Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Bruach Colliton from Just Sow Australia for a conversation about creativity, entrepreneurship, evangelism, and the next wave of Kingdom innovation. Bruach shares his own journey through youth ministry, mentoring, marketplace mission, business as mission, and startups, and how those experiences have shaped h...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Darrell Johnson, veteran pastor, theologian, and prolific author, for a rich conversation on legacy, leadership health, and the kind of formation that produces lasting multiplication. Darrell shares his personal story from studying physics to sensing a call into preaching, and reflects on what he most hopes t...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Viks McFarlane, who together with her husband Slade has planted and led Triumph Church in Blacktown. Viks shares her journey from growing up as a fifth generation pastor’s kid, serving a decade in the Navy, running from a call to ministry, and eventually recognising that God had placed a church planting and...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Nashville based pastor and author Ian Simkins for a deeply grounding conversation on what it means to become a healthy multiplier in a world shaped by noise, distraction, and outrage. Ian shares why people are increasingly hungry for what is authentic and embodied, and how the church can respond not by shouti...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with John Ortberg for a deep and disarmingly practical conversation about the inner life required to lead well, especially for planters and multipliers carrying pressure, complexity, and visible expectations. John reflects on seasons of pain and leadership crisis, and why “circumstances being okay” is never a su...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Andrew Ranucci, long time church planter and former lead pastor of Coast Community Church, for a deeply practical conversation on what it takes to multiply with health over decades. Andrew shares formative moments from his early discipleship, including an unexpected season of solitude and Scripture in the out...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Cass Langton from The Local as we continue building toward the National Conference on the Gold Coast. Returning to the podcast for a second time, Cass reflects on what God has been forming in her, Rich, and their church community since planting The Local, including the surprising beauty of discovering that...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by returning guest Sam Harvey, church planter and national leader of 24 7 Prayer New Zealand, as we build toward the August National Gathering keynote series. Sam shares what he is seeing across New Zealand right now, including a growing hunger for prayer and a fresh unity across churches and regions as leaders...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by keynote speaker Lisa Pak, a Toronto born Korean Canadian leader serving with Finishing the Task alongside Pastor Rick Warren. Lisa shares how growing up between cultures shaped her conviction that the global church needs leaders who can bring their full selves to the table, across generations, cultures, and c...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Pastor Joel Chelliah, National President of the Australian Christian Churches, for a wide ranging and deeply pastoral conversation as we build toward the National Gathering on the Gold Coast. Joel reflects on the shift from state leadership into a national role, and the intentional boundaries he and Sharon...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Katherine Chow, Associate Vicar at Holy Trinity Brompton in London, to kick off our keynote speaker series leading into the August National Gathering. Katherine shares her journey from growing up in a Chinese church where everyone served, to practising law in New York City, and how God gradually called her in...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Dr Derwin Gray, founding pastor of Transformation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, to explore the kind of healthy multiplication that does not simply grow churches, but forms a gospel shaped people who look like the Kingdom. Derwin shares his journey from the NFL to meeting Jesus through a teammate, and...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Renée Oduko, co leader of the Disciple Makers initiative, for a thoughtful and practical conversation on how churches and church planters can reach spiritually curious people who may never walk through a church door first. Renée shares her international journey through London and New York, and how those years...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Luke “Monty” Montgomery, founder of Neighbourhood, to explore what it looks like to build Kingdom “third spaces” that reach people who may never walk into a traditional church building. Monty shares his journey from Sydney to Ipswich, his passion for low socioeconomic and multicultural communities, and why...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by David Ng for a timely conversation on migration, the changing Christian landscape, and the remarkable role of migrant churches in shaping the future of the church in Australia. David shares from his lived experience across five continents and his work with diaspora communities, helping leaders understand why...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Martine Wilson (Generosity Path) and Nick Wood (The Bridge Church, Sydney) for an honest and practical conversation about generosity, money, and the mission of God in Australia. Martine Wilson serves as Oceania Regional Director with Generosity Path, helping churches and parachurch orgs across Australia, Ne...

In this March 2026 episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Rich and Jules share the story of planting Passion Church in Mandurah, Western Australia. They talk candidly about starting with just their family, trying the usual launch approaches, then choosing to begin regular Sunday gatherings anyway and trusting God with the pace and the people. The conversation also explores th...

In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Dave Adamson from YouVersion for a wide ranging conversation on why digital ministry is no longer a “back door” option, but one of the most important front doors for evangelism and discipleship in Australia today. Dave shares his reflections on returning home after years in the US, and what it means to lead...

To kick off 2026, the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast welcomes back Dave Ferguson, visionary leader of Exponential Global, for a timely conversation as we move toward our August National Gathering theme, Multiplier: It is in you. Dave shares the major leadership transition he navigated in 2025, handing the baton at Community Christian Church through an intentional apprenticeship proce...

In this compelling year-end episode, cultural commentator and spiritual leader Mark Sayers offers a prophetic and piercing diagnosis of the cultural strongholds gripping the Australian Church—individualism, distraction, comfort, and the idol of control. But he doesn’t stop there. As 2025 comes to a close, Mark invites leaders to see what God might be doing beneath the surface, preparing His people...

In this vibrant and hope-filled episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Ben and Emily Higgins pull back the curtain on their unique leadership journey—stepping into the national roles of Alpha and Alpha Youth—and share what they’re seeing across the Australian Church with contagious faith and clarity. From handing over the baton with grace, to championing innovation in evangel...

In this powerful and refreshingly grounded conversation, Josh and Berlinda O’Callaghan (Lifehouse Church, Murray Bridge) share their journey of raising up young leaders, sending them out to plant churches, and embracing the rhythms of loss and renewal that come with multiplication. From shrinking youth ministries to church planters rising from the ranks, they unpack what it really means to invest...

What if the future of mission and church impact wasn’t led by celebrity voices or content creators, but by cartographers—those mapping new paths of redemptive imagination? In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, we explore what God might be doing through business leaders, innovators, and risk-takers who carry a vision for kingdom transformation across every sphere of s...

What happens when leaders stop asking, “Which model wins?” and start asking, “How do multiple models work together for Kingdom impact?” In this episode, Gary Rucci unpacks the leadership shifts behind Australia’s “blended ecology” — from rows to tables, from platform to people, from building church to making disciples who make disciples. We explore hybrid expressions (large gatherings and table ch...

In this compelling episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, we sit down with Dianne Jarvey, National Faith Community Development Secretary for The Salvation Army Australia, to explore what it truly takes to catalyse renewal within a historic denomination. With vulnerability, wisdom, and passion, Dianne unpacks the Salvation Army’s intentional journey away from maintenance mode...