In June of 2018 Jonny and I had a conversation with Brandon Patterson, who was then the Pastor at the church in Plains, GA attended by a well known former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter.

Brandon was newly married and 24 years old at the time, and while talk of pastoring a presidential family was interesting, the HEART of this small church pastor was palpable. 

With the death of President Carter this week, I asked Brandon for permission to re-release this almost six-year-old episode - and he was gracious to grant it. There's a TON of encouragement in here, and yet it also gives a glimpse into the priorities of a man who once was president.

After more than one year... here is a new episode! So I took a little time off...

This is a short one with the intention of more to come!

What a blast to use my podcast to introduce Rick Warren to a church planter who hasn't even launched his first public service yet!

Willie Johnson is with REDEFINE CHURCH in St. Louis MO. Rick's project these days is FinishingTheTask.com.

I asked Rick to coach Willie, from his perspective as a church planter who has handed off his church to the next guy - with Willie and his team yet to launch their very first service.

Willie would never ask this, so let me ask this for him - would you like to bless this new church plant?! Why not give them a one-time, or recurring gift as they get started? I love promoting what others are doing! Full disclosure - my church is forming a partnership and has sent thousands of dollars to Redefine Church, and I welcome you, if God so leads, to bless them also. They are a church plant with the Christian & Missionary Alliance!

Enjoy this church planting coaching session!

Greg Atkinson was on the 200churches Podcast 10 years ago! Way back in July of 2013 he joined us, when we were only six months old as a podcast - and now, ten years later he is back for the fourth or fifth time - with a great episode about something so fundamental to our Christian life, that we almost miss it: KINDNESS.

Check out Greg's book: The Secret Power of Kindness - 10 Keys to Unlocking Your Capacity to Change the World.

Check out Greg at GregAtkinson.com where you can find his other resources including coaching and consulting, his First Impressions Conference info, and more!

Thanks for helping us encourage so many pastors Greg!

Jeff talks with Sam Rainer, Pastor of West Bradenton Baptist Church in Florida, the President of Church Answers, and the author of the new book - The Surprising Return of the Neighborhood Church.

Sam is a great example of a 200church pastor who refuses to imagine a limit on his impact based on the size of his church. This is an encouraging conversation! Sam and his father Thom are co-hosts of the Rainer On Leadership Podcast - check it out. Their podcast is also on YouTube.

Thom Rainer is the co-host with his son Sam of the Rainer On Leadership Podcast, and the founder of ChurchAnswers.com and ChurchAnswers.University.

Thom is a research guy and a data guy and has studied the church for many years. He has written many books which you can see listed HERE. Thom and Jeff spoke about Thom's book, Pray and Go, which releases in June 2023, and about ChatGPT and pastors, and Thom's ministry membership site, Church Answers.

We talked about the HopeInitiative.com which helps church leaders change the culture of their church to reflect the heart of God for lost people.

For information about Church Answers University and questions about potential partial scholarships, contact matt@churchanswers.com

Robby Angle is the CEO of Trueface.org and joins Jeff today to talk about what he and his team are doing with Trueface, about his life and background, and about how Trueface is resourcing churches with training in best practices for discipleship.

As Jeff said on the podcast, Trueface.org is offering some great training for you and your small group leadership, so you should definitely check it out!

Check out Robby's new book - The Cure For Groups - How to lead a small group people will talk about the rest of their lives!

And check out these other Trueface-related episodes:

Episode 61 with John Lynch - How Not To Impress God As A Pastor

Episode 64 with John Lynch - The Pastor's Secret To Breaking Sin's Power

Episode 304 with John Lynch - A Truckload of Pastoral Encouragement and Hope

Episode 239 with Steve Mason -  What Authors and Small Church Pastors Dream of - A Story of Radical Life Change

Pastor Tony is the pastor of Nicholasville United Methodist Church in Nicholasville Kentucky. You are in for a real treat with a humble, godly, 200church pastor from Kentucky. Enjoy!

Check out Tony' book, Jesus, The Four Gospels in Politics HERE!

David Wentz was a pastor for 38 years, originally an Engineer by vocation, and now an author and equipper of pastors around the world. Lots of kids and grandkids (I've forgotten how many!)

David and I speak for a bit about the revival at Asbury, and revivals in general - quite interesting to me. But we talk mostly about the ability of the church to thrive outside of a building - meeting with God in living rooms.

You can check out David's books here!

A HELLO Video from David is here

And His Website is HERE!

