Reinventing Church

Megachurch memories of the greased-up power team and other evangelistice efforts. Then Derek and Danielle discuss some recent learnings from another church leader about how the church can support deployed Christians out side the church's walls. They welcome Pastor Sarah and Tracy Dailey to hear Tracy's amazing account of finding her tragedy in God's story and living out the Compassionate Storytell...

Derek and Danielle continue to reflect on some cringey megachurch memories this time exploring the days of church skits and drama teams. The explore a Dream Disciple role of how to be an Intentional Friend in an interview with Pastor Scott and Dave Case. They discuss the value of stepping back out of the weeds and asking bigger discipleship questions and finally reflect on a recent training sessio...

Derek and Danielle kick off Season 2 of the Reinventing Church Podcast. For full show notes visit: https://dereksanford.com/reinventingchurch

In this episode Derek and Danielle call to mind some of their favorite Christmas albums of all time. They field a listener question about leaving churches that become too political. They also reflect on 6 lessons they've learned so far almost one year in to their Reinventing Church journey. For full show notes visit: https://dereksanford.com/reinventingchurch

In this episode Derek and Danielle explore Derek's weird fantasy football league, and talk about baptism and salvation and how they are different.  Then special guest Stephen Hay talks about some recent work he's done in how to help big and small churches alike to find their voice in their region. Finally we celebrate some recent wins in our Awake the Lake vision. For full show notes visit: https:...

In this episode we react to the birth of Derek's first grandchild Ruby Jude! Derek offers 3 principles for HOW to leave a church. Then guest Mark Becker, an administrator at a large public high school, talks about his experience with the recent leadership intensive with a disciple-making bent. Finally, Danielle and Derek have a meltdown as they try to discuss aligning teams around Core Values. For...

In this episode Danielle quizzes Derek on real Bible verses vs. AI pretenders. They explore good and bad reasons to leave a church. Then guest Pastor Justin Bleuer discusses the importance of EQ in ministry. And finally they reflect on the good and bad of annual meetings and Derek's lingering PTSD. For full show notes visit: https://dereksanford.com/reinventingchurch

In this episode Derek and Danielle discuss favorite vacation spots. They wrestle with the inbox question about why doesn’t our church always preach verse by verse through the bible? Then we're joined by special guest Dr. Dan Nichols to talk about Pursuing discipleship in different-sized churches, and finally helping teams to own organizational change. For full show notes visit: https://dereksanfor...

In this episode Derek and Danielle have another local theater experience to discuss. They also tackle a deep question from the pastor's inbox about the existence of hell. Then longtime pastor Mike Watson discusses his calling from the Jesus Movement days, through the megachurch era, and how he's helping struggling fathers in his retirement. Finally, they have some initial experiences with the new...

In this episode Danielle and Derek talk about the difference between sportsy families and artsy families. They discuss the merits and struggles with video preaching. Then guest Aaron Lundberg talks about how churches and individuals can define and address the local predicaments in their community. Finally, they talk about Derek's nervous launch of a new "find your calling" experience. For full sho...

In this episode, after talking about their top 10 movies,  Derek and Danielle get into the great American debate about how people should vote. Then, guest Andrea Bierer talks about an upside-down way of thinking about pursuing your calling in the workplace. Finally, we reflect on the good and the bad aspects of our recent vision on Sunday. For full show notes visit: https://dereksanford.com/reinve...

In this episode we discuss buying and selling things inside the church and wouldn’t Jesus be flipping over some tables? Then we welcome Pastor Scott Michel to the podcast to discuss sports medicine, outcome measures, and how these experiences can help to measure discipleship in the church. Finally, Derek and Danielle discuss the importance of finding the “why” when meetings go off the rails! For f...

In this episode Derek and Danielle talk about their personal coffee journeys, and answer some tough email questions about why the church doesn’t include every cause or ministry in their weekend announcements. The main conversation with Pastor Sarah Burtt focuses on the adjustments needed to make the church a training center and not just a teaching center. At the end Danielle and Derek reflect on a...

In this episode we'll talk about why kids these days like their worship music so loud. The main conversation with Pastor Stephen Hay centers on how to know when it’s time to move on from a ministry and when it's time to stay and double down. We also reflect on the importance of piloting new things before rolling them out. Bonus: we get breaking news on Derek's preferred grandpa name. For full show...

In this episode, Derek and Danielle dive into some NFL and Swifties controversy, we cover why we sing songs that come out of churches that we might not totally agree with theologically, how to know when it’s time to reinvent YOUR church, and a look at how we’re setting short-term goals to accomplish big things at Grace.  For full show notes, visit: https://dereksanford.com/reinventingchurch

In this episode Danielle tests Derek to see if he can tell the difference between Taylor Swift song lyrics and quotes from his favorite author, CS Lewis. They also tackle the hot topic of how to respond to people in the church who believe that the church should be more focused on the events happening in Israel that they currently are. Are Christians obligated by their faith to support Israel no ma...

Join Derek Sanford and Danielle Hartland as they kick off the Reinventing Church podcast, exploring their church’s shift from an attractional model to a disciple-making ministry.