Cornerstone Pastors Network

Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divides Us

Small, Big, Mega…Is there a Venti? 93% of American churches are smaller than 350, and 85% are smaller than 200. What if those percentages aren’t a problem? What if that’s the way it’s supposed to be?

Karl’s new book, The Grasshopper Myth, is bringing hope and liberation to many small church pastors. Many small church pastors struggle with their own perceptions of what it means to be a successful pastor. Let’s face it at every pastor gathering the dreaded question usually comes up, “How big is your church?” You will love to hear what Karl has to say about those questions and more on this Pastors Resource Call.

Karl Vaters is the author of the book, The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking That Divides Us. He is a regular columnist for Leadership Journal and writes the Pivot blog at ChristianityToday.com. He’s also the founder of NewSmallChurch.com, a ministry that encourages, connects and equips innovative Small Church pastors.

Karl’s passion is neither to help pastors grow churches bigger or to settle for less. He believes Small Churches are not a problem, a virtue or an excuse. They just are. And they can be pastored well.

His heart is to help pastors of Small Churches (about 90% of churches) find the resources to pastor their current church well, and to capitalize on the unique advantages that come with pastoring a Small Church – something virtually every pastor will spend at least some of their ministry years doing. He also believes that big and small churches can and should work together more often – to the benefit of each.

Karl has been in pastoral ministry for over 30 years and has been the lead pastor of Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California for over 23 years.

Do you suffer from ministry envy? Does the church down the street always seems to be more blessed than yours? Pride, envy, jealousy, and other ministry traps are always in a battle for your heart.

In his nearly four decades of pastoral, parachurch and nonprofit ministry leadership Steve Macchia has come to understand his own brokenness. He writes: “I’ve experienced great success and embarrassing failure. I’ve considered myself effective, and I’ve watched myself implode. I’ve brought others a lot of joy, and I’ve dished out my share of disappointment. In essence, as much as I like to view myself as a good or very good leader, in fact I’m more truthfully a blessed and broken leader—one who is daily in need of being renewed by the Spirit of God who resides in me.”

Steve Macchia is the founder and president of Leadership Transformations. He is also on the faculty of Gordon-Conwell Seminary and directs The Pierce Center for Discipling. Steve is a pastoral teacher, conference speaker, ministry leader, retreat facilitator, ministry mentor/coach, and spiritual director.

So you really think you are productive? The real question is, “Are you getting the right things done?”

What does it mean to move the ball down the field? Productivity, effectiveness, fruitful are all buzz words but do you really have a grip and understanding on what it means as a pastor leader?

No one knows the answers better to these questions than Dan Reiland. A popular guest on the Pastors Resource Call, Dan will give you more to think about than anyone we know.

Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.

What are the factors that cause the church to lose real gospel influence in its culture? How do we as leaders in the church identify those factors and reverse them? What can church history teach us about this dangerous trend? We’re excited to have Neil Cole with us again for this month’s PRC to help us understand what’s happening to the church’s influence in our culture and discuss Biblical responses we should adopt.

Neil Cole is the founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates & CMAResources, which has helped start hundreds of churches in thirty-five states and thirty nations. He is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. One of the key training components of this expanding movement is the Organic Church Planter’s Greenhouse – Story 1 and Story 2 Trainings.

Neil would rather be known for instigating radical discipleship and created a discipleship tool known as Life Transformation Groups (LTG); which is making and multiplying disciples all over the globe. He is also the author of multiple books including recently released Journeys To Significance, Church 3.0, Organic Leadership, Search & Rescue, Cultivating a Life for God, Organic Church, TruthQuest, Beyond Church Planting and Raising Leaders for the Harvest.

Running On Empty? Need Replenishment? Struggling Just To Keep Up On Your Own Spirituality?

Are you buried up to your eyeballs in techniques, books, tools, strategies but your soul is hanging out to dry? Are you suffering from “curvature of the soul”? Don’t miss this great opportunity to be with Lance Witt, author of REPLENISH. Lance is a true “pastor’s pastor” and really gets what ministry is like and the wear and tear it takes on pastor’s souls. Lance will be talking about the “Replenishment Cycle” and will walk you through what it takes to be a replenished pastor.

Founder of Replenish Ministries, Lance Witt has served for over thirty years as a pastor and executive pastor. He also served as an executive and teaching pastor at Saddleback Church. Lance helped develop and lead the 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community campaigns. He and his wife Connie, have two married children and love doing ministry together.

