200churches Podcast: Ministry Encouragement for Pastors of Small Churches

Joe Jansen, from Elim Fellowship in Lima, NY joins us again to provide a virtual overdose of ministry encouragement for pastors of small churches! Joe shares a checklist for assessing your ministry health, and provides a ton of HOPE!

While Jonny is out, Jeff talks with Dr. John Pletcher, an old friend, about his book, Emoticon-versations: Working Through Our Deepest Places. What emotions do pastors deal with, and how to handle them? A fascinating talk...

Jonny is remote in Orange City and Jeff is in the traveling 200churches Studio in NY talking with Joe Jansen, a Champion Cheerleader of small church pastors! You will be encouraged and inspired by their conversation! Joe oversees 170+ pastors all over the U.S. who are part of the Elim Fellowship of Churches. He is a master encourager and small church pastor cheerleader! Enjoy.

Pastor Mandy Smith, from University Christian Church in Cincinnati joins the guys today to talk about her book, The Vulnerable Pastor - How Human Limitations Empower Our Ministry. Ultimately, Mandy reveals that vulnerability is not something we feign or fake, but it's a true description of our reality - we are vulnerable! This very truth can and will empower our pastoral ministry. This is so...

A FANTASTIC conversation to share with your worship leader and entire worship team! A conversation with Jerret Hammons filled with practical worship leading wisdom. Jarret started leading worship at age 13 with his guitar and help from the pastor's wife. You can find all the links to the resources Jarret mentions right here: http://www.200churches.com/blog/episode-183-dynamic-advice-on-small-...

This is a very practical episode on the importance of family in ministry. The imperceptibility of the slide of ministry activity into the holy space of family is a reality we must beware of! Dave Jacobs of www.smallchurchpastor.com helps us explore this, and we all share some helpful tips on keeping family first.

Michael Nations, founder of The Vital Initiative, joins the guys to once again proclaim the value and importance of small church ministry! Michael is with the Church of God Cleveland, and he travels around the U.S. encouraging pastors of smaller churches. Michael shares his own story of frustration and feelings of failure, and how he turned this around to achieve great influence in encouraging oth...

Zach Bauer joins the guys live in the Studio again to talk about his volunteer philosophy at his church plant - Red Door Church in Sioux Falls, SD. Zach gets honest and vulnerable as he shares from his heart in this episode! The conversation centers on the philosophy of volunteers in the smaller church - you will be challenged to think differently about your volunteers - enjoy!!

With Jonny on sabbatical, Jeff speaks to Melanie, a missionary wife and young mother about the reality of the "One Year Furlough". Vacation? Or... Uh... Something else?? Some of us pastors might think that the one-year break that missionaries get, every four years, is a vacation. Melanie kindly disagrees with that notion! She speaks, from the wife and mother of young kids perspective, ho...

What a blast we had with Dave Jacobs from www. SmallChurchPastor.com! Dave talked with us on the topic of "Doing ministry with one hand tied behind your back." We had just too much fun on the "pre-record" with Dave. Things that will go unmentioned... Jeff and Jonny also talk about their new website upgrade! This is the first major upgrade of the 200churches.com website since Ja...

A deep dive into the importance of understanding the text of Scripture in both the theory and practice of small church ministry. Dr. Jeannine Brown joins us to talk about her life's work, NT scholarship & teaching pastors! Jeannine is a New Testament scholar, author, and Seminary professor. She talked with us about her journey to being an author and professor, as well as her work in the N...

Pastor Michael Nations from Clyde, NC joins Jeff and Jonny LIVE in the 200churches Podcast Studio! Michael is the founding director of www. TheVitalInitiative.com and is making a difference encouraging small church pastors! We have a new friend! As Michael talked, we resonated with his heart as though he were the 3rd missing brother in the 200churches line-up. I (Jeff) met Michael at the Big Littl...

Jeff talks with John Finkelde from GrowAHealthyChurch.com as he shares some powerful, essential advice for crafting attention getting, effective sermons! This is a mini seminar on the art of sermon craft!

Jeff and Jonny use this episode to talk about the struggles of pastors who pastor churches that are smaller, or that are not growing by leaps and bounds. There's plenty of discouragement to go around in ministry circles - and 200churches seeks to be an oasis of encouragement for pastors of small churches to drink from! This is a podcast by pastors of a 200church, for pastors of a 200church! N...

Zach is a bivocational pastor and church planter and shares some of the pro's and cons of being bivocational while planting a church, and even after the church tops 100! A fun conversation with Zach and the guys LIVE, in the luxurious and opulent 200churches Podcast Studio! p.s. Are you ever jealous of other pastors and their Facebook bragging on Monday mornings??

Scott Dalen crashes the 200churches Podcast Studio and talks to Jeff about preaching, social media usage in small churches, Jeff & Jonny's chemistry, and much more! This was a fun episode where Scotty D sits in Jonny's chair and hogs his mic!

Jonny is not too upset that Jeff had a private conversation with worship leader and musician Jeremiah Hollis, from Sydney Australia. Jeremiah has a heart for people, and God has gifted him musically to love them! This is a great conversation about small church worship, from a small church worship guy, who has taken his wife on the road with him and found himself in Orange City IA with Jeff!

Jeff & Jonny dialogue with Dr. Silas Morgan, who specializes in political theology, and talks with them deeply about the place where pastors live - at the intersection of theology & culture! What kind of politics are we promoting in the body of Christ we serve as pastors? Is it the politics of Jesus and His Kingdom, or do the politics of our culture and society hold court in our churches?...

Jeff (with a cameo appearance by Jonny) talks with John Finkelde all about preaching! Jeff dives into John's past preaching experiences and discusses some of his own. We all do it, every week, and John's advice in this episode is sure to dislodge some thinking in your brain about how you approach your own weekend messages. Enjoy! Find John Finkelde at www.growahealthychurch.com

Jonny and Jeff invited Zach Bauer, a South Dakota church planter, to the luxurious and opulent 200churches Podcast Studio... to talk about difficult realities that church planters face. Zach is a class act, and this episode was a ton of fun! And, Jonny gets caught with his hand in the Fridge!

Church Planter and Pastor, Chris Vitarelli, joins Jeff and Jonny today to share his frustrations of high expectations unrealized, and how he found satisfaction and joy in his 200church plant! He tells how he formed a small church pastors conference to encourage other pastors who may think their church is "just not big enough!"

Jeff and Jonny talk with Dr. Scot McKnight from Northern Seminary about the messages in his book, A Fellowship of Differents! This is a long, rich, theologically alive conversation! Enjoy!

Do you really believe that there is no "one right way" to do church? Then why are we always looking for other models to emulate? Jeff and Jonny give you 4 reasons why there is no "one right way" - so do your way the best you can, and don't sweat it! Jonny gets pretty liquored up on this episode - he thinks other pastors will fight against this notion, but Jeff is cool and...

Wow! David Fitch from Northern Seminary in Chicago joins us for this discussion about the church engaging culture with the Gospel of the Kingdom! David last joined us on episode 145 - if you haven't listened to it, it's a great one. This is a "must listen to twice" episode! It will challenge you and change you! Enjoy! So much fun too, with a very short, cameo snippet from Scot...

A Classic Jeff & Jonny episode about 4 things people want their pastors to know. This is a vintage small church ministry conversation that you will resonate with if you pastor a church 200 or under! This is a super encouraging episode with material to lift you up and challenge you at the same time.