New Churches Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Small Groups for Women May 21, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham team back up with author and Bible teacher Jen Wilkin to discuss the impact of discipling women through the small group method. Tune in to discover how you can create intentional, impactful discipleship spaces for the women of your congregation from the earliest days of your church plant.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The pros and cons of gender-specific small group models
Why relating to one another as family is essential to the church in today’s culture
How to emphasize your intended learning outcomes for leaders and members alike
What your investment in childcare communicates about your core values
Discipleship resources for the women of your church plant!

Helpful Resources:

Find Jen on Instagram
Jen’s book: Women of the Word
Jen’s free Bible study: James: Living a Life of Genuine Faith
Jen’s Genesis studies, God of Creationand God of Covenant
Learn more about The Deep Discipleship Cohort
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):

When we talk about theological and biblical illiteracy in the church, if we’re only having feelings-level or application-driven discussions, we are probably not being discipled into the basic Christian beliefs that are our inheritance. — Jen Wilkin

Many times, a small group setting is used because the leader asks, “Well, what do the people want to do?” I would argue that’s the wrong first question. The right one is, “How are disciples formed, and then how do we get them there?” — Jen Wilkin

The culture has lost its concept of friendship, not just between men and women but between people. Any strong emotion for another human being is viewed as sexual or romantic. So, where should we reclaim the beauty of brother-sisterly friendships? If the church doesn’t do it, it’s not going to happen. — Jen Wilkin

We inhabit an age of low expectations for Christian discipleship. — Jen Wilkin

Don’t think that only men want to be challenged in their theological or biblical literacy. Women are hungry for this, and they come alive with it. — Jen Wilkin

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Christ-Centered Conflict Resolution May 16, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Jeff Medders and Tony Merida dive into one of the most difficult areas of leadership development: conflict resolution. Tune in to discover tools with which to view your disagreements, unmet expectations, and miscommunications as growth opportunities rather than situations to flee. Here’s how you can meet your conflicts head-on, honoring Christ and pursuing peace through the help of His Spirit.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why you may naturally gravitate away from conflict and what you may be drifting toward instead
Scripture’s examples of relational conflict
How church planting conflict is similar to bringing home a newborn
Words of encouragement for people pleasers and confrontation avoiders
What reconciliation and restoration look like in the context of following Christ

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):

It’s easy to show up to the positive parts of ministry: leading, preaching, discipline, and counseling. It’s harder to show up for the more challenging parts: the church discipline or conflict resolution meeting. Faithful, effective leaders show up for both. — Jeff Medders

Some can envision the Christian life as being very doctrinally focused and head-oriented. In reality, it’s doctrine-embodied, relational, people work. — Tony Merida

It’s always growing and dynamic, always with fires to put out. The question is not if you’ll have conflict but how you’re going to deal with it appropriately and in a way that’s Christ-honoring and how you can deal with it without dreading or despising it. — Tony Merida

Jesus came into the world not only to reconcile us to the Father because we are at war with God in our sinful nature, but also to reconcile us to one another. Jesus is the great mediator and reconciler who brings us peace as the Prince of Peace. — Tony Merida

As pastors, it’s very easy to think, “Okay, I need God’s Spirit to help me preach the sermon and help with X, Y, Z.” We forget we need God’s Spirit to help us in our conflict resolution. — Jeff Medders

You have to be comfortable having awkward conversations with people. I’ve learned that Jesus shows up in those awkward conversations because He loves when His people are trying to be united. — Tony Merida

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Theological Training for Women in the Church May 14, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Vance Pitman and Noah Oldham meet with author and Bible teacher Jen Wilkin to discuss the eternal impact of training up the women in our congregations. Tune in to discover how you can help your church plant grow in Great Commission faithfulness from the household and beyond by intentionally investing in women’s theological equipping.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How women’s theological training benefits the entire congregation
How your preaching and teaching of God’s Word affects men and women alike
What it looks like to cultivate an active learning environment for the women of your church plant
The misconceptions, barriers, and social stigma that women are facing in the church today
Why the call of Ephesians 4:12 is for every believer within the body of Christ

Helpful Resources:

Find Jen on Instagram
Jen’s book: Women of the Word
Jen’s free Bible study: James: Living a Life of Genuine Faith
Jen’s Genesis studies, God of Creation and God of Covenant
Learn more about The Deep Discipleship Cohort
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):

