200churches Podcast: Ministry Encouragement for Pastors of Small Churches

Zach and Allison Zehnder can be found at RedLetterChallenge.com, and you can get for FREE with no shipping cost Zach's book The Red Letter Challenge!

Zach is our guest today and he tells his story, a 4th generation pastor who took a circuitous route to get there. Zach is fantastic and you are going to totally LOVE this conversation - which is helpful and encouraging.

Danny Garrido is our guest today and is the pastor of The Crossing Church in Colorado Springs CO. Danny works for the State of Colorado full time, and pastors his church full time on the side.

Pastor Danny trains and deploys a lot of volunteers and generously shares his ministry responsibilities with his staff.  He was with us on Episode 299, but today he talks about succession planning with his associate pastor, the reality of the immigration crisis as it affects his church family and community, and bivocational ministry generally.

Danny and I serve together on a denominational team and get to see each other a couple times each year - where we have a TON of fun together.

Lee writes for Christianity.com on their Preaching Today site - for pastors. That's where I bumped into Lee, and began to appreciate his perspectives on ministry and pastoral life. 

Finally after reading his articles for a couple months, I decided to reach out to him and welcome him to speak to our 200churches pastors, which he has done, with amazing insight and compassion.

Lee shares, almost uncomfortably at times, his own weaknesses and struggles in ministry, and it was encouraging to me to hear them!

You're going to be inspired by what Lee has accomplished in life and ministry, and it will allow you to aspire to all that God is calling your to do as well. Enjoy this wonderful conversation with this retired, yet very active, pastor!

Dave Jacobs says that the most common challenge that the pastors he coaches have is that of getting enough volunteers in the post Covid era. So today Jeff and Dave talk about that - and Dave makes a great and generous offer to our 200churches pastors at the end of the episode - so don't miss it!

Dave is at SmallChurchPastor.com, and on the Small Church Pastor Facebook Group, where there are almost five thousand members! You can reach Dave at [email protected].

(Spoiler Alert: Dave is offering our 200churches family of pastors a very special offer... Four 45-Minute Coaching Sessions absolutely free!) Dave wants to help pastors who have never had a coach before to experience the benefits of coaching, especially at this crucial time in the life of the church, and in the challenging environment pastors are in. 

Take Dave up on his offer! No obligation to continue, no pressure, just love, wisdom, and encouragement from Dave. Pastor, if you are a little lonely, and a lot isolated... Dave is your guy! Email him at [email protected].

Rohan and Jill Bell pastor the C3 Church in Thirroul NSW Australia, and Rohan is our guest on this episode!

In ministry since 1992, Rohan and Jill have been involved at almost every level of pastoral ministry, while raising five children and now enjoying two grandchildren. Their church is in three locations, and it's like pastoring three 200churches at the same time.

Rohan is gifted administratively, and it's great to hear how he is staying in his lane, while training and deploying others to use their ministry gifts to grow the Kingdom of God.

I met Rohan in John Finkelde's HUB over at GrowAHealthyChurch.com, which you should absolutely check out! John is a frequent guest on the podcast. 

Enjoy this great conversation with a pastor who is on the journey... just - like - you!

Happy Saturday! This is a Bonus Episode that I recorded with David Bush.

The very first Coaching For Pastors Cohort will launch soon, and this episode is somewhat of an introduction to it. I wanted to share it with you and invite our 200churches Pastors to consider being a part of this very first ever cohort group of pastors. 

If you want to hear me talk about it more after this episode, listen to Episode 87 of the Coaching For Pastors Podcast. 

Enjoy this weekend Bonus Episode!

Alex Regets is a 30-year-old Presbyterian pastor from Manteno, IL. He pastors Community Presbyterian Church, a great church in the heart of America's heartland.

Alex is also the founder of the HomeTown Pastor Podcast, and HomeTownPastor.com, where you can find great resources and a truckload of encouragement as a small church pastor.

As a young pastor, Alex is really showing the way for his generation - loving and caring for God's people in a smaller congregation, where the Gospel is shared and lives are transformed.

You are going to enjoy this episode!

Our special guest on episode 385 is Bob McNabb, from SpiritualMultiplication.org and LaunchGlobal.org, and the author of Spiritual Multiplication in the Real World - Why some disciple-makers reproduce when others fail.

Bob has been involved in disciple-making ministries for 40 years, both in the U.S. and overseas, and has done extensive research on why some are effectiveness when others are not. Here's what straight outta his bio page:

"He has done extensive research into contextual and behavioral factors that influence effectiveness in disciple-making."

Can you guess the secret sauce Bob discovered that produces the greatest amount of effectiveness in disciple making? It's right in this episode! Enjoy!

This will go down as one of Jeff's absolute favorite episodes! Not because Jonny wasn't on the call, but because TJ was. Here is TJ's bio from his website, KidsOutdoorZone.com:

TJ is the founder of KOZ or Kid's Outdoor Zone! 

TJ is an award-winning outdoor travel and adventure writer, radio show host and past President of the Texas Outdoor Writers Association. He published a Texas lifestyle magazine with his wife Sandra for more than 25 years from their former home in Austin, Texas.

If you ask TJ his passions he would tell you. Jesus Christ, his family including dear friends, the ministry of KOZ, writing, coffee, hiking and the cool air of the mountains. He is involved daily working with KOZ leaders, creating materials, fundraising and mentoring.

TJ & Sandra have three adult children, two amazing grand-daughters and one grandson! They now live on a small hobby farm in Smithville, Texas and loving the country lifestyle!

This is one inspirational, encouraging episode! Thanks TJ! Check out his website and see if your church can be used by God to help rescue this next generation of boys!

Melanie is an International Worker and Missionary with her husband and children in a foreign country that will remain unnamed. Jeff gave her permission to speak freely to pastors and clue them in on what it's like for a young missionary family to come off the field for a year and visit churches.

What do they need from pastors? From church members? How does this home assignment year affect their personal lives and their children? How can churches help and truly minister to the needs of a missions couple or missionary family? Melanie breaks all this down in this episode! It's a timeless evergreen 200churches classic! Enjoy!

And... Jeff and Jonny are in rare form in the introduction and conclusion - please excuse them...