The One Thing

What is the best age to plant a church? 

In this episode, Gus McCowatt chats with Tim Baldwin to explore the realities of church planting at different stages of life. Having planted in both his early 30s and again in his late 40s, Tim offers a rare perspective on the key differences of both "young man" and "old man" church planting.

• How marriage and family dynamics shape church planting at different life stages
• The unique challenge of leading older children through a church plant
• Joys and hardships of uprooting a family for mission
• Candid reflections from planting Anchor Church Coffs Harbour
• Advantages and disadvantages of different ages
• How churches can better support both younger and older church planting teams

Tim Baldwin is the Senior Pastor of Anchor Church in Coffs Harbour. 

Toolbox: 

• Reach Australia’s Church Planting Assessment
• Church Planter Questionnaire

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

Most people looking for a church start with a Google search. But if someone searched for a church in your area, would they find yours?

You might not even know what SEO stands for, but it plays a significant role in helping people discover your church. In this episode, Pete Hughes sits down with search engine optimisation (SEO) specialist Aaron Taylor to unpack simple, practical ways churches can improve their visibility online. Because behind every search is a real person looking for answers. 

They discuss:

• Why your church might be invisible on Google
• Quick wins to help newcomers find your church online
• What ChatGPT and AI mean for church outreach
• Real stories of people finding church through Google and AI

Aaron Taylor is the General Manager at Prosperity Media, an Australian digital marketing agency specialising in SEO, GEO, and digital PR. 

Toolbox: 

• How to help people find your church on Google article by Aaron Taylor
• Episode 394: Social Media for Church Teams Who Don’t Like Social Media (Liz Fong)

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

Tim Dyer joins Gus McCowatt to about what we do when tension surface in a ministry team, and how leaders can respond.

They discuss:

• Why our assumptions about other people can fuel conflict
• How poor behaviour can do more damage than the disagreement itself
• Why relational repair needs to come before resolving the issue
• How teams can get better at handling disagreement
• What happens when conflict goes underground through gossip, triangulation or avoidance
• When it’s time to bring in outside help

Tim Dyer trained in psychology at Melbourne and Monash Universities before researching and publishing on youth homelessness as a staff worker with Scripture Union Victoria. Besides mentoring pastors and leaders himself, Tim trains Christian leaders in mentoring and pastoral leadership, and consults with churches and denominations on processes which create and support leader and community health.
He also trains and supervises denominational church consultancy teams. He has been training mentors in 2 and 3 year non-accredited courses for John Mark Ministries since approximately 2008. He is a member of the Australian Christian Mentoring Network.

Toolbox: 

• Tim presented a full workshop on this content at the Reach Annual Conference this year so if you missed getting along to that or want a refresher make sure to check it out:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOKWnMTrOLs
• Covenant commitments for Christians in times of tension (a PDF tool on Tim’s website John Mark Extension)
• John Mark Extension (Tim’s website)
• Self-care and sustaining ministry course by Tim Dyer

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

How do we know if people in our churches are truly growing?

In this episode, Paul Grimmond joins Gus McCowatt to explore what it means to pursue pastoral transformation in the messiness of life.

• What to guard against to not become pastorally passive
• Why information alone doesn’t transform us
• How to pastor people through the complexity of real life
• How to cultivate a culture of godliness in your church
• Importance of personal reflection
• Signs of healthy maturity

Paul Grimmond is the Vice Principal and Head of the Ministry Department at Moore Theological College. Before joining the faculty as Dean of Students he served as Senior Assistant Minister at Unichurch (UNSW), having previously been an editor for Matthias Media, Rector of Unichurch, and author.

Toolbox: 

• Paul presented a full workshop on this content at the Reach Annual Conference this year so if you missed getting along to that or want a refresher make sure to check it out.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtKkv-yp_58&t=5s
• Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp
• Getting Over Yourself by Caroline Spencer with intentional reflection inside
• Growing Yourself Up by Jenny Brown

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

Al Stewart shares 28 of the craziest, most counterintuitive lessons he has learnt from his time in ministry.

There are gems of wisdom for all stages of ministry life. You won't hear this stuff in a textbook!

Sadly, this is Scott’s final episode on The One Thing whilst being Executive Director before he moves to the US!

Al Stewart has worked with FIEC, City Bible Forum, Geneva Push and Katoomba Christian Convention, as well as serving as a bishop and director within the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church.

Toolbox: 

Scott Sanders and Al Stewart did two more great episodes before this one:

Ep 464: What 15 years of church planting taught Al Stewart

Ep 465: Vital things a senior minister needs to know

Al Stewart’s 28 ministry lessons

Here is the full list from Al’s notes for this episode, grouped by theme for you to share and discuss with your team. As Al explains, these are practical observations from his years in ministry. Try taking one or two at a time in a staff meeting.

Planning and time management

1. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.
2. Spontaneity must be carefully planned.
3. Shooting a dead horse is the hardest thing to do.
4. The way to work hard is to think about your holidays first.
5. Have as few unused holidays as possible when the Lord returns.

Church meetings

1. Less is more.
2. If you want them to stay longer, finish earlier.

Meetings in general

1. The way to appear wise is to keep your mouth shut.
2. The most important thing in starting a meeting is the finishing time.
3. The most important part of a meeting happens a week before the meeting.

Appointing and managing staff

1. You work for the people who work for you.
2. More staff will cost you more time.
3. Test their eyes, don’t just count them.
4. You will never have enough leaders trained.

