For this week’s episode of The Intentional Churches podcast, Doug sits down with Chris Palmer, dean of ministry and theology at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida, to talk all things Christian consumerism. Doug and Chris have both witnessed the church’s slow evolution towards a more consumeristic, programmatic institution in recent decades. But how can we as church leaders combat that tendency to simply give people another thing they want rather than what they need—the cross of Christ—in our ministries? Together Doug and Chris break down the indicators that your church is leaning consumeristic, look at how to combat those tendencies, and analyze how service, reflection, and emphasizing imperfection can lead us back towards radical alignment with The Great Commission. 

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
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CHAPTERS 

A church can be considered an “institution” but that doesn’t mean our churches should have institutional mindsets focused on programs over people. For today’s conversation on radical alignment with The Great Commission Erin and Doug sit down with Chad Booher, the community engagement minister at his local church and an individual passionate about inviting, discipling, and empowering God’s people. 

During their conversation Erin and Doug ask Chad to outline how he went from being a consumer in the church to a chief disciple-maker, how that heart change affected his leadership, and the problems he’s seen with an institutional mindset in churches. Erin and Doug also offer their expertise and perspective—challenging listeners to ask themselves if the churches they’re leading in or the ways they’re discipling others are more consumeristic or focused on individual heart change. 

Don’t forget to grab your discounted ticket for The Intentional Churches Conference 2025 here: www.intentionalchurches.com/podcast. 

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com            
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/    
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
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CHAPTERS 

00:00 Introduction and Personal Journey
04:19 Breaking Free from the Institutional Mindset
09:59 Living Out the Great Commission Personally
14:15 Shifting the Focus: From Programs to Disciple-Making
19:01 Challenges and Changes in the Church
25:38 Practical Strategies for Breaking the Institutional Mindset
32:36 Conclusion and Call to Action

Erin and Doug are back for this week’s episode of The Intentional Churches podcast, sitting down with executive pastor Rodney Elliot to talk radical alignment with The Great Commission. Rodney serves as the executive pastor of Pathway Church in Wichita, Kansas, and during his time in that role he’s worked to align the church’s elder board with the core mission of reaching the one far away from Jesus. 

On this second episode of season five, Erin and Doug invite Rodney to share his experience with church and leadership misalignment—the three diving into how Rodney worked to promote radical unity around The Great Commission, the growth Doug has witnessed as part of IC’s partnership with Pathway Church, and the fruit Rodney’s seen as the church and board became aligned toward one mission. As someone who grew up on a family farm, Rodney leaves listeners with some encouragement only a true farmer could give: if we tend to the soil well, 90% of the work of growth has been done already, the rest is in God’s hands. 

Don’t forget to snag your early-bird pricing discount for The Intentional Churches Conference 2025! Purchase tickets and learn more here: https://www.intentionalchurches.com/podcast. 

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com            
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/    
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches          
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/         
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CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction and Season Theme: Radical Alignment
03:29 Misalignment in the Church: Resistance to the Great Commission
06:19 Catalyst for Alignment: Reaching a Breaking Point
08:01 Aligning the Elder Board: Personal Great Commission
10:18 Alignment Down to Staff and Key Leaders
18:19 Counterintuitive Approach: Back to Basics
23:35 Farming Analogy: Preparing the Soil for Growth
29:45 Practical Advice: Start with the Great Commission
32:02 Conclusion and Invitation to Intentional Churches Conference

Welcome to season 5 of The Intentional Churches podcast! This season we’re talking all about how to radically align our churches and leaders around the promises of Scripture and the truths of The Great Commission. Luke Lezon is our featured guest today—a young lead pastor who’s faced his fair share of misalignment challenges while stepping into a lead pastor role after a major church split. 

On today’s episode Erin and Doug invite Luke to share his story, which he does with candor and honesty. Though Luke had to experience the battles of church misalignment firsthand, his experiences gave him the wisdom needed to take on his new leadership role and help shepherd his church into a steadier and more faith-filled future. Together Luke, Erin, and Doug discuss signs of church misalignment, how to turn the ship back toward scriptural alignment, and some practical ways to keep your team and people aligned and pulling in the same direction. Luke leaves listeners with some practical pieces of advice for anyone who’s facing misalignment in their church. 

This is going to be a powerful, practical, and relatable season of the show for so many of us in church leadership—don’t miss it! 

