If you’ve ever wondered what you and your church can do to better reach out to the next generation, you’ll want to tune in to today’s podcast. We’re sitting down with Jonathan “JP” Pokluda, teaching pastor at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas and leader of The Porch, a young adult ministry. The Porch serves millennials from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area along with satellite groups from ten other sites across the nation. JP joins us today on the podcast because he cares about the future of the church and longs to see a great awakening in the next generation.

* If you’re not reaching the future of the church, then you’re not reaching the future. // It’s a common phrase, but it’s more than a sentiment—it’s a reality. JP wishes the truth—and the simple mathematics—of this concept would be more obvious to the greater church community. He describes the format for a typical Tuesday night at The Porch and discusses the reasoning behind the somewhat shorter sermons. JP also stresses the significance of surrounding the millennials who come to those Tuesday night meetings with people who can answer their questions soon after the Bible lesson is presented. Along with the other leaders of The Porch, JP hopes that this service acts as a front door to the church and that those who come will assimilate into a local church body.

* Authentic leadership and relevant opportunities are the keys to success. // What JP sees is a lack of authenticity in the church. The spirit of inauthenticity within the church at large doesn’t make sense to him because he doesn’t see it reflected in the scriptures. JP openly discusses the challenges he struggled with before coming to Christ and points out that people respond and connect with truth, which makes leading out with our own struggles even more crucial.

* The biggest mistake the church makes in trying to reach millennials is dumbing it down. // Armed with this knowledge, The Porch doesn’t water down their sermons or provide “gospel-lite” offerings on their menu. From JP’s point of view, Jesus had high expectations and huge demands for his people; likewise, we are both called and need to call our people to live with reckless abandon for Christ. We need to expand our vision and give our younger generation something to assimilate into.

* Deploy people into ministry. // JP’s vision for ministry emerges in his personal catchphrase: we don’t want to do ministry to people but through people.  JP points out how we are called to go beyond consumerism Christianity and put our living faith into real, live action. What does it look like to hand true service roles to people? At The Porch, people don’t usher or hand out programs; they are trained to be equipped for out-of-the-seats, into-the-streets ministry. The Porch has a full suite of offerings, from a food kitchen to short-term discipleship trips and a monthly mission trip within the city. JP also discusses the ways his ministry hands over management responsibilities to volunteer-led groups in order to equip them further for meaningful ministry as well as the training aspects all volunteers go through. JP sees a generation rising that wants to change the world, and he wants pastors to call them to something greater than themselves.

* Take note of your sacred cows. // The problem with sacred cows is that they sit and graze in blind spots. What are your sacred cows? It could be your day of the week, your time of teaching, or whatever offerings you aren’t willing to give up. JP poses the question: what did Jesus do when it came to ministry? What Jesus did falls into the category of what we need to do, what we must do. JP maintains that everything else around that is a tactic or a strategy that may not be working along longer. When certain traditions or approaches to ministries just aren’t working anymore, you need to let them go.

To learn more about The Porch, 

If you’ve ever wondered what you and your church can do to better reach out to the next generation, you’ll want to tune in to today’s podcast. We’re sitting down with Jonathan “JP” Pokluda, teaching pastor at Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas and leader of The Porch, a young adult ministry. The Porch serves millennials from all over the Dallas-Fort Worth area along with satellite groups from ten other sites across the nation. JP joins us today on the podcast because he cares about the future of the church and longs to see a great awakening in the next generation.

* If you’re not reaching the future of the church, then you’re not reaching the future. // It’s a common phrase, but it’s more than a sentiment—it’s a reality. JP wishes the truth—and the simple mathematics—of this concept would be more obvious to the greater church community. He describes the format for a typical Tuesday night at The Porch and discusses the reasoning behind the somewhat shorter sermons. JP also stresses the significance of surrounding the millennials who come to those Tuesday night meetings with people who can answer their questions soon after the Bible lesson is presented. Along with the other leaders of The Porch, JP hopes that this service acts as a front door to the church and that those who come will assimilate into a local church body.