Resilience

1. The job of Jesus is already taken, and it’s not you.
2. We died with Christ, but you don’t have to die at your post.
3. Disappointing people: the bad news is it’s inevitable you will disappoint some people; the good news is we often get to choose who.
4. Preach the gospel, die and be forgotten.

Dealing with problem people

1. “I shouldn’t really tell you this, but …”
2. Sheep bite
3. No good deed goes unpunished.
4. An angry face needs face to face.
5. A pastor should have one deaf ear, one blind eye.
6. The best way to stop fires is by strategically lighting them.

Communication

1. The best way to keep a secret is to put it in the weekly newsletter.
2. If you can’t say it as a tattoo, you haven’t got clarity.
3. Confidential conversations are the best way to spread a message through the congregation.
4. Inefficient communication can be most efficient.

On lesson 27, Al adds an important qualification in the conversation: don’t share anything that must be kept confidential.

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

A senior minister has an enormous influence on whether their team is healthy. After more than 40 years of ministry leadership, Al Stewart has learnt a few things the hard way.

In this episode, Scott Sanders sits down with Al to unpack the lessons, mistakes and wisdom that only come from decades of leading people.

They talk about the tensions every ministry leader navigates: caring for people while still having hard conversations, building trust without avoiding conflict, knowing when someone needs to move on, and what to do when you realise you’ve got it wrong.

• The competing tensions in building a team
• Working for the people who work for you
• Why senior ministers set the culture of their teams
• Why bosses are the biggest single factor in whether staff enjoy their job

Al Stewart has worked with FIEC, City Bible Forum, Geneva Push and Katoomba Christian Convention, as well as serving as a bishop and director within the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church.

Toolbox: 

Growth and Change by Andrew Heard 

Who’s Holding The Umbrella by Bill Jaegar (this book is unfortunately out of print so we could not provide a link, but have a look on places like Ebay and Facebook marketplace - if you are really desperate for a copy Gus McCowatt in the Reach office has a copy)

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

New churches reach new people. So why is planting still such hard work?

Scott Sanders catches up with Al Stewart to look back on 15 years of Geneva Push and Reach Australia: wins, mistakes and pushback.

• Why denominations can get in the way of planting
• The challenges of planting in established ministry contexts
• Why new churches are often better placed to reach new people
• What we’ve learned about supporting planters well

Al Stewart has worked with FIEC, City Bible Forum, Geneva Push and Katoomba Christian Convention, as well as serving as a bishop and director within the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church.

Toolbox: 

Church Planting Podcast 

Church Planter Questionnaire 

Support Planting Financially

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

We finally tackle all the awkward small group questions we’ve been avoiding. 

In the final episode of this three-part series, Scott Sanders and Richard Sweatman, discuss the topics about small groups they avoided in the first two episodes.

We explore: 

• Unhealthy groups
• Low participation
• Finding enough leaders
• Whether AI has a place in writing Bible study material
• Knowing when pastoral care needs to be escalated
• Giving honest feedback
• Whether ministry staff should be in groups

Richard Sweatman is an author and assistant pastor at Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle. 

Toolbox: 

Ep 201 Difficult Conversations Between A Church Leader and Staff Member

Part 1 of this mini series: Ep 461 The hidden decisions behind every small groups ministry

Part 2 of this mini series: Ep 462 Your small groups are only as healthy as their leaders

Wisdom in Leadership by Craig Hamilton

Being a Small Group Leader by Richard Sweatman

Writing a Small Group Study by Richard Sweatman

DISCOUNT CODE: THE1THING for 30% off at Matthias Media when you purchase 10 or more of either of Richard’s books

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

Healthy small groups don’t happen by accident. Your small groups are only as strong as the leaders you’re raising.

So how do you find the right people, prepare them well, and keep helping them grow once they’re leading?

In part two of this three-part series, Scott Sanders talks with Richard Sweatman, author and assistant pastor at Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle, about how churches can identify, develop and support small-group leaders well.

They explore:

• what to look for in a future leader
• how to develop people before they lead
• what good support actually looks like
• how leaders shape the health of a group
• the signs your small-group ministry is growing stronger

Toolbox: 

Last weeks ep 

Being a Small Group Leader by Richard Sweatman

Writing a Small Group Study by Richard Sweatman

DISCOUNT CODE: THE1THING for 30% off at Matthias Media when you purchase 10 or more of either of Richard’s books

Small Group Toolbox Podcast

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library

What if the most important decisions about your small groups are the ones you've never stopped to think about?

In this episode, Scott Sanders chats with Richard Sweatman, author and assistant pastor at Hunter Bible Church in Newcastle, to unpack the hidden decisions that shape every small groups ministry. Whether you've inherited responsibility for small groups or you're rethinking how they fit into the life of your church this episode is for you.

Key highlights:

• Clarifying your small group purpose
• Defining small group success
• Choosing small group structures
• Small group pathways
• Curriculum and leadership
• Practical questions you should ask before making changes

Toolbox: 

Being a Small Group Leader by Richard Sweatman

Writing a Small Group Study by Richard Sweatman

DISCOUNT CODE: THE1THING for 30% off at Matthias Media when you purchase 10 or more of either of Richard’s books

The One Thing Ep 418: Measuring small group health with Richard Sweatman

Growth Groups by Colin Marshall

Leading Small Groups That Thrive by Ryan T. Hartwig, Courtney W. Davis & Jason A. Sniff

Iron Sharpens Iron by Orlando Saer

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by MTS

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠

To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

Support Reach Australia's online library