New Churches Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Vision Casting for a New Year Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

Episode 794

Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham kick off the new year by discussing the significance of casting a church-wide vision as leaders within your congregation. Discover how biblical leadership surpasses the ordinary markers of goal setting and why you’re called to simply take the next step forward in faithfulness as you wait expectantly upon the Lord.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How visionary leadership in the church differs from that of the marketplace
God’s Old Testament vision for His people versus the New Testament vision found in Christ
Methods of reinforcing vision and assessing progress throughout the calendar year
How to use the power of story to effectively communicate vision to your congregation
Four ways for your people to seek and hear God as a unified church body

Helpful Resources:

Are you part of a new church plant? Learn more about our new church offer here.
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Being a visionary leader in pastoring, preaching, writing, and leading means casting vision in every realm where God has placed you. — Noah Oldham

Visionary leadership is allowing people to see God’s activity in the world and then showing them how they can get in on it. — Vance Pitman

When you show believers the activity of God in the world, you show them that God is big and that He is moving in the world. There is something in the heart of every believer that longs to leverage their life. — Vance Pitman

There’s a different paradigm of how God speaks to His people in the New Testament, and the principle is hearing God together. The New Testament knows nothing of a Christianity without community. — Vance Pitman

You don’t give to a church; you give through a church as an opportunity to join in God’s activity of expanding His kingdom. — Vance Pitman

Don’t let deadlines drive the agenda. Let intimacy with the Father drive the agenda. — Vance Pitman

The post Vision Casting for a New Year appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Best of 2023: Connecting with Your Community as a New Church Planter Dec 14, 2023

Show notes

Episode 793

What does it look like to connect with your community? Noah Oldham and Vance Pitman talk with Mark Lee about best practices for engaging your community as a new church planter.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The best place to start connecting with your community
How to be seen as a partner, rather than a parasite
What foreign missions can teach us about being a missionary
The principle of living your life with your eyes open to God’s activity around you
How to mentor your core team to reach out to the city

Helpful Resources:

The Externally Focused Quest
The Art of Neighboring
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

When we begin to be viewed as partners in our communities and cities, we create relational bridges that allow the gospel to walk from our lives into the lives of those we’ve been called to serve. —Vance Pitman

The way we connected with the community was that I just wanted to connect with my street, to just be the pastor of my street. Sometimes we can make it too complicated: Who do I need to reach out to? Where do I need to go? I just started where I lived. —Mark Lee

The greatest church planting class I took in seminary was actually on foreign missions. It taught me about these principles of being a missionary. And one of those principles was finding a person of peace. —Noah Oldham

Find ways you can build relationships with the people in your life. For me, a lot of it had to do with what my kids were doing. The first 13 families I led to Christ, I led to Christ coaching Little League baseball and NFL flag football. —Vance Pitman

Once we have followers, disciples and a core team, how do we mentor them to reach out to the city too? For my core team, I provided a framework: prayers, conversations, table fellowships and invitations. —Mark Lee

When we started, we created what we called the Personal Touch Tip Sheet. It was 40 examples of how you could connect with someone. Like, for example, when somebody moves in on your street, bake some cookies or bread, make a meal, and take it to your neighbor. —Vance Pitman

Keep being faithful and trust the Lord to build His Church. —Noah Oldham

The post Best of 2023: Connecting with Your Community as a New Church Planter appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Best of 2023: Giving an Effective Gospel Presentation Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

Episode 792

As our society tips toward majority non-Christian, the need for clearer calls to the gospel becomes paramount. Ed Stetzer, Shane Pruitt, and Catherine Renfro talk about how to give an effective gospel presentation.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Different ways to invite people to Jesus without manipulating
Four kinds of people hearing every sermon
Important theological elements of a gospel presentation
How to keep an invitation short and clear
A “cheat code” for clear, concise invitations

Helpful Resources:

Shane Pruitt article: Giving an Effective Gospel Invitation with Integrity
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Sermons should be text driven and every text should be preached in the light of the gospel. And if the gospel is preached, then an opportunity to respond to the gospel should be given. —Shane Pruitt

