The 95 Podcast: Conversations for Small-Church Pastors

"Jesus loves your 'failure' church of 60 at least as much as that church you always had in your mind." - Carl Culley This conversation is a special one with two people who are so much fun and have a huge passion for the small church. Carl & Kalani Culley have a long history of ministry and are the pioneers of Lacamas Creek Church in Camas, WA, pastoring there for the last 2...

"So many of our churches get to a point where they can take in finances to sustain staff, and then they stop growing." - Rich Birch Rich Birch is one of the leading voices in church leadership today, having the privilege of leading in one of the very first multisite churches in North America. An author and speaker, Rich focuses on highlighting practical solutions to support leaders in im...

We've all been focusing a lot on online ministry for the past year, and for good reason. But today's conversation is swinging the pendulum back in the opposite direction: If we're truly going to be a hybrid ministry, we need to have an intentional in-person experience prepared. Mary Ann Sibley is one of the best. She is the founder of MatterSpark, an organization all about helping c...

Today's episode is a masterclass for church leaders on Google and SEO. After serving 11 years as a church Communications Director, Jason Hamrock is now the CEO of Missional Marketing, a marketing agency that specializes in supporting churches. In today's episode, he shares practical insight about optimizing your website, why it's important to be adding new content to your website co...

Plain and simple, today's episode is one you don't want to miss. Amy Anderson is the Director of Consulting at The Unstuck Group, and someone we greatly respect. In this conversation, she shares about what stage of the church lifecycle most churches are currently in, what the Unstuck team has been seeing in church leaders, practical ways we can leverage our digital presence, and timely r...

"If we're truly not just about our church and more about the kingdom of God, we have to lead with open hands." When a leader has their boots on the ground with a realistic outlook on where the church is at, without sacrificing hope, I listen in. Steve McVey is one of those leaders. He is the Executive Director of the Dirt Roads Network, which exists to transform rural America by pla...

I love when we get to share "soul care" episodes on the podcast. This is one of those episodes. Bill Gaultiere is a Psychologist and pastor/mentor to pastors. He writes and speaks to thousands of people every week through Soul Shepherding. He was personally mentored for many years by Dallas Willard and Ray Ortlund Sr., and is the author of the new book Journey of the Soul. I truly believ...

For many years, we've been partnering with churches to take discipleship from just a buzzword to a practical journey of helping people actually become like Christ. Today, I'm so excited to introduce you to Pat Linnell, Founder of Grace Bomb , which exists to equip churches through free resources that help their congregations grow in daily obedience to the Great Commission by loving their...

I've had the incredible opportunity to get to know Brad Cooper, Lead Pastor of Newspring Church. The ripple effect of Brad's life is something he will never be able to measure. His heart for God truly keeps me anchored. In my book Stalled , I share about something called "the sweet spot." This illustration came from Brad during a planning retreat I was hosting with a church sta...

I am so darn excited to share today's episode. Back in 2020, the conversation I first had with Craig Rees was my most inspiring and helpful conversation of the entire year. So when he was open to being on the podcast, I was incredibly grateful. In recent days, smaller churches have gotten some more intentional focus. And larger churches have continued to get press. But mid-size churches are k...

We're living through the greatest communications shift in over 500 years. You may have heard that before. For today's episode of The 95 Podcast, we had a special opportunity to connect with Brady Shearer, Founder of Pro Church Tools, Nucleus, RebelGive, and many other resources for churches, and welcome him onto the show to share his expertise about how churches can be effective online....

  WELCOME BACK TO THE 95 PODCAST! You'll notice that we're back with some NEW theme music, some NEW energy, some GREAT guests ahead, and some FRESH direction for this resource! Can you tell we're excited? 🙂 To kick off the new year, Austin and I are sharing 3 things that every church leader needs to be prepared for throughout 2021. We are believing God has incredible things ahead f...

