New Churches Podcast

Time is our most precious commodity, and most bivocational leaders say they have trouble managing it. Ed Stetzer and Brad Brisco discuss practical ideas for managing your time.

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The No. 1 challenge, every single time I ask a bivo/covo planter, always has to do with time management – managing multiple aspects of life. — Brad Brisco

We definitely have to have a conversation if your approach to church is professional clergy centric. — Ed Stetzer

I’ve seen people have two or three couples and two or three singles, all going together to plant a church. If you’re bivo or covo, you cannot plant as a Lone Ranger. — Brad Brisco

There’s something in our culture that’s not healthy where we have to be the hero, we have to be the center. You can’t have a healthy long-term ministry like that. — Ed Stetzer

Church planters tell me they feel guilty with the amount of time they spend at work because those are hours they can’t spend on the church plant. — Brad Brisco

If you’re going to be bivocational, covocational, there are some jobs that are not good jobs for you. — Ed Stetzer

You have to operate with a planner and a calendar. You need to manage expectations. Most leaders need to set some social media boundaries. — Brad Brisco

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What does it look like to connect with your community? Noah Oldham and Vance Pitman talk with Mark Lee about best practices for engaging your community as a new church planter.

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When we begin to be viewed as partners in our communities and cities, we create relational bridges that allow the gospel to walk from our lives into the lives of those we’ve been called to serve. —Vance Pitman

The way we connected with the community was that I just wanted to connect with my street, to just be the pastor of my street. Sometimes we can make it too complicated: Who do I need to reach out to? Where do I need to go? I just started where I lived. —Mark Lee

The greatest church planting class I took in seminary was actually on foreign missions. It taught me about these principles of being a missionary. And one of those principles was finding a person of peace. —NoahOldham

Find ways you can build relationships with the people in your life. For me, a lot of it had to do with what my kids were doing. The first 13 families I led to Christ, I led to Christ coaching Little League baseball and NFL flag football. —Vance Pitman

Once we have followers, disciples and a core team, how do we mentor them to reach out to the city too? For my core team, I provided a framework: prayers, conversations, table fellowships and invitations. —Mark Lee

When we started, we created what we called the Personal Touch Tip Sheet. It was 40 examples of how you could connect with someone. Like, for example, when somebody moves in on your street, bake some cookies or bread, make a meal, and take it to your neighbor. —Vance Pitman

Keep being faithful and trust the Lord to build His Church. —NoahOldham

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You’ve heard about “having a multiplication mindset” but what is it and why does it matter? Ed Stetzer talks with Brad Brisco about what it looks like to have a multiplication mindset.

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer

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We need to understand and remember that we’re a sent, missionary people. A multiplication mindset has to start with God’s redemptive purposes being central. — Brad Brisco

If the first thing you stand up and say is, “Hey, we’ve got to plant another church, but you haven’t multiplied a disciple or a group or a ministry, it’s jarring to people. We have to get to the place where we’re thinking multiplication consistently. — Ed Stetzer

It’s not just about multiplying churches. In fact, it  needs to start by multiplying disciples, leaders and groups. Church leaders need to be thinking about multiplying ourselves in mission or ministry. — Brad Brisco

If the norm is not to live on mission, when I multiply the way people think about mission, that’s multiplication as well. — Ed Stetzer

Paul says in Ephesians 4 that if all five of the gifts are not being exercised, the church will not reach maturity. In fact, he actually says the church will not experience the fullness of Christ. — Brad Brisco

I can live sent and not multiply. I can think of myself as a missionary in my context, showing and sharing the love of Jesus, and still not multiply. — Ed Stetzer

In creating a multiplication culture, we need to think about stories and scorecards. What stories are we celebrating? What are we measuring? How are we defining success? — Brad Brisco

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New churches must be built on a foundation of evangelism. Noah Oldham and Vance Pitman talk with Mark Lee about how to build a church through evangelism.

