Like, get the architect. Come in here. Explain that whole thing. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, well, I think we have to be careful. Sometimes hiring an architect is like picking up a hammer, right? And for a lot of architects who were, you know, traditionally trained and might have like one sort of, you know, viewpoint of the world. Like their job is to come in and draw something new um that’s going to sort of solve your problem. The challenge with that is a lot of times that architect is just looking for ah one type of solution, ah which is build you something new, add something on. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — And they’re looking at it very narrowly through the lens of what the solution is going to be. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. Aaron Stanski — And a lot of times they’re not, you know, kind of able to kind of step back and take a look at strategically and say, okay, before we start drawing plans and blueprints and some of those sorts of things, let’s really talk about like what’s going really well at your church and how are we going to amplify what you’re already doing well? How are we going to add some, you know, some pieces around it? And then of course, how are we going to fix some of the big, you know, some of the bigger problems? Aaron Stanski — So an architect technically, right? I mean, it’s a licensed professional. Their job is to lead your organization through the process from the very beginning all the way through the stages of design. Their job is to make sure that the solution is aligned with your with who you are as an organization and your budget. And they’re supposed to help all the way through construction, making sure that it gets built the way that it was designed and and that it gets you know all the questions get answered and that it’s ultimately safe. Aaron Stanski — So that’s what an architect does. I think the I think the thing that we miss a little bit on the front end is in order for the architect to start, we really need kind of need to know what the scope of the work is and the budget first. Rich Birch — So good. Okay. Okay. Good. Aaron Stanski — If we don’t put those two guardrails on the left and the right-hand side, we’re really missing out. The left-hand side should be scope. The right-hand side should be budget. And we should nail those down before we get going into designing. Rich Birch — Okay. I want to unpack that because I know, I actually texted you recently. Friends, getting you behind the scenes a little bit. I had a friend of mine, they had done exactly what we talked about here. They were like, we went and hired an architect to help with this thing. And they came back with a ginormous number um that was like, I would say a factor, you know, three or four times what I thought. And what do I know? I don’t know anything. Rich Birch — And I actually think it was these guardrails where they went off off on it. They didn’t start with scope and budget. They started with, hey, here’s a problem, architect – solve it for us. And they came back with this, you know, very incredible initial drawing and all that. Rich Birch — Talk us through how do we nail down scope and budget from the beginning? Talk us through what does that look like? Aaron Stanski — Yeah, so I would say, ah you know, you want to find a ministry partner who’s going to come in and really kind of help ah flesh out some of those pieces, really understand what’s working well, what’s not working well, what’s missing, where do we have to clarify what it is that we’re doing in order so to sort of establish that. And and there’s ah there’s a lot of great partners out there who can help you do that. But you’re really looking for someone in the building/design/construction space who has experience who has a lot of experience, honestly, with churches and understands what it means to, you know, serve people who’ve been part of your church for 20, 30 years and keep them on mission and disciple them up, as well as welcoming people who are walking into your doors for the very first time. Aaron Stanski — So at Risepointe, we walk through a process called The Needs Analysis, where we get on site with, you know, a church for an entire day and understand their DNA and really understand what’s working and not working and stuff. And we start with that so that we can sketch out some ideas and some concepts and stuff around what is the what is the scope of work that’s going to solve the problem or fix the lid or add the seats that we need? And what’s the budget that we feel like God’s calling us to spend as a church in order to go do that? And we want to start with that before we jump into full architecture. Rich Birch — Okay, so sidebar question. Is it possible for someone to help us at this early kind of scoping phase without doing some sort of on-site? Like, can I just call an architect and say, hey, here’s the problem. I need to add a thousand seats. How much is that going to cost? And then they go away and come back with a number. Or, or you know, are is there, yeah, can they do that? Talk us through that. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, you can. I mean, you can call up Risepointe and I’ll get on the phone with you. The, and, but there’s going to be a range, right? Rich Birch — Okay. Aaron Stanski — And I can say like, Hey, here’s the last 10 churches that we’ve done a thousand seat auditoriums at… Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — …and here’s kind of the range and stuff. The problem with shortcutting to that is you miss a lot of things, right? Each jurisdiction is different, like how the civil engineering works, the parking requirements and stuff. Rich Birch — Right. Good. Yep. Aaron Stanski — And those really affect the budget. And so we want to understand those first. And the second thing is, I mean, every church that we work with is and incredibly unique in the people that they’re reaching, and the values that those people have and whether they’re de-churched or unchurched and and who they’re running into and and stuff. And so really kind of understanding that context is so important um before we jump into, you know, sort of solution. Aaron Stanski — But yeah, I mean, since we work with churches all over the country, I mean, if someone called me up, I could probably, I could probably put my thumb in the air and give them a ah swag on what that