We would be poorly served if we kept women theologically uneducated. The problem’s getting worse, not better. We cannot transmit to the next generation a faith that we ourselves can’t articulate. — Jen Wilkin

Women have massive influence in terms of the next generation. So, the more theologically illiterate they are, the more we should expect that of the next generation as well. — Jen Wilkin

To be saved into an individual relationship with Jesus Christ is to be saved into a relationship with His church. The kinds of ideas that have sustained the church for 2,000 years are capable of sustaining the individual in this moment. — Jen Wilkin

When you don’t have women in your local church who are visibly, theologically equipped to do the work of a mother in church, women don’t stop looking for a mother. They will go and find a mother outside of your church. — Jen Wilkin

When it comes to theological training, women need permission from those who are in leadership, and then they need access and to be invited into these learning spaces. — Jen Wilkin

The post Theological Training for Women in the Church appeared first on New Churches.

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The Soul-Winning Church May 09, 2024

Show notes

Host Tony Merida meets with Doug Logan and Jeff Medders to discuss how evangelism and discipleship can converge to establish a soul-winning culture within your church plant. Tune in to discover the mindset and systems shifts you can cultivate in your congregation to reach people for Christ and continue to grow them for the furtherance of the gospel.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How you can disciple the new converts of your church plant
The roles of evangelism and prayer within your congregation
How you can seek out the next generation of church planters through your church’s discipleship processes
The characteristics of faithful, fruitful, and effective evangelists
What Spurgeon meant by the term “soul winner” and how you can create such a culture within your plant, as well

Helpful Resources:

Charles Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner
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):

We want to see the “sheep trade market” close down and see more people converted unto Christ. — Jeff Medders

Guilt is never something we want to encourage as a part of the Christian life. There is conviction, and that comes from the Spirit and propels us forward. — Jeff Medders

We are dealing with things of eternity. We’re not just rehearsing facts. When we evangelize, we are dealing with matters of light and darkness, heaven and hell, eternity and forgiveness. It should create a sense of urgency, dependency, prayer, and zeal that we’re dealing with people’s souls. — Jeff Medders

We have to be able to have a plan in place to see people walk from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. We have to assume that because the Great Commission is about making disciples—not evangelizing—but it’s making disciples through the process of sanctification. — Doug Logan

The gospel is for the lost and the found. — Doug Logan

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Identifying and Raising Up the Next Generation to Lead Now May 07, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Vance Pitman and Jeff Medders team up with Troy Nesbitt, the president of the Salt Network, to discuss the roles of mentorship, discipleship, and leadership within our ministry spheres. Tune in to discover how you can reach the next generation’s leaders and the part you’re called to play in helping them live on mission for Christ.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The key characteristics that define potential leaders
What it means for the gospel to go upstream in your life
How to facilitate mentor relationships within your new church plant
What to look for from your potential mentees
The importance of community in the life of our leaders

Helpful Resources:

The Salt Network
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):

That liminal age group from 18 to 22 is when most people make life-altering decisions. It’s where you lay a foundation for what your faith is going to be. — Troy Nesbitt

Our churches need young leaders who are leading for people to be able to see, “Oh, there’s something I can do and be a part of.” We are trying to raise up young leaders and give them a real platform. — Troy Nesbitt

You can raise a person’s level of influence, but you’re not going to take somebody who’s not influencing people and all of a sudden make them an influencer. — Vance Pitman

Ministry is not for professionals; ministry is for everybody. If you have the Spirit of God alive in you, you should be able to win, train, and send somebody in your influence. You know somebody who’s far from God but close to you. — Troy Nesbitt

You need to trust God’s plan for you and how He’s allowing you to be developed, cultivated, and mentored. — Vance Pitman

If you have to make it convenient before you can pour into them and mentor them, you’re probably pouring into and mentoring the wrong people. — Vance Pitman

The post Identifying and Raising Up the Next Generation to Lead Now appeared first on New Churches.