* Authentic leadership and relevant opportunities are the keys to success. // What JP sees is a lack of authenticity in the church. The spirit of inauthenticity within the church at large doesn’t make sense to him because he doesn’t see it reflected in the scriptures. JP openly discusses the challenges he struggled with before coming to Christ and points out that people respond and connect with truth, which makes leading out with our own struggles even more crucial.

* The biggest mistake the church makes in trying to reach millennials is dumbing it down. // Armed with this knowledge, The Porch doesn’t water down their sermons or provide “gospel-lite” offerings on their menu. From JP’s point of view, Jesus had high expectations and huge demands for his people; likewise, we are both called and need to call our people to live with reckless abandon for Christ. We need to expand our vision and give our younger generation something to assimilate into.

* Deploy people into ministry. // JP’s vision for ministry emerges in his personal catchphrase: we don’t want to do ministry to people but through people.  JP points out how we are called to go beyond consumerism Christianity and put our living faith into real, live action. What does it look like to hand true service roles to people? At The Porch, people don’t usher or hand out programs; they are trained to be equipped for out-of-the-seats, into-the-streets ministry. The Porch has a full suite of offerings, from a food kitchen to short-term discipleship trips and a monthly mission trip within the city. JP also discusses the ways his ministry hands over management responsibilities to volunteer-led groups in order to equip them further for meaningful ministry as well as the training aspects all volunteers go through. JP sees a generation rising that wants to change the world, and he wants pastors to call them to something greater than themselves.

* Take note of your sacred cows. // The problem with sacred cows is that they sit and graze in blind spots. What are your sacred cows? It could be your day of the week, your time of teaching, or whatever offerings you aren’t willing to give up. JP poses the question: what did Jesus do when it came to ministry? What Jesus did falls into the category of what we need to do, what we must do. JP maintains that everything else around that is a tactic or a strategy that may not be working along longer. When certain traditions or approaches to ministries just aren’t working anymore, you need to let them go.

To learn more about The Porch, 

As the year winds down, it’s time for executive pastors to reflect on the past year of ministry. A growing church requires a tremendous amount of effort from a wide variety of people, groups, and communities, and the year’s end offers an opportunity to acknowledge the people who make our churches and ministries possible.  

Below is a list of seven groups of people whose background roles are an integral part of making any church happen. Remember and honor these folks with a card, a small gift, or another way to recognize the contribution they made to your church this year.

Team Spouses

This might be the most overlooked group of people who help make your ministry possible.

Many members of your team go home to spouses who support them throughout the year; that kind of support empowers your staff to engage in ministry at a profound level. Expressing your thanks and appreciation to the spouses of your team is well-received any time of the year but especially during the holidays.

Key Donors

Many churches participate in a year-end giving campaign, so December can often be a time when we overlook those who give faithfully throughout the year.

Remember your faithful givers this December—review your financial data, find the top fifty financial contributors, and thank them. Reaching out to these donors can heighten the sense of community for those people who might wish they could do more at the holidays but decide to give all year long instead.

Community Leaders

Our churches serve within a web of community leaders who make a difference every day, from the mayor and town council to the fire chief, police chief, and other various community leaders.

This is a good time of year to reach out on behalf of the church and thank these leaders for their partnership. Maybe you had a council member who helped you with a particularly prickly neighbor earlier in the year, or maybe the police chief visited your student program and helped them with a special event. As you look back over the year, remember to recognize the great work that these folks do to increase the safety and quality of life in our communities.

Core Vendors

Every church relies on a series of vendors to perform specific tasks throughout the year.

Why not thank them for the way they have enabled your ministry to take place? Ask your finance people to identify the top ten organizations that invoiced you this past year, and reach out to thank your sales or customer service contacts at those companies who provided vital support and services to your church.

Facility Teams

There is always a group of volunteers (and maybe a staff member or two) who help manage your church’s facilities. These individuals work overtime at Christmas; however, they tended your facility all year long, from the chaos of summer camp to clearing snow in winter.

