Many churches have some sort of group ministry at their church. Regardless of how they function at your church, there are a few principles that are universal in their helpfulness. In this episode, we share 6 of those tips.

Welcome to episode 290 of Practical Church Planting.

Here are the 6 tips we discuss in this episode:

• Provide a leader guide or curriculum for your group leaders
• Schedule a couple of breaks throughout the year
• Track attendance
• Share announcements in the leader guide
• Cap your groups and don't force multiplication
• Push group sign-ups when breaks end

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

While there may be obvious things you should cover in a welcome or new members class, what are important things that are easily overlooked? In this episode, we share 7 helpful things to cover that you might miss.

Welcome to episode 289 of Practical Church Planting. 

Here are the 7 things we discuss in this episode:

• Start with something fun/interesting
• History of your church
• Expectations of members
• Church beliefs on secondary issues
• Staff & elder pictures
• Overview of the Gospel
• A tour of your meeting space

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Building community is a vital part of a healthy church. In this episode, we share 9 events you can try at your church and how we actually do them.

Welcome to episode 288 of Practical Church Planting.

Here are the 9 events we discuss in this episode:

• Trivia night
• After church cookout
• Outdoor movie night
• Fantasy football league
• Chili cook-off
• Bingo night
• Trunk or treat
• Pizza in the park
• Bracket Challenge

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Sermon slides are a helpful tool to keep people engaged while preaching, but they can also cause a number of distractions during your service if they are not done well. In this episode, we share with you 7 tips for better slide transitions during your sermon.

Welcome to episode 287 of Practical Church Planting.

Here are the 7 tips we discuss in this episode:

• Slides inputted and edited before Sunday
• Print outline/notes for screens person (+ livestream) with notes for ques
• Talk through screen points during run-through
• One sentence/phrase per slide
• Try not to leave slide transition timing up to your screens person
• Turn down fading between slides
• Fill in the blank notes can help retention and focus

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Want to preach effective sermons without spending an unnecessary amount of time on sermon prep? In this episode, we give you 7 ways you can do it.

Welcome to episode 286 of Practical Church Planting.

Here are the 7 ways we discuss in this episode:

• Same time every week
• Same setup every week
• Large block of uninterrupted time (with a deadline)
• Get ahead
• Review sermon with others
• Focus on one thing to improve on at a time
• Preach a lot of sermons (with good study habits)

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Ministry can at times be unpredictable and stressful, but there are things we can do to make it better. In this episode, we share 6 small hacks you can easily try.

Welcome to episode 285 of Practical Church Planting. 

Here are the 6 hacks we discuss in this episode:

• Give yourself 2 weeks to choose from by prepping your sermon ahead of time
• Make a "to do list" of things coming up in your weekly newsletter
• Use Siri/Google for time sensitive reminders
• Suggest the time/place when meeting with someone
• Work a full Monday
• Plan out your next workday at the end of your current workday.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We all want our sermons to not simply involving information, but lead to people taking steps in their faith. In this episode, we share 6 ways you can be more practical in your sermons.

Welcome to episode 284 of Practical Church Planting. 

• Give a simple and specific way to pray this week
• Give a simple and specific action item to do this week
• Give some practical examples of how to do what you're asking people to do
• Explain things like your friend who has never been to church is there
• Assume people want to take a step
• Celebrate the effort, not the result

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Discouragement in ministry happens to everyone, so how can we endure it well? In this episode, we share 6 tips for dealing with discouragement in ministry.

Welcome to episode 283 of Practical Church Planting. 

Here are the 6 tips we discuss:

• No major decisions on Monday
• Work on Monday
• Find a pastor to meet with regularly
• Be honest with your elders/leadership team
• Put vacations/time away on your calendar
• Discouragement is normal, staying there consistently is a warning

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

In this episode, I (Dylan) share 9 church planting regrets.

Welcome to episode 281 of Practical Church Planting.

Here are the regrets I discuss in this episode:

• Church planting residency
• More & better training
• Clear & defined planting timeline
• Sermon work/coaching sooner
• More clarity around my management team
• Two monitors
• Logos for sermon prep
• Consistent working calendar

Interested in sending Dylan a MarcoPolo message? Download the app and then send Dylan a Facebook message or an email at [email protected] with your phone number.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

In this episode, we answer ministry questions asked in your Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Welcome to episode 281 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.

Interested in sending Dylan a MarcoPolo message? Download the app and then send Dylan a Facebook message or an email at [email protected] with your phone number.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. 

You can also watch the video version of the podcast on our YouTube channel.

Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.