Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast and thanks for joining us today. We have lead pastor Robert Manda with us from Eastern Light Presbyterian Church in Malawi in the southern part of Africa. Eastern Light was started by South Korean missionaries in 2006. It is a church that is still growing and very focused on […]

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us today. I’m excited to have Ross Lester with us all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa. He’s the pastor at Bryanston Bible Church.

South Africa is full of opportunity and challenges as far as ministry goes. There is a lot of poverty in the country, along with the highest HIV infection rates in the world. In South Africa alone there are over 5 million orphaned children, and major racial and social gaps still exist despite the end of apartheid. But there is also a lot of opportunity to spread the gospel. It’s expected that ten years from now, South Africa may have the most Christians in the world. The median age of a Christian in South Africa is 19 and Ross and his team are working to sow into the next generation of black South African leaders to carry the gospel message forward.

* Find the long term solution, not the quick fix. // Bryanston Bible Church is about 45 years old and is in the most affluent neighborhood in the continent of Africa, which can cause some problems with bringing in people from outside the walls. The church now has over a thousand people and is growing toward multi-culturalism and racial integration. Their aim is to be a church that plants other churches and encourages multi-culturalism and integration across South Africa. Apartheid put white South Africans in a place of privilege among an illegitimate system. At Bryanston Bible Church, they ask themselves, “How do we own that, repent of that, and then pay it back?” One way they do that is by using the resources given to them to raise up black African leaders who will take charge within the churches into the next generation through training within the gospel, appointing them as elders when they’re ready, then leading them into the world as teachers. It may be a slower path to take, but Ross believes it will yield more fruit than just quickly painting over the previous wrongs of life within South Africa.

* Acknowledge the various cultures within your community. // Bryanston Bible Church was purely white during apartheid and they still are very Western in their style, but they are trying to integrate change. The typical black South African worship service would be a few hours long, however the church has to work with the issue of having a very small place of worship with four services each Sunday. So having four services back-to-back doesn’t allow for long services. In order to still integrate the widely varied African culture into their services, they are trying to incorporate multilingualism and more multicultural representation with their western style. South Africa has eleven official languages, so some ways they incorporate multilingualism within the church is through the greetings at the start of services and singing worship songs in more than one language.

* Work within the needs of your community. // Bryanston Bible Church spends about 30-35% of their offerings on justice and mercy projects outside of the walls of their area. They see this as part of the repentance and paying back of the atrocities of apartheid. They align with meaningful justice and mercy projects that spread the gospel and also run some programs themselves. Nearby there is a river where homeless men live and so the church has a feeding program and works to bring those men into the life of the church by giving them respect and an identity they don’t have as homeless men. The church also works with homeless kids who aren’t being looked after because their parents are off looking for work.

You can connect with Bryanston Bible Church at their website bbc.org.za and you can connect with Ross through Twitter @RossLester.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to join us today. I’m excited to have Ross Lester with us all the way from Johannesburg, South Africa. He’s the pastor at Bryanston Bible Church. South Africa is full of opportunity and challenges as far as ministry goes. There is a lot of […]

Hello, everybody, and thanks so much for joining us today. I’m excited to have Yoshito Noguchi with us, all the way from Tokyo, Japan.

The greater area of Tokyo is about 36 million people and less than 1% are Christian. There are only 1,000 Christian churches in Tokyo to serve those 36 million people. Yoshito explains that most people he meets have never heard the gospel or held a bible in their hands. Most people in Tokyo are Buddhist or Shinto. They may not consider themselves religious or actually believe what these religions teach, but they still practice the Buddhist or Shinto traditions because it’s part of their culture. As a result Yoshi focuses on building relationships to open the door to sharing the gospel.

Today Yoshi is here to share with us his dream for seeing the gospel spread through missional communities throughout Tokyo.

* Go where God calls. // Yoshi started working in youth ministry, but then felt a calling to move to Tokyo and plant a church. Five years ago, he and his wife moved and started from scratch in the city. Yoshi worked outside of the church with the elderly and at the same time was very intentional about getting to know people in his community. Not unlike the west, people in Japan are very busy and Yoshi says it can be a challenge to meet with people. Whether it’s going door to door and speaking with neighbors, interacting in the workplace or building relationships at his children’s school, Yoshi and his wife take every opportunity to build friendships where they can, ultimately wanting to share the gospel message. It’s a slow process, but as Yoshi has planted seeds and built relationships, individuals have started showing an interest in learning more about Jesus.

* Start small and build. // When Yoshi first began this mission in Tokyo, he and the others who wanted to learn more about Christ met in his home. Then they began meeting in public places once a month. As interest has slowly grown, people are craving more community and now they meet weekly to learn more about the bible and Jesus. Yoshi and his church don’t have a building, but they are still a missional community impacting their neighborhood.

* Love defines us. // As Yoshi reaches out to people in his community, his heart is to serve them. “In Japan they never heard the gospel before and one of the powerful ways to proclaim Jesus is they have to see the gospel,” Yoshi explains. “How much we love and how much we bless people and how much we care about people.” Yoshi took the initiative to clean up a park that his community uses and he says that people noticed. In fact, actions like these, motivated by love, have directly led to new friendships and the salvation of neighbors.

