The Sowers Podcast

What if you could plant a church without starting a Sunday service?

In episode 130 of The Sowers Podcast, Matt sits down with Chris Synesael and Brett Donald, church planters in Victoria, BC, one of Canada's most secular cities, to talk about church 414 and what it looks like to plant a church by making disciples in everyday life.They share how their partnership began with a phone call, why they are training ordinary people as missionary disciple makers, how the BLESS rhythms work (Begin in prayer, Listen, Eat, Serve, Story), and how the Spirit has surprised them with unexpected spiritual openness in their neighbourhood.In this episode:+ Why Chris and Brett chose to plant together instead of alone+ Planting a church without starting with a service+ Perspective, path and power: what a missionary disciple maker looks like+ The Bless Five and the BLESS rhythms+ Reading a story of Jesus with a neighbour (discovery Bible study)+ How the Spirit has surprised them in secular VictoriaGUEST BIOSChris Synesael has been married to Kellee for 24 years, and together they have four kids. Fifteen years ago, Chris helped plant West Village Church in Victoria, BC, and he's since been sent out by West Village to plant again, this time as church414, alongside Brett and Natalie Donald. Chris is passionate about neighbourhood evangelism, and about equipping Christians, churches, and church leaders to be active and engaged in their own neighbourhoods. Alongside the church plant, Chris and Kellee are experimenting with launching a small business as a vehicle for mission.Brett Donald has been in church leadership as a pastor, church planter, and occasional professor for over 20 years. Ever since accidentally becoming a pastor at 18, he has focused on learning how to intentionally make disciples. Brett is passionate about helping ordinary people join Jesus in His mission, seeing a growing convergence of Word and Spirit, and strategic disciple-making. He loves the ocean, good coffee, and time with his wife Natalie and two children. After church planting in Vancouver, B.C., Brett and Natalie are now on the team planting Church 414 in Victoria. Brett also serves with Saturatetheworld.com.LINKS:church 414: https://www.church414.ca/Saturate: https://saturatetheworld.com/Previous episode with Chris (Episode 14): https://open.spotify.com/episode/4M2kITZFrR26r0Ynrl0rC0?si=93dee4fa13b84295If this conversation encouraged you, subscribe to The Sowers Podcast and share it with a church planter or leader who needs to hear it.

#ChurchPlanting #DiscipleMaking #Evangelism #MissionalChurch #SowersPodcast #Church414 #Victoria #canada

Most Christian parents know where they stand on sex, marriage, and gender. Far fewer know how to talk about it with a seven-year-old who just saw something on TV.In this episode(129), Matt sits down with Amber Garrett Carroll, author of "Ready to Talk: A Christian Parent's Guide to Gender & Sexuality" and Vice President of Impact and Parent Resources at Equip. Amber shares how the gospel was sown in her life, how a painful season in her own marriage exposed the "idol of romance" she absorbed growing up in 90s evangelical youth culture, and why that experience pushed her to help other parents do this better.We talk about why parents are qualified (even when they don't feel it), why starting by age nine or ten is about the latest you want to be, how to lay a foundation as early as age two, and why Scripture, not outsourcing to the church, makes parents the primary disciplers of their children. Amber also unpacks sexual stewardship, intimacy "buckets," the gift of singleness, and what to say when a commercial during Sunday football sparks a question.In this episode:+ Why "midway through high school is about six years too late"+ The idol of romance and how it quietly shapes the church+ Holding truth and compassion together, the way Jesus did+ Sexual stewardship: much bigger than what we do with our bodies+ Why singleness is not a holding pattern+ How to respond in the moment so you build bridges to the gospel, not barriersGuest BioAmber Garrett Carroll is the author of "Ready to Talk" and Vice President of Impact and Parent Resources at Equip, where she helps Christian parents and churches disciple kids according to God's wisdom for sex, sexuality, and gender. A former middle and high school teacher, she has spent over a decade researching, writing, and teaching on LGBT+ topics, sexual stewardship, and Christian formation. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her two children.Links:Amber's Website: https://ambergarrettcarroll.com/Parent Resources: https://ambergarrettcarroll.com/parent-prep-pack-downloads/Equip Your Community: https://equipyourcommunity.org/Ready to Talk book: https://www.amazon.ca/Ready-Talk-Christian-Parents-Sexuality/dp/B0HBTYCRRS/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DK9Y55QPTIU9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.TnD4wMh1ylBrbVJSwKezUnOj8eFHGQiN_88Okyps0fgc0UvoyH1ZmewoqN0MgNjZIE88Vd0Ngjd_mth7CEuoocx4TAol9zfCE2HDrdtJ_p6uxezcULU5mr0bn1KfvYk45ZWWJ_gpVxrV2XvVvEeGQbqm__JAEWc8LEZzOEpMrdm63-egZnGKLXluY_mR2cyfhZeyZZcQBJBIt4F66HWR-0BOBX8tvhenDq_-PLjLvB1AkgCEpyPpqr_KvBE9wiJnRH2_MWvULPWfSx-pl4NzqCSbayiKi-0DhapkoA5wF78.8AtNy4nm1dbEqtLrgXX__z4ihbmcVoaMlX3dAiDlPEg&dib_tag=se&keywords=Ready+to+Talk&qid=1793281898&sprefix=ready+to+talk%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-1

