Practical Church

How can you best walk your people through pain and tragedy? What are things that are helpful and unhelpful? In this episode, we share practical things to help people who are suffering, and it isn't always what you think. Welcome to welcome to episode 203 of Practical Church Planting.  Here at the tips we discuss in this episode: Don't tell them you understand or relativize their pain Tell them you...

How do you know when or if your church is ready to plant a church? Is it just something that will happen eventually, or are there signs that your church is ready? The good news is that there are indicators that show if your church is ready, and we discuss seven of them in this episode. Welcome to welcome to episode 202 of Practical Church Planting. Here are seven signs your church is ready to plan...

Figuring out a good livestream setup can be confusing, especially if you don't have much experience in this area. In this episode, we walk through what our livestreaming setup looks like at New City and breakdown the equipment that we use. Welcome to welcome to episode 201 of Practical Church Planting. Below is the equipment we use and discussed in this episode. Click here to see a video of our se...

One of the most helpful and interesting things for church planters is to hear the stories of other church planters. In this special edition episode of the podcast, you'll hear the church planting journey of Adam Pickard and Citizens Church. Welcome to welcome to episode 200 of Practical Church Planting. Click here to learn more about Citizens Church and/or to connect with Adam . Connect and never...

How do you know the difference between desiring to plant a church and when you should actually pursue that desire? As we all know, God's timing is often different than our own. The good news is there are some tangible markers of when you should begin your church planting journey. In this episode, we share five signs of when you should actually pursue planting a church. Welcome to welcome to episod...

Sermon prep takes a lot of time and effort. But what if there was a way to reduce the amount of time it takes and  make your sermons better? In this episode, we share six practical things you can do to spend less time on sermon prep without reducing the quality of your sermons. Welcome to welcome to episode 198 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the six things you can do to reduce your sermon...

Most church planters have a desire to connect with other churches and pastors in the area. The problem? It's hard developing those relationships? The good news is there are some things you can do to help you connect with other churches and pastors in your area. In this episode, we share six specific things you can do to help you not feel so alone. Welcome to welcome to episode 197 of Practical Chu...

Pastors are called to care from people and emails come from people. If you have trouble staying on top of your email, you're missing out on loving your people well. The good news is that email doesn't have to be overwhelming. In this episode, we share with you seven practical things you can do today to stay on top of your email and love your people well. Welcome to welcome to episode 196 of Practi...

There has been a lot of talk about the "new normal" that COVID-19 has created. The truth, however, is that we are not currently living in a "new normal." COVID-19 will certainly change a lot of things, but our current season is not how life will be like forever. This means that there are some normal things that COVID-19 won't change, and we want to be sure churches continue to do things well. So w...

We often hear about the difficulties of ministry. But does ministry have to be as miserable as we can sometimes make it sound? It does when we believe five particular lies about what ministry has to be like. If you want your ministry to be life-giving and instead of life-sucking, you'll want to see if you have bought into any of these 5 lies. Welcome to welcome to episode 194 of Practical Church P...

We all know what it is like to have new people come visit your church only never to see them again. At the same time, we know growing churches have somehow figured this out. The good news is there are tangible things we can do to help new guests return. In this episode, we share 5 things you can do to make it more likely new guests will return. Welcome to welcome to episode 192 of Practical Church...

We all know what it's like to wish we could have done things differently. When it comes to church planting, the mistakes we make can sometimes have big consequences. I (Dylan) have made a lot of mistakes that, and six in particular anyone can learn from. Check out this episode and see if you are doing any of these six things. Welcome to welcome to episode 192 of Practical Church Planting.  Here ar...

Do you know if your church's website has everything it needs to answer the most pressing questions people have when visiting your site? Are new guests not coming because you don't have the most vitally important information on your homepage? Here's what we know; if we make it hard for people to find the information they need, we may never see them on a Sunday. In this episode, we share six of the...

What should you do when you feel God might be leading you to plant a church? You're excited and nervous, but what are you supposed to do about this prompting? The good news is that there are practical next steps that you can take, and it doesn't have to be as confusing as you might think. In this episode, we'll share with you what you should do next. Welcome to welcome to episode 190 of Practical...

We know how discouraging it can be to pray, prepare, and serve as faithfully as you can, but not see any growth in your church. How can you get people to invite their friends, coworkers, and classmates? What does it look like to even create a culture of invitation at your church? The good news is there there are some very practical things you can do to help people invite their friends. Don't sit i...

You've been praying and dreaming about what your church could be and the impact it could have. But, you're not sure how to get people on board with your mission or even how to best articulate it. In fact, you're not even sure if you have a compelling vision for your church plant. If you can relate to any of this, you'll want to check out today's Practical Church Planting podcast episode. In today'...

How can you make the most of a church planting network? Welcome to welcome to episode 187 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to get the most out of a church planting network. We discuss: Don't pick a network based on what you can get from them Pick a network you believe in Commit to network gatherings/events Proactively find ways to serve and support the ne...

How can you find leaders for your new church plant? Welcome to welcome to episode 186 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we talk about seven qualities that can help you determine current and future leaders for your launch team and church plant. We discuss: Uninitiated desire to help Initiated excitement to help People who do more (or better) than asked Financial giving to the church B...

It's impossible to know everything there is to know about planting a church before you do it. Welcome to welcome to episode 185 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we discuss these five things that church planters often don't think about before planting: What they want the church to look like in three years The long-term importance of outside support Clearly defining your spouse's role...

What changes should be made to your church's finances when crisis hits? Welcome to welcome to episode 184 of Practical Church Planting.  All churches face financial difficulties at some point. Given COVID-19, many churches are experiencing crisis together. In this episode, we discuss these six tips for budgeting your church's finances during crisis: Be proactive Anxiety increases where budgeting d...

What have we taken away from being online only for over 3 months? Welcome to welcome to episode 183 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we discuss these 5 reflections as we get ready to regather in person on Sunday for the first time on over 3 months: Online church isn't church Sunday's are not just about the service The Sunday gathering leads to other opportunities Focus on your solid...

What causes some churches to grow while others stagnate or decline? Welcome to welcome to episode 182 of Practical Church Planting. In this episode, we discuss these four characteristics that growing churches typically have in common: They have a realistic financial plan and stick to it There is seasoned leadership influencing big decisions The staff is bought into the mission They have relationsh...

Should you live stream your church service? Welcome to welcome to episode 181 of Practical Church Planting.  As churches across the country slowly begin to regather in person, should you throw up a camera and live stream your service? After all, you've been doing online-only services for a while. In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why we don't think that's the best idea. A bad looking l...

As COVID-19 restrictions begin to loosen, when should your church gather again in person? Welcome to welcome to episode 180 of Practical Church Planting.  In this episode, we discuss these six reasons why you may not want to regather in person as quickly as you can: A higher-quality online service may be better than a low-quality in-person service + a low-quality online service Loosening your rest...

Developing these skills will help you be a more effective pastor in our culture today. Welcome to welcome to episode 178 of Practical Church Planting. Skills are abilities that can be developed and improved. In this episode, we discuss these six vital skills we all need to be effective pastors in our world today: Face to face conversations about difficult topics Always reply to your emails A syste...