might cost. Rich Birch — Yeah. And I would, you know, it’s funny because I’ve, I’ve recommended people have asked me those kinds of questions and I always actually say exactly what, you know, where you led, which is like, you should call my friend Aaron and, but, but what you should do, get on the, do the like free call or whatever, get on the book a time. But I said, you really should do this Needs Analysis thing. Cause the project that you’re facing is always much larger than you think. Rich Birch — And I would rather people take time, invest the resources upfront and time, frankly, to slow down and say let’s actually understand the question we’re asking before we jump to answers, right? Like what because because we could get this thing wrong and actually that gets to this whole idea of how early is too early. My experience has been people wait too long before they engage with someone like you. They they get into like their third service, fourth service. They’re like, oh gosh, people aren’t going to the fifth service. Maybe we have to figure out how to get more space. Talk us about, you know, what mistakes do we make when we wait too long without engaging with someone like you? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I’d say, you know, the thing to keep in mind is that you’re, if you’re the average church that reaches out to Risepointe, you’re somewhere between two and a half and three years away from having any sort of new space. Rich Birch — Wow. Wow. Okay. Aaron Stanski — And that’s on the short end. We have churches who are bringing new space online five years after they’ve reached out to us because they’re, they live in downtown areas… Rich Birch — Wow. Aaron Stanski — …very challenging jurisdictions and some things like that. Rich Birch — Yep. Aaron Stanski — And so when we’re thinking about when is the right time, I think, yeah, earlier is definitely better. But we have to be careful ah that we’re strategically spending dollars even on the front end, you know, so that we, you know, we’re getting out of it what we need. Aaron Stanski — As leaders, what questions are we asking that we need answers for in order to determine is it the right time to move forward with a building project? Is it a right time to launch a campus or go multi-site or some things like that? Aaron Stanski — If you wait too long, typically what happens is either we’re we’re rushing through the design process to kind of hit the capital campaign stuff and there’s budget misalignment. All of a sudden we thought it might be this, but now this is the actual budget for what it’s going to work. Aaron Stanski — And I think when that happens, there starts to be some vision confusion. You know, we’re looking at solutions that we kind of rushed through and it doesn’t feel like we really thought all of those things through. And so I think that’s another one. Aaron Stanski — And then I just think, you know, there’s there’s some missed ministry opportunities if if we kind of wait too long. I think a lot of times when we’re planning out, here’s the multiple phases of how we develop this campus and expand it. You know, we miss out on opportunities to go get some smaller things done sooner… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …capture momentum, you you know, fix the welcome center, like invest some dollars in something we know we’re not going to tear down, make it better for guests in a couple months. And we miss out on those things if we don’t have a bigger, more strategic plan. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. Yeah, kind of a step back and say, hey, how does this fit into where everything that’s going on? Rich Birch — What would be kind of double clicking on that? What would be some indicators internally that would say, hey, um you know, these things are happening. I should really reach out to Risepointe. What would be some of the things that you would see as telltale signs that it’s now a time to to kind of take this step? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, I think if we’re, you know, if we’re really pushing towards our, those max numbers at our primary service, I think that’s a, that’s definitely an early indicator. Aaron Stanski — A lot of churches just kind of reach out and say, Hey, okay, here’s, here’s kind of where we’re at. Here’s where the math is at. Like, can you look at this like from a, like how much kids area should we have? How much lobby space should we have? And we can run some quick math for them and say, Hey, you don’t have any other lids. You’re looking good. You, you probably have a few more years of growth in you. Aaron Stanski — So that would be one. You know i think if ah you know we’re starting to talk about ah adding a third or fourth service, it’s probably a little bit too late, but we should probably get on it sooner than later. Aaron Stanski — And then, you know, one of the, one of the other things too, is just kind of paying attention. It’s easy for us on Sundays to stand on the stage and look out and get a pretty good sense of, are there enough seats? Is there space for me here? And like, we look out and we see some empty chairs. Aaron Stanski — Keep in mind that when you’re coming in from the back of the auditorium, it’s a lot harder to see some of those empty chairs. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so what is the percentage? But the other thing is the things that we’re not seeing when more when we’re on stage on Sunday is we’re not seeing the parking lot. We’re not seeing the early childhood wing that’s basically a it’s a it’s a disaster back there. There’s kids running around like crazy. Rich Birch — Yes. Yes. Aaron Stanski — And so even if we’re ah even if we have enough seats, like or we’re not at the 80 or 90 percent capacity to our primary service. We need to be looking out at some of these other areas and making sure that there’s not a lid somewhere else. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. Yeah. In fact, I literally just last weekend said that to a church. I was, you know, I was doing a weekend visit where I was on site and all that stuff. And, and it, to me, it felt like the building, the parking, and the kids, and the main auditorium, they, or the adult auditorium, they just didn’t match. It was like they, the three were out of alignment. And I think they had enough kids, but you know, I don’t know. There was, it’s interesting how that can happen. And you know the lead pastor typically is seeing um only the adult room and not you know not anything else. Rich Birch — Early on, you know there’s my experience has been and projects that have been a part of that I would rather spend money as personally as a leader. I’m not saying, friends, if you’re listening in, that you need to necessarily do this. Rich Birch — I would rather spend money on the front end with a designer like you. Because because the joke I’ve made is it’s a lot cheaper to move walls on drawings than it is in in the real world. And I’ve that comes from pain of building stuff… Aaron Stanski — It’s true. Yeah. Rich Birch — …of building stuff, and then being literally I opened up a new facility and then stood there with a kids ministry person. And the kids ministry person was like, oh, I didn’t think it was going to look like this. I was like, oh my goodness, what what are you talking about? Aaron Stanski — Shoot. Rich Birch — Like, we just opened this new facility. Talk us through, like, what’s an investment on the front end to reach out to someone like you? Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — How do you help churches see that hiring someone like you can actually save us resources in the long haul? Talk us through that. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, starting out at the beginning and getting really clear about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there, it really helps us, you know, cart and like make sure we don’t overbuild or underbuild. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — It makes sure that like compared to all the other churches that we’re working with all over the country, that we’re in alignment with where the square footage is at and it’s aligned with how you do ministry locally, how you use these spaces seven days a week. Aaron Stanski — And so it’s it’s really making sure that we’re not overbuilding or underbuilding anywhere because that’s ah you know that’s a huge that’s a huge miss if we do that. And that’s probably one of the biggest cost savings. Aaron Stanski — The other thing is you know during you know during sort of that season of vision and master planning and when we’re talking to our folks about what God’s doing at the church and we’re telling stories of life change, like we’re really kind of laying out a vision for what God is calling us to do as a ministry. And people just naturally have questions around like, like, how is this going to help? And and how is this actually going to help us reach my lost coworker, my lost neighbor? Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And, and so I think, you know, spending the time to do that, really translating sort of the mission and vision into physical space needs and producing some of those renderings that accompany that story. I mean, that’s just a really critical part. Rich Birch — Okay, so let’s double click on that. That’s that I feel like I have been caught in this situation where I get I get like, it’s the hammer and nail thing you you say. Like, I’m I’m pretty sure I know what the solution is. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — Like, let’s go do this. And I like that what you’re saying is like, hey, we need to take a step back and like actually think through how does this fit in our vision and how’s that all? How do you actually do that? How do you help a leadership team discern what the problem is that they’re really needing to solve, or should be solving, rather than just let’s build a bigger box. Or, I know! We just need 25 new parking spots. Like how do we not jump too quickly to that? What’s that look like? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, it looks like, you know, spending time. Rich Birch — Good. And and, really getting to know them and what makes them unique. Like we have a fantastic set of tools that we use at Risepointe to like really talk about, you know, let’s talk about, uh, outside the walls, right? Like who, who are we called to reach? And, and what does it mean to do ministry in this place that God has uniquely put your church in the geographic area? Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And let’s talk about the tension between this side of town and that side of town. And let’s, you know, let’s wrestle with, you know, some of those issues. And then let’s, and then let’s talk about like, like, man, who are we as a church on our best day? And what does it feel like when we’re like living up to our full potential? Aaron Stanski — And then we even get into some of the things around like, man, what are what are some of the strategic drivers? What’s driving more people hearing about Jesus? What’s working really well? What do you see as opportunities or things that where if you had the right leader or finances that you’d be able to you know, accomplish even more of your mission. Aaron Stanski — And so by starting there and then starting to work down towards, okay, where is your facility aligned with that with that exercise and where is it misaligned? Okay, let’s unpack that a little bit. And then without getting into ah the solution yet, I want to meet like individually with each you know ministry leader… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …talk about what how check-in works and all of those things. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so it’s really sort of this almost like a 360 review of what’s happening between the mission and vision God’s given us, and how are our facilities helping or hindering that mission and vision. Aaron Stanski — And then it just comes down to budget. And so, okay, here are the possible solutions. Here’s what roughly what some of those things are going to cost. And then it’s going to the, going to God in prayer and saying, okay, what are you calling us to do? What are based on these options and trying to figure it out? Rich Birch — I want I want to come back to the budget question in a second. But I’ve I think I probably have stole this off you. I have said to multiple church leaders that like our buildings were built, there was like a philosophical underpinning of the the buildings that we were built with. There was a ministry model that they were built on. Aaron Stanski — Sure. Yeah. Rich Birch — And then there’s been a lag between when we made those decisions, we’ve we built them. Now we’ve been using them for X number of years. And our ministry model may no longer be the same as the building, or probably isn’t actually the same as when the building was built. Rich Birch — What’s your sense on how long that lag time is kind of between the, they they you know, we built something. If we built something more than 10 years ago, you know we probably want to readdress or look at our facilities afresh and say does this actually meet the needs of… Aaron Stanski — Sure. Rich Birch — Because I feel like so many of us are in like the the cramped shoes that just don’t quite fit they work but they don’t quite fitWhat do you think that lag time is? Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, the lag time is getting shorter and shorter. Rich Birch — Okay. Aaron Stanski — It used to be, you know, it probably used to be 40 or 50 years… Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — …you know, without major ministry model shifts and stuff. Obviously, you know, Willow Creek, North Point, you know, coming onto of the scene in the in the late 90s and stuff really shifted. We have churches all the way up into the 2000s, even into the 2010s that sort of copied the model of the Willow Creeks and some of those things. And I think we’re seeing, you know, we’re seeing the model shifting a lot faster now. Rich Birch — Interesting. Aaron Stanski — I’d say, you know, you know, we’re probably in a faster 10 to 20 year cycle, something like that. But I think we’re coming out of the, you know, the, you know, that model of Willow Creek and North Point and stuff. And we’re, we’re moving into a new season. And it’s kind of exciting for us. Rich Birch — Yeah. Aaron Stanski — I mean, we get to, we get to sit on the front edge of all of that. Churches like in fantastic places, being creative, reaching, you know, people for Christ. And so it’s just interesting to kind of observe some of those things and, um and observe what’s working really well and, and where it we can improve, you know? Rich Birch — Yeah. You’re baiting me. What are those things that you’ve seen that have shifted? There’s got to be, or is that the magic? We got to call Aaron to find out. Aaron Stanski — No, you don’t have to call Aaron. No, I mean, the thing, I mean, like, you know, I heard someone share this with me recently, right? I mean, every Netflix account homepage is different for every person, all billion subscribers or whatever that they have. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — They’re individually tailored to to those individuals. And I know that because when I had a bunch of seventh grade boys spend the night at my house, like my algorithm got so messed up on my Netflix account last weekend. Rich Birch — Love it. Love it. Aaron Stanski — But I think there is a shift away from you know some of the bigger, more institutional types of look and feel and trying to get down to, okay, how are we engaging one-on-one with people who are walking in and where they’re at. Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — How do we, you know, instead of preach a sermon at them, how do we hear their story? And what does it look like for us to hear their story in in various places, whether that’s a welcome center, whether that’s, ah you know, side by side in the pew, whether that’s in sort of a first steps class. And so there’s a shift on that side of things… Rich Birch — Yep. Yeah, that’s interesting. Aaron Stanski — …just like as we look at the next generation and how we engage and reach the next generation. Rich Birch — Okay, I want to loop back on the money question. So for folks that don’t know, a part of what I do is actually help churches with that. And don’t really talk about it publicly, but I do. And, you know, there is this interesting tension that churches often come to this. It’s like we think we’re different than our ourselves. Rich Birch — And that if I was going to go build a new house, I would have to start with, well, how much income do I have? And like, what can the, you know, what can the, you know, what what would the what would the bank give me from a mortgage point of view? Like I start with reality around my finances. But so many churches start with, let’s build this giant thing. And it’s totally disconnected from the from what we could actually afford to either raise or carry long-term. Rich Birch — How much variance can a church bring to a design? Like if they upfront are defining, Hey, like we can afford probably 5 million. I know I’ve got $35 million dollars in dreams or maybe not. That’s, that’s too crazy. I got $15 million dollars in dreams. Is it possible for me to, to actually get that into a tighter box? Help us understand how do we do that? How do we on the front end be realistic with our finances as we’re doing this design thing? Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I mean, I think we have to with open hands, we have to hold out the, you know, the dreams, the vision, you know, the stuff that God’s given us. And we have to prayerfully sort of go through that exercise and say, okay, ah but how much risk do I want to introduce into the organization, like via debt? Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — What what is God actually calling us to do with those things? And we have to be creative in how we and and how we get across the finish line. I think when I when I hear sometimes a senior pastor sharing with me his $35 million dollars vision, Rich… Rich Birch — Yes, yes, yes. Aaron Stanski — …what I immediately try to do is say, okay, talk to me about what it is about that $35 million dollar thing that’s resonating with you. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s good. That’s good. Aaron Stanski — And so even though he’s describing something that’s $35 million, dollars and as an architect, I might get really excited about drawing $35 million dollars worth of stuff. Rich Birch — Yes. Aaron Stanski — If he actually can’t afford it and can’t raise it, he’s actually not going to go do it. Rich Birch — Right. Aaron Stanski — So I need to go back to that vision and say, okay, what are the pieces in there that are from God, that are ah that are aligned with the mission that his church has and stuff? And I need to contextualize that. And then as an architect, as a designer, I have to turn around and say, okay, with my guardrails in place of budget and scope, how do I express those things… Rich Birch — That’s good. Aaron Stanski — …in the $5 million dollars that God has entrusted our church with? And so there’s going to be a lot of difficult decisions along the way. We’re going to have to prioritize some things. And some other things might have to go on the back burner. But that’s the process that we want to help churches walk through um to to get them to that point where they’re walking into a space for the first time and going, oh, man, this feels like us. Like this is this is who God wants us to be in our community. And I’m so excited about doing ministry in this new space. