Pastor to Pioneer

Cody Mahaffy shares his journey from a life of partying and spiritual bondage to encountering the Holy Spirit and surrendering his life to Jesus. He discusses his discernment process and the year of discernment he and his wife embarked on, which led them to leave their full-time ministry positions and pursue a new calling. He and his wife, Moriah, have different gifts and perspectives, but they ar...

In this episode, Britton interviews Karl House, the leader of the Way Micro Churches in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Karl shares his journey from being a pastor to pioneering the micro church movement. They discuss the importance of relationships with Jesus, the Bible, community, and the world in micro churches. Karl emphasizes the freedom and flexibility in micro churches, allowing the Holy Spirit to...

Donnie Dickens, a pastor from Alabama, had a strong desire for more impactful ministry and realized that the traditional mold of ministry was not the best approach. Through research and reading books by Frank Viola, he discovered alternative ways of doing church and saw the need for a shift in focus. In this episode, he emphasizes the importance of genuine worship, smaller but more clear disciple...

In this conversation, Luc Jackson and Britton discuss their experiences with simple church and the importance of intergenerational relationships. They talk about the joy of doing church with family and the value of including older generations in the church community. They also explore the difference between their previous experiences in traditional church settings and their current journey in simp...

Tim Mezera shares his journey from pastoring a multi-site church to transitioning to house churches and disciple-making in Detroit. The transition was prompted by a realization that the focus on numbers and finances was not aligned with the call to make disciples. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Tim had a powerful encounter with the fear of the Lord and a renewed focus on the Great Commission. He an...

On the final episode of Season 4, we cover the topic of how to raise financial support well. This is for those pastors who decide they want to go the route of raising support and pioneering full-time. We have John and Devin Marshall from New Hampshire along with Matt Schneider from Massachusetts. They share their own wrestling and experiences with raising full support and what this has looked like...

Eric shares practical advice and wisdom for pastors who are considering transitioning into the marketplace. He talks about common mistakes and practical first steps. www.ihelppastorsgetjobs.com eric@Ihelppastorsgetjobs.com

Welcome to episode 7 of season 4! Today we have Logan Wolf joining us from Salt Lake City, Utah. Logan and his wife moved out to Salt Lake in 2011 to plant a church and later transitioned to starting a network of house churches. We shared a lot of laughs and stories on today's episode as we each reflect on our failures in this transition process and what we have learned along the way.   Logan Wolf...

Welcome to episode 6 of season 4 of the Pastor to Pioneer Podcast. Today I have Josh Chaffin from Central Michigan and Justin Roper from Charlotte, North Carolina. We are discussing the topic of how do you help you family transition well from pastoring to pioneering? These guys share a lot of wisdom and things they have learned along the way through their different timelines and experiences.   Jus...

Today I have Damian Gerke from Tampa, Florida. And Neil Karsten from Holland, Michigan joining us as we jump into episode five of this season and talk about the topic that your job is NOT your calling. It's a common question. It's a common wrestling a lot of pastors have. Let's dive in.        

Welcome to episode 4 of season 4! Today we continue to talk about how do you transition well from being a pastor into pioneering, disciple making, and simple church movements? Today we're having a conversation around this topic of how transparent should you be with your church when you're starting to grow in conviction and wrestling through some big questions about what it means to follow Jesus an...

  Welcome to episode 3 of this season of the Pastor to Pioneer Podcast. We have a great conversation with Matt Schneider in New England, and  Isaac Dagneau in British Columbia. These guys are at two very, very different points of the journey from pastor to pioneer, but really share some very interesting and helpful insights about how do you engage your leadership in the church? How do you have con...

Welcome to episode two of this season of the Pastor to Pioneer podcast. This season, we're continuing to tackle the topic of how do you transition well from pastoring in the prevailing model of the church to pioneering disciple-making and simple church movements. Today I've got Neil Karsten and Patty Nemazi to talk about how do you do this well in terms of relational considerations? How will relat...