* Be patient and plant seeds. // The biggest lesson Yoshi has learned from his mission is to be patient. A church isn’t built overnight and making disciples is an ongoing process. We love instant gratification, but we must persevere and be faithful when we don’t see results right away. As Yoshi wisely notes: “We sometimes look for quick results and making disciples takes all of our life. Is it ok to not see fruit for the first 2 years, first 10 years, first 20 years, even 50 years? We still must be faithful to cultivate and plant seeds.”

You can connect with Yoshito and learn more about his church planting at somajapan.com.

Learn more about UNREASONABLE CHURCHES.

All month we’re celebrating 3 years of the unSeminary podcast and anticipating

the launch of my new book … UNREASONABLE CHURCHES | 10 Churches Who Zagged When Others Zigged and Saw Impact Because of it. Click here to sign ...

Hello, everybody, and thanks so much for joining us today. I’m excited to have Yoshito Noguchi with us, all the way from Tokyo, Japan. The greater area of Tokyo is about 36 million people and less than 1% are Christian. There are only 1,000 Christian churches in Tokyo to serve those 36 million people. Yoshito […]

Thanks so much for joining us today with this week’s unSeminary podcast. This month we’ve been talking with church leaders around the globe about what God is doing in their part of the world and what we can learn in our own ministries.

Today we’re speaking with Ken Costa, the founder and author of God at Work as well as the chairman of Alpha International. He’s from the United Kingdom, though he grew up in South Africa. It wasn’t until he moved to England that he found faith and began to realize that there is a God who cares about justice. From that point, Ken decided that he wanted to make a difference in the world and in other people’s lives so he began to read about law and theology while at Cambridge University. He began preaching and working to train and lead the younger generation to make sense of the workplace and the purpose for their lives there. Ken also works with Alpha to teach people what true life in Jesus Christ really looks like.

Ken is with us today to talk about the effects of ministry within the young working people and how the population of Christianity is changing.

* Help the younger generation understand spiritual truth. // Ken points out that over the years, the number of people in the UK that classify themselves as having no religion has grown and is now outnumbering the people who identify as Christian. It’s a growing concern especially among the younger generation. Men and women in their 20s and 30s no longer see the church as relevant and so we need to come up with new ways to communicate the timeless truth of the gospel.

* Change the view of the church. // In spite of a lack of interest in the church due to negative perceptions, there is still a hunger for spiritual understanding and truth. Young people now pour themselves into social justice, political causes and ethical investments, craving a meaning in their life and spiritual identity, but unsure where to find it. Here is where Alpha comes in. One of the missions of Alpha is to teach what the church is meant to be, what life in Jesus Christ looks like and why it matters to them.

* Questions without answers. // Through the new Alpha Film Series, people can learn about the Christian faith in a very relaxed and conversational environment. With a documentary feel to it, these videos are perfect for generating discussion among a group who is watching. Ken notes that the Millennial generation wants to feel like they are a part of something so community is very important. One of the events Alpha hosts is a dinner where people come to watch their film series and then the room is open for discussion. The event is non-denominational and people are allowed to speak and ask questions that may not have answers. They can speak freely and openly about the questions they have that may stop them from becoming involved in a church or identifying with the Christian faith. This is a big step toward leading these younger people back toward Christ: allowing them to ask the questions they struggle with and voicing their opinions openly.

You can connect with Ken and also find information about his book Know Your Why: Finding and Fulfilling Your Calling in Life at godatwork.org.uk.

Learn more about UNREASONABLE CHURCHES.

All month we’re celebrating 3 years of the unSeminary podcast and anticipating the launch of my new book … UNREASONABLE CHURCHES | 10 Churches Who Zagged When Others Zigged and Saw Impact Because of it. Click here to sign up on our special microsite to get front the line access to more information about the launch. 

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary,

Thanks so much for joining us today with this week’s unSeminary podcast. This month we’ve been talking with church leaders around the globe about what God is doing in their part of the world and what we can learn in our own ministries. Today we’re speaking with Ken Costa, the founder and author of God at Work […]

Hello and thank you for joining us for this week’s unSeminary podcast. We’re super excited this week to have Tyler Reagin with us from Catalyst.

The Catalyst organization runs Catalyst Conferences around the country. The organization was started about 16 years ago by John Maxwell, who wanted to connect and invest in the next generation of leaders in addition to the generation that was already attending his events. Along with a few other men, they began Catalyst Conferences and One Day Events across the country which target the 40 and under generation of church leaders.

Today Tyler is here to talk about the pressures that young church leaders face regarding work-life balance and how to best confront them.