A church planter shows up. A solo pastor is praying for a successor. Neither one planned on what happened next.In this episode of The Sowers Podcast, Matt talks with Steve Savage and Bryce Harrison about the story behind King's Table Church in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: how a revitalization and a church plant came together, how they led their church through the change, and what God taught them along the way.If you're a pastor thinking about succession, a planter weighing your next step, or a church member wondering what revitalization really looks like, this one is for you.ABOUT OUR GUESTS Steve & Debbie Savage have been married since 1989 and have three adult children: Sydney, Dustin, and Bryce. Steve graduated with a BRE from Covenant Baptist Bible College in Mission B.C. in 1985, but decided to pursue a marketing career. After 20+ years working in the corporate world, the Savages were called to enter full-time vocational ministry. Steve has since pastored three different churches in three different provinces across Canada and is also serving as Chaplain to the RCMP in Dartmouth NS. They enjoy watching sports (especially football), love their coffee (especially with friends), and appreciate any opportunity to travel and experience other cultures (especially with family).Bryce and his wife, Elizabeth, have three boys – Coleman, Gilbert, and Lewis (with Baby #4 coming this fall!). Bryce and Elizabeth both grew up in missionary families before graduating from North Greenville University. Bryce earned his Masters of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Harrisons moved to Nova Scotia in 2021 to pursue the Lord's calling to plant churches. They love Atlantic Canada and are so thankful for the team and community that the Lord has gathered around them. Bryce enjoys sports, Shark Week, and all things Tolkien. If he's not watching episodes of Bluey or being used as a human climbing gym, he may also be spotted in his natural habitat coaching youth baseball.LINKS King's Table Church: https://kingstablechurch.ca/Generation Link: https://generationlink.org/Subscribe to The Sowers Podcast: https://linktr.ee/thesowerspodNewsletter: https://join.thesowerspod.ca/#TheSowersPodcast #ChurchPlanting #ChurchRevitalization #PastoralSuccession #AtlanticCanada

