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Hosted by Rich Birch & Guests · EN
stuff you wish they taught in seminary.
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Lessons from Christmas: Elevating Your Church’s Impact
Dec 26, 202300:12:59Tap to summarizeAs church leaders, we often find the post-Christmas period a time for reflection and planning. The festive season’s hustle has settled, and it’s time to ponder on our successes and the areas where we yearn for growth. In this latest episode of the unSeminary podcast, we delve into crucial insights and strategies to transform your Christmas achievements into sustained church growth. Reflecting on Christmas: More Than Just Numbers Christmas is often marked by increased attendance and heightened church activity. But what does this mean for your church beyond the holiday season? This episode encourages leaders to view Christmas not just as a one-off event but as a benchmark for potential growth. It’s about asking the big question: What if every week was like Christmas at our church? What changes and strategies would be required to accommodate and nurture this level of engagement year-round? Five Key Areas for Church Growth Shareable Weekend Teaching: The content of your sermons matters. How can you make your teachings more relatable and shareable so that your congregation feels compelled to invite others? Eventful Big Days: Apart from Christmas, identify other significant days in your church calendar. How can you make these days special and inviting to both members and newcomers? Captivating Online Conversations: Utilize your social media platforms not just for announcements, but to engage in meaningful conversations. What online strategies can you implement to foster community and outreach? Magnetic Community Service: People are drawn to churches that actively make a difference. How can your church’s service to the community be a catalyst for growth? Appealing Volunteer Experience: Volunteers are the backbone of any church. How can you enhance their experience to not only retain but also attract more volunteers? A Call to Action As we step into the new year, let’s reframe our perspective. Let’s harness the energy and success of Christmas and channel it into long-term growth strategies. This episode isn’t just about reflection; it’s a call to action. It’s an invitation to envision and work towards a future where the extraordinary becomes the norm in our ministries. Join us in this insightful episode to discover how your church can grow beyond the Christmas season. Remember, what was special for Christmas this year can be normal going forward.
Transcribe →Closing the Gap Between Your Church’s Vision & Execution with Nick Thompson
Apr 27, 202300:32:12Tap to summarizeWelcome back to the unSeminary podcast. We’re talking with Nick Thompson, the Executive Pastor at The Living Stone Church in Denver, Colorado. How is your church executing on its vision? If you’re a church leader looking to create a practical framework for decision-making, a Vision Frame might be just what you need. Listen to this week’s podcast as Nick shares how to bridge the gap between vision and execution in your church. The Vision Frame. // The Living Stone has a big vision: to expand the movement of Jesus followers across Denver, the West, & the World. In order to move toward this goal, the church has implemented a Vision Frame. The Vision Frame is a bit like a picture frame with the church’s vision at the top of the frame, values on the right, strategy on the bottom, and measures on the left side. This framework helps the church discern whether to say yes or no to things because everything they consider needs to fit within this frame. If it can’t go through the frame, it needs to be tabled. Values. // Values define and determine a church’s culture. Churches can become too focused on comparing themselves to other churches, or choosing something aspirational for their values. Instead pay attention to who God made your church to be and ask what you really value. At The Living Stone Church they found that the things they valued most were people, prayer, and praise. They believe prayer is the work, people are the mission and praise is the response to God’s moving. Keep it simple. // Nick and his staff try to keep communication simple when they talk about the church’s values. They can operate as a single word as well as a punchy statement that doesn’t need a long explanation. In addition the leaders at The Living Stone are constantly paying attention to where they can talk about one of the values, whether it’s in a sermon or a team meeting. Strategy. // The strategy is always how your church accomplishes your mission and vision. At The Living