EST. - For the Established Church with Sam Rainer and Josh King

You will disappoint people. You will have disagreements with church members. Sometimes people get confused and start making accusations. Josh and Sam discuss some ways church members end up turning against pastors. They use Jared Wilson's article as an outline. You can check out the article here: https://ftc.co/resource-library/blog-entries/3-ways-to-turn-against-your-pastor/

Episode Sponsor:

Church Answers has provided digital resources for years. Now we can deliver physical products to your door! Check out the Church Answers Bookstore: https://churchanswers.christianbook.com/

Vehicles are more expensive. Homes are more expensive. Rent is insane right now. How is inflation impacting the lives of people in the church? Art Rainer joins Josh and Sam on the show to discuss financial stress and how pastors can respond.

Check out the Institute for Christian Financial Health: https://www.christianfinancialhealth.com/

Episode Sponsor:

Church Answers has provided digital resources for years. Now we can deliver physical products to your door! Check out the Church Answers Bookstore: https://churchanswers.christianbook.com/

You will make mistakes in ministry. You will have regrets. Josh and Sam discuss some of their more memorable mistakes and what they learned from them.

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Josh and Sam both agree. You should not cancel church unless absolutely necessary. Sometimes weather events mean making the call not to gather. How can you prepare for these storms? Who should make the decision? On this episode, the guys talk about communication strategies and processes when bad storms hit.

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Baby Boomers are likely one of the largest groups in your church. How are they different than seniors? Josh and Sam discuss several aspects of ministering to Baby Boomers.

1. Boomers are not seniors. They are two different generations.
2. Be on the lookout for opportunities to give Boomers more responsibility in the church.
3. You can relate to Boomers if you are younger.
4. Don't ignore the Boomer generation!

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Josh and Sam have a little fun discussing whether certain topics are overrated or underrated. Included in this episode are Bible translations, Christmas Eve services, sabbaticals, podcasts, preaching style, and more.

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Most pastors can be guilty of obsessing over the wrong details. Josh and Sam discuss why you shouldn't sweat the details... except for these.

-Social media and anything the world can see
-Bylaw changes or personnel manual changes
-Monthly metrics
-Political tug-of-wars

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

We did a Twitter poll, and over half of our audience believes the search team lied or may have lied to them. Josh and Sam discuss what might be going on with this perception.

What are some potential ways search teams can mislead?

-Downplaying or ignoring past controversies
-Not revealing current metrics and numbers
-Overstating church unity
-Underestimating the readiness for change
-Not being clear about the pay package

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Josh and Sam talk church mergers. If you are a struggling church, when is a merger a viable option? Do larger churches use manipulation to prey on smaller churches? The terms church adoption and church fostering are becoming more common. What might the future look like if church mergers were done in a more healthy way?

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.

Which milestones should you celebrate? Josh and Sam talk about the ways you can recognize church milestones and anniversaries. These celebrations can be about an individual or churchwide anniversary.

Episode Sponsor:

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary builds strong theological foundations for men and women to fulfill God’s calling. They have trained and commissioned more than 46,000 graduates to serve in local churches and global mission fields. Southwestern combines the highest standards of research and scholarship with vigorous training for real-world ministry — missions, evangelism, discipleship, preaching, and worship.