Chris Vacher returns to The Sowers Podcast (episode 127) to talk about his new book, The Long Way to Lead, and the central image that shapes the whole book: a maple tree. A tree only grows outward in healthy ways when it's healthy on the inside first — and Chris believes leadership works the same way.In this conversation, Chris and Matt dig into:+ Why Chris chose a maple tree (and real maple syrup taps on his own property) as the central metaphor for leadership growth+ His definition of leadership: godly influence towards God's agenda+ What leadership isn't — organizational power, positional authority, charismatic personality+ The four dimensions at the "trunk" of leadership: character, competency, credibility, and chemistry+ Why chemistry on a team isn't about being friends, but about whether you make the team better+ The "knots and scars" every leader carries, and a vulnerable story from Chris's own performance review+ The five directions leadership shows up outwardly: spiritual, personal, relational, ministry, and strategic leadership+ How spiritual gifts relate to leadership capacity+ How churches and teams can use the book's discussion questions, the Leader360 process, and the free team kickstart resourcesGuest Bio Chris Vacher spent 20 years in local church ministry leadership in the Greater Toronto Area, serving in worship, multisite, and executive pastor roles in churches of different shapes and sizes. Most of what he knows about leadership he learned in those years, some of it the hard way, from the people he led and the people who led him.In 2022 he began coaching and consulting as his full-time focus, leading to the founding of Clearway Church Solutions, where he works alongside pastors and church teams to build the foundations and frameworks that take a church from vision to strategy to execution. His work with churches across Canada and the United States includes executive coaching, strategic planning, fractional executive pastor leadership, and Leader360, the full-circle feedback process built on the same Five Directions described in the book.He holds a Master of Arts in Leadership from Trinity Western University, where his research focused on how effective leaders actually behave rather than on how they think about leadership. Chris and his wife, Sonya, live in Ontario, Canada, with their four kids.Get the book, team kickstart video, and workshop info: https://www.thelongwaytolead.com

https://www.amazon.ca/Long-Way-Lead-Practical-Leadership/dp/B0HKQ21MK6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1HA7R8YCSXE0J&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xSy48bRQJWHzwoPreZKwNTuzSfjM-t-9S1Nu4pcSrNYr5oyt7u0Dy07S_buBlJCWFgfIxJNjQikRcQCbZm4K-E6pVY3EDE4YmKk17t9sgbM3Cag6fM9BTz4WD6c81XAv6X_430IxmymKuoRs3UOmlqJpIoMGfoeOMrWv2nWGBG53WqQlEsAWXDoPqS501TLD9PVrSX9ORPRplXU6fO9RrkowIcsV0s2Tqdem06IuZlGHXm9coZyCh99nGu_TyF8TOYj0IfIqM33PO9qY0WUzh-AGZfk6L32UhwNGoykC49s.pfFbsUP4jLa-zSys-IqbFoenif56173KOw_sl1sTSAM&dib_tag=se&keywords=the+long+way+to+lead&qid=1791476617&sprefix=the+long+way+to+lea%2Caps%2C144&sr=8-1#Leadership #ChurchLeadership #PastorPodcast #TheLongWayToLead #ChrisVacher #TheSowersPodcast

Troy Lydiate — Creative Director at Apologetics Canada, host of The AC Podcast, and recording artist under the name Scribe Music — joins the Sowers Podcast, Episode 126, for a conversation that moves from personal testimony to cultural apologetics.Troy shares his story of being adopted from Jamaica into a Canadian pastor's home in Saskatchewan, wrestling with identity as one of few Black kids in his community, and the strange soccer injury that stopped his athletic career and pointed him toward ministry. From there, the conversation turns to race and adoption, what "Black culture" actually means across a diverse global diaspora, how churches can build genuine (not tokenized) diversity in leadership, and why the church's greatest witness in a "non-committal" culture is consistency over time. Troy closes with a challenge to the Canadian church: a call back to reverence, holiness, and beholding God.Learn more about Apologetics Canada: https://apologeticscanada.com/Follow Troy / Scribe Music: https://www.instagram.com/prairieboytroy/Subscribe to the Sowers Podcast for more conversations on faith, culture, and the gospel.#ApologeticsCanada #SowersPodcast #ChristianPodcast #Adoption #Identity #Apologetics #discipleship GUEST BIOTroy Lydiate is a multifaceted artist, speaker, and Creative Director at Apologetics Canada, where he also serves as host of "The AC Podcast." As a graduate of Providence University with a Bachelor's Degree focused on Social Sciences, Troy has spent much of his professional career working with youth and young adults. Operating under the artistic moniker Scribe Music, Troy has unveiled four studio albums, skillfully utilizing his music as a conduit to convey the gospel message. His music production has garnered him nominations at the GMA (Covenant Awards), complemented by widespread recognition through blog features and regular airplay on Canadian Christian radio.Beyond his artistic endeavours, Troy is a devoted husband to Jasmine and a doting father to two young children. He has dedicated himself to the growth and vitality of the local church, actively engaging in discipleship, worship team, and church leadership. Embracing a mission to catalyze both cultural and global transformation, Troy's approach is firmly anchored in love, releasing hope by loving God and loving people.