Stone, their strategy is The 5% Life, which is a starting point that everyone can engage in as they grow in their relationship with God. The strategy is to spend 1% of the day (at least 15 minutes) in God Time, 1% of the month (1.5 hours) in Group Time, 1% of the week (1.5-2 hours) in Gather Time at church, and 2% of the year (7 days) in Go Time, serving locally or globally in missions. The 5% Life focuses the body at The Living Stone strategically towards God and towards the mission of what God’s asked the church to do. Measures. // If we want our churches to grow, we need to be measuring how we are executing on the vision. Otherwise we won’t know if we’re hitting the mark or not, and growth will be slow and painful. The Living Stone uses the actions of abiding, connecting, and sharing as their measures. These measures help the church to examine if they are doing what they say they’re doing to get where they want to go. The church asks, are people growing spiritually? Are they connecting with people? When those two things are happening, sharing Christ with those around you is a byproduct. You can learn more about The Living Stone Church at www.thelivingstone.church. 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: CDF Capital Since 1953, CDF Capital has helped Christians and churches embrace their part in this story by providing the 3 kinds of capital every congregation needs for growth—Financial Capital, Leadership Capital, and Spiritual Capital. At CDF Capital, we care about each of these components. When a church is properly resourced financially, spiritually, and in leadership, lives are transformed. Sign-up to learn more about CDF Capital and how we can help your church grow. Receive a 50% discount on a monthly subscription to the CDF Capital Subscribe & Save Bundle. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey, friends welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. Super excited today for today’s conversation but looking forward to this one. We’ve got Nick Thompson with us. He is the executive pastor at a church in Colorado ah, called The Living Stone Church and they exist to expand the movement of Jesus followers across Denver, the west, and ultimately the world. It’s one of the top reproducing churches in the world and Nick he’s an executive pastor. We love executive pastors here at on unSeminary. Welcome to the show. So glad you’re here. Nick Thompson — Yeah, great to be here. Appreciate the opportunity to be on. Rich Birch — Yeah, what don’t you tell us about The Living Stone? Kind of fill in the picture, you know what did I miss there? What what do we, you know, what do we what do we need to to know about the church? Nick Thompson — Yeah, yeah, so we’re ah we’re still what would we consider a church plant. And the church was planted by our lead pastor Keith Baldridge in 2016 of August. And we’ve been journeying for a while now. We’re we’re now in 2023 so we’re we’re encroaching 7 years, and it’s been a great journey. I’ve seen a lot of activity from the Lord and just just unbelievably grateful to be a part of what God’s doing through this church specifically. Um I came on board a little over 3 years ago now. So I’ve been about halfway through been a part of that and yeah, it’s just super special. Nick Thompson — We’re in a really unique area because ah for the listeners and for those who don’t know, um, Colorado is as a whole is about 94% unreached as far as faith goes. And so there’s there’s no better time to be planting churches here locally in our our state specifically. I know there’s other areas, the west, is very similar so that’s that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing. Rich Birch — Yeah I love talking to church leaders like yourself that are in communities that you know people don’t wake up on Sunday morning and say, hey we should go to church today. They just don’t do that in Denver. Nick Thompson — No! Rich Birch — And the fact that you you know they’re not like oh what what are the things we should do today? Well after we go to church… That’s just not what they’re saying in Denver. So, which I love. I think this is great. We can we can all learn and that’s my heart. That’s the kind of communities I’ve served in as well. That’s so good. Rich Birch — Well one of the things that caught my eye my kind of got my attention ah at Living Stone was your mission. And so The Living Stone exists or your vision to expand the movement of Jesus ah, followers across Denver the west in the world. And I just I love that. That’s such a huge vision, massive. How how does that work itself out in reality? What does that look like how, you know, how are you as an executive pastor – we’ve often said in the past that executiv...