She's still writing the 1 Peter volume of the New International Commentary on the New Testament. She is on the NIV Translation Team. She has written three commentaries on Matthew and one on Philippians, as well as a book called Scripture As Communication, a book on biblical hermeneutics.

We talk about 1 Peter's content, but also what happens from the time you get the assignment to write a commentary on a book of the Bible, until it's actually published and on the shelf!

Check out Jeannine's books here.

Check out the Stetzer Church Leaders Podcast with Karl Vaters HERE!

On the eve of Saddleback's ouster from the Southern Baptist Convention, Rick Warren marched through a long conversation with me and Jonny. Rick talks about that in this episode. It's obvious he's not happy about it, but as always he remains gracious.

Undaunted by rejection, Rick is focused on his new calling, as the leader of FTT, Finishing The Task. He is pushing ahead to see what we in the Christian and Missionary Alliance call Great Commission Completion!

Rick recently finished his pastoral ministry of 43 years at Saddleback.  I (Jeff) was at his conference in 1997, when I was 34 and he was 43.  At that time Saddleback was 17 years old and 13,000 in attendance. They would more than double in the next 25 years.

You can find everything Rick is up to, with all the links, at PastorRick.com!

Rick is a teacher, coach, and adviser of pastors - you will get A LOT out of this episode! Enjoy!

Steve Dewitt is a husband, and father of two daughters, an author, pastor, and Christian leader. This is a conversation about his most recent book, and so much more! You're going to like Steve!

Check out a lot (not everything!) of what Steve is up to below...

Steve's Radio/Podcast Ministry: The Journey

Bethel Church where Steve is Lead Pastor

Steve's First Book: Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in everything

Steve's Second Book: Enjoying God In Everything - A Guide to Maximizing Life's Pleasures

Steve's Gospel Coalition articles

Jim Cymbala for 50 years had pastored the Brooklyn Tabernacle in Brooklyn - New York City. He joined Jeff to talk about his approach to ministry, his latest book, his experience through COVID, and him opinions on ministry culture, church growth, sermon prep, and so much more!

Jim has produced TheCallingSeries.org for pastors and church leaders - a group of 30 YouTube video lessons on the calling to pastoral ministry. You can access them for FREE - THIRTY 10-12 minute video lessons to encourage and develop your calling to serve.

Check out his book, Fan the Flame: Let Jesus Renew Your Calling and Revive Your Church - just released in September 2022.

Todd Rhoades has been in the "Connecting Staff to Churches" business since the dawn of the New Millennium, the year 2000! He recently spent 10 years on the team at the Leadership Network, and almost four years ago co-founded ChemistryStaffing.com with Matt Steen.

Todd has been neck deep in ministry practice, theory, and leadership for a long time. I've seen him on websites and emails for years and have FINALLY had the opportunity to sit down with him for an hour-long conversation, which I share with you today on Episode 413! Enjoy!

If you are sensing God's call to a new ministry, or if you need to call a new staff member and need help in the search, contact Todd or Matt at Chemistry Staffing!

Roger Parrott is the President of Belhaven University in Jackson Mississippi. He has written a book unlike any book I've ever seen on leadership - it's called Opportunity Leadership - Stop Planning and Start Getting Results.

Roger told me "getting rid of planning is the single best leadership decision I ever made!" I spoke with Dr. Parrott about his university, where he has served for decades, about his family, and about his perspective on leadership.

He has a phenomenal 5-part video series called "The Real Cost of College" which would be helpful to you if you are planning on sending a kid to college this year.

Thanks again to Marc for  what he's doing to help pastors of small churches! Here’s some links for the show notes:

Small Church Media Website: https://smallchurch.media/

Link to “Podcasting for Churches” series: https://smallchurch.media/podcasting-for-churches/

Real Talk Christian Podcast Website: https://realtalkchristianpodcast.com/

If you want to hear more about Marc's story, you can listen at the link below. Marc wanted you to know this is a new age podcast, and he doesn't push it a whole lot but it was a great platform to share his story and how Jesus was all over it: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lKMaYPG7SbdlnIn4AuxCm?si=91d10acaf0c04657 

This is a supremely practical episode as Dave Jacobs, from SmallChurchPastor.com, and I talk about leadership team meetings, and how to make them both enjoyable and productive. We cover a ton of ground in this episode!

You will hear a number of things that connect with your experience and give you some ways to improve how you are planning and leading meetings in your ministry.

Dave is offering at the start of 2023 - to all of our listeners - four FREE 45 minute coaching sessions, so that you can test drive his expertise in pastoral coaching, with no cost to you.