In giving an invitation, people need to know why they need to put their trust in Jesus and that God’s not made it complicated for us to be saved. —Catherine Renfro

The cheat code for doing an invitation clearly and concisely is to be prepared. A lot of times communicators don’t prepare their invitations like they prepare the sermon. —Shane Pruitt

If there’s confusion on the stage, there will be mass confusion in the seats and the last thing we want anybody to do is to respond in confusion. —Shane Pruitt

At the end of the day, we want to make sure that those who respond to the gospel have an opportunity to talk with someone afterward. —Catherine Renfro

As the leader, the shepherd of the church, your goal is to to create and cultivate a culture of evangelism. You don’t want to go, “OK, this is the one weekend a year we’re actually going to be evangelistic.” —Shane Pruitt

If you proclaim the gospel, give an invitation and people respond but you don’t have a follow-up plan, we’re being bad stewards in that. —Shane Pruitt

The post Best of 2023: Giving an Effective Gospel Presentation appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Best of 2023: Preaching a Theology of Sending Dec 07, 2023

Show notes

Episode 791

Hosts Noah Oldham and Vance Pitman sit down with Pastor Matt Carter to discuss the significance of creating a culture of sending through preaching. Here’s what it means to “live sent” and to empower your people to do the same.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The biblical basis for “Sending Church”
How a pastor can cultivate a culture of sending through his preaching
How to help your people put “living sent” into action
Systems you can put in place to make sure people can take next steps
The enemy within and without

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

The local church is not the ultimate goal; the ultimate goal is the kingdom of God being expanded and God birthing His local church. One of the ways we create that sending culture is through preaching. —Vance Pitman

We always had next steps. It’s one thing to get everybody fired up from the pulpit. It’s another thing to have something they can hang their hat on. —Matt Carter

We end every service telling our our church after we pray, “Go to love, serve and tell.” —Noah Oldham

Preaching is not the dispensing of information. Preaching is a call to transformation. There has to be an opportunity for people to respond. We have to apply “living sent” for our people to begin to take those steps. —Vance Pitman

There’s a pent-up desire in the body of Christ to engage in the mission of God, and I think it’s bottlenecked at the pastor because we’re not giving them the opportunity to do it. —Matt Carter

You’ve got to be passionate about it yourself or your people are never going to follow you. It’s got to be something you believe in, deep down in the core of your being. —Matt Carter

I would warn a pastor to be prepared. There will be opposition. There’s an enemy within and an enemy without. —Vance Pitman

The post Best of 2023: Preaching a Theology of Sending appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Best of 2023: Did the Pandemic Change Church Planting? Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

Episode 790

Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your church differently than others? Host Ed Stetzer talks with Warren Bird about fascinating new research.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How church launches and funding were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic
The effect on planters’ mental health
How evangelism and discipleship fared
The “big disappointment” in the research findings
Advice for planters in light of research

Helpful Resources:

EFCA research: New Faces of Church Planting and Multi-siting
PDF download: EFCA findings on the pandemic’s impact
Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Movie theaters and schools where, disproportionately, church plants meet, were shut down. It really had an impact on church planting. When schools started meeting again, many didn’t let anybody in from the outside, to create a bubble. — Ed Stetzer

I was surprised at how few things dipped during the pandemic. I was brought to tears when I tallied the survey responses and I saw how many hundreds of churches launched during the pandemic. — Warren Bird

New churches put a heavier emphasis on evangelism than discipleship, but discipleship increased. — Ed Stetzer

We found that, both pre-pandemic and during the pandemic, evangelism was stronger than the discipleship component, but during the pandemic, the discipleship meter was almost as high as the evangelistic meter. — Warren Bird

I think it probably was the greatest time of church shifting and switching in our lifetime. I want new churches to be evangelized into existence. — Ed Stetzer

While people are willing to gather in most places now, the volunteering piece—that second step of engagement—has been really slow. It did not surge back with the people coming back. — Warren Bird

Can you imagine three years ago saying, “Hey, everyone, scan the QR code on your screen”? But now the grandmas are holding up their phones and scanning the QR code. It is fascinating how this has been accelerated technologically. — Ed Stetzer