Transcribe →Insights on Pastoral Restoration After a Fall with Shawn & Sonny Hennessy
Apr 28, 202200:41:47Tap to summarizeWelcome to the unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Shawn and Sonny Hennessy, from Life Church Green Bay in Wisconsin. Shawn and Sonny are also co-hosts of The Rise After the Fall podcast and together founded The Exchange Collaborative. The highs and lows of ministry, and the trials of life can threaten to destroy pastors and church leaders if they don’t address their own brokenness. Everyone experiences trauma and has weaknesses that can lead to a fall. But that’s not the end of the story. Listen in as Shawn and Sonny talk about how to find healing and move toward restoration after a fall. So many hide before they fall. // There are so many pastors in the midst of a fall or in danger of a fall who hide, either in pride or fear, and don’t reach out to someone for help. They may feel that they don’t have someone they can go to, or they may fear losing their position and livelihood, especially if they are the senior leader.Step away when needed. // God has used Shawn and Sonny’s own brokenness and restoration process to found The Exchange Collaborative where they come alongside other pastors and church leaders who are struggling. In addition to offering resources such as The Rise After the Fall podcast, Shawn and Sonny have put together a program for pastoral restoration. As part of this program, one of the things they offer to pastors who are at a point where they really want help is a financial incentive to walk away from their ministry for a year.Fake it until we make it or fall. // Some of the biggest pastoral falls come from the things people are ashamed and embarrassed about, like financial or sexual impropriety. A lot of times our insecurity causes us to hide our own doubts about ourselves, and we try to fake it until we make it. So as church leaders we actually fail the most by not admitting our weaknesses in the first place, and then not setting up safeguards to prevent our falls.Walk in repentance. // The first step toward healing and restoration is admitting that we are broken. The pastoral restoration program is not for the person who just wants to save face and preserve themselves. Rather it’s for those who want to walk in repentance. It helps leaders who are broken dig down to the root cause of why they took a wrong step in the first place.Paths for help. // Everybody’s needs are different so there are a couple of different paths in the pastoral restoration program. One option is for people to come to Green Bay for 30 days to a year and live there, going through an intense restoration process. The Exchange Collaborative offers housing, a job, a church they can attend, and the Journey to Wholeness course to work through. It is an honest and open process that will help leaders, and their families, defragment and reconnect.Other options for restoration. // There are other options for those who can’t come to Green Bay for a year for the restoration process. Shawn and Sonny can fly to pastors and work with them and their families while they are still serving in their ministry role. There is also an option for 2-3 day intensives at various locations. One is at the Living Waters Retreat in Arizona on June 23-25, 2022. Additionally, you can contact Shawn or Sonny directly through their website if you need to talk with them about help you may need.Create a culture of vulnerability. // As a church leader, you can create a culture where people on your staff will feel safe opening up about their struggles before their life goes off the rails. Have conversations about your struggles and how you are addressing them. You don’t need to bare your whole soul, but can start by speaking generally to lay down a foundation for your team. Talk time to pray for one another. The Journey to Wholeness course offered at The Exchange Collaborative website is also available for your staff to walk through together. You can learn more about The Rise After the Fall podcast, the pastoral restoration program, and other resources at www.theexchangecollaborative.com. Find out more about Life Church Green Bay at www.lifechurchgreenbay.com. 