This group of people usually prefers to stay out of the limelight; still, they deserve recognition and thanks. If you rent a facility such as a school, YMCA gym, or movie theater, be extra certain to thank the facility team. This group makes a significant difference to the operation of your campuses and acknowledging their service can help reinforce solid relationships as you head into a long winter ahead.

Professional Help

It’s highly likely that you engaged the services of a lawyer, accountant, or auditor over the course of the year. While these professional services may not represent a large portion of your budget, they do perform an important function by providing a layer of protection that helps your church function in a legal, ethical, and professional manner. Reaching out and thanking those professionals at this time of year is a wise move, and it will be remembered in the new year when you need to call upon them again.

Your Lead Pastor

Executive pastors work closely with the lead pastor; the pair can be as close as siblings du...

As the year winds down, it’s time for executive pastors to reflect on the past year of ministry. A growing church requires a tremendous amount of effort from a wide variety of people, groups, and communities, and the year’s end offers an opportunity to acknowledge the people who make our churches and ministries possible.  

Below is a list of seven groups of people whose background roles are an integral part of making any church happen. Remember and honor these folks with a card, a small gift, or another way to recognize the contribution they made to your church this year.

Team Spouses

This might be the most overlooked group of people who help make your ministry possible.

Many members of your team go home to spouses who support them throughout the year; that kind of support empowers your staff to engage in ministry at a profound level. Expressing your thanks and appreciation to the spouses of your team is well-received any time of the year but especially during the holidays.

Key Donors

Many churches participate in a year-end giving campaign, so December can often be a time when we overlook those who give faithfully throughout the year.

Remember your faithful givers this December—review your financial data, find the top fifty financial contributors, and thank them. Reaching out to these donors can heighten the sense of community for those people who might wish they could do more at the holidays but decide to give all year long instead.

Community Leaders

Our churches serve within a web of community leaders who make a difference every day, from the mayor and town council to the fire chief, police chief, and other various community leaders.

This is a good time of year to reach out on behalf of the church and thank these leaders for their partnership. Maybe you had a council member who helped you with a particularly prickly neighbor earlier in the year, or maybe the police chief visited your student program and helped them with a special event. As you look back over the year, remember to recognize the great work that these folks do to increase the safety and quality of life in our communities.

Core Vendors

Every church relies on a series of vendors to perform specific tasks throughout the year.

Why not thank them for the way they have enabled your ministry to take place? Ask your finance people to identify the top ten organizations that invoiced you this past year, and reach out to thank your sales or customer service contacts at those companies who provided vital support and services to your church.

Facility Teams

There is always a group of volunteers (and maybe a staff member or two) who help manage your church’s facilities. These individuals work overtime at Christmas; however, they tended your facility all year long, from the chaos of summer camp to clearing snow in winter.

This group of people usually prefers to stay out of the limelight; still, they deserve recognition and thanks. If you rent a facility such as a school, YMCA gym, or movie theater, be extra certain to thank the facility team. This group makes a significant difference to the operation of your campuses and acknowledging their service can help reinforce solid relationships as you head into a long winter ahead.

Professional Help

It’s highly likely that you engaged the services of a lawyer, accountant, or auditor over the course of the year. While these professional services may not represent a large portion of your budget, they do perform an important function by providing a layer of protection that helps your church function in a legal, ethical, and professional manner. Reaching out and thanking those professionals at this time of year is a wise move, and it will be remembered in the new year when you need to call upon them again.

Your Lead Pastor

Executive pastors work closely with the lead pastor; the pair can be as close as siblings du...

Today we’re continuing the discussion on leadership development pathways and pipelines. Training volunteers and leaders is so important, but do you ever feel like you’re not sure where to start? Well, today’s podcast is going to help you with that. We’re chatting with Todd Adkins from Lifeway Leadership.

Listen in as we talk about how to help the local church, best practices in real life application, and the future of church leadership development, and what isn’t working.

