Pastor's Growing Church Community Podcast

Do you have a heart to reach the seeming unreachable? Do you want to have meaningful conversations with atheists, spiritually wounded, and disenfranchised individuals? Well, my guest today, Preston Ulmer, is going to share with us how he has started an entire movement doing exactly that.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are livi...

As we are rounding the corner of the midway mark of the year, many of us are beginning to thinking about preparing for the next year. Part of that preparation is assessing your ministry for what is working and asking the tough questions about what needs to be added, retooled, and taken away. In this episode, we are going to look at a valuable tool you can use today to properly assess your church m...

Do you ever feel like your spiritual health is complicated by your spiritual vocation? We talk a lot on this podcast about the toll ministry can take on us, to the point where there is a growing number of pastors and ministry leaders struggling with debilitating stress, anxiety, depression and a whole host of other signs we are struggling with our spiritual health. In this episode we are going to...

I see it all the time, pastors who are low on their confidence. Well, in this episode I share why I believe every pastor should be confident in their ministry and their calling by God to advance his Kingdom.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few things in common. What I have done is take those...

Go the extra mile, they said. Put in the extra effort they told you. Well that sounds good, but what happens when you put in the extra mile and it feels like things are being missed, details aren’t taken care of, and the tasks are still piling up on you. Well, in this episode I want to talk to you about why you need to stop going the extra mile because it is actually holding you back and keeping y...

If you want to live your Dream Life in Ministry, then what we have said here on Ministry Hackers is that you need a highly productive staff. But, that requires you to give them your time and attention in order to invest into them becoming highly productive. So how do you do that if you are already overwhelmed with the amount of things on your plate? Well, in this episode, I am going to give you 3...

Are you looking to transition to a new ministry position, but that interview process has you a little nervous? Well, in this episode I reveal the one thing you need to have in order to nail the interview and get yourself hired.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few things in common. What I have...

Are you in transition, facing a big decision, or tackling a challenge? Well, there is one thing that we normally do in these situations and one thing we absolutely should do if we want to grow our faith. I reveal both in this episode. Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few things in common. What I hav...

So, you don't think you can afford a highly productive staff, so living your dream life in ministry isn't possible right?  WRONG!!!!  In this episode, I am going to show you 4 ways to start building that highly productive staff, even though you don't think you can afford it.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living...

I think it is a tragedy that too many of us as pastors and ministry leaders do not live fulfilled lives. Too often we are overwhelmed with life, inundated with tasks and responsibilities, and we are unable to walk through our days with a sense of fulfillment the way I believe God has called us to. Well, today I am privileged to have a special guest joining me who has just written a new book tackli...

You have a staff and you want to train them to be highly productive so that you can live your dream life in ministry, right? So how do you train and develop your staff to be highly productive. In this episode, I am going to show you exactly how to train your staff to be highly productive, and you are going to be surprised at how easy it is.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied t...

As we continue to celebrate our 100th episode this week, we are bringing in someone familiar with the Ministry Hacker community, Chris McClure, to talk about his new book, The Magnetic Leader. In this episode, he unpacks how you can be a leader people want to follow.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives...

WE MADE IT TO EPISODE 100!!!! I am so excited to see that the Ministry Hacker podcast has made it to this point and we have such a wonderful group of pastors and ministry leaders joining us each episode.  In this episode, I go over where we have been over the last 100 episode, and discuss the #1 thing that keeps us from living our Dream Lives in Ministry. Let's Partner This Summer Together I...

Do you want to know the #1 reason churches don't grow? What if this is the reason your church isn't growing? Would you still want to know?  In this episode, I am going to tell you the #1 reason churches don't grow. It is a fixable problem, but it may hurt a little bit. So, proceed with caution because not everyone is able to hear this. As a Ministry Hacker, I hope you can.  Let's Partner...

Your church is going to grow this year, but if you don't have optimized systems, your growth is going to disappear as quickly as it comes. Its time to revisit your systems and processes and optimize them for growth.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few things in common. What I have done is tak...

I had two conversations with pastors today that are one of the keys to your Dream Life in Ministry. In this episode, I am going to tell you what we talked about, what the end result was, and how it is directly related to you and your life in ministry.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few thing...

If your church has plateaued or is in decline, there is a good chance your hospitality strategy needs to be revamped. Not because we are trying to grow churches numerically, but because we are trying to create experiences for people to encounter Jesus...but they can't if they aren't there.  In this episode, I give you 3 ways to increase your hospitality game.  Let's Partner This Summer T...

We need to stop trying to grow our churches today...right now. In this episode I am going to give you 3 good reasons why.  Let's Partner This Summer Together I have studied the lives of pastors for decades and those who are living their dream lives have a few things in common. What I have done is take those commonalities and developed a simple 5-step Framework to help you discover your Dream...

We are all going through it on some level, and there are large numbers of people in our congregations that are also going through it. We are in a year of remembering and dealing with the pain. I had a loss just a week ago and I was reminded today of a loss from a year ago. We are all in need and we all need to help one another.  In this episode, I talk about what this need is and why I hope w...

It's summer and time to get outside! Sure there are BBQ's, baseball games, times at the poolside, and drive in theaters. But what about taking a hike, skipping rocks, gardening, and just sitting in the presence of nature and God's creation? In this episode, I talk about the value of spending time with the Lord in the presence of his creation and making sure we are making time to spend outside, eve...

Do you have a superiority complex? If not, you need one and you need to start working on it today. Having a superiority complex is going to give you confidence, increase your belief in yourself, carry you when times get tough, and ultimately compel you into a closer walk with Jesus on your way to living your dream life in ministry. Now, I know, you are probably skeptical because we are taught that...

When I was a student in my youth group growing up, my youth pastor did something that changed my life. At the time, I didn’t really understand how much it cost him, or really even the full impact he was making by doing it, I just knew it was cool, I wanted it, and that it gave me the sense of belonging, purpose, and stability. In this episode, I want to talk about what he did and why you should do...

Are you a golfer? A movie buff? A woodworker? A gamer? A reader? What do you do for fun? Sadly, too many of us have things we used to do for fun before ministry became so complicated, tiring, and all-consuming. We say things like… ”I used to play softball every summer until… I used to go to baseball games, but I just haven’t been able to do it the last couple of years I used to read a lot more, bu...

In Christian circles, and primarily in ministry, we talk a lot about servant leadership. We model our leadership style after the servant leadership we see modeled in Jesus’ life and ministry. Usually this means we are willing to do things like clean the bathroom toilets because no task is beneath us as pastors. Or, we go out of our way to serve others in their crisis or point of need. Though these...

This is the last thing you want your pastoral staff members doing right now. Unfortunately, they are already planning on it and you don't even know it.  Engage More People in Your Discipleship Experience Do you want members of your congregation to grow and mature into the disciple-makers Jesus called us all to be so that Gospel is spread, your community is reached and your church makes an imp...