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s good. So it’s it’s not, from what I hear you saying, it’s not unreasonable on the front end to be like, hey, we should actually bring, like, be clear on this is this is what we think we can actually raise. This is that what we think we can carry. We think we could do a project of X, whatever. And that needs to be early on in the discussion rather than we’re disappointed on the back end. Oh my goodness, we got this this big number and we don’t know what to do with it. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I like to be doing it simultaneously. I like to be doing the Needs Analysis and working through, okay, here’s the eight different project options. You can relocate and spend $35 million. You can add on. You can you can do this. All right, here’s your here’s your four options, $10, $8, $6, $4 million dollars And at the same time, I like to encourage churches to like, okay, go talk to someone like yourself… Rich Birch — Yep. Aaron Stanski — …and say, okay, what do we think we could raise if we did a capital campaign? How much debt do we currently have? How do our elders feel about us you know borrowing some money if it if it makes a bigger impact on the project? Because if we can bring those two things together and pray through it and get clarity from God about what he’s asking us to do, then I can go ah help draw buildings and blueprints and things like that. Rich, you can help them raise some money and they and we can you know we can go through that process. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. Yeah, it’s great. And you know, my experience has been every one of those steps, friends, is, it’s a lot of work. It’s, it’s like a, it’s a faith ah stretching experience. There are late, late nights staring at the ceiling, but every one of those I’ve been a part of, literally 100% of them have been transformative in the life of the church. You know, when they, when you look back, you’re like, wow, that was an inflection point. I am so glad we went through that. It wasn’t this like we did that and I was like, man, that wasn’t such so good in the end. It was really was amazing. Rich Birch — Well, there’s a resource that you’ve provided. It’s called 10 Things to Get ah Right Before You Build. Talk to us about this resource and then and then where can where can we want to make sure people get this. Tell us tell us a little bit about this. Aaron Stanski — Yeah, I mean, like with, you know, church, hundreds of churches calling us, you know, every year, asking a lot of the questions that we’ve talked about today. Like we tried to distill down what are the most common things the churches are like, okay, pause real quick. I got to go do something real fast before we decide that we can sort of move forward. And so some of these things are what happens like while you’re talking to Risepointe and some of these things might be before. But I think it’s just kind of a helpful reminder and ah a thoughtful list to kind of work through. Aaron Stanski — And so if that’s helpful at all, or if that’s interesting at all, um you can just go to risepointe.com/unseminary. And a little ah little landing page will pop up there. There’s two things you can do on that page. The first one is to just give us your name and your email there and sign up and get that 10 things to download. Aaron Stanski — I also threw another button on there this morning in case you’re like, hey, that sounds great, but I’ve got I’ve got a specific question I have about our building. Or like, I actually really need to talk to you guys about what our options are. And so I put another button down there at the bottom. If you want to schedule a call with myself or one of our architects, we’d love to hop on the phone with you. No charge for that. 30 minutes. Just kind of talk through where you’re at, what some of your questions are and see if we might be able to help. So ah once again, that’s risepointe.com/unseminary. And you can get all that, all that stuff right there. Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s fantastic. That’s risepointe.com/unseminary. And friends, I’ve had multiple friends in ministry who have engaged with with Aaron across the entire spectrum. The like free 30 minute thing all the way up through, you know, the kind of full deal, help get a whole project out the door. And and just so happy with the work that Risepointe does. And just has been transformative for their churches. So you get a hearty endorsement from me. You really should do that. Again, that’s just risepointe.com/unseminary. You can pick this up. It is a helpful little PDF, and the schedule call is a great thing. Rich Birch — Well, Aaron, I appreciate you being here today. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. Rich Birch — If people want to track with you guys or if they’re anywhere else online, obviously risepointe.com. We want to send them to anywhere else online. We want to we want to send them to. Aaron Stanski — Yeah. I mean, you can always, uh, you know, follow us on the Insta or whatever you want to do there. Rich Birch — Nice. Love it. Aaron Stanski — If you’re into like, you know, cool pictures of like steel being erected, ah or, uh, kids ministry stuff or pictures and stuff, we’re trying to share a little bit more info there. But yeah, I mean, or just our website and, uh, yeah, stay connected. Rich Birch — That’s so good. Thanks for being here and have a good day, buddy. Aaron Stanski — All right, you too. Bye.
In this episode, Sam interviews Michael Kelley of the Rooted Network. They discuss three essentials that every great small group leader should consistently practice. These simple but powerful habits can transform any group into a place of authentic community and spiritual growth. The post Three Things Every Church Small Group Leader Should Be Doing appeared first on Church Answers.
