ROCK Cast

This week's AI Summit drew more than 670 registrations for the Community's first look at AI Agents in Rock. On this episode of Rock Cast, special guest Daniel Hazelbaker, a member of the team who built Rockʼs AI features, debriefs the AI Summit with Jon in a rapid-fire Q&A pulled straight from the event. They kick off by answering the most-asked question of the event: what version will these f...

We're halfway through 2026, and Jon, Emily, and Nicole are treating it as a checkpoint, not a victory lap. This episode pairs a v19 walkthrough with the mid-year reset most teams will skip. In Jon's segment on v19, he covers the features your church should be paying attention to. With the most important one being AI. The AI Summit on July 7th is the Community's first look at AI Agents and the bigg...

Excellence isn't a feeling; it is a system built from repeatable habits and reinforced culture. On this major episode, the team covers recent AI news, a brand-new event for the Community, and the big reveal of this year's conference keynote speaker! Jon catches us up on Claude Fable 5, the ChatGPT super app shift, and the Rock AI Summit on July 7 at 10-11:30am PT. He shares a security warning for...

In this Rock Cast episode, the Pope weighs into the AI conversation with a 200-page doc. We summarized his arguments for you and share more details on Opus 4.8 noting the shift of importance from models to harnesses. Then Emily unpacks why Thinking Sideways will help you avoid the danger of acting before considering all your options. By taking a lesson from the chess grandmasters, she describes th...

Most church leaders know their staff training isn't as robust as it should be, but very few understand what it's actually costing them. In Episode 214, Jon, Emily, and Nicole bring to light three real costs: lost staff productivity, missed connections with your congregation and redundant software your church is paying for because they don't know Rock already does the job. Before diving into traini...

Imagine your Rock admin takes two weeks off for vacation with no handoff, no Slack notification, no "just text me if you need something" message. What breaks first? Whatever comes to mind is your starting point for what Nassim Taleb calls the fragility list. In this episode, Jon, Emily, and Nicole apply Talebʼs concept of antifragility to church systems inside Rock. Most people think the opposite...

In this episode, Jon, Emily, and Nicole dream about what's possible for church admins and ministries when AI does the heavy lifting. Jon shares where AI is headed in 2026 and why writing the spec first pays off, with the Spark API Gateway story as proof. Nicole then makes the case for becoming a Rock Star. You don't have to be technical and the barrier to entry is lower than you think, you just ha...

Jon and Emily are joined by a new voice on the show, Nicole Shibata, who handles marketing, fundraising, and conference planning for Rock. In this conversation, the team covers the most consequential three months in AI since ChatGPT launched. They talk about what shipped in the industry, why the rapid pace matters, and what church leaders need to do about it now. Emily then unpacks Will...

In this episode of Rock Cast, the team gives a brief update to v19 heading into pre-alpha and revisit the heart behind Rock. More than a ChMS, Rock was designed as a relational management system to steward people, not just data. The feature, Following, is one of the most underutilized tools that acts as a personalized digest to help you respond with care and track major life events. They deepen th...

Complexity is a well-intentioned trap that all churches fall into. In this episode, the team unpacks what they call the Complexity Trap, the moment when tools meant to support ministry start creating friction instead. Jon describes the first two steps of Elon Musk’s 5-Step Algorithm to help simplify your requirements and they apply it to real ministry functions like baptism forms and children...

In episode 208 of Rock Cast, Jon and Emily tackle a hot topic in tech right now, vibe coding, and explore what it means for church software and digital ministry. As AI rapidly reshapes how software is built, some are asking whether traditional software is becoming obsolete, but what does that mean for churches? Listen to the complete episode to hear their discussion and visit the show notes t...

Tune into this episode to learn what quality the most successful Rock churches have in common. Hint: it isn't church size! Jon, Emily, and Nick offer fresh insight into the Essentials model and discuss a new program they're building to train Community members to help cast vision for Essentials churches. This is an empowering episode for churches of all sizes and one you'll want to share with your...

In this episode of Rock Cast, Jon, Emily, and Nick highlight v19 updates like new Connections analytics, simplified status terms, a zero-config CAPTCHA and more. They also encourage churches to start 2026 by investing in their digital ministry culture by celebrating spiritual impact, providing ongoing training, and building healthy team habits. Tune in to learn how to lead your team and tools with...

In the final 2025 episode of Rock Cast, Jon, Emily, and Nick talk about product grooming and the Community's responsibility in it. As the team continues to prune and refine the software, you can look forward to more change towards meaningful innovation. They also dive into Jon's articles on X covering the role of AI in digital ministry and an honest look into the evolution of the giving landscape....

Don't miss this conversational episode of Rock Cast as Jon, Emily, and Nick share three big updates: the v18 release, a conversation with a successful entrepreneur and goal setting ideas for your digital ministry in 2026. As many churches wrestle with "technical debt", they encourage listeners to use the prioritization framework to build an action plan for resolving this in the new year. The best...

Jon, Emily, and Nick discuss Rock's unique funding model and the special advantage of giving at the updated rate. Tune in to hear them share where your giving goes and how it's affecting our new testing and release strategy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Rock Cast, Jon, Emily, and Nick share how our latest development updates and implementations are anchored in wisdom and mission. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes look at what the team has been building from the Outreach Toolbox and AI Agents to documentation improvements, and the v19 and v20 roadmap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learn seven mindsets for building smarter, simpler solutions with Rock and discover how systems thinking can change the course of your digital ministry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this special 200th episode of Rock Cast, Jon, Emily, and Nick recount the milestones and miracles they've walked through since 2014. Despite their struggles and hardships, the team persisted. What started as a passion project is now a mission-driven movement empowering hundreds of churches globally. Listen to this episode to hear how far Rock has come! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for...

In this episode, we dive into the latest updates with the release of v17.5 Alpha as well as a view on extensibility. With RX25 just two weeks away, we cover everything you need to know—including how to get the mobile app and where to follow for exclusive behind-the-scenes content. Plus, we break down the upcoming donation increase for January 2026 and highlight what’s coming in the October Check-I...

This episode takes you behind the scenes of what's happening in Rock, starting with a version update and a look at what’s coming in v17.3. The team explores integration best practices and systems thinking to help church digital teams work smarter and more effectively. You’ll also get a first look at RX25—registration is open, the schedule is live, and there’s plenty to get excited about! Plus, hea...

This episode lays out the case for using volunteers on church digital teams, challenging the idea that paid staff should handle everything. The team unpacks why volunteers matter—from stewardship to discipleship—and offers practical tips for recruiting, training, and retaining them. Learn which roles work best, how to overcome common objections, and how to create a culture of trust and shared owne...

This episode kicks off with a look at Rock RMS version 17.1 updates, including a fix for Insights reports and guidance on unknown marital statuses. The team also addresses and clears up rumors around vendor incentives. Then, John lays out your “Mission Possible” for the summer — with practical ideas to level up in SQL, Lava, UI styling, communication, learning management, and more. Discover how to...

The latest Rock release is here – what does it mean for your instance? How can you customize Rock responsibly while leveraging SQL Server best practices? Explore insights from our RX25 discussion and discover key community announcements. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, TX has built a culture around technology—and even AI—to empower innovative and personalized ministry. Hear how Pastor Jimmy Witcher built this culture and where they are going next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.