Practical Church

Church leadership can be difficult.

Welcome to welcome to episode 130 of Practical Church Planting.

In this episode, we share four tensions that are particularly felt in church leadership. We discuss:

• Innovating for the future while honoring the past
• Sticking to your convictions while empathizing for those who disagree
• Making the best decision while being misunderstood
• Being confident in what you are doing while being humble enough to continue to grow.

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

Unlimited PTO is worth pursuing. Let us explain.

Welcome to welcome to episode 129 of Practical Church Planting.

Traditionally, employees get a certain amount of hours or days off based on how much they work, how long they have worked where they worked, and various other reasons tied to the number of hours worked per week. We think there is a better way. In this episode, we share these five reasons why you should consider unlimited paid time off for your church staff.

• You pay for value, not hours worked
• Your work is never fully done, so you're never fully off
• Don't let very few bad apples ruin it for everyone
• People who take advantage of this shouldn't be on your staff anyway
• This is one of the few "benefits" that can be offered to church staff

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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.

Being ahead in sermon prep is really helpful. Here's why.

Welcome to welcome to episode 128 of Practical Church Planting.

While the thought of it may seem overwhelming at first, having more than just the sermon you are giving this week written is immensely helpful. In this episode, we discuss these six ways:

• Mondays have less pressure
• You aren't forced to come up with something each week
• There is more time to add stories/illustrations and to do any needed research
• More time to plan special elements in the service
• You can reorder sermons for a better fit
• You'll be glad you did

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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.

Seminary is great, but it isn't everything.

Welcome to welcome to episode 127 of Practical Church Planting.

Like many things in life, there is only so much you can learn about being a pastor without real-life experience. In this episode, we discuss these 5 things that seminary can't teach you about being a pastor:

• What vocational ministry will be like for your wife
• How to pastor people
• How to have difficult conversations
• How to develop leaders
• How to lead when you don't know the best course of action

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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.

The first year of church planting is hard. But what you face is common.

Welcome to welcome to episode 126 of Practical Church Planting.

There are many discouragements church planters will face in the first year of their church. The good news is that you are not the problem; your discouragements are common. In this episode, we discuss these five common discouragements planters face in year one:

• Declining attendance
• Financial pressure
• Launch team leaving
• The difference between theory and reality
• Before/after church

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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.

Some tips for new preachers.

Welcome to welcome to episode 125 of Practical Church Planting.

Preaching for the first time (or first handful of times) is exciting but nerve-wracking. In this episode, we discuss these five tips for new preachers:

• Go through it out loud
• Preach however is most comfortable
• Practice in front of people
• Have a main point
• Don't listen to one preacher

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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.

Here are some tools to help your church.

Welcome to welcome to episode 124 of Practical Church Planting.

There are many different needs of a church. In this episode, we share seven software programs we use at New City and would recommend to others. Click the names below to learn more about each product.

• Quickbooks
• Planning Center
• Nucleus
• Storytape
• Zoom
• ProPresenter
• Adobe Suite

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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.

What are some helpful ways to respond when people have questions about your church?

Welcome to welcome to episode 123 of Practical Church Planting. Y

When someone asks to meet because they have "questions about your church," it could be because they are genuinely curious about some things, or because they have some issues they want you to address. Regardless of the reason behind that request, in this episode we share these 6 tips to help ensure these conversations go as well as they can:

• Be upfront about your church's beliefs
• Don't pretend you're open to certain changing your beliefs or practices if you're not
• Assume the best about their intentions
• Ask them the why behind the why
• Acknowledge that faithful Christians can disagree
• Remember: love is the most important thing

No church is perfect. Here are 5 hopes if our churches in the next 10 years.

Welcome to welcome to episode 122 of Practical Church Planting.

Because none of us are perfect, that means the churches we lead will not be either. But that doesn't mean we don't do the best we can to love and lead people like Jesus. Here are 5 hopes we have for the Church in the next 10 years that we think will help us do that even better:

• More women on church staffs
• More cross-denominational/network support
• More churches planting churches
• Better online engagement
• Less politics

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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.

Support raising can be hard. Here is how to make it a little better.

Welcome to welcome to episode 121 of Practical Church Planting.

If you are a pastor, church planter, or part of a church plant, fundraising is likely something you have to deal with. Because of that, we share these six tips when it comes to raising support in this episode:

• In-person is always best
• Don't wait until you are desperate
• Give a deadline/follow-up date
• Share wins/updates
• Give an end date to your support ask
• Don't say no for people

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.