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 — Well hey, friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad that you have decided to tune in. You know every week here on the podcast we try to bring you a church leader who will both inspire and equip you, but today we’ve got two! Two for the price of one, friends. Super excited to have a return guest. Well you know when we have return guests, that means I love what they have to say and want to expose them to you. We’re 600 episode in we have only done a handful of return guests. So super excited for that. You need to lean in today. We’ve got Shawn and Sonny Hennessy from a fantastic church – Life Church in Wisconsin. Shawn is the senior pastor. He’s international guest speaker, author, blogger. He’s a chaplain to the Green Bay Packers—are you a shareholder though? That’s the real question—and the co-founder of The Exchange. And then we’ve got Sonny – she’s a lead pastor at Life Church Green Bay and CEO of The Exchange Brand. Together they co-host a podcast called The Rise After the Fall, speaking really to church leaders ah, who have taken a step too far, who have fallen and really about this whole area of pastoral restoration. Sonny, Shawn, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here. Sonny Hennessy — Thank you. Shawn Hennessy — Thank you, and yes I am a shareholder actually. Rich Birch — This is… oh you are? Okay I wondered. Shawn Hennessy — Yes, yes. Rich Birch — That’s great. Wow. I’m not sure what that means. Like I don’t know does that mean you’re like someday you can, if they sell, you get money? Is that what that means? I don’t know. Shawn Hennessy — There’s no no monetary impact. You can go once a year to the shareholders meeting and you can listen with 75,000 or so of your closest friends to what’s going to happen. Rich Birch — Love it. That’s that’s so good. Sonny, why don’t we start with you kind of filling out the the picture a little bit. Kind of talk to us about Life Church – give us to kind of bring us up to speed on that to kind of tell us a little bit of the of your story. How you know how Life Church is and give us a bit of that picture. Sonny Hennessy — Well, we’ve been at Life Church almost ten years in Green Bay, Wisconsin, of course, and we find it to be the greatest work we’ve ever done when it comes to ministry. And it came after a meteoric rise and a fall. And we almost lost our marriage – ie. we both messed up enough to to almost walk away from our marriage. And it’s after that that we saw God do the most in our life. Ah Life Church, we basically like relaunched it ten years ago with about 80 people, and a little building. And we were three times on the fastest growing churches in America Outreach list. One year as the second fastest growing, so literally it has been a ride. And then the pandemic hit, and we were able to really sit back, lean back and say, what do we want the next ten years to look like? Well we want to be pastors but we also want to help pastors who thought their life was over at the time of the fall, their fall, their step back, and realize it’s not the end. It’s never the end with God. Rich Birch — Mmm-hmm, yeah; I love it. So I um I it seems like for about a year I had everyone who I knew in ministry said to me, hey hey have you—and I already knew where it was going—they’re like have you listened to that Mars Hill Podcast? Like have you heard about that conversation? It’s like if I feel like I couldn’t get away from it and um, you know I had friends that were on the team there, and so actually to be honest I haven’t listened to it. Because I’m like I, listen I was knew people in the mid...
Transcribe →6 Mindsets of Church Leaders in Growing Churches
Mar 14, 201800:25:20Tap to summarizeHow you think about what you do in ministry is very important. The mindset you bring in to your ministry can be a make or break factor in your church’s ability to impact your community. Over the last few years, I’ve had the honor of talking to hundreds and hundreds of church leaders for my podcast or my latest book on church growth. Through my interaction with these leaders, I’ve started to sense that there are some common traits or mindsets among them. I see some common approaches to life and their ministries as I’ve interacted with them. Here is a collection of what I have observed and continue to pick up as I talk with these leaders. How do you resonate with these mindsets in your own leadership and ministry? Time is Short “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12 (NLT) One of the most striking similarities of church leaders who are leading thriving ministries is that they realize the fact that they have a limited amount of time to do what God has called them to do; in fact, they take this point very seriously. There is an urgency in their actions that ripples through everything they do. This drive is more intense than just an “entrepreneurial drive”; it is deeply rooted in a sense of the frailty of the human condition and their own limitations as leaders. 