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One of the big mistakes we’ve made is shifting from starting churches to starting church services. Paul never went in and started a service. He began by engaging the community with the gospel, focused on disciple-making. —Vance Pitman

Missiologists tell us that the most strategic way of bringing a revival back to our continent is reaching lost people for Christ. —Mark Lee

Church planters have to remember what lost people are not looking for and what they are looking for. —Vance Pitman

A lot of church planters will default to the weekly gathering and some sort of discipleship in small groups. We must challenge people to keep a focus on engagement with the city, one-on-one sharing the gospel, reaching people where they are. —NoahOldham

There’s an old adage that if we want other people to feel something, we have to bleed something. If we want to build an evangelistic fire in our church, it has got to start with us as the pastors. —Mark Lee

All of us have Christ in us, seeking and saving the lost. We have to create opportunities within our church, allow people to live that out, because many will never choose that on their own. —Vance Pitman

The goal of the gospel, of what Jesus had in mind, is when I sit at my table who else am I inviting to the table with me? —Mark Lee

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Establishing healthy partnership between an established church and a plant can be a challenge. Ed Stetzer talks with Ron Edmondson about how to lead an established church to support church planting.

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Places across the globe are having more success with the gospel than we are having. We need to learn from them. We also need to fuel their fire with what God has given us. — Ron Edmondson

Casting vision helps a church be outwardly focused. — Ed Stetzer

People are going to go where they want to go. Church planting matters. And the more we can put those two together, the more successful we’re going to be. — Ron Edmondson

I had a church planting class create case studies on the way plants partnered with their primary sponsor church. Seven out of 10 had relational problems. — Ed Stetzer

Seek more than money. If you don’t ask for my advice, you’ve already shot yourself in the foot. — Ron Edmondson

There’s a difference between being having a partner and a funder. Finding the other things an established church can provide is really key. — Ed Stetzer

A sign of healthy partnership is when both the planter and the pastor enjoy that relationship. It’s not just transactional. It’s not just the the dollars. — Ron Edmondson

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Planters, lead pastors, apprentices – we all need to grow as preachers. Clint Clifton talks with Bryan Loritts and Bobby Jamieson about the “how to” of becoming a better preacher.

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A big aspect of how our senior pastor has trained so many preachers is having lots of feedback. He will very humbly receive feedback on his own preaching. – Bobby Jamieson

Church planting has kind of turned into the Wild, Wild West. So many planters just kind of went out there on their own. They haven’t really sat under consistent preaching. – Bryan Loritts

I’ve talked to more than one church planter who basically said, “I started planting a church without really knowing what a church is and now I’m having to do this messy thing of rebuilding the plane in midair.” – Bobby Jamieson

Karl Barth said he takes the text in one hand and the newspaper in the other. That’s one way I try to gauge the fruit of my ministry: Am I speaking to the particular idols of that given context and is that being worked into the lifeblood of our church? – Bryan Loritts

I have interns join me when I’m preparing a sermon, by the time I have an outline. They come in with their own outlines and thoughts about how to apply the passage. We’ll go over our outlines. – Bobby Jamieson

Churches should be teaching hospitals. The teaching hospital says, “We want to create, within the ecosystem of our hospital, room for residents to actually practice.” That’s what we’ve always tried to do.” – Bryan Loritts

I encourage young preachers to make sure that in every point of their sermon they have explanation, illustration and application. – Bobby Jamieson

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How do you set goals for your church without slipping into pragmatism? Ed Stetzer talks with Ron Edmondson about “faith goals” and how to set them for your church.

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Does goal-setting presume on God? I do think goals are good. What’s it going to look like when what are we hoping to see happens? — Ed Stetzer

If you’re making a goal and there’s no stretching in it, that’s not going to be a faith goal. God is in charge of the increase, so it may not happen the way you intended. — Ron Edmondson

Do you have categories for different goals – internal staff goals and external partnership goals? How do you find a good balance? — Ed Stetzer

Everything you learn from the people who have multiple staff, be willing to translate the principle. You don’t translate practices; you translate principles. Start with the end in mind. What are you trying to achieve? Then work backward from that. — Ron Edmondson

If this is a faith goal, then where is God already working? We don’t want to go where God’s not at work. This is where it becomes a true faith initiative. — Ron Edmondson

People tend to overdo goal-setting when they’ve never done it before. They end up with, like, 15 goals. — Ed Stetzer

I use the last six weeks of the year to pray about and plan for the next year. Say, “If we’re going to take this church where it needs to go next year, what are the top two or three goals we need to have?” Don’t be afraid to ask for help. I always depend on that. — Ron Edmondson

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“Pastor Dads” face tremendous challenges in raising children. Clint Clifton talks with Bryan Loritts and Bobby Jamieson about how to navigate the complexities.