* Talk about what’s NOT working. // When a church grows, it doesn’t drift towards simplicity; it drifts towards complexity. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re a newer church or a long-established church that’s experienced seasons of growth and decline over the years—the fact remains that you’re probably struggling with complexity at the structure and the systems level. Todd’s noticed how this tends to happen especially when churches grow so fast that they’re just trying to stay a step ahead of the explosive growth. As ministries in the church develop, they can begin operating within their own silos and this structure becomes frustrating and confusing, particularly to volunteers because every leader has their own way of doing things.

* Start with scripture. // When it comes to leadership development, Todd always starts with scripture. He discusses the power of scripture to effect change and its ability to bring people together and develop a strategy. Todd also touches on the challenges of creating an across-the-board vocabulary (an essential part of having systems running smoothly!).

* Mid-size churches experience a unique sense of peer pressure. // Churches of 200-500 people find themselves under pressure to behave and mimic the systems and output of much larger churches. People, for example, will expect more professionalism. Meanwhile, some of the things that got these churches to this point of growth are feeling the strain and they’re not scaleable. So in their attempt to resemble a larger church, mid-size churches find themselves struggling. These churches need to stabilize their existing systems so they can scale up. Evaluate the cost effectiveness of your efforts and if current efforts align with the vision and values of your church.

* Churches need to make sure everyone becomes a true disciple and leader for Jesus. // How do we move people through the pipeline? Instead of limiting people to either distributing bulletins or serving as an elder, churches need to be willing to hand out all the layers of ministry and focus on equipping the saints. Each person was saved for something; we are God’s workmanship and have a clear next step. Along with that, it’s important to understand that transformation happens in someone’s life with an overlap of knowledge, experience and coaching. You cannot digitize that – it occurs in the context of a relationship.

* The future of church leadership development needs to resemble its origins. // Todd feels that church leadership development hasn’t really changed over the two thousand years; he points to 2 Timothy 2:2 as a reference point for how to apply this concept in modern times. Todd also maintains the importance of modeling and training leaders in contrast to the pitfalls of today’s trend to buy leaders instead of build them. He poses a valid question to listeners: whereas people used to come to our churches 2-3x a week, now we’re getting them 2-3x a month—if we’re lucky. What are we doing with them to help them develop in a society that is more self-focused and self-absorbed?

To find out more about Lifeway Leadership, visit their website here, or to get in touch with Todd, you can reach out via social media.

Today we’re continuing the discussion on leadership development pathways and pipelines. Training volunteers and leaders is so important, but do you ever feel like you’re not sure where to start? Well, today’s podcast is going to help you with that. We’re chatting with Todd Adkins from Lifeway Leadership.

Listen in as we talk about how to help the local church, best practices in real life application, and the future of church leadership development, and what isn’t working.

* Talk about what’s NOT working. // When a church grows, it doesn’t drift towards simplicity; it drifts towards complexity. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you’re a newer church or a long-established church that’s experienced seasons of growth and decline over the years—the fact remains that you’re probably struggling with complexity at the structure and the systems level. Todd’s noticed how this tends to happen especially when churches grow so fast that they’re just trying to stay a step ahead of the explosive growth. As ministries in the church develop, they can begin operating within their own silos and this structure becomes frustrating and confusing, particularly to volunteers because every leader has their own way of doing things.

* Start with scripture. // When it comes to leadership development, Todd always starts with scripture. He discusses the power of scripture to effect change and its ability to bring people together and develop a strategy. Todd also touches on the challenges of creating an across-the-board vocabulary (an essential part of having systems running smoothly!).

* Mid-size churches experience a unique sense of peer pressure. // Churches of 200-500 people find themselves under pressure to behave and mimic the systems and output of much larger churches. People, for example, will expect more professionalism. Meanwhile, some of the things that got these churches to this point of growth are feeling the strain and they’re not scaleable. So in their attempt to resemble a larger church, mid-size churches find themselves struggling. These churches need to stabilize their existing systems so they can scale up. Evaluate the cost effectiveness of your efforts and if current efforts align with the vision and values of your church.

