Practical Church

Make the most of your preview services.

Welcome to welcome to episode 140 of Practical Church Planting.

Having a couple of preview services before the launch of a new church is a great idea. In this episode, we discuss these five things in particular to look out for when you do them:

• The energy in the parking lot/lobby
• What questions people are asking
• How many connect cards were filled out
• Parents feedback on kids space
• Where do people sit

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Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

We all want to save more money. Here are some things you can try.

Welcome to welcome to episode 139 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.

All of us are always looking for ways to save money for our churches. In this episode, we discuss these six things that we have done:

• Rechargeable batteries
• Ask for church planting discounts
• Buy limited amounts of merch
• Ask other churches for needs
• Let people know of your church needs
• Google Suite for non-profits

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Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

Social media for church leaders is tricky.

Welcome to welcome to episode 138 of Practical Church Planting.

Personal social media use for pastors and church leaders can be tricky. In this episode, we share these five thoughts and considerations for how we should use social media:

• Supporting political candidates/causes will push some people away
• The rules are different for pastors/church leaders
• Don't just post about church/ministry/theology
• Be wary of legalism
• You don't have to post about every cultural event

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Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

We tried Thursday night services. Here is what we found.

Welcome to welcome to episode 137 of Practical Church Planting.

Recently at New City Church we attempted Thursday night services. Here are reflections on how they went:

• I'm glad we tried it and would do it again
• Thursday nights need to be given as much effort as Sunday mornings
• Preaching Thursday makes Saturdays more relaxing
• Sermon prep was more difficult
• It's all about sustainability, other things will need to be cut

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

How can we get people to join the launch team?

Welcome to welcome to episode 136 of Practical Church Planting.

Every church planter wrestles, prays, and hopes people will join the launch team of their church plant. After all, if you have no people, you have no church. In this episode, we discuss these six tips to do just that:

• Have a launch date in place
• Have something consistent to invite people to outside of events
• Have a closer launch date
• Give people things to do
• Pre-launch meetings need to be different than a Sunday service
• Ask people to be on it

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

Most of us want to pray more than we do. Here are some steps towards making that happen.

Welcome to welcome to episode 135 of Practical Church Planting.

Prayer can be hard. The vast majority of people we know would say they wish they were "better" at it (i.e. took it more seriously and prayed more consistently).

Even as a pastor, this has been my (Dylan's) story. But earlier this year after being inspired yet again by someone who prayed well, I decided I didn't just want to be inspired by others, I wanted to actually do something about it.

I'm still learning as I go, but I can at least say I really do pray now. At least more intentionally and earnestly than I did before. And so below are four simple steps I took that have vastly improved my prayer life.

Click here to read Dylan's blog on for simple steps to a more vibrant prayer life.

Here are the steps we discuss in this episode:

• Ask a few people around you for one to two specific things you can be praying for
• Create a written list of prayer needs
• Pray through your list and move on to the next item when you get distracted
• Commit to pray over that list for a brief amount of time each day

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

Everyone faces difficulties when planting a church.

Welcome to welcome to episode 134 of Practical Church Planting.

Sometimes it can feel like we are the reason things don't always go they way we would like. The reality is, all church planters face difficulties. In fact, some difficulties are faced by every church planter. We discuss these seven in this episode:

• Your launch team won't be as passionate as you are
• Your launch team won't be as large as you thought
• Some people you expect to give financially won't
• Some people you expect will join your launch team won't
• Finding a space is often harder than you think
• Fundraising will keep you up at night, often
• Comparision will only hurt you

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

When it comes time to add a second service, what should you do with your volunteers?

Welcome to welcome to episode 133 of Practical Church Planting.

Sooner or later, you may one day get to the point where you need to add a second service. There is a lot to plan for to make it happen, including how you are going to schedule your volunteers. In this episode, we discuss these five tips about making it happen:

• Whatever you do, don't make exceptions
• Schedule one team for both services
• Don't be afraid to raise the bar
• Avoid unneeded positions
• Be very intentional about culture

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

Ministry can be stressful, these tips can help.

Welcome to welcome to episode 132 of Practical Church Planting. You can watch the episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode.

Ministry can feel like you never get a break. These tips are designed to help remind us that we don't need to be (nor should be) always "on." We discuss these tips:

• Delete email from your phone
• Turn off all notifications, including texts
• Leave when you are done/plan to leave early
• Do your best and be ok with less than perfect

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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

Preaching through books of the Bible has a lot of benefits.

Welcome to welcome to episode 131 of Practical Church Planting.

Preaching through books of the Bible (and not just the short ones) is a great thing for your people and even you as the preacher. In this episode, we discuss these five reasons why:

• You'll preach texts you would never pick (and you're people are never taught)
• People want to learn what the Bible says
• The best way to learn the context of a passage is in its context
• Boring preaching bores people, not boring sermon series
• You'll personally learn more than in a topical series

Connect and never miss an episode.

Did you know that you can watch the Practical Church Planting podcast? Connect with us on our Facebook page or our YouTube Channel.

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