In this episode of The Church Planting Podcast, Greg Nettle sits down with longtime friend and teaching pastor Tammy Melchien. Tammy has served at Community Christian Church in Chicagoland for over two decades and is releasing her first book, Choosing the Opposite, in October 2025.

Tammy reflects on her journey as a church planter in urban Chicago, the unique challenges of being a single woman in ministry, and the joy of seeing lives transformed in a transient, young professional community. She shares the origin story and key insights from her book—rooted in the Sermon on the Mount—and how following Jesus often means doing the opposite of what feels natural.

Together, they discuss:

• Collaborative sermon prep and teaching team leadership

• Why Choosing the Opposite emerged out of pandemic-era frustration

• How church leaders can love radically, lead humbly, and create margin for hearing God

📖 Preorder Choosing the Opposite (available October 7, 2025)

01:16 - Church planting in Chicago 02:29 - Challenges as a single woman planter 04:21 - High turnover in urban ministry 06:07 - Joys of urban church planting 06:32 - Tammy's new book: *Choosing the Opposite* 08:08 - COVID, conflict, and the failure of discipleship 09:44 - The Seinfeld inspiration for the book title 11:14 - Beatitudes and thinking upside down 12:20 - Loving radically in hard ministry moments 15:24 - Vulnerability and secure leadership 17:05 - Judgment, grace, and honoring others' journeys 20:34 - Hearing from Jesus: margin & intentionality 24:11 - Encouragement for single church planters 25:58 - Why spiritual intimacy matters most 27:07 - Book release details & closing