Follow Luke on Instagram at @lukaslezon and check out LifeBridge Orlando on their website: https://lifebridgeorlando.com/ 

Grab your discounted tickets for The Intentional Churches Conference in April of 2025 here: https://www.intentionalchurchesconference.com/ 

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com            
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/    
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches          
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/         
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches          
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

CHAPTERS 
00:00 Introduction and the Importance of Clarity
03:16 Misalignment and the Challenges Faced by Church Leaders
08:45 Alignment as an Ongoing Process
21:24 Navigating Misalignment and Transition
25:07 Asking Questions and Engaging in Healthy Discussions
27:02 The Role of Leadership in Alignment
29:08 Conclusion and Announcement of Intentional Churches Conference

To close up season 4 of The Intentional Churches podcast, we’re releasing another bonus episode from our Intentional Churches Conference 2024, this time featuring our opening session with lead pastor Clint Nolder. Clint leads Foundation Church in Newnan, GA, and during his time with our conference attendees Clint shared on the faithfulness of God in the midst of life’s many battles. 

A ministry leader and parent, Clint has encountered his own fair share of battles, but no matter what he’s faced God has remained faithful. Using the story of Elisha and the Armeneans from 2 Kings chapter 6 to show that God will never leave or forsake us, Clint encourages us with practical ways to walk through any battle—leaning on community, viewing our battles as testimony, and choosing vulnerability to declare victory in Christ every time. 

Don’t miss out on The Intentional Churches Conference 2025! Claim your discounted rate today: https://www.intentionalchurchesconference.com/ 

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com            
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/    
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches          
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Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches          
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction: Facing Battles and Finding Strength
20:32 Seeing Battles as Opportunities
29:26 The Importance of Learning from Others
32:40 Conclusion: Thankfulness and Praise

We’re wrapping up season 4 of the Intentional Churches podcast with a few bonus episodes from the 2024 Intentional Churches Conference! This first bonus episode comes from the One Aware panel we did interviewing non-Christians on their thoughts on Jesus, the church, and how they’d ideally want to be approached by Christians. It’s an eye-opening, and convicting, conversation.

A word of caution: this type of conversation is not a casual, one-off conversation to be replicated in any type of context, instead our team conducted this panel as a way to inspire and train the 99 in relational evangelism. We always want to be intentional about what kind of ambassadors for Christ we are in the world, and this was the perfect setting to do just that.

We’re offering a special, early bird rate for the Intentional Churches Conference 2025! Here's the link:
https://www.intentionalchurchesconference.com/

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com           
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/   
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches         
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X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Caution
01:35 Setting the Stage for Spiritual Conversations
03:30 Exploring Non-Christians' Beliefs
06:05 Panelists' Introductions and Backgrounds
13:13 Opinions on the Bible
15:05 Perspectives on Jesus Christ
19:15 Beliefs about the Resurrection
23:16 Thoughts on Life After Death
27:08 Confidence in Beliefs and Openness to Spiritual Conversations
31:22 Past Experiences Attending Church Services
31:51 Childhood Church Experiences and Sense of Community
35:02 Desire for Understanding and Respect in Spiritual Conversations
37:50 Building Trust and Friendship Before Discussing Spirituality
40:41 Questions for God about Purpose and Impact
55:05 Continuing Conversations in a Casual and Accepting Environment

On this week’s episode of Intentional Churches Doug and Erin are joined by Jill Gillie, executive director of campus ops and projects at Eastside Christian Church in Orange County, California. Jill is an expert when it comes to recruiting, sustaining, and building a volunteer culture, and that’s exactly the expertise she shares during today’s conversation. 

A lot changed for churches after COVID-19, including the approach to volunteers. Jill breaks down how her team looks at building that core volunteer base, post-COVID, and what she learned about consistency throughout that time. The three then launch into a discussion on how to recruit volunteers of different generations, creating a true volunteer culture at your church, and Jill’s practical tips for training your volunteer team. Members willing to serve are essential for the success of any church, no matter its size, and this conversation will leave you with practical ways to build a consistent volunteer culture that will continue to grow beyond your annual volunteering push from the pulpit. 

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Importance of Volunteers in Church
03:15 Adapting Volunteer Recruitment and Care During COVID-19
11:24 Generational Differences in Volunteering
18:34 Creating a Volunteer Culture
26:43 Practical Tips for Recruiting and Training Volunteers

New to Intentional Churches? Start here: 
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com            
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/    
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches          
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Welcome back to this week’s episode of The Intentional Churches podcast! We’re continuing our discussion on preparing for the push come November that is the 2024 election season. Today Erin and Doug welcome Archbishop Alan Wiggins to the show to talk about navigating politics in our own neighborhoods, which translates into how we lead people well in our churches.