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Humility in Leadership May 02, 2024

Show notes

Host Tony Merida teams back up with longtime friend and mentee Adam Muhtaseb to discuss their own experiences in leading with Christlike humility. Tune in to discover how our Savior has paved the way for us to walk humbly before God and one another as we plant our churches for His glory and not our own.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why your definition of humility is a big step in determining your identity as a pastor and planter
How to balance your humility with your authority as a leader within the church
What your church structure may reveal about your pride as a leader
The ways that vulnerability, transparency, and trust can help break down barriers between you and those you serve
How humility intersects with the process of decision making and discernment within your church

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):

I think modern American leadership is, “I’m awesome. Let me tell you how,” but I think Christlike leadership is emptying yourself, absorbing blame when things go wrong, and deferring credit when things go right. — Adam Muhtaseb

When you’re around a humble person, you’re not on edge. There’s an ease, a gentleness, and that, too, speaks about the character of Jesus. That’s why He could say, “Come to me. I’m lowly of heart.” He’s easy to be around because He’s the humblest person who’s ever existed. — Tony Merida

With all the demands of church planting, it’s easy to lose your humility because it often feels like everything weighs on you. “If I don’t do it, it’s not going to happen.” It’s essential to continue to go back and say, “If the Lord doesn’t build the house, the labor is labor in vain.” — Adam Muhtaseb

How Paul talks about himself shows me a lot of humility. He says, “I’m the chief of all sinners. I’m the worst of the apostles.” That’s just crazy to me. If Paul says that, what can I say about myself? Just looking at Paul’s view of himself should give us a healthy view of ourselves. — Adam Muhtaseb

One of the dangers of learning a lot is becoming spiritually arrogant because of the degree of knowledge that you have, when what should happen is that we’re studying not to make our heads fat, but our hearts right. The more we know the gospel, the more that should be expressed in humble love. — Tony Merida

Humility doesn’t mean you’re not confident. Humility is confidence. You’re just confident in the Word, not in your competency or giftings. — Adam Muhtaseb

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Big Questions Facing the Church about Planting and Denominations Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

Host Ed Stetzer chats with Vice President of Research and Resources Development, Trevin Wax, about the shifts in how church planters relate to denominational affiliations, networks, and institutions as a whole. Tune in to learn more about current church planting trends and their impact on the future of our new churches.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Your denomination’s role in supporting and shaping your church plant
The events that have led to the decline of denominational affiliation and the rapid rise of the non-denominational church
How to approach the question of belonging to a network of churches versus belonging to a denomination
The significance of theological conviction in selecting who you’ll partner with
How church planting networks are fulfilling the call of Hebrews 10:24 today

Helpful Resources:

Ed’s article, “The Rise of the Evangelical ‘Nones'”
The Reconstructing Faith Podcast
Church Planting Leadership Fellowship Facebook Page
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):

Institutions endure way more than we give them credit for. We live in an anti-institutional age that doesn’t seem to value what institutions bring because change can be really difficult within them. You can lose patience and wonder if it’s as effective as it once was. — Trevin Wax

Denominations are most needed when difficult times come. Of course, church planters never think there’s going to be difficult times, but invariably, they do come. And you want a group of people who are there for you. — Ed Stetzer

In the church planting world, there’s been not only the arrival of new networks in the past 20 years or so, but also a renewed emphasis on church planting within denominations. There’s renewed creative energy taking place. — Trevin Wax

Institutions endure. If you look at the two big denominations church planting in America today, it’s the Assemblies of God and the Southern Baptists. They’re the two big ones, and they’re going to be doing this in 15 years. — Ed Stetzer

Don’t take money from a family you’re not willing to be part of first. The Lord has put us in a family. Let’s stay connected to that family and make that family better. — Ed Stetzer

Decisions are made by people who show up. So, if you’re in a denomination or a network, there’s value to being in there. By walking this journey with institutions, we can make a bigger difference. You go slower, but you go farther when you do it in institutions. — Ed Stetzer

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The Importance and Opportunity of Church Planting in College Towns Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Vance Pitman and Jeff Medders team up with Troy Nesbitt, the president of the Salt Network, a church planting network dedicated to reaching college students with the hope of the gospel. Tune in to discover what sets this student demographic apart and how you can assist in impacting the most reachable, trainable, and sendable people group on earth with the good news of Christ’s love.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How passion and potential create new paths for outreach and discipleship
What sets college towns apart from other church planting contexts
The power of local partnerships in reaching young people with the gospel
How to leverage student life for multiplication and sending purposes
How the Salt Network is mobilizing collegiate communities for the nations

Helpful Resources:

The Salt Network
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):