Joshua Leventhal is back on The Sowers (Episode 125) for a track-by-track walk through of his new album, Tapiseri: Volume I — the first installment of a 25-song, three-volume concept record retelling the story of Scripture from Genesis through Revelation. Four years in the making, Tapiseri: Volume I moves from Creation through the wilderness wanderings, and in this conversation Josh unpacks the theological and musical choices behind songs like "Blessed," "Union," "Cursed," "Vagabond," "Cover," "Covenant," "Birthright," "Liberty," and "Tribes."Josh talks about writing music as an act of discipleship, why he resists tying a neat bow on hard biblical stories, how a Tolkien-inspired image shaped the song "Blessed," why "Cursed" abruptly shifts key, and how the free companion ebook can help individuals and groups engage Scripture more deeply.BIO Joshua Leventhal is an American-born, Canadian-raised, JUNO-nominated and two-time GMA Covenant Award-winning recording artist based just outside Vancouver, British Columbia. His 2022 debut full-length, ALL YE LEPERS, explored the goodness of Christ across the full range of human experience. That same vision now finds fuller expression in Tapiseri, a multi-volume biblical concept record tracing the grand narrative of Scripture. Tapiseri: Volume I spans Creation through the Hebrew exile and the giving of the Law. He is married to fellow creative and acclaimed abstract painter Kaitlyn Rose Leventhal.🎧 Listen to Tapiseri: Volume I on all streaming platforms 📖 Get the free companion ebook at https://www.joshualeventhal.com/.

BJ Chursinoff is the pastor of Gospel City Church in Port Coquitlam, where he has served in ministry for over a decade. Alongside his wife Jess, BJ walked closely with Kyla Gillespie (formerly Brycen) through her journey out of gender transition and into full surrender to Jesus — a story shared in Kyla's own book and in a previous episode of this podcast.

In this conversation, BJ shares:

+ His own journey to faith and a decade of walking away before God called him back

+How a Saturday-night recovery ministry called God Rock became Gospel City Church

+The night Jess first approached Brycen (now Kyla) at a worship service

+ Why "everyone is broken" makes recovery ministry uniquely honest

+ The moment Kyla shared her story — and why BJ and Jess responded, "We love you even more"

+ Why they asked Kyla for grace in the relationship, and what that cost them

+ Holding the traditional sexual ethic without wavering, while never pushing Kyla away

+ The invitation to live in their home during Kyla's detransition

+ What it means to walk in both grace and truth like Jesus did

BJ is passionate about the clear and faithful teaching of God's Word and longs to see people transformed by the grace of God. He loves Jesus, His Church, His Word, and the lost, and is committed to helping others grow in a deeper, more authentic walk with Christ. He is married to his wife Jessica, and together they have a daughter, Sydney.

Links:

Gospel City Church: http://gospelcity.ca/

"Transformed" by Kyla Gillespie: https://www.amazon.ca/TransFormed-Journey-Confusion-Reassignment-Detransitioning/dp/B0FCL13CD7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3RMB2RGDCMCGW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5JDi_aQXnLEQtzuMoi8PynJ58BYoMe1lVwmizmQhwF4.g-H52-FqRKnu7KEqkPbT9ougvPrzPzdq9WQ4ybxh-bc&dib_tag=se&keywords=transformed+kyla+gillespie&qid=1788534926&sprefix=transformed+kyla+gillespi%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1

Episode #118 with Kyla Gillespie on The Sowers: youtube.com/watch?v=ZrqxDwczqDU&source_ve_path=NzY3NTg&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fjoin.thesowerspod.ca%2F🔔

Subscribe for more conversations that help you share and follow Jesus in the places you live, work, learn, and play.#Christianity #GenderDysphoria #Detransition #Grace #Discipleship #Pastoring #GospelCityChurch