5 Signs That a Church Leader Knows Time is Short Maximize Their Effort // They are constantly asking if they are leveraging their time and energy with greatest efficiency to reach people with the message of Jesus. They know that time that is lost doesn’t come back; hence, they are working passionately to maximize the time they do have. Looking for Return on Kingdom Investment // These leaders invest the resources they’ve been given to steward in a manner that helps them get optimal returns in changed lives. They don’t spend resources (time, finances, people) in a haphazard manner, but are constantly focusing and refocusing on making new efforts. Multiplication Focused // These leaders are constantly seeking ways to multiply their efforts through leadership development and expansion of ministries. They are keenly aware that their ministry might be stymied with a bottleneck going forward and are therefore, looking to multiply their influence through lifting others up. Next Generation Obsessed // A sure sign that leaders are keenly aware of the brevity of life is that they are focused on passing the ministry onto the next generation. They know that because their own time is limited, they need to consistently invest into those that are coming behind them. Open to Innovation // These leaders are constantly seeking better ways to “do” ministry. They find themselves attempting new approaches despite the underlying risks. They’re proactively involved in innovative approaches not for innovation sake, but for a deeper desire to reach more people for Jesus. Come & See plus Go & Serve plus Stick & Stay Leading churches are a curious mix of attracting people to their services while simultaneously sending people into the community to make a tangible difference, all while working hard to get people deeply plugged into community within the church. This tension of being both a deep and wide church is common among churches which are making a difference today. Church leaders from growing churches see themselves trying to balance out these tensions in perfect harmony. Here are some common elements of these aspects of ministry that we come across in many churches today: Common Come & See Elements Invites to weekend series. // Churches will often develop compelling tools (physical & digital) that their people can use to invite their friends and family. “Big day” strategy. // Prevailing churches will take advantage of 3-4 Sundays every year as a key invite tool for their community. [ref] Teaching that connects with real life. // While remaining true to what the Bible says, these churches ensure that the teaching focuses on application on real life challenges facing their community. Common Go & Serve Elements Mass community outreach events // A few times in a year, the church will work towards motivating a high percentage of it’s community to get out of their seats and go into the streets to make a difference. [ref] Community Partnerships. // These churches often partner with community service agencies who are looking to make a difference. The church provides volunteers and funding to these third-party organizations. Talking about the poor. // The New Testament makes it clear that the church is supposed to serve the “least among us.” These churches don’t shy away from calling people to live out this reality today. Common Stick & Stay Elements Regular volunteering onramp. // On a consistent basis, successful churches are taking obvious next steps to getting plugged into a service opportunity within the church. [ref] Some even do it every week! Circles are greater than rows. // There is a healthy focus on the importance of “small groups” as the primary engine for care and growth of people in the church; this includes a robust strategy centered on getting people connected to groups. Everybody is included! // These churches stress that the church is for everyone and are doing everything they can to remove the barriers towards service and community. Everything is an Experiment “Let’s try it and see what happens.” Church leaders in growing churches see much of what they do as a learning process rather than opting for a settled “best practice”. They are constantly making small course corrections on much of what their church does. They firmly hold the message of the church but are flexible enough to leave an open hand on how the church accomplishes its mission. They are more like scientists testing out new theories all the time than a baker executing the perfect recipe. 5 Areas to Experiment at Your Church (and not lose your job!) We all would like to try out some new things at our church. Yet, we’re looking for “safe places” to take some risks before rolling them out for the rest of the church. Kids Ministry // I’ve said it before … I’ll say it again … the best ideas consistently come from kids and student ministry. These leaders are always turning out amazing new ideas. Off Service Time // Do you run a Saturday evening service? That would be a great place to try something new before moving into the “biggest service” on Sunday mornings. Declared Experiment // You’d be amazed how much leeway people will give you when you simply declare that you are trying something new and that you’re not committed to it long term. Summer Time // Most churches experience a small, temporary slump in momentum during the summer. This can be a nice time to fine-tune aspects of your ministry before the fall ramp up. Today Not Tomorrow // Seriously, what’s holding you back from trying something new today? Take some action on something you’ve be...
