The One Thing

What do you do when ministry starts to feel heavy and you cannot quite name why?

Burnout is not always dramatic. Often it is a slow disconnect between your gospel convictions and your emotional capacity. In this episode, we explore why that drift happens and how coaching can provide a space to work through it.

We talk about:

Why leading yourself well is part of faithful gospel ministry

Toolbox: 

Zeal without Burnout by Christopher Ash

Reach Australia’s Coaching

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers

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

Morning tea is traditionally done through a roster of people bringing food. But what happens when churches cast a bigger vision for morning tea and supper? Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders discuss what it looks like to create a team whose mission is to foster an environment where people feel loved, newcomers feel welcomed, and where there’s space for deeper conversations about the sermon and Christian life.

Toolbox: 

People are the Mission by Danny Franks

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by Reach Australia National Conference

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

Over the last few years, churches have become very good at welcoming systems - name tags, check-in flows, connection cards, follow-up processes.

But here’s the uncomfortable question: Have we become organised… but not warm?

Today we’re talking about welcoming teams, and why relationships - not numbers - must be the hero.

Scott Sanders sits down with Amber Edmonds (MBM Parramatta) to talk about follow-up - thinking deeply about how churches welcome people as individuals, not projects - and how training, theology, and culture shape that welcome across the whole church.

Toolbox:

• ⁠Secret Shopper Evaluation⁠ - Reach Australia
• ⁠People Are the Mission⁠: How Churches Can Welcome Guests Without Compromising the Gospel - Danny Franks

• ⁠Welcoming In Action⁠ - Video Episode with Kellyville Anglican

Credits:This episode was brought to you by ⁠Safe Ministry Check⁠

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

The foundations you have for follow up at church matter more than you think - how do we move people from a welcome, to a relationship?

Derek Hanna sits down with Dan Gorton (Cross & Crown Gold Coast) to talk about follow-up - not as admin, not as a system, but as love, names & relationships. As churches fill with visitors at the start of the year, this episode asks a deeper question: what does it look like to move from welcome to relationship?

They explore why follow-up matters theologically, why timing shapes perception, how tone communicates care (or kills it), and who should actually own the process. Because people don’t remember polished systems - they remember whether someone genuinely cared.

Follow-up isn’t about finishing a task. It’s about beginning shepherding.

Toolbox:

• Welcoming In Action - Video Episode with Kellyville Anglican

• Gospel Growth and Christian Community Ebook by Tim Clemens
• Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom Rainer

Credits:
This episode was brought to you by Safe Ministry Check

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

There might be someone in your Bible study who keeps asking uncomfortable questions about church.

- Why aren’t more people being reached?
- Why do we keep doing church this way?

And you might be tempted to shut them down.

In this episode, Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna talk about the early signs of future church planters — including a holy dissatisfaction with church as usual and a deep conviction that the gospel should be reaching more people than it is.

They’re often the ones who unsettle leaders, question systems, and refuse to be satisfied with maintenance ministry.

They might be mistaken as difficult.

They might be future planters.

A sharp listen for pastors and leaders who want to discern the difference — for the sake of more people hearing about Jesus.

Toolbox: 

Church Planter Questionnaire 

Serving Others Ebook

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by Reach Australia National Conference

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

The first meeting of the year does more than set rosters. It shapes how a team understands why they serve.

Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna walk through what to do when a volunteer team gathers for the first time: reconnect people, set the church’s gospel direction in front of them again, and show how this team helps that happen.

They also cover what not to do.

A practical listen for anyone leading volunteer teams or kicking off a staff year, so we start together around the gospel.

Toolbox: 

Ep 387 How to Run a Meeting 

Credits: 

This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers 

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

Rallies feel outdated to some, but Dave Jensen thinks the problem was never the rally itself. With Gen Z more open than expected, he’s convinced large, clear gospel events might be overdue for a rethink.

• Why rallies may be working again, and why bad execution killed them last time
• Targeting people closest to belief, not starting with the hardest cases
• How the Alive rallies are structured, music, preaching, response, follow-up
• The role of local churches before and after the event
• What preparation actually matters if you want conversions, not just crowds

Toolbox:

Alive Movement Connections:

• ⁠Made Alive Website⁠
• ⁠Alive Movement Youtube Channel⁠
• ⁠Alivemvment Instagram⁠
• ⁠Fire Up! Podcast⁠

Recommended Books:

• ⁠Mission ebook ⁠by Dave Jensen
• ⁠Discover⁠ by Dave Jensen 
• ⁠What is a Christian?⁠ By Dave Jensen

Credits:

This episode was brought to you by ⁠Safe Ministry Check⁠

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

Church members leave for all sorts of reasons, and how you respond can shape both their next steps and your church community. This episode explores what a thoughtful exit process looks like, even when departures are hard or messy.

Key

• Why churches often don’t track why members leave and how to start doing it
• Handling departures that feel personal or painful without taking it on yourself
• Conducting exit interviews that care for people while gathering useful insights
• Supporting those who stay behind and preventing gossip or resentment
• Celebrating departures when people leave for positive reasons, like mission or relocation
• Building a church culture where sending people out is expected, celebrated, and healthy

TOOLBOX:

Gaining by Losing by J.D. Greear

The Leader’s Journey by Jim Herrington, Trisha Taylor, and R. Robert Creech

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers

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

Every church has a pathway.
It might not be written down or planned, but it’s shaping how people move through our churches.

Derek Hanna and Scott Sanders talk about how to identify the weak spots in your church’s pathway — where people are getting stuck, and how leaders can bring clarity without turning ministry into mechanics.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What we mean by a “pathway” in church life

• Common blockages: front door, conversion, membership, and serving

• Why pathways are about people before they’re about programs

• How to decide where to start — and what not to fix first

• Who should own pathway thinking in your church

A short listen for teams who want fewer people falling through the cracks, so more people grow to know and follow Jesus.

TOOLBOX:

Framework ebook

Reach Australia Podcast 5.2 Re-Work Your Discipleship Pathway with Scott Sanders

Greg Lee talk: Mission driving the ecosystem

Reach Australia’s National Conference 2026

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Exdia

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

This is a replay of one of your favourite episodes: one you have to get right as we begin the new year.

First impressions matter, and churches often underestimate how much. Peter Blanch and Scott Sanders discuss how small changes can make a big impact in helping people feel seen, valued, and truly at home.

• The theological foundation for welcoming
• Mistakes from not even thinking about it to overvaluing the newcomer
• Mistakes of not thinking about what a new person needs to connect to church
• Mistakes of not thinking about the whole experience of welcoming
• Welcoming has an important two-way relationship with the rest of the church ecosystem, especially with the mission team
• Thinking through the building and how it works
• Thinking through the team and what you need

0:00 – Introduction
1:23 – Where churches get it wrong
2:04 – Why Welcome People to Church
4:18 – Where Do Churches Get Welcoming Wrong?
6:01 – The danger of satisfactory
15:05 – Not having a big enough team
17:21 – Fixing the problem
20:11 – Tool Box

Secret shopper checklist

Gospel Growth and Christian Community ebook

Reach Australia Digital (Helping you with branding and website)

Community and Integration Workshop Part 1

Community and Integration Workshop Part 2

This episode was brought to you by Kidswise

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]⁠⁠

To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠⁠here⁠⁠.

What We DiscussTool BoxCredits