In my mind, movements of God have always happened on the backs of young people. And in our culture, that’s going to be college students at major universities. — Troy Nesbitt

College students come to your town to leave, so—because they’re in that liminal stage of making adult decisions for the first time—if you win them to Christ, they’re searching and asking the question, “Am I going to be a Christian or not?” — Troy Nesbitt

It’s not a matter of sending them; it’s a matter of helping them know where they should go. We say about church planting, “It’s not where you go. It’s who you go with.” College students are already going. — Troy Nesbitt

You have to create the culture first. It can’t be a novel idea to plant a church. — Troy Nesbitt

If you’re a fisherman, you have to go where there’s fish. If you’re going to search for gold in a stream, you better go where there’s gold, right? University students all over the world, and especially in North America, are the gold mine for planting churches. — Troy Nesbitt

The post The Importance and Opportunity of Church Planting in College Towns appeared first on New Churches.

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Creating a Discipleship Pathway Apr 23, 2024

Show notes

Host Tony Merida meets backs up with longtime friend and Baltimore Send City Missionary Adam Muhtaseb to share their experiences with intentionally discipling the members of their church plants. Listen in to discover how you can embrace new pathways of discipleship in the life of your church and demystify the process along the way.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

How to define “discipleship” for new and seasoned believers alike
The role of the leaders versus that of the congregation in making disciples
The importance of diversity and flexibility when engaging your people in spiritual growth
How to institute and articulate the stages of discipleship development to your congregation
The value of establishing both relationships and processes for your organization’s culture of discipleship

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):

As we think about the Great Commission, we know that Jesus’ last command to make disciples really should occupy first place in our minds and hearts as we move among the nations trying to do just that. — Tony Merida

The good news is that this is fixed. It’s going to happen. Jesus is going to make you like Himself, and what a good gift to us. — Adam Muhtaseb

Discipling new converts versus people who have been Christians for a while is different. We have to accommodate new believers where they’re at and shepherd them along. Really healthy churches have good places to put new converts. — Tony Merida

The lead planter pastor cannot do it all. It takes the congregation, the community of faith. One of the things that new believers need is not programs or structures as much as they need relationships with mature Christians. — Tony Merida

In our American culture, we overemphasize the classes and the books, but there’s not enough emphasis on our dinner tables and the conversations we have around them. — Adam Muhtaseb

We can be great at teaching ecclesiology, missiology, and Christology. We can be great at developing the head and the hands, yet not so great at developing the heart. — Adam Muhtaseb

The post Creating a Discipleship Pathway appeared first on New Churches.

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Becoming a Church that Multiplies Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

Hosts Vance Pitman and Jeff Medders reunite with Aaron Cavin, the pastor, planter, and Send Network city missionary to Boston, Massachusetts. Tune in as they discuss the intricacies of developing a sending church culture and how you can help your people live sent as they think multiplication from the earliest days of your church plant.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

The core characteristics of a multiplying church in today’s ministry contexts
How to view your ministry role in light of your mission to multiply disciples
Ways to navigate the hurdles and complexities of sending your best people out on mission
How multiplication impacts our communities, congregations, and immediate households as church planters
What a sending culture means for the overall atmosphere of your church

Helpful Resources:

The Sending Church Masterclass
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):

Too many churches in North America view multiplication as an optional program for the church. When you look at the New Testament, though, the mission demands disciples and churches that multiply. — Vance Pitman

Culture precedes calling. If you think somebody will randomly self-identify as a planter in a church without a culture of multiplication, you’re six steps behind. Before you multiply churches, you should get really good at multiplying disciples. — Aaron Cavin

The question for us is not just “How do we get as many people as we can into our building?” but “How are we creating a culture that is more about scattering than gathering?” — Aaron Cavin

God births churches to accomplish His mission, which is both local and global. You have to cast a compelling kingdom vision that is bigger than a church, city, or even a nation. It’s about God’s global movement happening all over the world. — Vance Pitman

We would tell every person joining our church, “If you join our church, we’re going to do everything we can to talk you into leaving.” Part of that was building a sending culture that didn’t bring you here to just allow you to stay. — Vance Pitman

It’s okay to be sad. It means that you are all in, living with heart, and passionate about your relationships. You should feel a bit of a tension as we separate because there is a little bit of death. — Aaron Cavin

The post Becoming a Church that Multiplies appeared first on New Churches.

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