Transcribe →Mark Hearn on Transitioning a Monolithic Church to a Vibrant Multicultural Community
Oct 5, 201700:24:31Tap to summarizeThank you so much for joining us for this episode of the unSeminary podcast. I’m excited be speaking with Mark Hearn, pastor of First Baptist Duluth in Georgia. First Baptist Duluth really is a multi-cultural church. Currently it is composed of 42 different nationalities. There is music in different languages and people from all over the world worshipping together under one roof. When Mark first arrived at First Baptist in 2010, however, the church was the typical Anglo-Saxon monolithic church and not representative of the Duluth area. Duluth has quickly changed into a diverse and multi-cultural city, about 40 years ahead of the national average. First Baptist wanted their church to reflect the community where they were located, so they took on the task of changing the church’s culture in order to embrace a diverse congregation that reflected the diversity of the city. Mark is with us today to share what this process has looked like. Make crossing cultures a mission. // First Baptist is a very mission minded church, and so the first thing they decided to do was to be very intentional about their global missionary initiatives. They researched what were the largest unreached people groups locally, and they began to plant churches in those countries globally. Planting churches in these areas around the world allows for a unique opportunity for conversation with these people groups in your own city. You can share about your own travels to these countries, or mention that your church is sponsoring a church in their native area. Celebrate diversity. // The church began to look for ways they could celebrate alongside of the people from other nationalities. Mark explains that it’s the difference of ministry with versus ministry to. There are a lot of churches that do ministry to the people groups in their community, but don’t ask what could they do with the people. First Baptist Duluth began to recognize and celebrate special days, such as Indian Independence Day, East Asian New Year and Tres Reyes Magos (Three King’s Day), in its communities alongside the people of those cultures. These occasions allow the church members to celebrate together, learn more about the other cultures around them, and show deference and receptivity to other people groups. Use translators. // Language is the biggest barrier in crossing cultures, and so First Baptist wanted to do everything they could to eliminate that. As Mark notes, the local schools are made up of people from diverse groups and they are able to communicate across cultures, so how much more should the church do the same? First Baptist didn’t want different services in different languages meeting at different times, but rather everyone together in one place. One way they do that is by offering language bible study classes during the week, and then encouraging people to come together for weekly worship services in which they try to cross that language barrier. The weekend service offers headsets with live translation so the sermon can be experienced in one’s native language if needed. By hearing both the English sermon and their own language at the same time, it becomes a great tool for learning English. Don’t be afraid to start translation services without “enough” of a specific people group. For example, at first, the Korean translator at First Baptist was only translating to herself, but once the Korean community learned about this translation feature, their presence in the church began to grow. Reflect diversity in words and images. // Serving a multi-cultural congregation is a learning process. Mark often works with his translators to make sure that his sermons and humor interpret well and translate between cultures in a way that makes sense. As a result, he has tried to simplify some of his illustrations and avoid certain American phrases that might not connect with a diverse audience. Even the slides and photos used during services are reflective of the diversity in the church. You can learn about First Baptist Duluth at their website www.duluthbaptist.org. Mark also shares more about First Baptists’s journey to becoming a multi-cultural church in his book Technicolor: Inspiring Your Church to Embrace Multicultural Ministry. 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! Lightning Round Helpful Tech Tools // Mosaix Global Network Influential Book // The 3D Gospel: Ministry in Guilt, Shame, and Fear Cultures by Jason Georges Inspiring Leader // Dr. Billy Graham What does he do for fun // Read, Run Contact // Website: www.duluthbaptist.org
Transcribe →Scott Kramer on Leading Through Profound Crisis in Your Church
Sep 21, 201700:31:22Tap to summarizeHello, everyone, and thank you for joining us this week for another unSeminary podcast. I’m excited to have Scott Kramer with us today. Scott is the executive pastor at GT Church, which has two locations in Pennsylvania. GT Church is a 91 year old church with a very contemporary feel. They aim to make their message relevant to real life issues. The church went through a traumatic time two years ago when their lead pastor, Bryan, and his wife were hit head on in a collision with a drunk driver while riding their motorcycle. Bryan’s wife died instantly and Bryan was pinned under the vehicle for several hours. There were many uncertainties during this time, including whether Bryan would survive this terrible accident. But after several blood transfusions and the loss of his left leg, Bryan was released from the hospital. He stayed out of the leadership for a while until he was ready to step back into his role. Scott talks with us today about what a church might go through during a crisis like this, and how to keep the church