New Churches Podcast

In this episode, hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham talk with pastor, planter, and professor Tony Merida on the significance of an accountability that reaches past moral convictions. Tune in to discover all you have to gain from your sending church and network as you discredit false doctrines and get to the non-negotiables of your gospel-driven mission.

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At the end of the day, Jesus will hold me accountable to what I teach and expects His church to be faithful to sound doctrine. Moral accountability is so important, but theological accountability is something we should be talking about, too. — Tony Merida

If you go back to the New Testament missiology, the apostles’ letters not only corrected missional and practical issues but dealt with theological issues that needed to be addressed. — Vance Pitman

Consider all the great confessions of the faith that have been passed down to us. These core doctrines can be read in a very academic, dry way or in a worshipful way that really builds your faith. — Tony Merida

We’re not talking about a relationship of cops and robbers or being the theological police; we’re talking about brother-to-brother encouragement and pouring theological investment into each other’s lives. — Vance Pitman

In Colossians 1, Paul doesn’t start by talking about problems and heresy. He starts by giving a real picture of Christ, then talking about the problem. If people understand who the real Christ is, they begin understanding the real gospel. — Tony Merida

John the Baptist lost his head over what he believed about marriage, so let’s not goof around as if everybody’s going to love us. We have to be bold while dealing with controversial issues in a way that’s gentle, winsome, and warm, but also in a spirit of boldness. — Tony Merida

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Host Ed Stetzer sits down with rural pastor and planter Will Basham to discuss his heart for reaching the lost in rural America. Regardless of our own backdrop, this church-planting mission remains the same for us, too, as we go and make disciples. Here’s how God is reaching the lost in Milton, West Virginia, and how you can join in on His mission.

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Anywhere there are people created in the image of God is an important place for ministry. — Will Basham

When we devalue an area culturally, people in that cultural context—those in the inner city, as well as in rural America—know that they’re undervalued by the culture. — Ed Stetzer

It’s about teaching faithfulness in a lot of little areas. It’s not about trying to shake people down for money but teaching our people about sacrificing and worshiping through giving. — Will Basham

When we forget the gospel or try to mingle it with political or social issues instead of keeping it above them, we become misguided and just part of the noise. — Will Basham

Our church is trying to teach people that in a sea of faces, they’re not forgotten. — Will Basham

God is at work in the rural context and calls people there. Maybe you are called to go there or to partner with others who are answering the call to reach these spaces as well. — Ed Stetzer

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What exactly are the benefits of engaging with social media? Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham team back up with pastor and planter Josh Howerton to share insight into social media’s role in ministry. Here’s how your online presence can assist you in sharing God’s truth and shepherding His people as you seek to plant new churches.

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Social media can be a field full of landmines. — Noah Oldham

Shepherding and Bible teaching isn’t just 40 minutes once a week. Our people are spending dozens of hours online, and we’re leaving our sheep to the wolves when we decide to not engage. — Josh Howerton

I engage online because I want to have the conversation where my people are. I don’t want my pulpit to get hijacked by the current cultural issue, but I do need to help my people with those concepts. — Josh Howerton

A reason to think about why these issues matter, as well as why we need to speak about them, is because it’s not political; it’s about being the immune system of our culture. — Vance Pitman

You want to have a ministry that edifies the wise, corrects the foolish, and—though this is something with a bit of an edge to it—drives away the evil. — Josh Howerton

Attracting a mob is like getting attacked by snowballs. When it’s done, you realize it actually didn’t hurt you that much. But you have to be wise and thoughtful from every angle. — Josh Howerton

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Host Ed Stetzer teams back up with long-time ministry leaders Christine and Kyle Hoover to share their wisdom gained through all their years of marriage and church planting. Tune in to discover the lessons they learned the hard way—from calendars and communication to rest and recreation—and how you can better invest in your marriage as a priority ministry, too.

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You could fill every minute of every day with new ideas for church planting; you have to intentionally make decisions for you and your spouse to be together. — Kyle Hoover

A lot of church planters fit their family time in however and whenever they can, which communicates to the family that they’re secondary. — Kyle Hoover

A lot of pastors, church planners, and their wives think they’re the exception to the rule of rest. Church planting is nonstop, but that’s exactly what runs you into the ground. — Christine Hoover

Cultivating your relationship is a primary ministry God has given you; it’s not a place to just rest until you go out and do more ministry. — Christine Hoover

It’s worth it to financially and timewise invest in your marriage so that you can endure in ministry while cultivating your marriage. — Christine Hoover 

In almost all circumstances of leaving, the people who go with you are your family. Investing in those long-term relationships is better for your church plant as you invest in your family. — Ed Stetzer

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham spend time with pastor and planter Josh Howerton discussing how networks can help us go further faster. Tune in to discover how this valuable kingdom advancement can be yours for the taking as you lead your people with a missional mindset—financially, relationally, and spiritually.

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Everything in the New Testament ties to this idea of churches planting churches together. You’re not planting a church; you’re being sent out by a church that is planting a church. — Vance Pitman

God uses churches of all sizes to reach all kinds of people, and different networks have different emphases. — Josh Howerton

You don’t have to be a large church to be a multiplying church; the size of the church doesn’t determine its significance. — Vance Pitman

There is a massive net gain, not just for the kingdom, but for your church when you become personally invested in planting and multiplying other churches. — Josh Howerton

Multiplication is not something we’re going to consider or treat as an option; it’s something we’re going to do, and it’s driven by a theological and missiological conviction. — Vance Pitman

I love to see our church planters believing that from day one we will multiply. It only happens when we’re trusting God for it. — Noah Oldham

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Host Ed Stetzer chats with ministry leaders Christine and Kyle Hoover about how church pastors and planters can better serve their wives while leading their congregations. Tune in to discover how understanding balance and boundaries, along with calling and communication, will allow your wife to flourish the way God designed her to.