* Manage the tensions in your life. // Whether it’s navigating the theology vs the reality of hot button issues in today’s world, or dealing with work-life balance, there are always tensions to manage in life. Tyler firmly believes that the health and happiness of church leaders strongly influences the health of their churches. Sacrificing one’s health or family for the sake of church growth isn’t what God has called us to. It’s far more important to learn to create healthy rhythms of rest and refueling, making the time to cultivate deep relationships with friends and family. If we want to give our best to the church, we have to begin by taking care of ourselves properly. As Tyler notes about leading his staff at Catalyst, “I hire them because they’re competent. It’s my job is to make sure they stay healthy. If I can help them stay healthy emotionally, physically, spiritually, they’re going to kill the job. I don’t have to worry about the job.”

* Cheat work, not your family. //There just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything, and we weren’t meant to do it all. You’ll have to cheat somewhere in your life, Tyler points out. If you choose to cheat your family over work, that’s a bad decision. If you choose to cheat your health over work, that’s a bad decision too.Oftentimes when young leaders are single, they choose to pour themselves into their work, believing they can figure out a work-life balance when they get married down the road. But the time to learn to set healthy boundaries is now. You can delegate things at work to other people, but you can’t delegate at home. Figure out a schedule and a system that works best in order for you to be there for your important relationships, whether family or friends, even if that means going to work earlier so you can leave by 4pm.

* Find healthy ways to relieve stress. // Everyone will deal with stress in their lives. The question is will you deal with the stress in a healthy way or an unhealthy way? Stress can easily lead to negative habits such as overeating, drinking too much or sitting in front of the TV for hours. Instead, find ways to be a good steward of your life and body while also relieving that stress. For Tyler, that stress relief is golf. He gets to spend time with friends, and during the game his mind is on golf and not on work. Church leaders need to make time for fun in their lives, or they won’t be any good for the congregation. What would you encourage a member of your church body to do? You should follow your own advice!

You can connect with Tyler on Twitter @TylerReagin or Catalyst @CatalystLeader. You can also learn more about the Catalyst Organization at http://www.catalystconference.com.

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.

Hello and thank you for joining us for this week’s unSeminary podcast. We’re super excited this week to have Tyler Reagin with us from Catalyst. The Catalyst organization runs Catalyst Conferences around the country. The organization was started about 16 years ago by John Maxwell, who wanted to connect and invest in the next generation of leaders […]

We’re honored to have Kevin Negaard guest posting for us today. He is the executive director at Sunnybrook Community Church and he has a passion for helping the church steward its resources well, including the people on staff.

In mid-July of 2015, it hit me that the new ministry season was right around the corner and I was not sure we were well prepared. It seemed to me that we had not had a very good month of June as a staff. Was it ministry fatigue? Burnout? Laziness? Poor leadership? Maybe a little bit of all of those things. I knew I did not want to feel that way again. I spoke with some colleagues and staff and came up with a plan: A weeklong sabbatical for all staff during the last week of May.

I gathered a team of staff and we created the following guidelines for our sabbatical:

* Our goals were twofold: to help refresh staff after the ministry season and to draw closer to God.

* We wanted to direct 90-120 minutes per day with prayer, reading, devotions, journaling and quiet time.

* Staff could use the rest of their time as they saw fit to help them reach the 2 goals we set forth.

* Staff could not go on a vacation — they needed to stay in town.

* They needed to attend church at Sunnybrook the Sunday before and after the sabbatical.

And this is what the sabbatical looked like:

* We gathered on Monday morning at sunrise (5:45am) and had a time of worship. Each staff member was given “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels, a journal with Rick Warren’s “Quiet Time with God” guidelines, a prayer list, a musical playlist and gift certificates to Starbucks, Panera and Dairy Queen.

* We prayed over the prayer list each day at 9:30am. We did not come together for this prayer time but wherever we were, we prayed over the same prayer list at 9:30.

* We gathered on Thursday night for an hour of worship music. This was followed by pizza and chicken wings at a favorite hangout.

* Staff had to email their 3-5 takeaways from the experience. We collected them, discussed them as a team and will use them to better the experience next year.

7 lessons we learned:

* Some people will have to come into the office for worship practice, communication needs, janitorial and other things, so the time off will not be completely equal. Get over it — you are all receiving at least 30 hours of paid time off this week.

* The 90-120 minutes of directed time was appreciated and seemed to be about the right amount of time. They loved the mixture of the book, focused prayer, quiet time and journaling, the early morning Kick Off on Monday and the Thursday night worship and hang out time.

* Communicating with family the purpose of this week and being able to use the free time to get refreshed and draw closer to God was essential. Staff commented that having the free time and being able to decide how to spend time with family was great compared to a planned vacation where you have scheduled activities and you need to do them if you want to or not.

* We struggle as a staff with “busyness,” which hinders our ability to get quiet with God and keeps us from a strong prayer life. We are prayerful this week will jump-start us to a better quiet time and prayer life.

* Our ministry staff get a half day per month for a “Spiritual Retreat.” We are looking into the possibility of adding 2 full day sabbaticals. We would have the same goals and direct part of the day. We are looking at a day in December and a day in March.

* This is an inexpensive event, as far as cash output, but it is one of the most appreciated gifts we have given our staff.