The One Thing

A replay from one of your favourite episodes. One you need to think about as we head into the new year.

Data is just a tool, but it’s an important tool. Its real purpose? Loving and serving your people better. A snapshot of data can give you an idea of your church health. 

What we discuss

1. Average Attendance: Are people showing up consistently?
2. Growth Rate: Are you growing each year? What’s a healthy growth rate?
3. Conversion Growth: How many new believers are you seeing? What’s a good target?
4. Community Reflection: Does your congregation reflect the diversity of your local area?
5. Secondary Giving: Beyond general giving, how generous are people with time, talent, and resources?
6. Newcomer System: Are first-time guests sticking around? If not, what’s falling through the cracks?
7. Staff-to-Attendee Ratio: Do you have enough leaders? What’s a good ratio?

TOOLBOX:

Church Health Consults

Knowing What to Measure and Why Seminar

Measure What Matters Book

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Church Suite

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.

A replay from your favourite episodes and coming at a timely part of the year:

Derek and Scott look at the work of Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith on different types of rest.

1. Physical Rest

Giving your body a rest.

2. Mental Rest

It could be that you need to give your mind a rest.

3. Emotional Rest

We can get emotionally tired when we are not paying attention to our emotions.

4. Spiritual Rest

Reconnecting with God

5. Social Rest

Different relationships can ones that build us up or drain us.

6. Sensory Rest

Especially with screens.

7. Creative Rest

Creative rest is not about putting a demand on your creative ability; that’s not rest, that’s work. It is the opposite. It’s allowing white space in your life and giving room for your creativity to show up. Creative rest lets you focus on your basic need for wonder. You can enjoy fulfilling that basic need in ways that don’t put any pressure on your being creative. Yes, creativity may bloom from the seeds planted, but creativity is not the objective, only rest.

Summary

• Don’t have to do all of these every day, or every week. But it is helpful to be aware that there are different ways to rest and different people will rest in different ways

TOOLBOX:

⁠⁠Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity⁠⁠⁠ by Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith ⁠

TED Notes from Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith ⁠

TED Talk from Dr Saundra Dalton-Smith ⁠

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less⁠ Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

⁠Atomic Habits⁠ by James Clear.

CREDITS:

The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠

To support the Reach Australia Online Library head ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠.

TOOL BOX:

Reach Australia National Conference

Ep 391 10 Denominations, 60 Churches, 1 Report: Key Takeaways

Slides

Leadership Development Program

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Trellis

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

Choosing a Church Management System (CMS) is a ministry decision, not just a technical one.

In this episode, Toby Neal (Lead Pastor of Vine Church, Sydney) shares what he learned while evaluating and changing CMS platforms in a real church context. We talk about how systems shape workflows, staff capacity, and follow-up — and how to tell whether a platform actually supports disciple-making or just stores information.

In this conversation:

• How Toby tested whether a system supported ministry rather than just data

• The features that became deal-breakers

• What to expect in the first three months after switching platforms

• Why usability and design matter much more than we often assume

A practical conversation for church leaders wanting tools that serve people and support the work of the gospel.

TOOLBOX:

Ep 405 Church database nightmares and how to avoid them

Rejoice and Tremble by Michael Reeves

Church Management Systems mentioned:

• Planning Centre
• Fluro
• Tithe.ly
• ChurchSuite

Toby's list of checks:

• Name tags and checkin process
• Automated workflows (care, connect, explore, serve) from forms, from attendance, from tag
• All in one
• Robust registrations for events
• Groups that remind leaders to mark attendance
• Metrics and dashboards
• Workflows
• Automations
• Giving integrated with database rather than tithely and xero. tax statements that can be sent and can integrate bank info from xero.
• Robust system, apps work, online, speed, bugs
• Calendar for managing room bookings, venue hire
• Forms
• Clean easy to use aesthetic
• Big company, unlikely to be sold or close down.
• Manages duplicates well
• Secure

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by EA Insurance

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

Nobody signs up for ministry to get excited about governance, but ignore it and you'll end up running in circles. In this episode we dive into the practical side of governance in ministry, why it matters for healthy churches, and how to navigate common roadblocks.

