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We all want people who come to our church to be welcomed and cared for. In this episode, we share with you nine easy and practical things your church can do to help ensure a welcoming experience. Welcome to episode 215 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the nine things we discuss in this episode: Use umbrellas when it rains Don't use a doorstop Always have parkers in the parking lot Make the connect area obvious Use lanyards Make the coffee area accessible Keep your facility clean Make how to give obvious Acknowledge new guests every Sunday CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare a sermon, and after preaching it, it's done with. But it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, we share with you seven ways to get more out of the sermon beyond your weekend service. Welcome to episode 214 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the seven things you can do to get more mileage out of your sermon that we discuss: Sermon clip Bottom line graphic Instagram Story quiz Blog post about a sermon point or verse Weekly email devotional focusing on a key concept of the sermon Sermon based small groups Storing your sermons for future reference Connect and never miss an episode: Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

In order to plant a healthy church, you need a community of people who will join into the mission of the church. But there are things we can do that will make it unlikely for people to do that. In this episode, we share six reasons people won't join your launch team (and what you can do about it). Welcome to episode 213 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the six reasons we discuss in this episode: You have no launch plan You don't preemptively answer questions You have no outside authority You aren't clear on what it means to join the team You aren't sure where in your community the church will be You can't articulate why you are planting this church CONNECT AND NEVER MISS AN EPISODE Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

As pastors and ministry leaders, we are involved in all sorts of varying decisions, tasks, and problems. It can be easy for people and things to fall through the cracks, but it doesn't have to be that way. In this episode, we share with you six things you can do to ensure people and tasks don't fall through the cracks. Welcome to episode 212 of Practical Church Planting. You can listen to this episode below, or subscribe to the podcast and get our episodes delivered right to you.   Here are the six things we discuss that you can do: Create a system to handle all email Put due dates on all your tasks Create a system of quickly tracking though and requests keep all tasks in one place Schedule out your entire day Use a shutdown routine everyday Connect and never miss an episode Did you know that you can also subscribe to the podcast version of Practical Church Planting? Subscribe for free and never miss an episode! Appreciate the podcast? Please leave a rating and review, and even share it to help spread the word! Here’s where you can subscribe: Apple Podcasts Google Play Spotify Stitcher Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

The financial health of your church plays a big role in carrying out your mission. The good news is that money doesn't have to be a taboo subject for your church. In this episode, we share seven ways to build a culture of generosity at your church. Welcome to welcome to episode 211 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the 7 things we discuss: You have to talk about giving You have to (personally) be generous Share quick stories of the impact your church has made Mention giving every week Make it easy and obvious for people to give Proactively keep your church updated on big picture financials Emphasize this is their church Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We all know what it's like to spend hours preparing a sermon only to see people disengaged and not paying attention while we are preaching it. In this episode, we share 7 things you can do to keep people better engaged during your sermon. Welcome to welcome to episode 210 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the 7 tips we discuss: Start with a story Practice out loud beforehand One point per slide Preach as if there are non-believers in the room 35 minutes or less Include others in the sermon writing process Include at least 2-3 stories or illustrations Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We all know the frustration of planning, preparing, and working towards our various church events only to have a much lower turnout than expected. The good news is that there are practical things you can do to keep your church calendar in front of your people. In this episode, we share with you eight of those things. Welcome to welcome to episode 209 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the eight things we discuss in this episode: Weekly newsletter Addevent.com Bathroom graphic Next steps Personal social media Pre/post slides Text in church Website homepage Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

While creating a great livestream experience can require money and expertise, there are a few free things you can do to increase your quality. In this episode, we share with you seven  free tips for doing just that. Welcome to welcome to episode 208 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the seven things we discuss in this episode: Mark where you singers/preacher will stand Don't show the whole stage Place your camera at eye love with the people on stage Limit how many places you stream to Avoid showing seats/people Don't show the auditorium pre-service Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

As we end 2020, we are making predictions on what Church in 2021 will be like. From what type of churches will grow in 2021 to what will look different.  Welcome to welcome to episode 207 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the seven 2021 church predictions we share in this episode: Many churches will almost get back to pre-COVID numbers, but most of the new numbers will be from new people and not from people returning Churches will see more engagement in their small groups than their Sunday gatherings Churches that invest in their livestream will see the most physical growth You will not see many new families with young children visit your church until the fall of 2021 Churches that lack an outward community focus will continue to see a decline in giving House churches will become more popular than they are now Smaller churches will see a higher percentage of growth than larger churches Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

What are the most helpful metrics your church should be tracking? Not everything you can track is helpful, but some things churches don't track often are. In this episode, we share with you seven helpful metrics your church should track. Welcome to welcome to episode 206 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the seven metrics we discuss in this episode: Attendance Giving (regular & outside givers) Number of donors Website views Assets Social media follows Connect Cards Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How do you display worship lyrics or sermon points? Are the screen displays you use helpful or distracting? In this episode, we share eight practical things you can do today to improve your screen display(s) at your church. Welcome to welcome to episode 205 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the eight things we discuss in this episode: Go faster with your worship lyrics Limit the overlapping and fading of words Only show one sermon point per slide Limit how much text is on the screen at one time Add backgrounds to your worship slides Limit backgrounds on your sermon slides Print sermon notes out for your screens volunteer and talk through them before service Use big fonts Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