We are kicking off Season 4! On this episode of the Pastor to Pioneer podcast, I have two friends that join me, Tyler Dipprey and Jordan Baker. You may remember Tyler, who has been on the podcast before. He's from Lubbock, Texas, and was part of a team that transitioned a church of 10,000 people and 10 campuses into a decentralized network of house churches, so he experienced the approach of tryin...

Hello and welcome for the final time—this season—to Pastor to Pioneer.  This week brings both Britton's travels and season three to a close.  Britton reconvenes with Neal and Matt to wrap things up, and shares with them about being ready to move his family into his mom's house as they discern what God has in store for them next.  The guys spend some time talking about various aspects of detox that...

Hello all, and welcome to the penultimate episode of season three of Pastor to Pioneer.  As Britton nears the culmination of his travels and conversations, he connects with Taylor and Laura Birkey in the suburbs of Chicago.  It's a reunion for them, as in college Taylor and Britton had together been part of a group that looked a lot like a house church.   Taylor and Laura share with Britton what t...

Hello and welcome back to Pastor to Pioneer season 3.  This week, on episode 20, Britton—still on the road—connects with Nick and Caren Harringshaw.  Nick and Caren are based in St. Paul, MN, and have known our host for quite some time.  Caren was part of the first house church that Britton experienced, dating back to 2014 when he was first exploring the world of simple church. Caren shares how th...

Welcome back to life on the road with Pastor to Pioneer.  This week for episode 19 of season 3, Britton reconnects with an old friend.  Peter Schuett now lives in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, and shares about the beginning of his walk with the Lord, from the darkness of drugs and alcohol to coming through the tunnel to the light on the other side thanks to God's grace.  As Peter walked throu...

Hello and welcome dear listeners, to episode 18 of season three of Pastor to Pioneer.  This week Britton connects with Tim King in Rapid City, SD.  Tim was a pastor in Kentucky for several years before feeling called to start a new church in Rapid City.  Tim shares that he entered the venture with hopes that things would be different this time around, only to discover as time went on that this new...

Hello, hello, and welcome to episode seventeen of season three of Pastor to Pioneer (on the road edition).  This week, Britton reconnects with old friend and former college dorm mate Alan Briggs, who currently resides in Colorado Springs, CO.  Britton and Alan connected at an event in Phoenix, AZ that Alan was helping to run with his current organization, Stayforth—a ministry designed around coach...

Hello listeners, and welcome to episode sixteen of season three of Pastor to Pioneer!  This week we are back to Britton on the road, as he connects with David Hinman, a former pastor of 30 years.  David shares with Britton about his journey with the church.  He was a pastor in the traditional American church model for over three decades, leading everything from large churches to small church plant...

Hello and welcome to the reunion episode of Pastor to Pioneer!  This week, Britton checks in with Matt and Neal from his adventures out on the road.  Matt and Neal give updates of what they are seeing in New England and West Michigan, respectively, and Britton shares what he has been learning through having his family as his primary ministry, including the growth he has seen in all of them.  The g...

Welcome back to Pastor to Pioneer, on the road edition!  This week Britton converses with Tyler Dipprey, a former megachurch pastor based out of Lubbock, Texas. Tyler shares with Britton his experience as a pastor of two different megachurches, thinking that was the best way to reach people.  He was a pastor at Experience Life Church in Lubbock, TX with over 8,000 people attending across 10 campus...

Hello all!  Welcome back to Pastor to Pioneer, where this week we hear about what the simple church all boils down to as Britton shares a meal and garners wisdom from Josh Spinks, a Baton Rouge area pastor of over twenty years.  Josh and Britton break bread together, Cajun style, as they talk through what it was like for Britton's family to experience a crawfish boil courtesy of Josh's family, and...

Hello and welcome back to a new episode of Pastor to Pioneer.  This week, Britton continues his time on the road and meets up with Melvin Airhart, a man based in Birmingham, AL and involved in ministry for over five decades.  Melvin shares with Britton about his experiences in Bible college from fifty years ago and how even then, it seemed like much of what the church in America was doing didn't l...