Church Leadership Radar - May 21, 2026

Thursday's radar covers three stories worth your attention today:

SBC Abuse Prevention Leader Calls for Cross-Denominational Collaboration — Jeff Dalrymple, chair of the SBC's Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force, is urging churches to work together ahead of the Annual Meeting in Orlando. Whether or not you're Southern Baptist, this signals a broader shift in how accountability structures are being built across the church.

Can Virality Create Revival? — A Gen Z evangelist with a massive social media following is asking the honest question: does reach produce lasting transformation, or just audiences? Many church leaders are starting to sit with this same reckoning about their own platforms.

King Josiah and the Question Leaders Need to Hear — A brief reflection on one of the greatest leaders in Jewish history circles around a single question: Are you still leading the way you started?

Bright Spot: Two new "Sensational Church" congregations — designed for neuro-diverse children and their families — have launched in Australia and South Africa, just six months after the founding congregation's first service. Forty to fifty percent of attenders are families who had never been to church before.

---

Subscribe to the Church Leadership Radar newsletter for daily leadership intelligence delivered to your inbox.

Also check out the Healthy Church Staff Podcast with Todd Rhoades.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

You're listening to the daily church leadership radar. Hey, it's Ted Rhodes, Todd's AI twin brother. Todd hasn't had his Dr. Pepper yet, and I run on Pure Electricity. So here we are. It's Thursday, May 21st, and this is Church Leadership Radar. Your daily catch up on what matters in church leadership. Here's what's happening today: the Southern Baptist Convention's abuse prevention leader calling on every church to work together. Ahead of a big meeting in Orlando, a Gen Zier evangelist asking what might be the most important ministry question of 2026. And a short reflection that might stop you in your tracks before your first meeting. Lots going on. Let's get to it. Jeff Dowrenpole, Chair of the Southern Baptist Convention's Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force, is making the rounds with one clear message. Churches cannot tackle the problem of sexual abuse in isolation. With the SBC annual meeting in Orlando just six weeks away, he's calling for broader collaboration, a Utah across denominational lines to make prevention structures actually function the way they should. Here's the thing whether or not you're Southern Baptist, this is worth your attention, when a national denominational leader stands up and says we can't do this alone, it signals a real shift in how accountability is being designed across the broader church. The structures leaders are building right now or not building will matter for years to come. Here's what I'm watching. Orlando in June is shaping up to be a significant moment for abuse accountability conversations beyond just one denomination. If you track the SBC or if you have staff or board members who do, this is a good week to start paying attention. Now, here's a question worth carrying into your day. A Gen Z er evangelist who built a massive social media affair following is now asking this publicly. Can virality actually create revival or does it just create audiences? Now listen, that is not a throwaway question. He went viral. He has the reach, and now he's sitting honestly with whether any of it is producing lasting transformation or just engagement. Here's why that matters. You don't need to know his name for this to land. A lot of churches have poured real time, real money, and real creative energy into platform building over the last several years, and the honest reckoning, one more and more leaders are starting to voice, is whether the fruit is actually matching the following. It's worth sitting with, and this one's not news, and instead, it's better than news. A brief reflection dropped this morning on King Josiah, one of the greatest leaders in all of Jewish history, whose story ends with a sobering, cautionary note. The whole piece circles around one question. Are you still leading the way you started? Let me say that again. Are you still leading the way you started? Three minutes worth every single one of them. All right. Some good news. Two new sensational church congregations designed specifically for neurodiverse children and their families have launched one in Australia and one in South Africa just six months after the founding congregation held its very first service. Here's what I love about this. Forty to fifty percent of attenders are families who had never been to church before because traditional church simply didn't work for them. It started with one pastor's personal journey raising a son with autism and ADHD. Six months later, two continents. That's not a program, that's a calling. So what's the takeaway from all this? I keep coming back to that question about virality and revival. Here's the thing we live in a season when reach has never been easier to acquire. A well-crafted post can land your church in front of thousands of new people overnight. And that's genuinely remarkable. But reach is not the same as root. An audience is not the same as a disciple. The leaders I respect most right now are the ones asking that question honestly, not defensively, not cynically. We built the platform. Now what? Is the fruit matching the following? Here's what I'd invite you to sit with today. Think about one area in your ministry where you've invested in visibility and ask whether you've invested equally in depth, not instead of reach. Alongside it. Because the church that reaches far and roots deep, that's the one worth building. I'm Ted Rhodes, and for Todd today, off to report back to that guy. I hear there's a Dr. Pepper involved. Until next time, go lead well today.