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Pastoring and being a dad overlap so much. The kind of issues you’re wrestling with dealing with messy stuff in people’s lives, you come home to somewhat similar messes. There is a sort of uncanny parallel. – Bobby Jamieson

When I was aspiring for pastoral ministry, my biggest apprehension was the effect I’d seen pastoral ministry have on the children of pastors. I felt I was, by going into ministry, making the choice to give my kids a really rough upbringing. – Clint Clifton

There can be great benefits and blessings to having your kids get front-row seats to what the Lord is doing in people’s lives, to just grow up immersed in the work of ministry. – Bobby Jamieson

It’s important to embrace the tension. We want our kids to know they are definitely a priority in our lives, but we have to be careful of the idolatry of children. – Bryan Loritts

I find myself often telling planters not to sacrifice their ministries on the altar of family. It’s possible to create an environment where our kids are the center of our universe. – Clint Clifton

More than my dad’s sin, I remember his apologies. There’s no shame in apologizing to a middle schooler. – Bryan Loritts

As a dad, I must put gospel distance between who I am and my kids’ behavior. If I look at my kids as a reflection of me, that’s going to lead to some very dark places. I am not my kid’s behavior and the freedom that comes with that is huge. – Bobby Jamieson

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Most, if not all, church planters struggle with feeling inferior. Ed Stetzer, Scotty Smith and Adam Muhtaseb explain how to fight feelings of inferiority.

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We all live with Imposter Syndrome. As a church planter, most people would find me bold and brash, but I struggled with feelings of inferiority for the entire journey. @EdStetzer

People would rather follow someone who’s real than somebody who’s always Superman. They’d rather you admit your weakness, point to Jesus and show His strength. @Adam_Muhtaseb

Don’t be ashamed of your weakness. Learn what it means to lead as a jar of clay with the aroma of grace coming out. @Scotty Smith

Lots of stories in Scripture are of those who felt inadequate for the task God had called them to do. @EdStetzer

The very concept of inferiority presupposes comparison. I feel inferior compared to what? Comparison-ism destroys community. @Scotty Smith

People see either your strength or Jesus’ strength. Let’s let our people see Jesus’ ‘ strength through our weakness. @Adam_Muhtaseb

You know what’s better than the hardship of ministry? The beauty and faithfulness of the Lord. Learn every day to rely upon the God who raises the dead. @Scotty Smith

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We know the value of building leaders, but what about when we need to hire? Clint Clifton talks with Todd Adkins and Jamie Caldwell about best hiring practices for a new church.

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Most church planters think they’ll have multiple full-time staff members. We’re still starry-eyed and optimistic and we haven’t been punched in the in the nose yet by the difficulties of church planting. — Clint Clifton

The people you can afford early, you don’t want very long. – Jamie Caldwell

We always tell church planters to act their age. Church planters go out and they want everything that every church has. Often they’re trying to do too much too fast, instead of doing a few things really well. — Clint Clifton

If you’re bringing somebody from outside, you better be crystal clear on your vision, values, systems and structures. They’re going to make decisions that are outside of what you would want and sometimes it’s not their fault because we haven’t been clear. @Todd Adkins

God will give you the church He wants you to have, with the people He knows you need. It’s your job to know them well enough to put them into into place. – Jamie Caldwell

Churches will drift toward complexity, not simplicity. You need to be really tight on what you do and what you don’t do, because it’s really hard to kill stuff off later on. @Todd Adkins

We cannot neglect that God’s got a sovereign strategy. We can’t jump to Step 2 and start writing policies about hiring until we have a picture of what God is doing and we’re willing to just scrap the rest of it. – Jamie Caldwell

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