The Church Things Podcast

Many churches are closing their doors today.  According to a recent study of Churches of Christ by Stan Granberg and Tim Woodruff, nine congregations close their doors every month.   And the problem is not unique to Churches of Christ.  In this episode, Kerry and Becky reflect upon this concerning state of affairs, a concern of so many church leaders today. 

The Unstuck Group, a church consultation and coaching group, recently published a survey of 119 churches.  This survey highlights certain trends and benchmarks in U.S. churches over the last twelve months.  Kerry and Becky discuss some of the interesting statistics from this survey.

What do you expect from your ministers?  Do you expect them to visit all the hospitalized and those in nursing homes?  Do you expect them to be the church's primary pastoral care givers?  If so, if you are expecting them to immerse themselves primarily in pastoral care, you are stunting your church's growth.  How so and what can be done to turn things around?  Join Becky and Kerry as the...

What does success in ministry look like?  And how do you measure it?  Numbers are not always an accurate metric--either of success or failure.  In this episode, Kerry and Becky attempt to define success in ministry.  And it may not be what most of us think it is.

In this episode, Kerry interviews a 35-year-old preacher and dear friend, Josh Watkins, who suffered a severe heart attack.  Listen in as Josh shares how that life-threatening event affected his  perspectives toward life, family, and ministry.

In this episode, Kerry and Becky close their brief series on how to read and understand the Bible by discussing two more important rules for Bible study: 1) Look for the plain meaning of the text, and 2) Observe to whom a passage is spoken or written.  Finally, they note that accurately interpreting the Bible is not the final step.  The purpose of reading the Bible, after all, is not merely to gai...

How should we read a book that carries the same weight as the audible voice of God?  Kerry and Becky offer two suggestions in this thought-provoking episode.

What baggage do we bring to our reading of God's word that affects how we interpret scripture?  How do we determine the meaning of words, sentences, and paragraphs in the Bible?  Does the Bible have a "personalized meaning" for each of us?  These are some of the questions Becky and Kerry discuss in this episode, which unpacks three important principles for reading and interpreting G...

In this episode, Kerry and Becky talk about motivation for studying the scriptures.  They discuss three wrong motives and three right motives for studying God's word.  Before we develop skills for reading and studying the Bible, we need to work through our motivation for studying this precious book.

In this episode, Kerry asks for his listeners' help to shed light on this question: "Is submitting to someone the same thing as accepting the authority of that person?"  This question arose after looking at several passages in 1 Peter that speak of accepting the authority of the government (1 Peter2: 13), masters (2:18), husbands (3:1,5), and elders (5:5).   At stake here, is the wa...

Sunday services can reach new people, people who look to the church to help them solve their problems and answer their deepest questions.  In this episode, Becky and Kerry discuss a few suggestions on what churches can do to give attention to the message, guest services, and the children's ministry.  This is the seventh and last episode in the series, "Reach New People."

Part Six in this series, "Reach New People," is about how churches can use their church's Facebook page and Facebook Live to connect to outsiders.  Kerry and Becky offer several practical tips on how to make the most of social media and the technology of the day.  Podcast #113 will be the last in this series and will be about how churches may use their weekend services to reach new...

What can churches do to reach new people using the digital tools of the age?  Kerry and Becky offer three suggestions in this episode for extending a church's reach digitally.  As an example, did you know that 74% of the people in this country use Facebook every day?  Every day!  How can churches use Facebook and other social media platforms for outreach?   We think you will appreciate some o...

Becky and Kerry discuss the need for followers of Jesus to build relationships with those who don't yet know Jesus in this episode.  In Part Four of their series on what churches can do to reach new people, they discuss the process by which strangers become neighbors, neighbors become acquaintances, acquaintances become friends, friends become family, and family members becomes missionaries o...

In Part Three of their series on what churches can do to reach new people, Kerry and Becky discuss the need for churches to identify and love their mission field.  We want to reach every one with the gospel of Jesus, but trying to reach "everyone" often results in reaching no one.  After identifying specific groups churches may identify as those they want to reach, Kerry and Becky mentio...

In this episode, Part Two in their series on what churches can do to reach new people, Kerry and Becky go back to the scriptures and talk about the missionary fervor of the early Christians.  Not only were they zealous to share the gospel of Jesus, but they were also a prayerful people.  Two things we can do, then, to renew our passion for the lost is to become devoted to prayer--to lean on the po...

What can churches do to reach new people?  In this episode, Kerry and Becky go to scripture and back to the basics for answers to this question.  Could outreach be as simple as loving one another as Jesus has loved us?  Could it be as simple as having a dogged resolve to pursue unity in God's church?  In this episode, Becky and Kerry argue that doing these things, obeying the plain commands o...

Why do sincere and capable Bible students disagree on what the Bible teaches?  Why don't we all understand the Bible alike?  After discussing three possible reasons, Becky and Kerry focus on one of the primary reasons: we all read the Bible in our own cultural context.  We have been influenced by our culture to read and understand the Bible in certain ways.  The question is not whether we wil...

 Many Christians interpret some commands, like 1 Corinthians 11:6 and 1 Timothy 2:9 as situation-specific, while interpreting others, like 1 Corinthians 14:34 and 1 Timothy 2:12 as timeless.  There may be good reasons for understanding some of the commands in the epistles as timeless and others as situation-specific.  However, this episode encourages Christians to take seriously the situational an...

Our custom may be to interpret scripture as timeless and universal.  We may tend to read the New Testament letters, for example, as containing specific commands and prohibitions that have direct application for all people in all ages.  But should we?  Since the  letters are occasional or situation-specific documents, written to address specific problems in certain first-century churches, should we...

In this episode, we discuss the occasional, situational nature of the New Testament letters.  What does this mean for Bible students today?  What difference does it make for how we apply scripture?  Calling all those who want to learn how to better understand and apply the sacred writings to think about and reflect on the content in this episode!

In this episode, Kerry and Becky discuss one of the first and most basic rules of Bible study: Observe to whom a passage is spoken.  Before interpreting and applying scripture, we must determine whether a passage was spoken to us or to others.  Why is this so important?  Because ignoring the distinction that the Bible was not written to us, but for us, can easily lead to the misinterpretation and...

What can a church leader who is tired, bored, and maybe even, depressed do to make a fresh start?  To renew his or her passion for ministry?  Kerry and Becky discuss five suggestions for making a new start in ministry.

What are some of the most common threats to small churches?  In this episode, Kerry and Becky identify five hazards that small churches often face and offer a few suggestions on how they can be overcome.  Interim Ministry Partners has reported that 91% of all Church of Christ attendees belong to churches of less than 250 members.  Further, 55% of Church of Christ congregations have an average atte...

What can church leaders do to cast a vision for their church?  In this episode, Kerry and Becky talk about the importance of a vision and some suggested steps for casting a church's desired future.  You'll want to hear this podcast as you prepare for a brand, new year!