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The best thing a husband can do is study his wife, have conversations with her about what she is passionate about and gifted for, and as soon as possible, help her find her spot in the church plant that incorporates those gifts. — Christine Hoover

In the framework of intentionality, is the default approach to just hand off responsibilities to your wife? Or are you being intentional to turn every stone to find a different scenario that works better? — Kyle Hoover

Treat your wife with the same kind of care and intentionality that you would if she were a lay or staff person, not assuming things based upon her being your wife.  — Kyle Hoover

Church planning tends to attract people who are very driven and who are going to fill their time with work because they’re excited about starting something new. This entrepreneurial mindset can often lead to a marriage and a family out of balance. — Ed Stetzer

My ability to engage others in the church is going to change over time because of the season of life that I’m in. It comes down to knowing my context, knowing myself, and knowing what the Lord has asked me to do. — Christine Hoover

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham offer their insights into what it means for a church to truly be a house of prayer. Here’s how your congregation can more intentionally be in tune with the Lord in each new season of church planting, establishing healthy prayer rhythms as you go.

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Prayer, along with the Word of God, should be the centerpiece of what we’re doing and what we’re about. — Vance Pitman

Jesus said that when the lost world thinks about you as a people, they ought to say, “I don’t know everything about those people, but I know they talk to God over there.” — Vance Pitman

We don’t pray before we work; prayer is the work, and then God works. Unfortunately, today, we often think prayer is what we do before we get to the real work. — Vance Pitman

We’re not about success; we’re about kingdom fruit. — Noah Oldham

The power’s not in our praying. The power is in the One we’re praying to, and when we seek Him, He begins to move in power. — Noah Oldham

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Host Ed Stetzer teams back up with writer, professor, and missionary Trevin Wax to hone in on the ways theology impacts us as preachers, pastors, and planters. Tune in to discover how you’re already doing the work of a theologian… and why it’s time to lean into that calling upon your life.

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If you’re a pastor tasked with opening and expounding on God’s Word for the people He has entrusted to your care, you’re theologizing. — Trevin Wax

If you’re having to get up and preach, you shouldn’t want to preach yourself; you should want to preach God’s Word. It begins with the basic, fundamental level of interpreting God’s Word faithfully. — Trevin Wax

The pastor as theologian is not that you arrive; it’s that you’re continuing to sharpen your skills. — Ed Stetzer

Theology, at the end of the day, is not so we can fill our minds with knowledge. It’s so we can bow our knees in humility toward God and know Him better. — Trevin Wax

You’re shaping your congregation whether you realize it or not. Don’t you want to shape them in the best most God-glorifying way possible? — Trevin Wax

Who you are theologically shapes who your congregation is theologically. Make sure that who you are theologically is well-grounded, balanced, and biblical. — Ed Stetzer

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Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham spend some time with Strategic Renewal President Daniel Henderson to discuss the role of prayer in the pastor’s life and in the life of the church as a whole. Discover how you can grow your own appetite for prayer and lead your people to do the same.

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It has to be birthed in our own hearts that if we aren’t a praying church, we aren’t going to honor Christ, accomplish supernatural gospel advancement, or experience transformation. — Daniel Henderson

We watch people pray and see the Spirit of God move in power, and we’re like, “Wow! What is this?” But then we read the Bible and realize that’s what New Testament Christianity looks like. — Vance Pitman

There’s a difference between seeking revival from God and seeking God for revival. The only enduring motivation for prayer is that God is worthy to be sought, and that never changes. — Daniel Henderson

There has to be a worship-based motivation in our prayer that keeps us in the fight. — Daniel Henderson

When lost people attend a Christian church service, they actually expect us to talk to God and show them how they can do the same. When we relegate prayer to eloquent professionals on the stage, prayer becomes something unattainable for the average person. — Vance Pitman

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Host Ed Stetzer teams back up with author, pastor, and leadership expert Eric Geiger to discuss the church’s responsibility to engage hard questions with applicable theological truth. Here’s how you can intentionally shepherd your people as they examine God’s Word and seek His heart for them in the process.

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We find ourselves in a time when we can’t assume our people have a basic understanding of the gospel or on what the Bible teaches. — Ed Stetzer

I want our people to know I’m responsible before the Lord for them to be discipled, to have a Christocentric view of the world, and to be theologically conversant in understanding key doctrines of the Christian life. — Eric Geiger

What the church can offer now in a world that is so confused is to actually connect with the questions the culture’s asking; this is both theological and practical. — Eric Geiger

We’re not just screaming at the culture; we’re equipping our people to answer questions with both truth and grace. — Eric Geiger

Be careful before jumping into more complex topics because you want to walk your people through it wisely, biblically, and also in pastorally appropriate ways. — Ed Stetzer

Approach hard conversations with tenderness and compassion the way Jesus approaches us. Say the truth but also show it in a beautiful and gracious way. — Eric Geiger

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