At just 24 years old, Aidan Britnell left a career in cybersecurity to build technology that serves the local church. In this episode of The Sowers Podcast, Aidan shares his testimony of growing up in the church and rediscovering the weight of the gospel at Hope Bible Church in Oakville, Ontario — and how that love for the local church led him to found Kaleo AI, a live translation app that delivers church services in nearly 200 languages in real time.Matt and Aidan dig into what AI actually is, how Aidan trained a custom model on theological and biblical vocabulary to serve churches well, and the ethics every believer should be thinking through: the upside of AI freeing up time for ministry and Bible translation in unreached languages, and the downside of young people turning to AI for the deep questions they're afraid to bring to a pastor. They also talk about stewarding time in a world engineered to steal our attention, discernment in community, and a few other tools Aidan's building — including Within, an app for scripture memory, and Clearway Core, a church operations tool.BIOAidan Britnell is a Canadian technologist and entrepreneur who is passionate about accelerating the mission of the Church through technology. He is the founder of Kaleo AI, a translation platform helping hundreds of churches around the world reach people with the message of Jesus. He also writes Church Tech Insider, serving church staff with practical strategies to leverage tech and AI in their ministry. Aidan and his wife Rachel are members of Hope Bible Church in Oakville, Ontario.Links: Kaleo AI: https://withkaleo.com/Within App: https://withinapp.io/Clearway Core: https://core.clearway.co/Hope Bible Church: https://hopeoakville.ca/

What if churches in your city stopped competing and started collaborating?In this episode, Matt talks with Jeremy Putz, Lead Pastor of Central Baptist Church and one of the leaders behind Reach Edmonton, a growing movement helping churches work together to plant more churches across the city.Jeremy shares the surprising story behind Reach Edmonton, practical lessons for building trust among diverse church leaders, and why he believes every church—large or small—has a role to play in church multiplication.This conversation is packed with insight for pastors, church planters, ministry leaders, and anyone passionate about seeing the gospel take root in their city.About Jeremy PutzJeremy Putz is the Lead Pastor of Central Baptist Church, a growing multisite church in the Edmonton region, where he is passionate about helping people follow Jesus together and developing healthy leaders and churches. He also helps lead Reach Edmonton, a collaborative movement focused on catalyzing new church plants across the city. In this season, Jeremy is helping guide Central's expansion into McDougall, a historic downtown church building that is becoming home to a new congregation and a renewed centre for ministry in the heart of Edmonton.To learn more about Jeremy and Central Baptist Church, please visit https://www.followingtogether.com/.Checkout Neil Powell and John James' book, "Together For The City" here: https://www.amazon.ca/Together-City-Neil-Powell/dp/0830841539Subscribe for conversations with church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders helping sow gospel seeds across Canada and beyond.#ChurchPlanting #ChurchLeadership #Pastors #ReachEdmonton #ChurchMultiplication #TheSowersPodcast #GospelMovement #leadership

What does it really look like to follow Jesus when life feels ordinary, slow, or even fruitless?In this episode of The Sowers Podcast, we sit down with Mike Blackaby—church planter, author, and pastor—to talk about:+ Growing up in a multi-generational ministry family+ Overcoming doubt and discovering a personal faith in Christ+ Church planting in secular Victoria, BC+ Why faithfulness matters more than quick results+ The danger of constantly chasing “mountaintop” experiences+ How to experience God in the rhythms of everyday lifeMike shares powerful wisdom from his pastoral journey and insights from his book "Experiencing God in Everyday Life"—a companion to the classic "Experiencing God" that helps believers move from spiritual highs to sustainable spiritual growth.🔥 Key takeaway: Don’t quit before the harvest. God is at work—even when you can’t see it.Guest Bio:Mike Blackaby serves as a church planter in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where he lives with his wife, Sarah, and their four children. He holds a PhD in Worldview and Apologetics from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books and Bible studies including God, Heroes, and Everyday Dragons, Experiencing God in Everyday Life and Straight to the Heart: Communicating the Gospel in an Emotionally Driven Culture.To learn more about Mike blackaby and Canvas Church: Oak Bay, please visit: https://www.canvasoakbay.ca/To order a copy of "Experiencing God in Everyday Life," pleaser visit: https://www.amazon.ca/Experiencing-God-Everyday-Life-Access/dp/B0FPXJLJX8👍 Like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations on evangelism, church planting, and discipleship.