The post Best of 2023: Did the Pandemic Change Church Planting? appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Creating a Positive Staff Culture Nov 30, 2023

Show notes

Episode 789

Host Ed Stetzer returns with pastor and planter Mark Lee to discuss the impact of creating and maintaining a positive staff culture within the life of your church. Here’s how you can lead your team to multiply leaders within their ministry spaces while cultivating a spiritual and professional environment where your people can thrive.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The marks of an unhealthy staff dynamic
How to sustain your staff values when the going gets tough
Ways to help your team balance responsibilities and manage stress
The pros and cons of hiring a small church staff
Why servant leadership is key for head pastors

Helpful Resources:

Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

You can gauge a healthy culture by how it acts during crisis. — Mark Lee

As the church grows, even the senior pastor becomes more removed from the stories happening in the church. Their responsibility is to find those stories and communicate them wherever they can. — Mark Lee

As leaders, our goal isn’t to gain many followers. It’s not even to be surrounded by the best technicians. Our job is to empower leaders who will do kingdom work better than we ever could. — Mark Lee

We may teach hyperbolically, but when we actually engage with our people, it has to be filled with grace and servant leadership. — Mark Lee

People go into ministry because they want to make a difference and feel like they’re in the trenches with other people. So, it’s important for us to act less like an office and to more like a family. — Mark Lee

Don’t underestimate the importance of staff culture. Shaping a culture is an indispensable part of your leadership. As the head of staff, no one else can do that for you. — Ed Stetzer

The post Creating a Positive Staff Culture appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How Do We Keep Pastors in the Game? Nov 28, 2023

Show notes

Episode 788

Host Ed Stetzer chats with pastor and planter Mark Lee to discuss why we need to hold onto biblical endurance as modern-day ministry leaders. Tune in to discover how you can find longevity in ministry through healthier perspectives, sustainable rhythms of rest, and perseverance.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why returning to your calling is essential for ministry
How people pleasing leads to burnout
Why a shifted perspective is an essential tool for followers of Jesus
The impact of discerning your current season of ministry
How pastoral ministry is more like a marathon than you might think

Helpful Resources:

Are you part of a new church plant? Learn more about our new church offer here.
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Some pastors will see their pain as a sign that something is wrong. What we have to attempt to do in that moment is to see that our pain is a process and that it is developing something in us that we could never develop in ourselves. — Mark Lee

People need reservoirs of resilience. Endurance is connected with resilience, and it’s something you have to cultivate. — Ed Stetzer

Sometimes, there is a time where the needs of the kingdom and the desperation of our times are actually more important than what it is that I may be feeling at the time. — Mark Lee

Your answer to that question of “Why?” is the most important endurance weapon that you can possibly have. I have got to not only be able to endure pain, but I’ve got to be able to welcome it. — Mark Lee

If you run with people, you can just run a lot further. Be very intentional about cultivating friendships and relationships with other pastors because they can understand the burden you carry better than anybody else. — Mark Lee

The post How Do We Keep Pastors in the Game? appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

David Platt on Preaching with the Nations in View Nov 16, 2023

Show notes

Episode 787

Host Tony Merida sits down with longtime friend, pastor, and author David Platt to discuss the Great Commission’s call for missional preaching. Tune in to learn more about how the meditation and internalization of Scripture can impact your own heart for change as you seek to transform the nations with the gospel.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The danger of separating your preaching from your discipleship
Your role as part of the global body of Christ
Ways to encourage your fellow leaders in their missional zeal
Why prayer and preaching are both essential for your church’s discipleship culture
How Scripture emphasizes the global church

Helpful Resources:

Sermons from Radical: Radical’s Messages Archive
David’s Preaching Masterclass lesson: Preaching with the Nations in View
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

We can all grow in our preaching as Paul says in 1 Timothy 4:15: ‘…let them see your progress.’ — Tony Merida

What we’re doing in preaching is presenting people with the good news so that they can escape God’s wrath and find refuge and grace in Christ—and we want to do that among the nations. — Tony Merida

