The Small Church Ministry Podcast

In this episode, Laurie talks about what happens after the numbers disappoint us. Because the problem usually isn't that we wanted more people to come. 

It's what we start making that number mean about the people who didn't come, the ministry we planned, ourselves, or even what God is doing.

Listen in for:

➡️ Why it’s okay to want more people to show up

➡️ What happens when disappointment turns into blame

➡️ What attendance numbers can tell us ... and what they can’t

➡️ Why a smaller number doesn’t automatically mean something went wrong

➡️ A different way to plan when you have no idea how many people will come

RESOURCES MENTIONED

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If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

Most of us think we know what empathy is. But what if we’ve spent years caring for people, serving in church, and even trying to love people well without ever really learning how to receive or give it?

In this conversation with Soul Shepherding’s Kristi Gaultiere, co-author of Deeply Loved, we’re talking about why empathy is so often misunderstood in the church and what could change in our relationships, our ministries, and our own emotional health if we got better at it.

Listen in for:

➡️ What could change in a small church if we learned to practice empathy well

➡️ Why you may not understand empathy until you’ve actually experienced it

➡️ What happens when we rush past emotions with advice, encouragement, or even “I’m sorry”

➡️ Why receiving empathy may be harder than giving it, especially for people who spend their lives caring for others

➡️ The difference between empathy, coddling, and codependency

CONNECT WITH KRISTI GAULTIERE

Deeply Loved Book: Deeply Loved

Soul Shepherding Retreats: Soul Shepherding Retreats

Spiritual Direction Training + Certificate: CSD Training

Meet with a Spiritual Director or Coach: Spiritual Director + Coach Directory

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

Last week, women from small churches came together for our Women Reaching Women Conference, and this week we're giving you a peek inside! 

In a small church, being capable can get you into trouble because when you can do a little bit of everything, it's easy to end up doing it all. 

In this session, Charmaine Stulp helps us get more intentional about where we invest our time, strengths, and influence.

Listen in for:

➡️ How to recognize your own sweet spots

➡️ The difference between something you can do and something that's really yours to do

➡️ What others may be able to do just as well as you

➡️ Why stepping back can sometimes be a really good ministry decision

➡️ Where your time and strengths can make the greatest difference

CONNECT WITH CHAMAINE STULP

www.ditchdaffodil.com

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

What if reaching women has a lot less to do with getting them to our activities and a lot more to do with how we walk alongside them? 

In this conversation with Dee Bryce, we’re rethinking women’s ministry, invitations, growth, and even what it means to minister to someone when every woman doesn’t need the same thing. 

Because sometimes the ministry really is in the conversation.

Listen in for:

➡️ The difference between recruiting women and actually reaching them

➡️ Why every woman doesn’t need another event, invitation, prayer moment, or push to participate

➡️ What changes when we walk alongside women instead of assuming we know what they need

➡️ Why growth can look very different from woman to woman

➡️ How ordinary conversations can become some of our most meaningful ministry

CONNECT WITH DEE BRYCE

www.flourishwomentoday.com

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

What do you do when the difficult person is sitting three chairs down at Bible study... or leading it? Church relationships can get especially confusing when you add in grace, forgiveness, patience, keeping the peace, and that little voice that says, Good Christian women don’t make trouble. In this conversation with Jennifer Y. Afriyie, we’re talking about what happens when women hurt women in church, why we sometimes put up with more than we should, and how we can have compassion without giving away our agency.

Listen in for:

• Strong personality, difficult behavior, or bullying? They’re not all the same.
• When difficult or disappointing crosses the line into destructive
• Why church can make bad behavior weirdly hard to deal with
• Why strong, giving, forgiving women sometimes stay in unhealthy situations
• How we can be kind, compassionate AND still say, “That’s not okay.”

CONNECT WITH JENNIFER Y. AFRIYIE

www.jyaspeaks.com

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

What if there’s more going on beneath the surface than we realize? In this conversation with Dr. Amy Oberg, we’re talking mental health, hormones, rest, relationships, and why understanding our brains and bodies actually belongs in conversations about faith. And yes, we’re going there with some of the things the church has gotten wrong along the way.

Listen in for:

• Why mental health belongs in the conversation for ALL of us
• Brain, body and spirit, and what happens when we separate pieces that were meant to work together
• The wild reality of women’s hormones, emotions, bodies, and seasons
• Why Amy says churches need mental health literacy, not mental health clinics
• What can change when we get curious, slow down, and actually listen to people

CONNECT WITH DR. AMY OBERG

https://www.amyoberg.com/drao

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

Women are woven through almost every part of small-church ministry, and some of their biggest influence happens in relationships, not official roles. 

But while churches invest in ministry ideas and practical skills, we often assume the human side of ministry will just come naturally. What if that's something we can get better at too?

Listen in for:

➡️ Why the ministry of women is much bigger than Women's Ministry

➡️ The relational influence that never shows up on a ministry list

➡️ Why good intentions don't automatically create healthy influence

➡️ What CONTEXT, SELF, and PEOPLE have to do with developing women, not just ministry skills

➡️ Why developing women should matter to the whole church

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

After years of equipping small churches with practical ideas, my thinking has shifted. 

Great ministry ideas matter, but they’re only one part of equipping small-church leaders and volunteers with what they need to lead well, develop people, and build healthier churches.

Listen in for: 

➡️ Why I’m officially resigning as the “Idea Girl” for small churches

➡️ What’s changed in how I think about equipping small-church leaders and volunteers

➡️ The four areas I believe we need to get better at

➡️ Why understanding ourselves and other people belongs in ministry training

➡️ What this shift means for Small Church Ministry going forward

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

Your small church wants to reach new families. You’re planning events, finding volunteers, inviting people, and trying hard, but sometimes the families you’re hoping to reach still aren’t coming. 

In this episode, we’re looking underneath the outreach ideas to question some of our assumptions about today’s families, what “successful” outreach actually means, and whether trying harder is really the answer.

In this episode:

➡️ Why it matters that we want to reach new families

➡️ The assumptions we may be making about what today’s families actually want and need

➡️ Why a successful event doesn’t necessarily lead to connection with your church

➡️ The difference between creating a transaction and building a relationship

➡️ Why your small church probably doesn’t need to try harder, but may need to start somewhere different

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership

Churches are made up of people, and people aren't healthy all the time. So what do we do when church leadership isn't at its best? 

In this episode, we're talking about how to recognize unhealthy patterns, respond wisely, and become healthier ourselves along the way.

Inside this episode:

➡️ Why not every difficulty equals an unhealthy church

➡️ Common unhealthy patterns that often get normalized

➡️ Questions to ask before speaking up, staying, or stepping away

➡️ How to support your church without carrying what isn't yours

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Join the Everyday Influence

Check out our upcoming events

Join our free Facebook Community

Support the show

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more people -- just like you -- in small churches who need to hear this.

🎙 Thanks for tuning in to Small Church Ministry Podcast! See you next week!

FOLLOW US:
➡️  Website: smallchurchministry.com
➡️  Instagram: instagram.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Facebook: facebook.com/smallchurchministry
➡️  Creative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministry
➡️  Small Church Network: smallchurchministry.com/membership