* Churches need to make sure everyone becomes a true disciple and leader for Jesus. // How do we move people through the pipeline? Instead of limiting people to either distributing bulletins or serving as an elder, churches need to be willing to hand out all the layers of ministry and focus on equipping the saints. Each person was saved for something; we are God’s workmanship and have a clear next step. Along with that, it’s important to understand that transformation happens in someone’s life with an overlap of knowledge, experience and coaching. You cannot digitize that – it occurs in the context of a relationship.

* The future of church leadership development needs to resemble its origins. // Todd feels that church leadership development hasn’t really changed over the two thousand years; he points to 2 Timothy 2:2 as a reference point for how to apply this concept in modern times. Todd also maintains the importance of modeling and training leaders in contrast to the pitfalls of today’s trend to buy leaders instead of build them. He poses a valid question to listeners: whereas people used to come to our churches 2-3x a week, now we’re getting them 2-3x a month—if we’re lucky. What are we doing with them to help them develop in a society that is more self-focused and self-absorbed?

To find out more about Lifeway Leadership, visit their website here, or to get in touch with Todd, you can reach out via social media.

Is your church wondering whether to add another service on Sunday mornings?

Are you looking to the future and trying to figure out when you should add a second, third, or even fourth time to meet on a Sunday?

Wrestling with the right timeline to add a new service is an important process for your church as you balance the growth taking place against the amount of work required to service that growth. Many churches encounter different factors that drive them to add another service to their weekend line-up.

I’ve recognized five such factors that should move your church to begin the process of adding a new service. You don’t necessarily have to tick off all five boxes—any one of these may be enough to spur your decision-making process. However, if you do identify with several items on this list, that underlines the urgency for you to move forward.

Churches can stunt their own growth if they simply don’t have enough places for guests to sit! If your physical buildings are maxed out, it will discourage people from inviting their friends. When their friends do finally come, they’ll have a suboptimal experience which harms your church’s ability to grow and impact people. See if any of the following factors speak to your situation to help determine whether you should add another service to your church.

70% Full Service

It’s often been said that a church service that is 80% full is functionally maxed out because at that level most rooms look and feel full. I think this is generally true in most contexts; however, there may be exceptions where you can fit a few more people in before it feels like there isn’t any room left. The reason you want to be proactive before you reach 80% is that, in most churches, it takes a tremendous amount of work to carry out that decision and to rally the volunteers needed for an additional service.

If you have at least 70% capacity in any of your services, you need to begin having serious conversations with your team about adding another service. There are probably only a couple of windows a year where you can do this, so starting the conversation now is an important structural decision.

Crazy Kids’ Areas

Take a few moments this weekend to watch what happens as families come and go through your space.

Are the experiences around kids’ ministry filled with joy, or do they feel chaotic? Is your preschool area too busy and disorganized as parents try to drop off and check-in their kids (and all their stuff) and then repeat the process at check-out?

The reality is that if parents feel like the kids’ areas are way too crazy, they won’t come back. In fact, it’s even more damaging if the experience feels hectic; they’ll be less likely to invite their friends because no parents want to invite a friend into something chaotic.

Parking Lot Pressure

A lot of church leaders have no idea what happens in their parking lots on a Sunday morning because they arrive before the first car comes and typically leave after most everyone else has left. My challenge to you is to spend an entire Sunday morning in your parking lot to simply watch what takes place. If you can’t do this in person, you could put a small webcam on top of your building and record a few weekends of parking lot activity. A good rule of thumb is to have one parking spot for every two seats in your main auditorium—if your main auditorium seats 200, you’re going to need 100 parking spots.

If you don’t (or can’t) meet that ratio, you will find an incredible amount of pressure on your parking lot on any given Sunday morning, which can discourage people from attending. If people arrive and there’s no place for them to park, you’d be amazed to see how many turn around and drive home. People, especially first-time guests, are looking for an excuse not to attend,

Is your church wondering whether to add another service on Sunday mornings?