moving forward with its mission without turmoil and confusion. Know your pastor’s heart. // When the staff first received the news of the accident, everything came to a screeching halt. There were so many questions about what the church should continue to do or not do during that uncertain time. A large Vacation Bible School outreach was coming up, a missions team was leaving for Uganda the following week, and other events needed to be reconsidered. But the staff at GT Church knew that Bryan would never have wanted any of their ministries to stop, even during a tragedy such as this. They knew his heart would tell them to keep reaching out and pursuing Christ’s call to the church. Recognize the importance of structure. // The leadership of an elder board and internal staff had been structured at GT Church long before this tragedy. Bryan had often told the staff that if something happened to him someday, someone else would have to take over and lead the church in its mission. The church was bigger than just Bryan or any of them individually, and that was the point he wanted to make sure everyone knew. Scott was named interim pastor while Bryan was recovering. By Bryan and the rest of the church leadership already having put a contingency structure into place, there was no scrambling to determine how things might continue, or finding someone who could lead the church. Having this structured board in place was a great gift in keeping the church’s leadership in place to guide the members during this time of tragedy. Ease into the path. // When Bryan had left the hospital and it was clear that he would return to his position in the church when he was able, Scott and other members of the church would stop by to visit. They gave him updates on what the church was doing. Diving immediately back into ministry right after leaving the hospital and dealing with the tragedy he had been through was too much for Bryan to take on right away. But eventually his mind began to clear and he felt well enough to go out on visits himself, and slowly he began attending staff meetings. At the meetings, the staff began to talk with Bryan about whether he might do a one day sermon at the church. This allowed him to ease back into talking in front of the church without the commitment of taking the permanent job on again right away. Be ready on God’s time. // Transferring leadership back to Bryan depended on when he was ready. It wasn’t something that could be done right away, or something that was assumed to happen when he first preached again. Scott let Bryan know that it was up to him when he was ready, and that Scott would lead in his absence as long as needed. It was the structure Bryan had set up long before this time and it allowed the church’s ministries to continue smoothly. Allow healing to take place, and give needed space for everyone to be ready in God’s time. You can learn more about GT Church at their website http://www.gtaog.org/ 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! Lightning Round Helpful Tech Tools // Podcast Preaching Influential Book // Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne, Unreasonable Churches by Rich Birch Inspiring Leader // Ron Carpenter What does he do for fun // Spending time with family, Golfing Contact // Website: gtaog.org
Transcribe →Bruce Ammons on 500% More Second Time Guests Than The Average Church
Aug 3, 201700:29:15Tap to summarizeThanks for joining us for another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today I’m excited to have with us our guest, Bruce Ammons from Sugar Creek Baptist Church. Sugar Creek is one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Serving the greater Houston area, the church is very ethnically diverse, with people among the congregation from over ninety different countries, speaking seventy different languages. The mission of getting first time guests to return to a church again became Bruce’s burden after he learned that only 1 in 10 first time guests will return to a church a second time. However if an unchurched person returns time and time again, Bruce notes that a lot of these people (even adults) will trust Christ as their Lord and Savior. So at Sugar Creek, Bruce and his team have worked hard to retain first time guests, and now about 50% of their first time guests do return. Of those who return, about 76% stay and continue attending at church. Bruce talks with us today about how to retain visitors to your church. A great Sunday morning experience. // When a first time guest attends your church, they should feel welcomed and invited when they walk in the door. Bruce explains that at this point in the path, it’s about feelings rather than theology. Guests should feel comfortable and valued, and non-believers especially shouldn’t feel overwhelmed among a group whose enthusiasm for Christ may be greater than theirs. Many of the people who begin attending Sugar Creek regularly are not followers of Christ when they first come to church. Amazing, quick follow up. // Years ago, Bruce did door to door visits in order to follow up with first time visitors. But today that method doesn’t work because door to door visits are seen as an interruption. Now Sugar Creek does a quick follow up mail campaign. On Sunday mornings, Sugar Creek asks that everyone in the church to fill out a communication card with their information. First time visitors shouldn’t be singled out and made to do something everyone else isn’t doing, so even regular attendees are asked to do this. On Monday at 2:00pm, Bruce sends out an email to attendees thanking them for attending Sugar Creek and inviting them back again. The email includes a link to a five minute survey that the guests can fill out if they want or have the time, which lets the staff know how the experience was and how they can