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Article

Cut Your ‘Needs’ Idol Down to Size

Ed Welch

When your "need" for love from others is unmet, take that hurt to Jesus in repentance.
Podcast Episode

Starting a Residency

New Churches Podcast Episode 632

Episode 632: Church-based residencies are a growing trend in ministerial and church planter training. Co-hosts Ed Stetzer and Dhati Lewis discuss the complexities and simplicities of such programs and offer some valuable insight on how churches both large and small...
Article

How to Be Present in an Absent World

Daniel Montgomery

You’re a church planter, frantically trying to get your church started. You’re doing it in a pressure cooker from a time standpoint because you’ve only got so much external resources, money that’s going to run out. On top of that,...
Podcast Episode

3 Reasons Church Plants Fail

New Churches Podcast Episode 631

Episode 631: What three main factors cause church plants to fail? Co-Hosts Clint Clifton and Todd Adkins discuss the role of isolation, conflict among team members and lack of self-awareness in the “slow-motion car crash” of church plant failure. In...
Article

7 Advantages of Non-Profit Planting

Brad Brisco

What if one church-planting path actually offered distinct advantages over traditional and bivo/covo means?
Podcast Episode

Church Plants Multiplying Early

New Churches Podcast Episode 630

Episode 630: When should a church plant set its sights on planting a daughter church?  Co-hosts Ed Stetzer and Dhati Lewis discuss the problems of planting too early and the importance of “planting pregnant.” In This Episode, You’ll Discover: When...
Podcast Episode

Why is Church Planting So Hard?

New Churches Podcast Episode 629

Episode 629: What two things can we do to encourage more bivo/covo church planting – and what are the relational, financial and missiological benefits? Host Ed Stetzer and Brad Brisco, NAMB’s director of bivocational church planting, discuss bivo/covo church planting...
Article

11 New Year’s Resolutions for Church Planting Families

Annie B. Garman

Are you approaching this new year with optimism, cynicism or a little of both? It can be easy at New Year’s to get discouraged by our weakness, our lack of performance the previous year, our lack of spiritual discipline, our...
Article

The Love Imbalance We Seek

Ed Welch

How can we love people more than we want to be loved by them? At its heart, this is an issue of worship.
Article

Church Planter Postpartum Depression?

Clint Clifton

I’ve noticed a sort of “postpartum depression” in church planters after the birth of their new church, between the second and fourth years of their planting journey. It happened to me too – and it nearly caused me to give...
Article

Church Planters and the Fear of Man

Ed Welch

Who has to deal with the fear of man more? A salesman who is dependent on cold calls every day or a church planter? How do planters get the approval of those around them to win them to a church plant? That’s an issue of the fear of man.
Article

Why Your Ministry Needs to Multiply

Matt Dirks

You have a big bucket of water and 20 small-mouth bottles 20 feet from you. What's the best way to fill the bottles?
Podcast Episode

How Not to be a Jerk

New Churches Podcast Episode 628

Episode 628: What are some traits of domineering leaders and how can you recognize them in your own life? Host Clint Clifton and Todd Adkins, LifeWay’s director of leadership development, discuss healthy work relationships and how to guard against patterns...
Article

3 Reflections of a Hard-Headed Church Planter

Mike Godfrey

Though God’s grace has been shown in my life and in the church I serve, I wish I’d remembered the old adage: “God gave you two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you talk.”
Podcast Episode

How Does Funding Work for Church Planting?

New Churches Podcast Episode 627

In This Episode, You’ll Discover: The three categories of church planters The process for developing the financial resources to plant a church Why denominational funding for church planting comes with strings attached What is a church planting “side hustle” and...
Podcast Episode

How Do I Get Started in Church Planting?

New Churches Podcast Episode 626

In This Episode, You’ll Discover: Three components of calling to plant a church – and why a call from God is crucial How “an overweight musician with facial hair” decided to plant a church at Marine Corps headquarters How to...
Article

3 Dangers of Indecisiveness

Colby Garman

Leaders make decisions; good leaders make them in time. If you are going to lead well, you must couple your desire to be faithful with a willingness to decide.  
Podcast Episode

What is a Church Planting Movement?

New Churches Podcast Episode 625

Episode 625: Host Ed Stetzer and Brad Brisco, NAMB’s director of bivocational church planting, discuss church planting movements and why “church multiplication movement” may be a better goal for church planting in North America. How is that defined? What thinking...