Are you looking to the future and trying to figure out when you should add a second, third, or even fourth time to meet on a Sunday?

Wrestling with the right timeline to add a new service is an important process for your church as you balance the growth taking place against the amount of work required to service that growth. Many churches encounter different factors that drive them to add another service to their weekend line-up.

I’ve recognized five such factors that should move your church to begin the process of adding a new service. You don’t necessarily have to tick off all five boxes—any one of these may be enough to spur your decision-making process. However, if you do identify with several items on this list, that underlines the urgency for you to move forward.

Churches can stunt their own growth if they simply don’t have enough places for guests to sit! If your physical buildings are maxed out, it will discourage people from inviting their friends. When their friends do finally come, they’ll have a suboptimal experience which harms your church’s ability to grow and impact people. See if any of the following factors speak to your situation to help determine whether you should add another service to your church.

70% Full Service

It’s often been said that a church service that is 80% full is functionally maxed out because at that level most rooms look and feel full. I think this is generally true in most contexts; however, there may be exceptions where you can fit a few more people in before it feels like there isn’t any room left. The reason you want to be proactive before you reach 80% is that, in most churches, it takes a tremendous amount of work to carry out that decision and to rally the volunteers needed for an additional service.

If you have at least 70% capacity in any of your services, you need to begin having serious conversations with your team about adding another service. There are probably only a couple of windows a year where you can do this, so starting the conversation now is an important structural decision.

Crazy Kids’ Areas

Take a few moments this weekend to watch what happens as families come and go through your space.

Are the experiences around kids’ ministry filled with joy, or do they feel chaotic? Is your preschool area too busy and disorganized as parents try to drop off and check-in their kids (and all their stuff) and then repeat the process at check-out?

The reality is that if parents feel like the kids’ areas are way too crazy, they won’t come back. In fact, it’s even more damaging if the experience feels hectic; they’ll be less likely to invite their friends because no parents want to invite a friend into something chaotic.

Parking Lot Pressure

A lot of church leaders have no idea what happens in their parking lots on a Sunday morning because they arrive before the first car comes and typically leave after most everyone else has left. My challenge to you is to spend an entire Sunday morning in your parking lot to simply watch what takes place. If you can’t do this in person, you could put a small webcam on top of your building and record a few weekends of parking lot activity. A good rule of thumb is to have one parking spot for every two seats in your main auditorium—if your main auditorium seats 200, you’re going to need 100 parking spots.

If you don’t (or can’t) meet that ratio, you will find an incredible amount of pressure on your parking lot on any given Sunday morning, which can discourage people from attending. If people arrive and there’s no place for them to park, you’d be amazed to see how many turn around and drive home. People, especially first-time guests, are looking for an excuse not to attend,

Today we’re talking leadership and Biblical hospitality with Jersey’s own Terry A. Smith. God has done some incredible things in Terry’s church over the years. Terry A. Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church (TLCC) in West Orange and Paramus, New Jersey. Over the past 27 years, TLCC has grown from 54 members to a church family approaching 3,000 people. A non-denominational Christian community, TLCC is known for its vibrant diversity and robust leadership culture with people from more than 132 distinct communities in the New York City Metro area who are regularly engaged in the life of the church.

Terry is with us to discuss church diversity, hospitable environments, and what it was like to move from the Midwest to a suburb of the Big Apple.

* Diversity among better-life-seekers. Terry came to TLCC from Indiana in the early 90s and started pastoring what was a small church of immigrants at the time. They welcomed him into their midst and the lessons he learned from them have helped shape TLCC’s culture tremendously. Today TLCC’s congregation continues to be diverse, coming from different communities, political backgrounds, and ethnicities, but what ties them together is the common thread of being hungry to get better at life. These folks tend to be leaders and respond to a message of leadership, so Terry and his team have worked to build a culture of leadership within their church.

