Plant Better
Religion & Spirituality
Plant Better is a podcast dedicated to helping church planters launch and lead Gospel-centered and life-giving churches. James and Kenny interview church planters about specific topics directly related to church planting. From fundraising and preaching to productivity hacks and volunteer recruitment, Plant Better covers it all. Whether you're planting on your own or you're a part of a church planting network (like Acts 29, ARC, Calvary Chapel, or Sovereign Grace), you'll get fresh perspective and incredible wisdom from the guests featured on this show.
Location:
Orlando, FL
Description:
Plant Better is a podcast dedicated to helping church planters launch and lead Gospel-centered and life-giving churches. James and Kenny interview church planters about specific topics directly related to church planting. From fundraising and preaching to productivity hacks and volunteer recruitment, Plant Better covers it all. Whether you're planting on your own or you're a part of a church planting network (like Acts 29, ARC, Calvary Chapel, or Sovereign Grace), you'll get fresh perspective and incredible wisdom from the guests featured on this show.
Twitter:
@plant_better
Language:
English
Email:
james@sweetfishmedia.com
Episodes
45: Developing Leaders Throughout the Church w/ Hunter Beaumont
5/26/2016
For most pastors, growth is more steady than explosive, and your preaching is good, but not podcastable. But even if you don’t have those things, your ministry can still have a lot of life if you will lean into developing leaders.
Your leadership development plan should roll off your brain as clearly as your next sermon series.
In this episode Hunter Beaumont, Lead Pastor of Fellowship Denver, shares his thoughts on why leadership development should be right up with church planters’ other...
Duration:00:23:17
44: Why Addressing the Needs of the Poor Is Not Enough w/ Mike McKinley
5/9/2016
Most upper/middle-class Americans are living their lives to avoid having to interact with poor people who don’t speak their language.
Christians too are apathetic, and even when they try to take the parable of the Good Samaritan seriously, they often go about things in ways that aren’t helpful.
In this episode, author Mike McKinley talks about his newest book, Church in Hard Places, and why the church needs to do more than ladle soup.
Other books by Mike McKinley:
Church Planting Is for...
Duration:00:13:44
43: How to Plant a Church Instead of a Service
5/2/2016
Austin Stone has some unique leadership structures in
place.
They emphasize plurality of
leadership, having both a Lead Pastor and a Pastor of Preaching.
Kevin Peck is that lead pastor and our guest today.
Listen in as Kevin discusses how
The Austin Stone is relentlessly focused on making disciples, and
how everything they choose to do in the church trickles down from
that.
Duration:00:15:09
42: A Brief Guide to Social Media for Church Planters w/ Joe Peña
4/21/2016
There’s a world of opportunity to build a brand on various social media—why shouldn’t churches take advantage?
Listen in as Joe Peña from Relentless Church in Las Vegas shares the success his church has found in a single year by taking advantage of community hashtags, Facebook ad tools, Periscope, and more.
Duration:00:19:12
41: How to Inject Gospel-Centric Culture in 3 Areas of Your Church w/ Brad Andrews
4/18/2016
The gospel is everything: saving, sanctifying, and carrying our entire ministries. It’s non-negotiable, really, when it comes to church planting priorities.
But how to make sure it’s at the center of your church?
That’s the topic of discussion today with Brad Andrews, Pastor of Preaching and Vision at Mercyview in Tulsa.
Duration:00:17:40
40: 3 Weekly Priorities of a Church Planter w/ Ryan Prater
4/14/2016
It’s always helpful to clearly schedule the most important things in your week.
For pastors, this means asking yourself how much time you’ll devote to sermon prep, leadership development, and the vision of your church.
Ryan Prater from Cross Community Church in Katy, TX shared how he divides his own week in those three areas. His schedule will help you think through yours.
Duration:00:23:23
39: The Value of Patience and Priorities in Church Planting w/ Aaron Stern
4/11/2016
When church planters have more dreams than money, how should they respond?
Aaron Stern, Lead Pastor of Mill City Church in Fort Collins, CO, gave us two answers: patience and priorities. Hear what patience looks like even in the face of pressing needs, and how faith is sometimes simply waiting.
(The book Aaron forgot the title of was Essentialism by Greg McKeown.)
Duration:00:17:58
38: Finding the Potential in Ministry Gaps w/ Jason Parrish
4/7/2016
A plant team delivering 20,000 door hangers by hand because finances were low… A new church running its services out of a club…
Jason Parrish from The Well in Salt Lake City has seen a lot of deficiencies in ministry turned into blessings.
Hear why Jason defines ministry GAPs as “Glorious Amounts of Potential.”
Duration:00:13:27
37: How to Delegate Without Dumping w/ Kevin Campbell
4/4/2016
It’s one thing to give someone a responsibility at your church, and another to equip them to do it.