improve their services. On Tuesday at 1:00pm, a team meets together to write handwritten cards to the guests. Bulk mail campaigns are often tossed in the trash, so these cards can’t look like a bland, metered mailer. These cards are handwritten by Bruce or the senior pastor and have a first class stamp on the corner instead of being processed by a mail machine. As Bruce explains, these cards essentially look like birthday cards and are much more personal and inviting. The cards also include a $5 Starbucks gift card in order to make the guests feel loved on by the church. Bruce says, “I want somebody to feel blessed by our church even if they never return again. So I intentionally put a Starbucks card in that first mailing.” Notice when your guests don’t return. // The first time guests who don’t return the next week receive a handwritten letter from the worship pastor, which may say, “It was great having you in church last week, but we missed you this week. We want to invite you back next week and want to know if you have any prayer requests.” The letter includes the URL to the pastor’s message from that past Sunday to invite the guest to listen to the sermon they may have missed. Another gift is enclosed in this letter, which is a $5 certificate to use at the church’s coffee shop or bookstore. Bruce notes it is good to give a church specific incentive to come back, but that shouldn’t be the first communication the visitor receives from the church. Notice when your guests do return. // The guests who do return for a second time receive a letter from the small groups pastor. That letter explains the connect group kiosk area and how they can get to know people within the church quickly. This letter includes a $5 Sonic gift card. Third time guests receive a letter inviting them to a Lunch With the Pastors event. This is a nicely catered one hour-lunch in which you eat and meet with the pastors. The communication card that everyone in the church is asked to fill out each Sunday allows the staff to know who is returning each Sunday. Bruce works to help other churches retain visitors through a coaching session that he offers. You can learn more about this service by emailing him at bammons@sugarcreek.net. You can also learn more about Sugar Creek at www.sugarcreek.net. 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! Lightning Round Helpful Tech Tools // Workflowy Ministries Following // Church of the Highlands Influential Book // Walking on Water When You Feel Like You’re Drowning: Finding Hope in Life’s Darkest Moments by Tommy Nelson and Steve Leavitt Inspiring Leader // Rick Warren What does he do for fun // Golfing, reading and zip-lining with his family Contact // Church website sugarcreek.net or email Bruce at bammons@sugarcreek.net
Transcribe →Art Rainer on The Money Challenge at Your Church
Jul 27, 201700:29:30Tap to summarizeArt Rainer is the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS), and previously the Administrative Pastor at Family Church in Florida. In his current role at SEBTS he does work with financial development, marketing and communications, and enrollment, just to name a few. He has a passion for personal finances which began many years ago—in fact Art shares that his initial goal coming out of college was to be a certified financial planner. He’s written a number of super-practical books and his latest, The Money Challenge is no different. Listen in as Art shares with us his passion for seeing people become financially healthy while living a lifestyle of generosity, and the action steps found in his new book. 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! Lightning Round Helpful Tech Tools // Mint.com, Clear app Ministries Following // Family Church Influential Book // The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown; The Elements of Investing by Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis Inspiring Leader // Elon Musk What does he do for fun // Family time with kids and wife Contact // @artrainer on Twitter, Seminary website: www.sebts.edu
Transcribe →Stephen Brewster on Creative Leadership for Your Church
Jul 13, 2017Tap to summarizeStephen Brewster serves as a part of the leadership team at Freedom House Church in Charlotte, NC. In his role, he leads the Creative team in dreaming, creating and executing experiences, communications, music and more for all areas of ministry at the church. Stephen has nearly 20 years in professional creative environments including music marketing and management, artist development, creative team leading and art directing. He and his wife, Jackie, have four children. On today’s podcast, we have a helpful conversation about how you can lead the creative types within your church. Listen in for help lead the team of people who push the creative elements of your ministry forward! 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!
Transcribe →Andy Steiger on Why Apologetics Should Be Added to Your Church
Jul 6, 2017Tap to summarizeAndy Steiger is the founder and director of Apologetics Canada, an organization dedicated to helping churches across Canada better understand and engage today’s culture. He created and hosted the Thinking Series and is the Author of Thinking? Answering Life’s Five Biggest Questions. He has spoken on life’s big questions internationally in universities, conferences, churches, prisons and coffee shops. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Andy lives in Abbotsford, BC, Canada with his wife, Nancy, and their two boys. In today’s episode, we talk about the place that apologetics could play in your church! Listen in for some practical help and insights as your church attempts to impact a post-Christian context. 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!
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