* Hospitable leadership allows for a more inclusive viewpoint.//Terry finds so much power in Hebrews 13:2, and a major part of his message focuses on what it means to value loving people who are strange to you and to whom you are strange. He believes that strong leadership and church diversity both stem from this idea of absolutely loving people who are different than you—whether ethnically, politically, racially, etc.—and learning that those people often become messengers from God.

* The key is to create a hospitable environment in every way.// True hospitable leadership creates welcoming environments that attract a broad range of people, and Terry sees Jesus as the prototypical hospitable leader. Scripture begins and ends with pictures of hospitality – Adam and Eve were welcomed into the Garden when God created them and Christ’s Church will be invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. During the Last Supper, Jesus is extremely intentional about where the meal will happen and the details surrounding it, such as the washing of his disciples’ feet. By examining the details of Christ’s final act of hospitality here on earth, Terry demonstrates how Jesus provides the framework for creating (physical, spiritual, attitudinal, emotional, and communicative) environments that are welcoming in every way.

* You can’t influence someone you don’t welcome.//Terry is undeniably passionate about hospitable leadership. That passion, combined with the distinct diversity of his congregation, has prompted so many questions over the years, so he wrote his newest book, The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish, as an attempt to answer those questions. Terry returns to Hebrews with the understanding that you can’t influence someone that you don’t welcome, and that hospitable leadership exists to win people for Jesus.

You can learn more about The Life Christian Church at their website or preview Terry’s new book at TerryASmith.com/Rich.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show,

Today we’re talking leadership and Biblical hospitality with Jersey’s own Terry A. Smith. God has done some incredible things in Terry’s church over the years. Terry A. Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church (TLCC) in West Orange and Paramus, New Jersey. Over the past 27 years, TLCC has grown from 54 members to a church family approaching 3,000 people. A non-denominational Christian community, TLCC is known for its vibrant diversity and robust leadership culture with people from more than 132 distinct communities in the New York City Metro area who are regularly engaged in the life of the church.

Terry is with us to discuss church diversity, hospitable environments, and what it was like to move from the Midwest to a suburb of the Big Apple.

* Diversity among better-life-seekers. Terry came to TLCC from Indiana in the early 90s and started pastoring what was a small church of immigrants at the time. They welcomed him into their midst and the lessons he learned from them have helped shape TLCC’s culture tremendously. Today TLCC’s congregation continues to be diverse, coming from different communities, political backgrounds, and ethnicities, but what ties them together is the common thread of being hungry to get better at life. These folks tend to be leaders and respond to a message of leadership, so Terry and his team have worked to build a culture of leadership within their church.

* Hospitable leadership allows for a more inclusive viewpoint.//Terry finds so much power in Hebrews 13:2, and a major part of his message focuses on what it means to value loving people who are strange to you and to whom you are strange. He believes that strong leadership and church diversity both stem from this idea of absolutely loving people who are different than you—whether ethnically, politically, racially, etc.—and learning that those people often become messengers from God.

* The key is to create a hospitable environment in every way.// True hospitable leadership creates welcoming environments that attract a broad range of people, and Terry sees Jesus as the prototypical hospitable leader. Scripture begins and ends with pictures of hospitality – Adam and Eve were welcomed into the Garden when God created them and Christ’s Church will be invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. During the Last Supper, Jesus is extremely intentional about where the meal will happen and the details surrounding it, such as the washing of his disciples’ feet. By examining the details of Christ’s final act of hospitality here on earth, Terry demonstrates how Jesus provides the framework for creating (physical, spiritual, attitudinal, emotional, and communicative) environments that are welcoming in every way.

* You can’t influence someone you don’t welcome.//Terry is undeniably passionate about hospitable leadership. That passion, combined with the distinct diversity of his congregation, has prompted so many questions over the years, so he wrote his newest book, The Hospitable Leader: Create Environments Where People and Dreams Flourish, as an attempt to answer those questions. Terry returns to Hebrews with the understanding that you can’t influence someone that you don’t welcome, and that hospitable leadership exists to win people for Jesus.

You can learn more about The Life Christian Church at their website or preview Terry’s new book at TerryASmith.com/Rich.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show,