Rural Advancement

Stephen Schaible has spent his entire ministry career pastoring or helping others pastor. His heart is to love people and build relationships with them. Tune in to this conversation today to be encouraged in living pastorally and relationally!

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or to give feedback or ideas, contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join us this week as host Joe Epley dives into Stephen Witmer’s book A Big Gospel in Small Places. Together, we’ll explore standout insights on the beauty and complexity of small-town life, rethink what true fruitfulness in ministry looks like, and wrestle with the compelling question: “Should someone pastor a small town?” It’s an encouraging, thoughtful conversation you won’t want to miss.

You can purchase the book on Amazon here

As always, if you would like to reach out for encouragement, or to give feedback or ideas for the show, contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join us this week for an interview with Pastor Winston Titus, who grew up in, and eventually pastored in, the state of North Dakota. Pastor Winston talks about his insights from growing rural, pastoring rural, and eventually helping others to pastor in rural places as well. He has a heart that loves the towns and churches he has served and has a deep passion for resilience in ministry.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or with feedback or ideas, you can contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join our host Joe Epley as we look at the book Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church by Michael Beck and Tyler Kleeberger. This book is an accessible guide to revitalization, full of practical tips, good culture, and real time examples that equip a pastor and their team in a healthy way.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show with feedback or ideas, or for encouragement, contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

If you would like to purchase a copy of Fresh Expressions of the Rural Church you can click the link here.

Join host Joe Epley as we talk about a slight shift in the direction of the podcast. Our goal is to continue to provide great content, great interviews, and great resources, but to move to a format that works better for our host even as life gets crowded! Stay tuned to hear some new episodes in just a few weeks!

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show with feedback or ideas, or for some encouragement, contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join our host Joe Epley as he shares brief thoughts on the Summer, highlighting the need to take advantage of God’s “interruptions” to our normal rhythms in order to sense His direction for our lives. This episode will mark the beginning of our summer break, and we will return with regular episodes in September.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or with ideas or feedback, please contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Randy McPherson is a Christian businessman, an ordained minister, and grew up in a ministry household. He has found his calling in stewarding God’s resources as well as caring for and coming alongside pastors as they do the work of vocational ministry. Tune in today for his insights.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or to give ideas or feedback, you can connect with our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join host Joe Epley as he takes some of the principles of church health found in the works of pastor and author Karl Vaters and shares how they have applied in his life. Join him as he speaks of the struggles of measuring success apart from numbers.

You can check out Karl Vaters works at www.karlvaters.com

As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or with ideas and feedback, please contact our host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join us as we have a discussion with Pastor and Author Karl Vaters. In the second part of this episode, we will discuss how to measure success in the church apart from numbers, how to create healthy churches, and how we as leaders can focus on discipleship in the midst of doing church.

Pastor Karl’s books, articles, and other resources can be accessed at his website here.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the podcast for encouragement, or to give ideas and feedback, you can contact the host Joe Epley at [email protected]

Join us as we have a discussion with Pastor and Author Karl Vaters. Over the next two weeks, we will discuss how to measure success in the church apart from numbers, how to create healthy churches, and how we as leaders can focus on discipleship in the midst of doing church.

Pastor Karl’s books, articles, and other resources can be accessed at his website here.

As always, if you would like to reach out to the podcast for encouragement, or to give ideas and feedback, you can contact the host Joe Epley at [email protected]