REACHRIGHT Podcast

We have been having the pastoral burnout conversation for years and it keeps getting worse. That is because we have been talking about the wrong thing. 

This episode is not about workload, time management, or self-care tips for tired pastors. It is about the loneliness and isolation crisis that is actually driving the burnout numbers to levels the church has never seen before. Pastoral loneliness has jumped from 42% to 65% in seven years. Peer support has dropped from 37% to 22% in the same period. 18% of pastors report thoughts of self-harm in the past year. 

Thomas and Shiloh bring the data, name the parts of this conversation most people avoid, and issue a direct challenge to church boards, elder teams, and congregations to stop placing all the responsibility on the pastor and start owning the system that is producing these outcomes. 

A third of practicing Christians now trust spiritual advice from AI just as much as advice from their pastor. For Gen Z and millennials that number is closer to 40%. Four in ten Christians say AI has already helped them with prayer, Bible study, or spiritual growth. This is not a future trend to prepare for. It is a present reality happening inside your congregation right now. 

In this episode Thomas and Shiloh unpack the Barna data, dig into why people are choosing a chatbot over their pastor, identify what AI gets dangerously wrong in spiritual conversations, and give church leaders specific and practical steps they can take this week to close the trust and access gap before it gets any wider. 

This is not an episode about demonizing technology. It is about the church waking up to an opportunity it cannot afford to keep ignoring. 

There is a lot of noise about what churches should be doing digitally and most of it is just distraction dressed up as strategy. In this episode Thomas and Shiloh cut through the noise and focus on the trends that are actually moving the needle for churches right now, starting with one that almost nobody in the church world is paying attention to yet. AI search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are already being used to find churches and the churches showing up in those results have a growing advantage that is only going to get bigger. This episode also covers AI content multiplication, the maturation of short-form video, the quiet death of the church app, the SMS renaissance, and why sermon podcasts are still one of the most underused free reach strategies available to any church regardless of size or budget. 

Most churches are spread across every social media platform imaginable and doing none of them well. In this episode Thomas and Shiloh go platform by platform and have the honest conversation most church leaders have never had about where churches should actually be spending their time and energy online. From Facebook and Instagram to YouTube, TikTok, X, and even LinkedIn, every major platform gets evaluated through one simple filter: who is on it, can churches realistically reach new people there, and is the effort actually worth the return. This is a practical and direct episode that will help any church leader stop feeling guilty about every platform they are not on and start doing the right ones really well. 

Your church website is open around the clock and right now it is either welcoming first-time visitors or sending them somewhere else without you even knowing it. In this episode we get practical and specific about what a great church website actually needs in 2026. The conversation covers everything from homepage design and hero sections to mobile experience, Plan Your Visit pages, photography audits, and affordable solutions for smaller churches with limited budgets. 

If your website was built for the people already in your seats instead of the people you are trying to reach, this episode will give you a clear and actionable path to change that fast. 

Ten years ago someone found a new church because a friend invited them. Today they Google it, watch a sermon clip, check the Instagram page, and make a decision before Sunday ever comes. The way people discover and evaluate churches has changed completely and most churches are still operating on an outdated playbook. In this episode we also welcome a new co-host to the show and get two fresh perspectives on how different generations approach church discovery in the digital age. This is a practical, honest, and eye-opening conversation packed with steps any church can take right now to show up where people are already searching.

This is not your typical episode and it is not your typical guest lineup. 

For episode 301 we brought two of the sharpest minds at the intersection of church, research, and technology into one conversation. Ed Stetzer, Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and one of the most cited church researchers in America, sits down with Corey Alderin, CEO and Co-Founder of Sermon Shots, INC 5000 honoree, and the builder behind a platform now serving over 9,000 churches worldwide. Together they tackle the AI conversation the church cannot afford to get wrong, the state of church decline and what the data actually says, why most churches are wasting their best content every single Sunday, and what it is going to take for the local church to reach the next generation with clarity and confidence.

 AI is here and it is not going anywhere, but the way many churches are using it right now is doing more harm than good. 

In this episode we are getting honest about the most common mistakes church leaders are making with artificial intelligence and what it is actually costing their ministry in trust, authenticity, and effectiveness. We are strong believers in the power of AI as a ministry tool, but only when it is used with the right strategy, the right boundaries, and the right understanding of what it can and cannot do. 

This conversation is not anti-AI. It is pro-wisdom, and it is for every pastor and church leader who wants to use this technology in a way that genuinely serves their calling and reaches their community. Walk away from this episode with a clearer picture of how to make AI work for your ministry instead of against it. 

Every year a fresh wave of technology trends hits the church world and pastors are left asking the same question: is this actually worth our time and money?

In this episode we are cutting through the noise and giving church leaders a clear, honest breakdown of what is actually moving the ministry needle right now and what is just hype dressed up in a good sales pitch. Technology is not the enemy of the local church, but the wrong technology at the wrong time absolutely can slow you down, drain your budget, and wear out your team.

This conversation is for every pastor and church leader who wants to be a good steward of their resources while staying sharp enough to use the tools that genuinely help their church reach more people. Walk away from this episode with a clearer filter for every tech decision your church will face going forward. 

If your church outreach feels like a lot of effort producing very little fruit, you are not alone and you are not without hope. In this episode, we are unpacking the real difference between churches that are growing and churches that are stuck when it comes to outreach. The gap is not about budget, building size, or staff. It is about strategy, and the churches winning at outreach right now have figured out something that most leaders have not caught onto yet. This conversation will challenge the way you think about outreach and give you a practical starting point for building something that actually works in today's world.