Hear how Kevin Campbell and the other pastors at Elevate Church in San Diego use a unique volunteer system to raise up a “dream team” of servants.
Duration:00:22:04
36: Inside the Acts 29 Assessment Process w/ Brad Borowski
3/31/2016
Brad Borowski has been lead pastor of D3 Church in Winnemucca, NV for a year and a half, but the church officially joined the Acts 29 network only within the last few weeks of this recording.
Listen in to hear Brad talk about what that long A29 assessment process was like—and why his church wouldn’t have made it without help from larger organizations.
Duration:00:15:27
35: How to Make Your Church Website Awesome w/ Brady Shearer
3/28/2016
About 46% of people will discredit a website (and thus an organization) if the design of the website is poor (per Stanford Technology Lab).
If that’s the case, your church’s website needs to count.
Brady Shearer, who runs the Pro Church Podcast, joins the guys to talk about church website design (including the one cardinal sin every church site seems to be guilty of).
Duration:00:21:13
34: Underestimating the Spiritual Side of Church Planting w/ Aaron Jayne
3/24/2016
At the end of the day, the goal of a church is to bring people into relationship with God. If we’re just trying to build a crowd or bolster ourselves, we’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
In this episode, James and Kenny talk with Aaron Jayne, Pastor of Coastline Church in Carlsbad, CA. Aaron’s passionate about not missing the spiritual side of church planting, and he shared how uses fasting and prayer to that end.
Duration:00:15:22
33: Where Should Prayer Fit Into Your Church Planting Schedule? w/ Josh Bueno
3/21/2016
It’s easy for church planters to give their time to people who want to join their church—but it’s often so much harder to give that same time to God in prayer.
This episode’s guest is Josh Bueno from Winners Church in Sacramento. Hear Josh chronicle his prayer life and explain why God’s response to prayer is a lot like a phenomenon that farmers see every day.
Duration:00:18:39
32: How to Guide People to Get Involved at Your Church w/ Shaun Nepstad
3/17/2016
If the people at your church aren’t invested, they could care less whether it grows and flourishes.
The question then is, How do make a clear path for them to get involved?
Today’s guest is Shaun Nepstad, Founding Pastor of The Fellowship Church in Antioch, CA. In this episode, he tells the story of how his churched surged from survival to true growth.
Duration:00:22:00
31: The Damaging Effects of Planting “Cookie Cutter” Churches w/ Brandon Washington
3/14/2016
Almost immediately after moving to Denver, Brandon Washington realized that a church that would thrive in Dallas—his former home—would not survive in his new city.
Gentrification, multiple cultures, and a specific history are only some of the ways in which communities can be unique from another.
In planting The Embassy Church, Brandon learned to navigate the uniqueness of his church’s community.
Duration:00:17:39
30: 3 Online Strategies to Recruit Your Launch Team w/ Danny Schulz
3/10/2016
One of a church planter’s nightmares is getting to the day of launch and doing everything themselves.
To avoid that nightmare, you need a team. And to build a team, you can use everyone’s favorite source of anything—the Internet.
Listen in to hear Danny Schulz from Sun City Church in Spokane Valley, WA share the three most effective online strategies he used to recruit a launch team.
Duration:00:14:00
29: Everything You Need to Know About Church Staff Hiring w/ Jim Essian
3/7/2016
One of the biggest mistakes in church planting is hiring any warm body just because you need help.
Instead, you want a hiring process where the best fit gets the job.
In this episode you’ll hear Jim Essian, lead pastor at The Paradox Church in downtown Ft. Worth, tell you the first role you should hire and explain whether or not you should hire within your church.
Duration:00:20:20
28: How to Grow Beyond 200 Regular Attenders w/ Michael Lukaszewski
3/3/2016
Up until about his church has about 200 attenders, a pastor can power through with passion or talent. But if he wants to grow beyond that, he’s going to need some help.
In this episode, Michael Lukaszewski, Founder and CEO of Church Fuel, shares some practical tips for numerical church growth . . . and gives a bold message to those who say church numbers don’t matter.
Duration:00:23:29
27: A Lesson in Jealousy From Matt Chandler's Roommate
2/29/2016
Dr. Steve Bezner, Senior Pastor at Houston Northwest Church, was Matt Chandler’s college roommate—so he’s qualified to talk about dealing with envy.
Steve recently wrote an article on the subject, but in this episode you’ll hear his story straight from the mouth: how he bought into his own hype, felt the cancer of jealousy grow, and eventually, by God’s grace, came to understand that Jesus is enough, period.
Duration:00:20:29
26: 3 Major Obstacles That Church Planters Face
2/25/2016
Overcoming the odds is something church planters do daily—especially in a town like Los Angeles.
In today’s episode, Casey Bombacie talks about overcoming the American siren song, figuring out if church planting is your promised land, and learning what true blessing is.
Duration:00:14:19