The God we are pointing people to is the global God of the nations; not just God of the people we’re talking to at that moment, or people who look like those we’re talking to at that moment, or those we’re entrusted with the responsibility of shepherding. Jesus is the Savior of all nations. — David Platt

Preaching is a fundamental part of this Great Commission we’ve been given, but if all we’re doing is preparing and teaching sermons, then we are not doing all that disciple making requires. — David Platt

If we are worshipers of a global God, we should have a heart for the nations and for the spread of God’s glory among all the nations. That’s where all history is headed. — David Platt

The zeal for the spread of God’s glory among all the nations is not just for a few people, but for every follower of Jesus. — David Platt

The post David Platt on Preaching with the Nations in View appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Kids Ministry Nov 14, 2023

Show notes

Episode 786

Host Ed Stetzer meets with Emmy award-winning producer and director of Lifeway Kids, Chuck Peters. Tune in as they discuss effective ways to engage children and their families as you further the gospel within your kids ministry context. Learn more about this rising generation’s social and emotional needs as it pertains to their identity in Christ.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

What millennial parents are looking for
The impact of accessible and applicable children’s curriculum
Why presenting absolute truth is essential for the next generation
The cultural, intellectual, and behavioral needs of kids today
Why your church needs a game plan for what you teach and how you reach the children of your community

Helpful Resources:

Lifeway Kids’ new ministry Resource: Hyfi Currriculum
Lifeway Kids’ free eBook: Flip the Script
Are you part of a new church plant? Learn more about our new church offer here.
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Reaching families starts with reaching kids in any community. — Chuck Peters

One of the biggest felt needs that parents have is for their children to find connection in a safe place. If they feel their kids are in a safe place, those parents are more likely to come and listen to what it is we have to share. — Chuck Peters

There are pathways for engaging people who don’t know the Lord through church plants, specifically through children’s ministry. — Ed Stetzer

Trust plus respect equals influence. — Chuck Peters

Technology is a great way to engage with kids. But the performance-based ministry models of the past are not where it’s at. What’s more important is personal relational engagement, and we can do that anywhere. — Chuck Peters

This is a generation that desperately needs to know that their identity is not something that they achieve. It’s something they receive and that God has spoken to. — Chuck Peters

The post Kids Ministry appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Pursuing Jesus Nov 09, 2023

Show notes

Episode 785

Host Tony Merida sits down with longtime friend, pastor, and author David Platt to discuss the fruitfulness of passionately pursuing Jesus amidst the difficulties of church planting today. Tune in discover how you can more effectively cultivate unity, conviction, and reliance on Jesus as you shepherd the people God has entrusted you with.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How to categorize the primary, secondary, and tertiary convictions of the local church
Why a global Christian worldview is crucial for living life on mission
How a church’s compassion toward their community impacts the spread of the gospel locally
Ways to cultivate healthy conversation around the gospel, the church, justice, and race
Scriptural encouragement for the exhausted church planter

Helpful Resources:

David’s New book, Don’t Hold Back
Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer.
Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?

Please subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review on iTunes.

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

I’ve seen so much division, discouragement, disconnect, and even despair in the church because we’ve been holding fast to not just an American dream, but holding back from the issues that the gospel requires us to press into. — David Platt

The last thing the nations need is the exportation of nominal, cultural American Christianity. I’m zealous to see people sent out from churches in our country go to the nations, but I want to make sure they’re taking the gospel and not an Americanized version of it. — David Platt

What’s led to a lot of the unhealthy things we’ve seen in the church is wielding God’s Word like it’s a weapon in a culture war instead of water for friends in a desert. — David Platt

When sitting down with a brother or sister who’s struggling in their leadership role, start with the promises of God. You’re not alone in this long line of history of those who’ve gone before you. — David Platt

These have been hard days. But if God is the goal, then these are great days. Don’t hold back from God; that’s the big picture. — David Platt

The post Pursuing Jesus appeared first on New Churches.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Episode 794

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 793

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 792

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 791

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 790

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 789

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 788

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 787

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 786

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Episode 785

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Helpful Resources:

Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Related Podcasts

1

2

3

4

5

6