Watch our video on serving with a servant's heart: https://app.getmxu.com/lessons/a-servants-heart?context_id=074252a6&context_type=topicSaying yes to everything in ministry might look spiritual — but it's actually dangerous. When church leaders never set limits, burnout becomes normal, families suffer, and volunteers copy the same unhealthy patterns.In this episode, we're talking about the cost of saying yes too often — and why healthy boundaries might be the most spiritual thing you can build into your leadership.FREE RESOURCES
You're still showing up. But are you leading with clarity — or just holding it together? Take 15 minutes to reflect with the Christian Leader® Self-Assessment — a simple tool to help you see what's really working... and what's quietly wearing you out. It's free!https://www.ryanfranklin.org/clselfassessment In this episode of The Christian Leader Made Simple Show, Ryan sits down with Dr. Tim Elmore to talk about his new book, The Future Begins with Z: Nine Strategies to Lead Generation Z As They Upset the Workplace. Dr. Elmore unpacks the unique challenges and opportunities Gen Z brings to the table, from the “Peter Pan Paradox” to shifting expectations around feedback, communication, and mental health. With practical strategies and encouraging insight, this conversation will help pastors and leaders move from frustration to curiosity—and discover how leading Gen Z can actually make us better leaders.Connect with Dr. Tim Elmore:https://amzn.to/4p93L66 (affiliate link)https://www.timelmore.com Purchase The Christian Leader Blueprint book today: https://www.ryanfranklin.org/blueprintbookConnect with Ryan: Email: info@ryanfranklin.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rnfranklin/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rnfranklin/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rnfranklin/ Website: https://www.ryanfranklin.org Audio mastering by Apostolic Audio: https://www.apostolic-audio.com#leadership, #thoughtleadership, #ministry, #pastor, #pastors, #churches, #leadershiptraining, #churchleader, #churchleaders, #influence, #leadershipdevelopment, #coaching, #executivecoach, #leadershipcoaching, #productivitycoach, #productivity, #growthmindset, #theproductiveleader, #ChristianLeader, #ChristianLeadership, #LeadershipPodcast, #FaithAndBusiness, #PodcastInterview, #ChristianEntrepreneurship, #KingdomImpact, #PodcastInspiration, #LeadershipJourney, #PurposeDriven, #ChristianPodcast, #LeadershipEssentials, #LeadershipFundamentalsSend us a text
“Many of our churches' greatest battle is they are inwardly focused. You've got to focus to the community; you've got to focus outwardly.” Dr. Tim York shares about the resources offered by the National Association of Free Will Baptists for churches, equipping them to reach and minister to their communities. Find the resources at https://nafwb.org/resources/. #NAFWB #BetterTogether #Church #Ministry #Outreach *We apologize for the technical difficulties with the audio quality.
In this episode of the Lead Ministry Podcast, Josh Denhart and Vance Martin unpack how to train volunteers with simple, repeatable ministry checklists. They move from “Iron Chef” leadership to boxed-cake repeatability, offering a step-by-step way to build clarity, confidence, and consistency across your teams.If you've ever felt stuck carrying Sundays on your back, this episode will equip and inspire you with lightweight systems that anyone can follow.Key Topics CoveredDefining a Ministry Checklist – Turning complex tasks into clear stepsWhy Checklists Work – Confidence, accountability, and multiplicationHow to Build Them – Record steps, test, condense, and “dummy-proof before you laminate”Key Quote“Think once. Autopilot forever.”Scripture References1 Corinthians 14:40 – “But all things should be done decently and in order.”Exodus 18:17–23 – Jethro helps Moses create repeatable systems for sustainable leadership.Luke 16:10 – Faithful in little, faithful in much.TakeawayVolunteers thrive when the win is clear. A concise checklist turns anxiety into action, builds trust, and makes excellence repeatable. Train with steps anyone can follow, then let the system—not your presence—carry Sunday forward.Call to ActionWe hope this episode encourages and equips you. Share it with a friend and stay tuned for more resources each week.Stay Connected for More ResourcesVisit our website: http://leadministry.comFollow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeadVolunteersFind us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leadvolunteers
Join Kenny Jahng, host of the Church Tech Today podcast, as he welcomes Matt Cook, CEO of Aberdeen Broadcast Services, to unpack how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing accessibility in the church. This episode spotlights how AI-powered translation, captioning, and voice dubbing are opening doors for churches to connect with multilingual, hearing-impaired, and younger generations. Matt shares practical strategies and real-world stories, making this a must-listen for any ministry leader considering new ways to foster belonging and reach more people—right in their local context. Tune in to discover tools, mindsets, and first steps to make your church services more engaging and inclusive.In This Episode, You'll Learn:How AI-driven captioning and translation are making church services instantly accessible to diverse language groups and the hearing-impairedWhy closed captions benefit not just those with hearing needs, but also younger generations (Gen Z, millennials) who now expect this as part of digital and in-person experiencesWhat the latest stats reveal about video caption usage in church and secular settings, and how this influences church attendance and engagementSteps to set up live AI captioning and translation—even for smaller churches with limited budgets or tech experienceCreative ways churches are leveraging translation beyond Sunday services, including special events and outreach initiativesHow AI-powered voice dubbing can help ESL (English-as-a-Second-Language) attendees fully participate in worship and teachingKey considerations for regional dialects and translation accuracy when using modern AI toolsKey Quotes:"70% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials are using closed captions on a regular basis, so why wouldn't you offer it as a church?" — Matt Cook"It's not just an accessibility issue. This is about engagement—helping every person better absorb and remember the message." — Kenny Jahng"The decision is the hardest part. Once you do it, you realize the benefits of captioning and translation across the board." — Matt Cook"As easy as it is to do today, it seems kind of crazy that you wouldn't at least do the English side of things first." — Matt CookLinks & Resources Mentioned:Aberdeen Broadcast Services: https://aberdeen.ioContact: 949-858-4463Email: sales@aberdeen.ioReferenced survey (Preply): https://preply.com/en/blog/captions-subtitles-statistics/About the Church Tech Today Podcast: The Church Tech Today Podcast helps pastors, church staff, and ministry leaders navigate the intersection of faith and technology with confidence. Hosted by Kenny Jahng and brought to you by www.AIforChurchLeaders.com.