• How governance and ecclesiology interact, and why your church DNA matters from the start
• When decision-making structures hinder ministry rather than support it
• Litmus tests for spotting governance issues, including meetings, budget allocation, and leadership capacity
• How to decentralise responsibility effectively while staying faithful to your theological convictions
• Practical strategies for legal compliance, staffing, and resource management to support growth

TOOLBOX:

The Elder-Led Church by Murray Capill

A Church Consult -> (Reach Australia's Church Consult)

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

If the emotional side of ministry keeps catching you off guard, it’s worth paying attention to what that might reveal about your own emotional intelligence. Scott Sanders and Jo Gibbs look at the practical side of emotional intelligence, why it matters for everyday ministry, and what gets in the way of developing it.

• What low EQ looks like in normal, everyday interactions
• How a leader’s reactions influence the tone of a team
• Why some ministry cultures downplay emotions and how that limits growth
• Ways to spot your own physical and behavioural cues under pressure
• A simple framework for restoring a relationship after you’ve handled something poorly

TOOLBOX:

Ep 330 Why EQ is the Edge Every Leader Needs (Part 1) by Pete Stedman

Ep 331 Why EQ is the Edge Every Leader Needs (Part 2) by Pete Stedman

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Quizworx

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

When your senior pastor isn’t leading — or at least, not leading well — what should you actually do? Today we drill into that tension without sugarcoating it. It’s not just about calling someone out, but about understanding yourself, your role, and how to navigate tricky dynamics without blowing things up or burning out.

• How your own wiring shapes the frustration you feel

• Clear signs of an actual leadership gap, not just normal friction

• Why senior leaders may stall under pressure
• The unavoidable paradoxes built into second-chair roles
• How to challenge a call without turning it personal
• When and how to raise concerns so the conversation stays productive

TOOLBOX:

Leading from the Second Chair by Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson

How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge by Clay Scroggins

Paul Harrington’s talk on Humility in Team Ministry Part 1

Paul Harrington’s talk on Humility in Team Ministry Part 2

Team Development Program

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

Public prayer often gets treated like a warm-up act in church. But what if it’s one of the most spiritually potent moments in the whole service? Natalie Ray wants us to stop coasting and start leading prayers that actually lead.

• Why public prayer is often flat — and how to fix it

• What changes when we treat prayer as intercession, not narration

• The real reason your church probably struggles with prayer

• How the Lord’s Prayer can reshape more than just the words we say

Natalie leads the Magnification and Maturity ministries at Toongabbie Anglican Church

TOOL BOX:

Prayerfulness by Peter Adam

Preparing to Lead Intercessions in Church by Peter Adam

Be Thou My Vision by Jonathan Gibson

Operation World

Every Moment Holy



CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Youthworks

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

Acronyms might save time, but are they costing us people? Dominic Steele wants pastors to rethink their acronym addiction — not just because it’s annoying, but because it is anti-gospel.

• Why church leaders cling to acronyms that no one understand

• Biblical principles that challenge coded language

• How acronyms can quietly push people away from church

• The hidden arrogance behind insider shorthand

• Practical ways to audit your church’s insider language

Dominic is the senior pastor of Village Church in Annandale and the host of The Pastors Heart.

TOOL BOX:

Reach Australia Digital

The Pastors Heart

Do an audit of your ministry today!

CREDITS:

This episode was brought to you by Trellis

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 ministry teams don’t fall apart because of conflict. They often drift because people stop showing up — in body, heart, or prayer.

In this episode, Dave Moore talks about what helps teams become healthy, dependable, and deeply Christian. He unpacks the four things that make a team worth being part of — the kind that actually helps people follow Jesus together.

In this episode:

• The four things every team needs to get right

• The quiet crisis of people in ministry who’ve stopped showing up

• What happens when Christians act like Christians in conflict and frustration