I want to urge you to consider asking your board to support you in one coaching call per month with Dave Jacobs.  And... I explain that in this episode. Pastors need help and support now more than ever, and with 15 years of experience coaching pastors, Dave provides quite the ministry of support to, especially, small church pastors.

You will ENJOY this episode - and it's our gift to you!

Kurt Trempert from HarvestDowntown.org in Colorado Springs joins Jeff today for Episode 409. Kurt's book, Kaleidoscope - Keeping the Church from becoming a Museum, was released in 2017, and while they talk about the message of the book, they also talk all things church ministry.

Kind of a part one to this episode would be Weekend Edition 34 of the Coaching For Pastor's podcast, Jeff's other podcast for pastors. You can google it and find it easily. On that podcast they don't talk about Kurt's book, but about pastoral life and ministry - all different content that's really interesting and challenging. Kurt's been in his church for 23 years and they talk on that Weekend Edition episode about longevity in ministry.

CLICK HERE for Kurt's book on Amazon

CLICK HERE to see Kurt's church website

Bruce and Toni Hebel join Jeff to talk about their teaching on Forgiving Forward. They counsel, consult, and coach with individuals, leaders, pastoral couples, and many more every week of the year.

What does it look like to actually forgive? What does forgiveness mean? How about repentance? Reconciliation? Healing? The impact on mental health?

Bruce and Toni talk through the full monty! You'll learn a LOT from this episode!

Forgiving Forward Website

Forgiving Forward Book

Forgiving Forward Resources

Jeff talks with Doug Parks, CEO of IntentionalChurches.com.  Doug tells a little of his own story, and how God led him to what he is currently doing, and how he helped start Intentional Churches.

ChurchOS is a theologically and biblically based Operational Plan for your church. Doug and his team helps churches every week and whether you retain them or not for your church, their links below will provide you with much inspiration, instruction, and encouragement in your role as a pastor.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/intentional-churches-podcast/id1538669562

https://intentionalchurches.com/book-resources-download/

https://www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches

Jeff talked with John Finkelde, founder of GrowAHealthyChurch.com in Perth, Australia about the qualities of a pastor who is emotionally healthy, unhurried, and at peace... among other things.

This is a short, quick, effective episode that will give you some fodder for ministry thoughts and initiatives, plus some healthy encouragement.

Enjoy!

Dave Ronan Ph.D. is an expert in Intercultural Studies, a pastor, a missionary, a professor, a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, and one who has trained Foreign Military Advisors, State Department personnel, and so much more. 

Dave is currently a pastor of a Kanto Plains Baptist Church near an Air Force base in Toyko, Japan with a congregation half Japanese people and half U.S. military personnel.

Dave is an amazing leader and will encourage you with his heart, and his insight into leadership - enjoy!

David Wilson serves as the Executive Pastor at Harvest Downtown in Colorado Springs CO. He has served in para-church organizations that brought him into close proximity with prominent evangelical leaders who wielded political influence nationally. He helped them organize and fundraise. He served with them personally. But today he is more convinced than ever that the local church is God's Gospel messenger to reach lost people.

This is David's story, about his move to full time pastoral ministry, his experience with chronic disease, and his current ministry mobilizing volunteers for discipleship and ministry.

This is an unedited conversation between Jeff and David in the front seat of Jeff's mobile studio - the 200churchesmobile!

Enjoy!

This conversation Jonny and I had with that Jonny and I had with Christena Cleveland was eye opening and enlightening. It helped us to see the world from another person's perspective.

Before Tamir Rice, George Floyd, and so many others - we had this conversation with Christena. We know you'll be encouraged and learn...

Christena's book - DisUnity In Christ - Uncovering the hidden forces that keep us apart...  is HERE.

Paul and Peggy Schlieker are lay people who have never let that status keep them from committed service and ministry for Jesus! They are disciples who make disciples in their church and community, and they challenge and empower regular people toward the highest levels of commitment and calling for Christ.

Paul shares his discipleship philosophy, and believe me, any pastor who listens will be challenged by the depth of thought and strategy that the Schliekers have put into their approach to raising up followers of Jesus.

They have provided FREE resources for you at 200churches.com/402. They are ebooks from their four volume discipleship series titled "Open Your Heart". Books 1, 3, & 4 are free downloads, and there is a link to Book 2 for purchase on Amazon.

You're going to love Paul's style - a financial services guy with a heart for ministry, and the sweat equity to match it... Enjoy!