Jesse is a dear friend of mine. We used to work together back when I was on the team at The Unstuck Group and we have a ton in common, including a deep love for the small and mid-size church (and hunting, of course). This conversation with him to close out 2020 is gold. Seriously. I've said it for a long time, but follow-through and accountability are two of the primary issues I see in church...

2021 is going to look just a little different for our team here at 95Network. Austin, our Managing Director, is taking a step out and starting his own content marketing agency. This dream really became a possibility for him as a result of reading Stalled and hosting our new Stalled Conference this Fall. Transition and change are a reality of any team. So this week on the podcast, we're talkin...

"Freedom is not the absence of something, it's the presence of Someone." This man changed my life... Bob Hamp is the Founder of Think Differently Academy and is a Marriage & Family Therapist. I talk about him a lot in my book Stalled , particularly regarding the profound effect his teaching called "The Problem Jesus Came to Solve" had on my life and my journey towards...

Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to lead a one-day event and a couple workshops at the Preaching & Teaching Convention at Ozark Christian College. In the workshop I led about "Developing a Mission-Minded Congregation," I had some great back-and-forth with the pastors in attendance. So this week, we wanted to share the live audio from that session, including part of the teach...

Dillon Smith is the Content Director for Carey Nieuwhof and is an intuitive, wise, and strategic Gen Z leader. Today he shares about what the keys will be for the Church's future digital effectiveness, how he's navigated representing Christ to a generation that's marked by disappointments in the Church, and what he's learned working alongside Carey Nieuwhof. This is a great one...

This last week was heavy, not only with political division, but also with news of another leader falling morally. (Not to mention the reminder of countless church leaders falling that we don't hear about in the news.) And I felt frustrated. I felt frustrated by how I saw other pastors responding. I felt frustrated by how consistent these mistakes happen. And I felt frustrated by the witness t...

I'm really excited to be sharing this conversation today. It was such an honor to connect with Derwin Gray, former NFL player and Lead Pastor of Transformation Church, a multiethnic, multigenerational, mission-shaped community in Indian Land, SC. Not only is this a timely episode with it being Election Week in the U.S., but this episode just brought life to my soul and reminders of the missio...

Brian Weber is the Executive Minister of Converge MidAtlantic, having the opportunity to work directly with church leaders each and every week. I (Dale) met him at a conference I did in partnership with Converge a while back and I loved how he thought about the Church. We recently took some time to have Brian on the podcast to talk about what he's seeing among the pastors he's working wi...

Jeff VanderGiessen spent eight years working at Mars Hill Church in Seattle before he felt God's call to step out and found Amplio Systems, a company passionate about helping churches take the right next step, in the Chicago area. Today, Jeff shares honestly about the grief he's still had to process in seeing the difficult journey for Mars Hill with some insights into navigating ministry...

Barb Roose is a popular author and speaker who has spoken at events like the She Speaks Conference and Aspire Women's Events. She’s the author of multiple Bible studies, including: Surrendered: Letting Go and Living Like Jesus , I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays , and Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle . Her newest Bible study: Breakthrough: Finding Freedom in Christ releases i...

If we don’t do something to bridge the generational gaps between us and Gen Z, we will lose them. This episode is gold for leaders to understand what it looks like to reach Generation Z from a leader who invests his time in helping influencers engage the next gen. Jordan Francis is the Co-Founder of RLTK, an organization that exists solely to equip leaders to better engage Gen Z. His honesty and i...

"God is not turned off by the relatively small number that sits on the population sign at the edge of my town." We are so excited to share this week's conversation with you. Jon Sanders is the Founder of the Small Town Big Church Network, an incredible ministry to support and encourage leaders in small towns and rural contexts. We had the opportunity to meet Jon a few months back an...

Meet Chad Hunt, the newest addition to our team here at 95Network. Chad has led hundreds of churches through coaching and consulting processes over the years and we're excited to welcome him onto the team as our VisionDay Director. Today, a great conversation with Chad on the podcast as we talk about his new role on the team, why your church really should be viewed as a blank canvas right now...