Church for the Rest of Us Podcast

CFTROU 0211: KIDS: SPIRITUALLY SIGNIFICANT CAMPS | Camps & EventsAfter months of focusing on our kids and youth ministries, we conclude this season’s episodes with the spiritual significance of church-led events, specifically church camps. Pastors Zack Rickards and Cole Bearden join us to share their early childhood camp experiences, explain why camp is an essential part of the Family Church D...

CFTROU 210: Kids: Starting the Leadership Pipeline | 5th Grade Young LeadersFamily Church is unique for many reasons, but one of the most prominent ones is its 5th grade young leaders program – where their leadership pipeline begins. Joining us to talk about our 5th grade young leaders are Zack Rickards and Tyler Hamilton. Tuning in, you’ll hear all about the importance of having a leadership pipe...

CFTROU 0209: Kids: Celebrating Life's Milestone Moments | MilestonesKIDS: CELEBRATING LIFE'S MILESTONE MOMENTS | MilestonesHow do we guide children and families through life's significant moments with purpose and faith? In this continuation of our ongoing series about student and kids ministries, host Jimmy Scroggins and co-host Leslee Bennett are joined by Zack Rickards and Gina Ca...

CFTROU 0208: Kids: Leading Elementary Kids WorshipToday, we’re diving into Elementary Kids Worship at Family Church, known as The Treehouse. Joining us are Zack Rickards and Erica Brooks. In our conversation, we dive into the philosophy behind why we line up all our teachings on a Sunday, discuss what Kids Worship looks like at Family Church, and explain why we decided to have separate worship for...

CFTROU 0207: Leading Preschool Kids Worship | PreschoolToday’s topic of conversation centers around preschool worship, what we refer to as Heartland at Family Church, and is something that’s near and dear to Pastor Jimmy’s heart! We are fortunate to have the masterminds of Heartland joining us on the show today, Zack Rickards and Janelle Bannister. Join us as we dive into a typical morning at Hear...

CFTROU 206: Kids: Keeping Kids Safe | Child Safety MeetingChild safety is important for any church, not just ours, and we are thrilled to be joined by Family Church Kid’s Ministry Pastor Zach Rickards and Wendi Serna, who walk us through the best practices for child safety on church grounds. We begin by explaining why child safety is such an important issue before learning why it sits at number on...

CFTROU 0205: Kids: How We Engage Kids | Theology, Philosophy, MethodologyFamily is a big deal to God; it’s a big thing in The Bible, and it’s a big thing here at Family Church! So, we love to spend our time having intentional conversations about how we pass our faith on to the next generation. Today, we are joined by Family Church Kids Pastors Zach Rickards and Keenan Casteel to walk us through th...

CFTROU 0204: Students: Celebrating Life's Milestone Moments | MilestonesAs our children move through different stages of life, it’s essential to give them tools that help them make sense of life and keep following Christ through it all. Today on the show, we’re wrapping up the first half of this season, focused on Student and Kids Ministries at Family Church. This episode concludes the Studen...

CFTROU 0203: Students: Finding the Right Volunteers | Recruiting & Training Adult VolunteersToday, we’re continuing our discussion on student ministry at Family Church by diving into practical matters—like how to recruit the right volunteers. Joining us on the podcast are Pastor John MacTaggart and Pastor Brian Stebbins to unpack our approach to recruiting and training adult volunteers, focusi...

CFTROU 0202: Students: Sundays First | Strategy of Sunday MorningIf your goal is long-term family formation and raising disciples, consider cultivating a student ministry that fully integrates students into the larger life of the church, and that starts with Sunday mornings. In this episode, we continue our series on how we at Family Church approach Student Ministry, focusing on our philosophy of...

CFTROU 0201: Students- Spiritual HabitsToday, we continue our conversation on Student Ministry, focusing on the fourth leg of our Student Ministry philosophy at Family Church: Spiritual Habits. Although it’s the last talked-about leg, it’s certainly not the least important. Joining us are Pastor John MacTaggart, Pastor to Students and Families, and Tommy Lea, our Middle School Minister, both from...

CFTROU 0200: Students- Challenging Spiritual ExperiencesThis season is all about our student ministry philosophy, and today, we unpack the third leg of our four-legged stool that serves as the sturdy base of truth we’d like to pass onto our student leaders: challenging spiritual experiences. Jimmy and Leslee are joined by Pastors John MacTaggart and Jake Kimbrell to explore how we at Family Church...

