The 95 Podcast: Conversations for Small-Church Pastors

Today is another one of our favorite conversations we've had with a new friend in ministry. We got to talk with Dave Jacobs, founder of Small Church Pastor , author, and coach for church leaders. We talked about how he first became a Senior Pastor at the age of 21, his journey through burnout, how to avoid becoming cynical or jaded, the consistent things he hears from the pastors he's co...

As you may have seen on our social media , I was recently down in Honduras to work with local pastors there. It was a really incredible time and I was brought in by my friend Joseph Bennett. So I figured I'd record a podcast episode when I was down there with Joseph and his wife Rebecca while I was staying with them! I believe the raw emotions of what they are dealing with each day will strik...

Our team often has the chance to connect with churches who are just knocking it out of the park with how they're reaching their community, focusing on their mission, and staying focused on where they're headed rather than where they've been. This week on the podcast, we're talking with a pastor of one of those churches. Mark Pritchard is the Lead Pastor at Church at the Gates i...

Our good friend, Lee Button, who is from the UK (although we learned his favorite sport is American football) and is Founder of Thinking Church and a consultant with The Unstuck Group , was recently staying with Dale for a couple days. While he was there, we figured we should record a podcast episode with him! So for Episode 21 of the podcast, we were grateful to be able to talk with Lee about wha...

Foster care is something that many churches are aware of. But a lot of us simply aren't sure what practical steps our ministries can take to help. On Episode 20 of the podcast, we were grateful to connect with Jami Kaeb, Director of The Forgotten Initiative , a faith-based organization that exists to help people support the foster care community through awareness, encouragement, and advocacy....

There are a good number of things that should be on our radar as church leaders that simply aren't in the week-to-week of ministry. Law issues definitely fall in that category for most of us. However, this is an area we have to be proactive in rather than reactive. For Episode 19, we're grateful to be sharing a conversation with Steven Goodspeed from The Church Lawyers, a full-service la...

It's the start of a new decade! We pray you are expectant for what this year holds for your ministry. To start the year off, we are sharing a conversation about a topic we're passionate about around here: The dynamics between older and younger generations. This is an issue that we don't often see intentionally addressed in churches. But the reality is that strategically investing in...

Thank you so much to all of you who have supported us as we launched The 95 Podcast this year! This week, we're sharing our final episode of 2019 and the conclusion of our series of interviewing people who are ministering in northeast America. For Episode 17, we're excited to be sharing a conversation with Kim Richardson and Jarrod Spalding, who lead Vision Partners, an organization dedi...

This week we're continuing our (accidental) series on the podcast where we interview leaders who are ministering in northeast America! We are so excited to have Tim Ponzani, District Executive Minister of Converge Northeast, on Episode 16 of The 95 Podcast. We've had the opportunity to get connected with the Converge Network over the years and loved recently meeting Tim at a couple of ou...

This past week, I had the opportunity to lead a one-day event for pastors in the Dominican Republic. This was such a powerful experience and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to meet some incredible leaders who are doing some great work throughout this country. We wanted to make sure we captured a conversation for the podcast while I was here. So I'm very excited to be sharing a conver...

It's impossible to lead a church to be evangelistic if we're not evangelistic ourselves. We are so excited to have Dan Nichols, Executive Director of The Northeast Collaborative and Pastor at Restored Church in Wilkes-Barre, PA, on Episode 14 of The 95 Podcast! We got connected with Dan a little over a year ago and have been consistently impressed by his leadership and passion for the Ch...

We are so excited to have Jeff Keady, co-host of the 200churches Podcast, on Episode 13 of The 95 Podcast! It's always special to talk with another church leader who has such a deep passion to resource smaller churches. It's difficult to provide an overview of this episode because Jeff had so much wisdom to share on investing in the next generation, leading change in your church, avoidin...

Every church leader experiences seasons of insecurity. Fluctuating attendance, inconsistent weekly giving, staff issues, board members with agendas, and comparison to other “successful ” ministries in our region all feed the notion that we’re not good enough to lead our church. These seasons are sure to occur at various points in our leadership, but how we walk through them determines what lies ah...

"We're a small church, so we don't have time to improve." On a recent phone call with a pastor, this is a statement we heard. And we regularly hear a lot of pastors of smaller churches express similar sentiments as they feel like the day-to-day of ministry dominates their schedule.  But here's the reality: If you feel like you don't have enough time for what's mo...

For a multitude of reasons, balancing the demands of ministry while prioritizing your marriage can be so hard. If you're in ministry, you've likely gone through many seasons where you've felt this. This week on the podcast we're connecting with Mark & Jill Savage, long-time leaders in church and parachurch ministries. They have an incredible story of redemption in their mar...

As Jeff Bezos has said, "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." Branding is way bigger than your logo. It's how people experience your church, how they are affected by your mission, and what they actually think about you when you're not around. So this week on the podcast we're connecting with Kem Meyer, Founder of Less Chaos. Less Noise...

As time goes on, ministry is one of those things that we tend to make more complex than it needs to be. Our number of programs increases. The complexity of organizing those programs increases. And as a result, our church's efforts get less and less directed towards the mission. But it doesn't have to be that way. Join us for this conversation with Chris Hughes, Co-Founder of The Ministry...

"Your church can change." If there's one theme from this conversation that I walked away with, it's this. There is hope for the future. Even if your church is declining. Even if you're not sure where to go next. Your church can regain momentum to better reach your community. Join us for this discussion with Scott Ball and A.J. Mathieu from The Malphurs Group about some com...

If we're honest, discipleship tends to be a buzzword. We say it a lot, but it's hard for us to fully define. (And since we label so many things as "discipleship," it makes it even more difficult to understand what our ministry efforts are actually trying to accomplish.) Join us for this conversation with Josh Jeffrey, CEO of Clear Design Group and the Developer of Like Jesus, a...

There's been a lot of talk in church leadership surrounding the ideas of influence, engagement, attendance, and more. So how should we actually measure success in our church? (Or should we at all?) Join us for this conversation with Karl Vaters, a widely-respected voice for pastors in smaller churches. If you already follow Karl, you know his passion for the Church is unmistakable and the pra...

We all want our churches to be healthy, both deep and wide. But what should that look like? What are some characteristics of churches that are effectively reaching their community for Jesus? Join us for this conversation with Tony Morgan, founder of The Unstuck Group, as we walk through 10 characteristics of unstuck churches. We've known Tony for a long time. He's a good friend and has b...

Your mission and vision is the foundation of every single thing you do as a ministry. If you're not clear on who you are and where you're headed, you'll be guided by whatever feels urgent. This affects your ability to empower leaders, make progress as a ministry, and engage people in your community. But it's not enough to write your vision on the wall. You have to write it on p...

Social media is a big topic. Especially in a small church, it can often feel overwhelming to figure out how (and find the time) to best utilize this tool to support your church and share your message. Join us as we talk with Aimee Cottle, Director of Marketing at Fishhook, about some practical ways smaller churches can be using Facebook Groups to create community and improve discipleship within th...

What better place to start for the very first episode of The 95 Podcast than talking about our favorite topic: small churches. The topic of church growth has been used in many unhealthy ways over the years, causing a lot of pastors to experience insecurity about their ministry, and in some cases permitting some to become complacent. Join us for this encouraging conversation where we talk about chu...