The One Thing

Scott Sanders speaks to Keith and Sarah Condie who have been working at strengthening marriages for more than two decades. They have recently produced ‘Building a safe and strong marriage’ and are ready to pass on ‘the one thing’ you need to know about creating a lasting commitment.

How do we go about earning that trust from those we lead? And what sort of corrosive habits do we have to weed out if we’re going to avoid undermining the faith they place in us?

One of the greatest barriers to growing a congregation is our own preparedness to change. The congregation – the volunteers – the leadership team. Unless we’re able to recognise that things at one size group don’t work at another, we’ll never be able to make the changes that undergird growth.

Developing leaders is a significant and important investment for all ministry teams. Are there specific requirements and understandings for developing female leaders, though?

What do women want men to know when it comes to pastoral care? Does equality mean they don’t have to be treated any differently? Or does wisdom suggest a different approach?

Church announcements – the bane or blessing of the body of Christ? What is the rationale for having them, and how can they best be used to serve the Kingdom of God?

Can a church bulletin have too many fonts? In fact, what should it focus on, and leave out altogether?

As churches grow, they need to change the way they do things, or give up growing.

J.D. Greear is the president of the largest denomination in the US – the Southern Baptists. Its decline has been widely reported in the media, and the same trend is playing out in many denominations here in Australia.

How do you become a sending church? J.D. Greear is the pastor of The Summit Church, in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. He’s leading Summit towards a bold vision to plant 1,000 new churches by the year 2050.

How do you pray together as the body of Christ, in a way that informs and uplifts without excluding or confusing?

What’s the best way to bring someone within earshot of the Gospel if they’re not interested in darkening a church door?

Following on from Episode #48, Derek and Scott return to talk to Robby, for more discipleship insights from the author of Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples

Pastor Robby Gallaty is an American church leader who is driving a revolution in the way we think about small groups.

How much time do you spend thinking about the outsider, and their experience of your ministry? What are you doing to remove the ‘road blocks’ to them feeling at home and engaging in the Gospel message?

Your church is growing and you think it’s time to start a second service. But is it as simple as photocopying what you have?

Is it OK to fail? It certainly needs to be, because failure is a common experience for anyone in a faulted world. So how do you go about creating a culture for your ministry that accepts failure so that your team is empowered to keep trying for the sake of the Kingdom?

Does being across a church’s finances mean doing it all yourself? And how do you know if things are going wrong, if you don’t know the questions to ask?

What will faith in Australia look like in 2019? Join Derek and Scott as they tackle the demography of belief with trends expert and social analyst Mark McCrindle.

You’ve decided that an event is the best way to connect with the community you’re trying to reach for the Gospel. But how do you ensure that event is free of the sort of ‘speed humps’ that make a mess of new relationships?

Church administration may not be the most exciting topic for ministry workers, but it’s certain to have a significant impact on your Gospel reach.

How essential is it to survey your church? Well, you can’t minister to people you don’t understand. Their views of the world may be warped, but they still have to be negotiated if you’re going to bring them closer to Jesus.

We want to connect with our communities, so we can connect them with Jesus. But how do you go about understanding what our community looks like, what makes it tick, what questions its members are asking?

In the final show of 2018, Derek and Scott look back on the 37 episodes that have come before and choose three each that gave them the most practical ‘one thing’ lessons to learn from.

‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’ – you might have the best plans in place, but if they don’t take into consideration your ministry’s culture, you could find yourself fighting an uphill battle.