CFTROU 0199: Students- Significant Adult RelationshipsOur students are the leaders of today, not just tomorrow, and that’s why our student ministry is so important to us at Family Church. Today is the second leg of our four-legged stool that defines how we approach our student ministry, and it’s all about the importance of having significant spiritual leaders actively investing in their student co...

CFTROU 0198: Students- Partnering with ParentsWelcome to a new season of Church for the Rest of Us! Today we are joined by student pastor, John MacTaggart and student minister Christian Rodriguez to discuss student ministry and how to partner with parents. We then delve into ‘the four-legged stool’ that they implement in student ministry at Family Church, where it came from, and how our guests use...

CFTROU 0197: A Simple Way to Share the GospelIn our final episode of this season, we delve into a simple method for sharing the Gospel. Joining us on the podcast today are Pastor Todd Thomas, who serves at Family Church Sherbrooke, Chris Kish, minister to the young adult’s ministry, and Robby Christmas, campus pastor at Family Church in the Farms. Together, we unpack the Three Circles, a gospel-sh...

CFTROU 0196: Building a Leadership PipelineA leadership pipeline isn’t a new trend that only applies to multisite or church-planting contexts. While it has its challenges and requires that we rethink ministry roles, building a church’s leadership pipeline cultivates the God-given spiritual gifts and abilities of each person to accomplish ministry goals and intentionally develop ministry partners....

CFTROU 0195: Embracing Meaningful MembershipThere are numerous aspects to embracing meaningful membership at your neighborhood church. At Family Church, we consider membership a privilege, but it also involves a specific process. This process is designed to guide our members toward God's design through fellowship, teaching, and accountability within their church family. Today, we're join...

CFTROU 0194: How to Count WinsIn this episode, we dive into the numbers and metrics. While it's not always all about the numbers in ministry, metrics help us gauge our impact in taking the gospel to every person in every neighborhood across South Florida. Our guests are Derek Simpson, Campus Pastor of Family Church Downtown, Todd Thomas, Campus Pastor of Family Church Sherbrooke, and Scott Cr...

CFTROU 0193: How Meals, Meetings, and Retreats Build CultureMeals and meetings are an everyday occurrence in most organizations and workspaces, and retreats are also commonplace. However, did you know that there are three aspects of work life can help to grow your culture? In this episode, our guests include Pastor Christian Ramos. He leads our worship ministry across our family of neighborhood ch...

CFTROU 0192: How Common Language Drives CultureIn this episode our hosts and guests explore how common language in a church drives culture. Joining the discussion are special guests, Seth Carter, Creative Pastor of Family Church, who leads his creative team to disseminate common language throughout our family of neighborhood churches. Also joining us, special guests, Winner Olmann, Campus Pastor o...

CFTROU 0191: Is It Time to Change Your Church's Name? Today on Church for the Rest of Us, we pose a question: Do you think it’s time to change the name of your church? If this is something that you’ve had on your heart, then do not miss out on our conversation as we share insights on how to go about changing the name of your church! We’re gladly joined by two incredible guests to dive into th...

CFTROU 0190: Leading Change in a Tradition Church: Embrace a New FutureAs we continue our series on leading change in a traditional church, today we want to hone in on embracing a new future for your neighborhood church. We’ve asked some very future-oriented thinkers to join us on the podcast today! We’re pleased to have with us Jose DaSilva; pastor at Iglesia Familiar Greenacres, Winner Olmann; p...

CFTROU 189: Leading Change in a Traditional Church: Killing the Sacred CowsIn this episode, we are sharing tips for recognizing and killing the sacred cows in your church to foster change and growth. Regardless of your organization's size, you may recognize the presence of sacred cows that need to go to the slaughterhouse. Now, you might be unsure about how to guide them there or whether you...

CFTROU 0188: Leading Change in a Traditional Church–Start Where You AreChange is an inevitable aspect of church work, especially when your goal is to effectively reach your neighborhoods with the gospel of Jesus. In today's discussion, we are joined by Pastor Christian Ramos. He leads our worship ministry across our family of neighborhood churches. We are also joined by Pastor Derek Simpson,...

CFTROU 0187: Get to Know Your NeighborsIn this episode, we are talking about building a family of neighborhood churches. These churches draw people in and they get to see the genuine connection the neighborhood pastor has with their community. Our guests are neighborhood pastors and share their approach in reaching diverse communities. They also talk about the impact neighborhood schools make in t...