Archbishop Wiggins serves as the senior pastor of Hope Church Orlando, and he’s also the presiding bishop of the International Bishops Conference. Given his passion for pastoring not just the spiritual side of the individual, but the whole person, Archbishop Wiggins rebranded a 50 year-old urban youth center into Frontline Innovation Studios—a place where youth can gather to learn about technology and hone their skills for future jobs. This passion for community serves as a jumping off point for today’s conversation on navigating politics in our neighborhoods.

Together, Erin and Doug talk with Archbishop Wiggins about what he and his church learned from the 2020 election cycle, how church leaders can lead their people well as we head into the fall of 2024, and the role of the church in the community when it comes to politics. Archbishop Wiggins concludes the episode by encouraging listeners to truly be the Church in this political moment—living out The Great Commission in everything we do.

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com           
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/   
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches         
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Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches         
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Setting the Context
02:36 Navigating the Political Landscape in America
09:24 The African-American Church and Politics
12:29 Reflections on Navigating Politics in 2020
15:25 Leading Through the Political Climate of 2024
20:24 The Role of the Church in the Political Climate
24:20 Practical Advice for Church Leaders
27:18 Returning to the Basics of Scripture
29:16 Living with Urgency and Conviction
31:09 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

With election season ramping up and all the political turmoil we’ve experienced as a country in the last few weeks, it’s no wonder church leaders are talking about how to navigate politics from the pulpit. First Orlando’s senior associate pastor, Danny de Armas, joins Erin and Doug for this week’s timely conversation on all things politics and how to engage with what’s going on without becoming addicted to the noise.

Politics is everyone’s favorite talking point, especially those in church leadership where your every potential misstep is recorded and live-streamed on a Sunday. But this is a subject we need to address. Together, Erin and Doug start off by asking Danny what he and his church learned through the turmoil of the 2020 election cycle and what, if anything, he’d do differently this time around. The three then discuss practical ways to keep Jesus at the center of all political discussions, how to mobilize our people to pray in this political season, and encourage church leaders to root themselves in the Gospel before tuning into any news cycle.

Given all that’s happened on the national stage in the last few weeks—and all that will happen this fall—this is a can’t-miss episode on leading our people well from now until November and beyond.

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com           
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C         
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/   
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches         
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/         
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches         
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
03:42 Navigating Politics from the Pulpit
05:37 Lessons Learned from the Political Unrest of 2020
09:54 Challenges of Navigating Politics in a Diverse Church
14:12 Being Intentional and Careful in Addressing Political Issues
19:27 The Power of Prayer and Scripture in Navigating Politics
25:09 Advancing the Kingdom of God: The Ultimate Goal

What do we as ministry leaders do when our facilities begin to run out of space? Should we immediately begin a building campaign, or are there other creative ways to still serve our people in our current spaces? Too many people in too small a space is a good problem to have, but it can be a hard one to solve. Executive pastor Jeremy Thiessen joins Erin and Doug for this week’s episode of The Intentional Churches podcast to talk how to prepare for physical expansion without losing sight of your church’s vision for developing disciples.

Jeremy has served as the executive pastor for Shelter Cove in Modesto, California for five years, and from 2022 to 2024, saw their weekend attendance double in size. That fast growth prompted Jeremy and his team to start thinking about expansion, and the challenges and opportunities that come with that conversation. Throughout the episode Erin and Doug also share their own insights when it comes to building, creative solutions if a building campaign isn’t possible or isn’t the right way to serve your people, and how to always keep the Great Commission front of mind, rather than getting caught up in a building project.

Whether your church is running out of physical space, or you’re simply needing a word on how to continue discipling your people well—this episode is for you!

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com           
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C          
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/   
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches         
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches         
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/         
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches         
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches   

Chapters: 
00:00 Introduction and Personal Background
03:11 Preparing for the Next Season of Ministry
04:07 The Journey of Shelter Cove Community Church
06:01 Transition to an Attractional Model
07:23 Engaging with Intentional Churches
08:47 Experiencing Significant Growth
09:46 National Trends in Church Growth and Space Challenges
14:24 Space Challenges at Shelter Cove Community Church
16:20 Considering Capital Campaign and Building Plans
20:46 Creative Solutions for Space Challenges
23:17 Cautionary Thoughts on Building Projects
25:44 Aligning Vision and Addressing Space Needs
28:55 Practical Advice for Planning and Space Management
32:57 Conclusion and Final Thoughts