New Churches Podcast

Episode 683: Sometimes church planters get a sense of entitlement about monetary support. Host Clint Clifton and Peyton Jones, author of   “Church Plantology,” discuss why a church might not want to support a planter and the best way to approach a prospective Sending Church. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The No. 1 reason people are going to fund you What a planter should keep in mind as he app...

Episode 682: Every church planter has experienced the link between prayer and progress in the ministry. It’s easy, however, to focus more on progress than on prayer. Host Ed Stetzer talks with Dan Darling and Jessica Thompson about the crucial relationships between prayer and progress in the life of the church planter.   In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How the work of planting and the need for p...

Episode 681: Sometimes church planters feel tension between being a pastor and a husband and father. Host Clint Clifton and guests Kathy Litton and Noah Oldham discuss how to deal with the practical issues “Pastor Dad” can face. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What makes a church planting couple thrive Common struggles church planting families face How church planning families release pressures...

Episode 680: Serial church planting hasn’t seemed to be a valued option in the world of church planting. Ed Stetzer talks with two experienced sequential planters – John Worcester and Jared Huntley – about the nuts and bolts of planting a church, positioning it for long-term efectiveness, then moving on to plant another. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why it is important that we think in terms...

Episode 679 : Hector Medina came from a gang background and hated God and Christianity. Now he serves as pastor of Salvo Por Gracia in Claremont, California. Host Clint Clifton talks with Hector and his wife, Alicia, about how God miraculously took them from the brink of divorce to a fruitful ministry in church planting.   In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How God can take the most broken of souls...

Episode 678: As a church planter, what does “sustainable” mean to you? Host Ed Stetzer discusses various aspects of quickly becoming sustainable with experienced planters Jared Huntley and John Worcester. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The “three self” idea of church planting How a planter can, from the beginning, plan for his own successor What a reasonable amount of time is for a church to be...

Episode 677: It’s hard to get people who are on your side to give you honest feedback, but without it a leader is doomed to failure. Host Ed Stetzer talks with Dan Darling and Jessica Thompson about creating an environment for constructive criticism in your ministry. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to solicit and receive constructive criticism from trusted advisors Insights about receiving f...

Episode 676: The ministry demands of church planting can weigh heavily on a pastor, with the result that he finds himself “minoring on the majors.” Clint Clifton discusses with Adam Muhtaseb and Nathan Knight the challenge of properly allocating time and energy to ministry priorities that put a church plant on the strongest foundation possible. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Ways planters often...

Episode 675: Trevin Wax and Clint Clifton review our new (free) Church Planting Masterclass, which offers 80 powerful videos intended to be used in two different ways: (1) If you’re an aspiring planter or a church planter yourself and (2) to be tools you can use to equip other leaders in your church. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Insights from three Church Planting Masterclass sample clips: Ma...

Episode 674: Churches with a desire to multiply will greatly benefit from the expertise of pastors experienced in developing and sending out planters. In this episode, Trevin Wax and Clint Clifton introduce the first part of our new Sending Church Masterclass, which is designed specifically for churches that want to multiply. This free course showcases practical advice from planting practitioners...

Episode 673: When the preparedness of a prospective church planter is being assessed, different evaluators may come to different conclusions. Clint Clifton, Nathan Knight and Adam Muhtaseb, however, discuss several traits that should be automatic dealbreakers for an aspiring planter’s approval. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Whether a church planter could potentially not meet the scriptural qua...

Episode 668: The past couple of years have been a difficult season for church planters and too many have thrown in the towel. Host Clint Clifton and veteran church planter Peyton Jones open up about their most discouraging moments in church planting and why they persevered. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Spurgeon’s perspective on quitting The encouraging word that kept Peyton Jones going Whethe...

Episode 661: When the Lord casts a vision of planting a network of multiplying churches, the planter finds himself sorting through all sorts of unexpected developments. Host Clint Clifton discusses some of the unique aspects of building a church planting “family” with Colby Garman, teaching ministries elder at Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia, and Keith Wieser, who leads Resonate Church in Pull...

Episode 660: Pastors and church planters feel the pinch of not having enough time. Host Clint Clifton discusses the value of – and techniques for – organizing your week with Todd Adkins, director of leadership development at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, and Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The differen...

Episode 659: Choosing a church name is like picking an outfit you’re going to wear for the rest of your life. Host Clint Clifton discusses the pro and con arguments for six categories of church names with Todd Adkins, director of leadership development at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, and Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network. In This Episode...

Episode 658: Each individual planter and every church context has a unique set of limitations and constraints. Host Clint Clifton discusses how those limitations can become strengths with Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network, and Colby Garman, teaching pastor at Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Each individual and e...

Episode 657: As pastoral work has in recent years grown more difficult, sabbaticals seem to be a growing trend. Host Clint Clifton discusses the need for, value of and different approaches to sabbaticals with Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network, and Colby Garman, teaching pastor at Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia. In This Episode, You’ll Discover:...

Episode 656: With most churches now starting with multiple-pastor, multiple-elders models, a de-emphasis on the role of deacons has occurred. Host Clint Clifton interviews Matt Smethurst, author of Deacons: How They Serve and Strengthen the Church , about the value of deacons and dangers to be considered when implementing the diaconate in a church plant. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What chur...

Episode 655: The “Zero Year” is the time of preparation that leads up to the church plant. Host Clint Clifton interviews Matt Smethurst, planter of a brand-new church in Richmond, Virginia, about the various “Zero Year” factors that moved him into position to start his plant. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How God first started to “mess with” Matt about planting a church in RIchmond The way int...

Episode 654: Many church planters set out to reach people with the gospel but often find their new churches full of folks from other churches. Host Ed Stetzer discusses the challenge of staying outwardly focused to reach people far from God with Heiden Ratner, senior pastor of Walk Church, and Vance Pitman, founding pastor of Hope Church, both in Las Vegas. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How to...

Episode 653: Planting a church is challenging enough, but when your city is almost-completely unchurched, the task is truly daunting. Vance Pitman, founding pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, and Heiden Ratner, senior pastor of Walk Church in the same city, share their church-planting experiences with host Ed Stetzer. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: How Vance Pitman and his wife wound up planti...

Episode 652: What should a church planter do who’s at the soul level of tired? Host Ed Stetzer discusses the symptoms of ministry burnout with Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network, and James Hobson, lead pastor of Hill City Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Five symptoms of burnout and how they manifest themselve...

Episode 651: Planting a church inevitably creates enormous pressures on the planter’s family. Host Ed Stetzer discusses guardrails against those stresses with Jessica Thompson, director of operations for the New City church planting network, and James Hobson, lead pastor of Hill City Community Church in Lynchburg, Virginia. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Guardrails that can make church planting...

Episode 650: Church leaders, at some point, will have a difficult time with a team member, which can lead to frustration, stress, anxiety or worry. Host Ed Stetzer discusses the challenges of leading difficult team members with Adam Muhtaseb of Redemption City Church in Baltimore and Kathy Litton, who leads NAMB’s planter spouse development team. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: What church plant...

Episode 649: Some people think pastors shouldn’t be friends with members of the congregation. Others think that’s a horrendous statement. Host Ed Stetzer discusses the challenges of having close friendships in church with Adam Muhtaseb of Redemption City Church in Baltimore and Kathy Litton, who leads NAMB’s planter spouse development team. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Why it’s important for...