The #1 question that all church planters ask is how to gather a team to start a church. We all know we should meet people build relationships, but what can you do that in an effective way? In this episode, we share 6 practical things to do to help gather people pre-launch. Welcome to welcome to episode 204 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the six tips we discuss in this episode: Have a launch plan to share with people Don't try gathering people more than 9 months out Schedule fun events Have an active social media presence Talk about your mission (statement) often Talk about your financial needs and ask people to give Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How can you best walk your people through pain and tragedy? What are things that are helpful and unhelpful? In this episode, we share practical things to help people who are suffering, and it isn’t always what you think. Welcome to welcome to episode 203 of Practical Church Planting.  Here at the tips we discuss in this episode: Don’t tell them you understand or relativize their pain Tell them you are thinking about them or are praying from them Don’t ask if there is anything you can do, specifically ask to do something Schedule time to be together and only talk about their pain if they want to

How do you know when or if your church is ready to plant a church? Is it just something that will happen eventually, or are there signs that your church is ready? The good news is that there are indicators that show if your church is ready, and we discuss seven of them in this episode. Welcome to welcome to episode 202 of Practical Church Planting. Here are seven signs your church is ready to plant that we discuss in this episode: Your financial situation is solvent Your church isn't struggling to gather your people You can financially support your church plant You're not worried if your church is going to survive You're not working 60 hour weeks Your people can get behind planting a church You have someone to plant a church Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church that thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

One of the most helpful and interesting things for church planters is to hear the stories of other church planters. In this special edition episode of the podcast, you'll hear the church planting journey of Adam Pickard and Citizens Church. Welcome to welcome to episode 200 of Practical Church Planting. Click here to learn more about Citizens Church and/or to connect with Adam. Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

How do you know the difference between desiring to plant a church and when you should actually pursue that desire? As we all know, God's timing is often different than our own. The good news is there are some tangible markers of when you should begin your church planting journey. In this episode, we share five signs of when you should actually pursue planting a church. Welcome to welcome to episode 199 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the five signs we discuss in this episode: Your willingness to serve at a smaller church with a no-name pastor Your willingness to raise your own financial support for a church planting residency Your willingness to submit yourself to an assessment process Your willingness to let your spouse make the final decision on your church plant Your willingness to live in a lower society-economic status than your friends Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Sermon prep takes a lot of time and effort. But what if there was a way to reduce the amount of time it takes and make your sermons better? In this episode, we share six practical things you can do to spend less time on sermon prep without reducing the quality of your sermons. Welcome to welcome to episode 198 of Practical Church Planting.  Here are the six things you can do to reduce your sermon prep time that are discussed in this episode: Schedule and uninterrupted 3-4 hour time block Schedule sermon prep at the same times each week Prioritize sermon prep for when you are at your best Give yourself a defined end time Use online/software tools Use a sermon outline Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

Pastors are called to care from people and emails come from people. If you have trouble staying on top of your email, you're missing out on loving your people well. The good news is that email doesn't have to be overwhelming. In this episode, we share with you seven practical things you can do today to stay on top of your email and love your people well. Welcome to welcome to episode 196 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the seven tips we discuss in this episode: View unanswered/forgotten emails as a problem Don't view your inbox as a task list Create separate folders if necessary To stay at Inbox 0, live by these two rules: Only open it once & deal with or move it once you do Unsubscribe to all emails the first time you receive them Deal with all currently/inboxed emails Check your email less. Email script to help you get to inbox 0 Afraid you might miss something critical while clearing out your inbox? Simply send an email like the one below to all the critical people in your contact list: Subject: Got a pressing issue I haven’t dealt with? Can you re-send your email? Hi Friends, I’ve decided to get to inbox zero and start organizing my workflow in a new way. To that end, today I’m going to delete every email that’s over 30 days old. I apologize for not getting back to you on the relevant matter. If it’s still a current issue for you, do you mind resending me the email? I promise I’ll be responding much faster in the future. Thanks! I appreciate you! Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

There has been a lot of talk about the "new normal" that COVID-19 has created. The truth, however, is that we are not currently living in a "new normal." COVID-19 will certainly change a lot of things, but our current season is not how life will be like forever. This means that there are some normal things that COVID-19 won't change, and we want to be sure churches continue to do things well. So what exactly are some of those things? In this episode, we share four specific normal things COVID will not change. Welcome to welcome to episode 195 of Practical Church Planting. Here are the four normal things we discuss in this episode: The importance of the physical worship gathering The importance of online engagement The negative or positive effect of livestreaming The need for local community Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.

We often hear about the difficulties of ministry. But does ministry have to be as miserable as we can sometimes make it sound? It does when we believe five particular lies about what ministry has to be like. If you want your ministry to be life-giving and instead of life-sucking, you'll want to see if you have bought into any of these 5 lies. Welcome to welcome to episode 194 of Practical Church Planting.  Connect and never miss an episode Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get practical tips delivered right to you. For free resources to help you plant a church thrives, check out practicalplanting.com. Have questions or want encouragement from other church planters? Join the Practical Church Planting Facebook group.