Practical Church

As COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen, when should your church gather again in person?

Welcome to welcome to episode 180 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why you may not want to regather in person as quickly as you can:

• A higher-quality online service may be better than a low-quality in-person service + a low-quality online service
• Loosening your restrictions once you regather could be tricky
• Enforcing restrictions could do harm
• Thinking long term is the job of the leader
• Just because people understand things are different doesn't mean they will stick with it
• You can't go back to online-only once you begin meeting in person

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

Developing these skills will help you be a more effective pastor in our culture today.

Welcome to welcome to episode 178 of Practical Church Planting.

Skills are abilities that can be developed and improved. In this episode, we discuss these six vital skills we all need to be effective pastors in our world today:

• Face to face conversations about difficult topics
• Always reply to your emails
• A system for tracking prayer requests
• Owning your calendar
• Theological clarity and conviction
• Healthy work boundaries

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

Here are some helpful things to think about as we move through COVID-19.

Welcome to welcome to episode 178 of Practical Church Planting.

As we consider what gathering as a church might look like in the coming months, you will hear a lot of varying thoughts an ideas. As you prayerfully make important decisions, we discuss these six things you'll want to consider:

• What people say they will do and what they actually will do is not always the same
• Be as clear and firm as you can when sharing decisions
• Updates are better than changes
• Think three months out (would I do this for three months?)
• Wisdom > expertise
• Your leadership lid is determined by your ability to live with low-level frustration

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

If you want your full-time salary to come from your church, you need an actual plan to get there.

Welcome to welcome to episode 177 of Practical Church Planting.

If your desire is to not be a bi-vocational church planter and instead work full-time on and in your church, you need a plan to get there. Assuming "I'll get there when the church can afford to pay me" is a sign that you'll never actually get there. In this episode, we share these five reasons as to why you need a plan to become financially supported by your church:

• It's easy to not take fundraising seriously when you have a backup plan
• If you can't raise money you can't plant a church
• You won't take fundraising seriously until it's too late
• You can't hit a theoretical goal
• Your source of income isn't holy

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

Want to make your online service more engaging?

Welcome to welcome to episode 176 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we discuss these seven things you can do to create a more engaging online service:

• Use two service hosts
• Use different shots/service elements
• Ask people to comment and share
• Have one service time (and pick a good time)
• Use a close shot of the pastor
• Include main points of the sermon (and worship lyrics if possible)
• Get others involved

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

What can you do to increase giving when it is down?

Welcome to welcome to episode 175 of Practical Church Planting.

What can you do when finances are tight and giving is down? In this episode, we discuss these seven practical things you can do to increase giving at your church:

• Be honest about where your church is at financially
• Give people a reason to be hopeful for the future
• Share stories of how your church is impacting people
• Don't guilt people into giving more
• Never apologize when talking about giving
• Send quarterly giving reports
• Talk about giving every week

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

Here are some things you can do to improve your online service during COVID-19.

Welcome to welcome to episode 174 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we discuss these 8 things you can do to create an even better online service:

• Go live or use premier at a set time so people can watch together
• Prioritize the initial stream
• Have a countdown timer
• Don't aim to recreate the same looking Sunday service
• Encourage people to connect with you online every week
• Have a service host
• Use service elements
• Include worship if you can

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

How can you lead your church well during the pandemic?

Welcome to welcome to episode 173 of Practical Church Planting.

In the midst of so much uncertainty, churches have a lot to figure out. In this episode, we discuss these four things you can do to help lead your church well during this time:

• Assume nothing will return back to normal for 3 months
• Your digital response will heavily impact your physical presence
• Give up on how you used to do things, but don't give up
• Start planning for what you were wanting to change

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

How can you best preach to an online audience?

Welcome to welcome to episode 172 of Practical Church Planting.

During the coronavirus pandemic when all of us are preaching to an online audience, we discuss these eight tips for a better online experience:

• Look into the camera the whole time
• Don't acknowledge your feelings about it
• Don't forget about the children
• Set the camera at eye level
• Display verses/points if you can
• Have a stagnant background
• Have more than one camera angle if possible
• Record audio to something other than the camera if possible

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

Here are some practical things your church can try as we move online during the coronavirus.

Welcome to welcome to episode 171 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we share feedback on the new things we tried this week, as well as new ideas to try in the weeks to come.

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