Every church needs a young adult ministry! Because the 18–30 window is when people: Make their biggest life decisions (faith, career, relationships) Crave authentic community, not just content Want purpose, not just programs Young adults aren't the future of the church—they're the now. If we don't reach them, we risk losing a whole generation of leaders, missionaries, parents, and disciple-makers. Listen to see why investing in young adults might be the most strategic move your church can make this year. Subscribe to the Podcast / YouTube Channel Download the Free Ebook: https://www.youngadults.today/book/starting-a-successful-young-adult-ministry Join the FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17DcpSdWuS/ What's working in your church's young adult ministry? Drop a comment or DM us—we'd love to hear your story. Share the episode → If you know a pastor or leader who needs this, send it their way.
When Philip Bramblet came to Rocky Mount, Virginia, to pastor Furnace Creek Baptist Church, he knew God had called him there. What he didn't realize was the journey he and the church would have to take and how long it would take. It's a revitalization story of two 5-year chapters, including a time when he was almost shown the door! But along the way, Philip learned one thing that he constantly needs... GRIT. God, Repentance, Instruction, and Time.
Most churches miss this front door, not because of a lack of awareness but because of a lack of effort. Over half of the unchurched believe church could be a great place to make friends, but nearly 60% say it's too intimidating to visit alone. That's a huge opportunity. Today's episode highlights how friendship, follow-up, and one key ingredient—an invitation—can lower the barrier and open the door for gospel conversations. Thom and Sam discuss some key takeaways from their new research. The post The Big Front Door for Guests Just About Every Church Misses appeared first on Church Answers.
How much should you prioritize live streaming? Resi's Steve Kaminsky joins us to discuss live streaming, multisite streaming and the pro/cons of 4k. In this episode you'll hear: 1:00 Toby's “friendly gesture” gone wrong 7:15 Steve's journey into church production10:30 Does church need to be in person vs. livestream church services?22:00 Should a new church livestream at launch?26:45 How Resi helps churches stream to multisite campuses29:30 What's new and upcoming with Resi church streaming37:00 Should my church stream in 4K? Pros & cons42:40 Church production disaster story45:40 Tech Takeaway for church production teams50:15 ChurchTech Confessional: Stealing the church vanCheckout HouseRight's solutions for your church and open jobs here. Resources for your Church Tech Ministry Sell Us Gear: Does your church have used gear that you need to convert into new ministry dollars? We can make you an offer here. Buy Our Gear: Do you need some production gear but lack the budget to buy new gear? You can shop our gear store here. Connect with us: Sales Bulletin: Get better deals than the public and get them earlier too here! Early Service: Get our best gear before it goes live on our site here. Instagram: Hangout with us on the gram here! Reviews: Leaving us a review on the podcast player you're listening to us on really helps the show. If you enjoyed this episode, you can say thank you with a review!
Artificial intelligence isn't just knocking on the doors of the church; it's already in the sanctuary. Church leaders everywhere are beginning to realize that AI isn't some futuristic trend—it's today's ... Read More
In this insightful conversation, Jonny Ardavanis sits down with missionary Brooks Buser to discuss the local church's vital role in global missions. Brooks, who served 13 years as a missionary among the Yembi people, shares practical wisdom on:Key Topics Covered: • Why missions should flow from local churches, not independent efforts • The four primary lanes of modern missions work • How to move from "naval gazing" to global vision as a church • Practical ways families can "hold the rope" for missionaries • Creating sustainable missions budgets and policies • Quality vs. quantity: Why fewer, deeper partnerships work better • What missionaries actually need when they return homePerfect for: • Pastors developing missions strategies • Church members wanting to engage in global missions • Anyone interested in biblical approaches to sending and supporting missionariesBrooks emphasizes that effective missions requires both "goers and senders" working together, with local churches serving as the primary sending agents rather than just financial supporters.
Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus to deal with some issues in the church at Ephesus. He is a young man who is timid so Paul will tell him not to let that be a deterrent to what he is called to do. Before diving in to what instructions Paul gives Timothy for the church at Ephesus, we take a deep dive into the book of Ephesians to explore what some issues the church had, along with what Jesus had to say about the church in Revelation 2. There isn't a perfect church because there aren't any perfect people, so the church is full of imperfect people, or what people in the world call “hypocrites”. We are all sinners in need of salvation, grace, and mercy, and thought the church is full of imperfect people, it's still the body of Christ and together, we strive to be more like him every day! Want you join us?!?!