I’m writing this introduction for this Pastors Resource Call because I have known Pastor Dane Aaker for over twenty years. He has been the pastor of Centerpoint Church of Colton, CA for over 25 years. When we were considering moving to California I took my wife to visit Dane and his church. If you go to California, Colton usually is not in the top ten places you want to visit. It clearly is in a poorer area east of LA. Dane has been a faithful, loving and thriving pastor to this community and has seen amazing results of God’s hand on his people. But it has not come easy. I have watched him reduce staff when income was not there. I have seen him try about every imaginable venue in terms of worship service times, places, etc. He never gave up. He has been offered pastorates that were much more attractive in numerous ways but has always been faithful to Gods call.

More than once while living in Orange County I would make the trek out to Colton to get my batteries recharged. Even now I am tearing up a bit while writing this as I remember how passionate his people were at singing praises to our Lord. They would almost blow the roof off of that place. It was inspirational and freeing unlike anything I have experienced. – Bill Nicoson

Dane Aaker has an earned doctorate from Fuller Seminary. Over half of his church is under the age of 30 and the church is over 70% Hispanic. Over this time the church has grown from 89 to over 1700 people on a 2 acre campus in downtown Colton.

Talk about hot buttons! When is the Middle East not in the news? Everyone in your church gets bombarded with the news media and all those talking heads! In addition, it’s highly likely that you have people in your congregation who have widely divergent ideas and opinions on this particular topic.

This month’s PRC will be dedicated to a discussion about how we as pastors can develop a Biblical and historical perspective on the Middle East and its current events. The hour together will provide a safe context to interact about the challenges facing us as we help people in our congregations develop godly responses to tough questions. Our Resource person for this call is Brian Newman. Brian grew up in a secular, cultural Jewish family on Long Island (outside New York City). His family celebrated the Jewish holidays, he was bar mitzvah, but he was a functional agnostic. At 20 years old as a college student Brian had a dramatic conversion to Christ, which launched him into a life of serving God overseas for 20 years and now in the United States. He has worked In Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and elsewhere for over 25 years.

In 2011, Brian founded The Isaac-Ishmael Initiative to bring together the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. At a time when Christians, Muslims, and Jews are in conflict around the world, he believes there is a way forward together.

Brian has earned two Master of Arts degrees from Fuller Theological Seminary – one in multi-cultural studies and the other in theology.

Fresh insights into crafting sermons that connect with peoples lives and hearts…and open the door for God’s transformative work.

Join us for an hour long conversation with Mike Breaux! Mike is Teaching Pastor for Heartland Community Church in Rockford, IL. Prior to Heartland, Mike was on the teaching team at Willow Creek Community Church, Lead Pastor at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY and prior to that, Lead Pastor at Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV. Mike currently also preaches regularly at Real Life Church, Valencia, CA and Mission Church, Ventura, CA. All of these experiences have continually sharpened Mike’s ability to develop thought provoking, challenging and life change oriented sermons. He gets regular requests from pastors all over the country to provide mentoring and coaching regarding sermon crafting skill sets.

This is a very special opportunity to interact with a leader in the field who can provide specific, actionable suggestions that will elevate your ability to communicate the Word of God. Don’t miss this special opportunity!

Ministry Will Transform Your Marriage … For Better or For Worse

Ministry has its pressure points. Questions from pastors are usually, “How do I balance my life between my family, my spouse, ministry and personal spiritual and physical health?” Keith and Cheri Meyer will be talking about four stages of marriage and ministry development. Learn how to transform the story of your marriage.

Keith is lead pastor at Hope Evangelical Covenant Church in Minnesota. Keith has been the pastor of small, large and mega churches and his most recent experience was executive pastor of the Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove. He writes, speaks, teaches, leads retreats, coaches pastors and leaders, and consults through his own organization, Becoming the Change Ministries. Keith and his wife Cheri make their home in Buffalo, Minnesota.

All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors. – John Calvin

One of the greatest needs in every church is to help people understand that God wants us to love our neighbors. Who are our neighbors? How do you break the “silent” barrier and begin talking to them?

These questions and many more will be answered by Dave Runyon, who is the co-author of “The Art of Neighboring”.

Dave Runyon is the co-founder and director of CityUnite, which helps government, business and faith leaders unite around common causes. He also serves as a consultant for businesses that have a desire to make a difference in their communities. Previously, Dave served as a pastor for nine years at Foothills Community Church and The Next Level Church. In 2010 he launched a neighboring movement that mobilized over 70 churches and 40,000 people in the Denver Metro area.