In this episode of The Church Planting Podcast, host Greg Nettle is joined by Tim Celek from Stadia's post-launch team and two dynamic kids ministry leaders from Georgia—Brittany Ara of City Church Griffin and Robyn Alexander of Foundation Christian Church. Together, they outline five essential principles for church leaders who want to reach and disciple the next generation: Safety isn't optional – Every church needs a clear child protection policy. Not sure where to start? Ask neighboring churches to share their handbooks. Leadership matters – Recruit leaders who can lead teams, not just love kids. Burnout is real without shared responsibility. Let kids serve – Kids and teens need hands-on opportunities to experience their faith, not just hear about it. Know your ‘one' – Ditch cookie-cutter strategies and design ministry that fits your local community's needs and rhythms. Recruit with vision, not guilt – Celebrate wins from the stage, don't beg for volunteers. Help your team build a long-term system for healthy recruiting. They also share fun, creative ideas like using an ice cream truck for outreach and creating dual summer camp models for different demographics. It's a practical, passionate guide for any church looking to multiply its impact through children's ministry. 00:26 – Meet Brittany Ara & Robyn Alexander 02:10 – Why Stadia Prioritizes the Next Generation 03:15 – 5 Things Every Church Leader Needs to Know 03:45 – #1: Safety Must Come First 07:13 – #2: Healthy Kids Ministry Requires Strong Leadership 12:00 – #3: Empower Kids & Teens to Serve 14:00 – Creative Outreach Ideas: Ice Cream Truck Ministry 17:00 – Involving Kids in "Big Church" 19:11 – #4: Forget What You've Seen Before – Know Your Community 21:00 – Real-Life Camp Examples That Meet Families Where They Are 25:39 – Balancing Technology in Kids Ministry 26:00 – #5: Volunteer Recruiting Should Be Vision-Driven 29:00 – What Keeps These Leaders Going
The pastors' wives explain how good ministry leaders are at "going and doing for the Lord." But how many times do they neglect the necessary basics that enable them to do the things God has called them to do? It's time to get back to the basics, starting with what they are... To purchase the BOOK, head here: https://pastorswivestellall.com/book To shop our MERCH, head here: https://pastorswivestellall.com/shop Want to support the Pastors' Wives Tell All podcast ministry? Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/pastorswivestellall SUBSCRIBE: Sign up for our email list and receive updates on new episodes, free gifts, and all the fun! Email sign up HERE! CONTACT US: hello@pastorswivestellall.com FOLLOW US: Website: pastorswivestellall.com Instagram: @pastorswivestellall Facebook: @pastorswivestellall JESSICA: Instagram: @jessica_taylor_83, @come_away_missions, @do_good_project__ Facebook: Come Away Missions, Do Good Project Websites: Do Good Project, Come Away Missions JENNA: Instagram: @jennaallen, @jennaallendesign Facebook: @JennaAllenDesign Website: Jenna Allen Design STEPHANIE: Instagram: @msstephaniegilbert Facebook: I Literally LOL Website: Stephanie Gilbert
Art Rainer joins Thom to unpack some amazing research that can help you know how to lead your church members to higher levels of giving. You will be amazed how a few simple things can move your church toward greater stewardship. The post What Every Church Leader Needs to Know to Move Church Members to Higher Levels of Generosity appeared first on Church Answers.
On today's PoM Podcast episode I sat down and spoke with Daniel Geraci, Founder and CEO of United In Crisis, who's vision is to see Every Church in Every City United and Ready for Crisis so His way may be known on theearth and His salvation to the nations.Daniel served as Founder and Executive Director of the Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN) for 14 years. In that time ADRN assisted nearly four hundred thousand disaster survivors, trained over 22,000 volunteers, and raised more than $22 million to help families get back on their feet and into safe and clean homes. Expanding on this crisis response church network vision,To learn more about Daniel Geraci and United In Crisis: https://unitedincrisis.org/To learn more about 90 Days of Discipline: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/90-days-of-discipline Build your own local Tribe with Tribe Builder: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/tribe-builderRegister for our 2025 Fall Men's Retreat: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/2025-mens-retreatThis podcast is sponsored by Dark Water Woodwork. Dark Water Woodwork is offering a discount code exclusively for the podcast listeners. Use the discount code "PSALM824" to save 15% off of your next beard oil purchase. https://www.darkwaterkc.comSupport the show
Subscriber-only episodeOn today's PoM Podcast episode I sat down and spoke with Daniel Geraci, Founder and CEO of United In Crisis, who's vision is to see Every Church in Every City United and Ready for Crisis so His way may be known on theearth and His salvation to the nations.Daniel served as Founder and Executive Director of the Austin Disaster Relief Network (ADRN) for 14 years. In that time ADRN assisted nearly four hundred thousand disaster survivors, trained over 22,000 volunteers, and raised more than $22 million to help families get back on their feet and into safe and clean homes. Expanding on this crisis response church network vision,To learn more about Daniel Geraci and United In Crisis: https://unitedincrisis.org/o learn more about 90 Days of Discipline: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/90-days-of-discipline Build your own local Tribe with Tribe Builder: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/tribe-builderRegister for our 2025 Fall Men's Retreat: https://www.thepursuitofmanliness.com/gear/p/2025-mens-retreatThis podcast is sponsored by Dark Water Woodwork. Dark Water Woodwork is offering a discount code exclusively for the podcast listeners. Use the discount code "PSALM824" to save 15% off of your next beard oil purchase. https://www.darkwaterkc.com
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