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The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.For our Season 2 Finale, our executive director, Larry McCrary joins us from Spain and switches roles with Brad to take the driver’s/co-host seat, while Brad fields the questions. Brad & Larry revisit The Upstream Collective’s book, The Sending Church Defined, and talk through some of Brad’s favorite points. To hear more thoughts from Brad & Larry between seasons, follow them on twitter at @bradleyrbell & @larrymccrary. This episode was sponsored by our friends at the MOVE Conference, an event designed to MOVE leaders to equip the church, engage the lost and embrace the nations. Pastors, church staff and lay leaders who desire to enhance their missions ministries will worship, network, and learn best practices from missions leaders. Visit moveconference.org for more information.

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Nathan Sloan joins us for this episode to discuss his new e-book, Multisite Missions Leadership. In addition to being Pastor of Sending at Sojourn Church Midtown, Nathan has years of experience in international missions and is part of the Upstream team. Multisite churches are more and more becoming the norm but many churches and church leaders struggle to navigate missions within the multisite context. Join our conversation and dig into this topic with us! For more thoughts from Nathan, find him on twitter with @NathanGSloan or read the book; Multisite Missions Leadership. This episode was sponsored by our friends at the MOVE Conference, an event designed to MOVE leaders to equip the church, engage the lost and embrace the nations. Pastors, church staff and lay leaders who desire to enhance their missions ministries will worship, network, and learn best practices from missions leaders. Visit moveconference.org for more information.To dig deeper into this topic or to check out resources mentioned in this episode, check out the links below: -Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom - George Lyle’s Life and Legacy: An Unsung Hero - Upstream’s Multisite Missions Cohort

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode, Stefanie Nicholson, from Here 2 There ministries in Jacksonville, FL joins us for a conversation on helping churches identify & implement a missions strategy. Here 2 There has been working with churches and missionaries for years so we thought Stefanie would be perfect for this conversation. Brad and Stefanie discuss first steps churches can take if they’re just getting started with missions strategy, highlighting the importance of beginning with prayer before anything else. Stefanie also draws attention to the need for honesty between congregations and their sent ones, offering that everyone benefits when we drop our masks. Join us for in the conversation! To learn more about Here 2 There ministries, check out their website and follow them on twitter @Here2There Min . This episode was sponsored by our friends at the MOVE Conference, an event designed to MOVE leaders to equip the church, engage the lost and embrace the nations. Pastors, church staff and lay leaders who desire to enhance their missions ministries will worship, network, and learn best practices from missions leaders. Visit moveconference.org for more information.

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought. Caleb Crider is back for part two of our conversation on Innovations in Missions. We discus utilizing different kinds of technology to help share the gospel, from translation apps and earbuds to emojis! Join us and listen in! For more thoughts from Caleb, find him on twitter with @CalebCrider or read the book Tradecraft : For the Church on Mission This episode was sponsored by our friends at the MOVE Conference, an event designed to MOVE leaders to equip the church, engage the lost and embrace the nations. Pastors, church staff and lay leaders who desire to enhance their missions ministries will worship, network, and learn best practices from missions leaders. Visit moveconference.org for more information.

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode Caleb Crider joins us for a conversation on Innovations in Missions. From early missionaries utilizing the technology they had to gamers in the midwest finding ways to share the gospel while they game, to ethics in the workplace, Upstream covers a wide history of innovative missionaries. Join us and listen in! For more thoughts from Caleb, find him on twitter with @CalebCrider or read the book Tradecraft : For the Church on Mission listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.For this episode, we are joined by Ben Ward from Louisville, Kentucky. Ben is a Missions Pastor at Highview Baptist Church and works in Ministry Connections at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. We were happy to have Ben on for this conversation as he’s uniquely gifted to talk about the subject. Before his current roles, he was an Admissions Counselor. From that time to now, Ben has had approximately 13,000 conversations on calling…he did the math not us. Whether you feel that you’re facing an existential crisis, or you feel solid about your calling, this episode is sure to be good food for thought. So join us! This episode was sponsored by our friends at Equipped to Go. Equipped to Go provides a number of services to individuals or groups desiring to be culturally adept while traveling, living and working in foreign countries.If you enjoyed this episode and would like more resources form Upstream, we suggest checking out our book, Tradecraft . listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Today’s title may be a mouthful, but we promise it’s easy listening. We asked old school Upstream team member Julie Masson to share some of her marketing expertise during a conversation about missionary and supporter communication. Julie is now the Marketing Director for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of The Southern Baptist Convention . Whether you’re currently a sender or a sent one, today’s conversation is guaranteed to be good food for thought.This episode was sponsored by our friends at Equipped to Go. Equipped to Go provides a number of services to individuals or groups desiring to be culturally adept while traveling, living and working in foreign countries. listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Neal Pirolo of Emmaus Road International joined us for a conversation about an often overlooked topic, serving as senders. The majority of Christians will serve in full-time missions roles overseas, yet we don’t often talk about those who stay even though they are integral to the health of the missionary. Neal has decades of experience serving as a missionary and a minister to missionaries. He is someone we at the Upstream Collective look up to and often reference his work. This episode was sponsored by our friends at Equipped to Go. Equipped to Go provides a number of services to individuals or groups desiring to be culturally adept while traveling, living and working in foreign countries.To dig deeper into this topic or to check out follow the links below: -Emmaus Road International Website -Neal’s book, Serving as Senders Today-Our Free, Advocacy Teams resource listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode we are headed to the future! Eric King joins us from Richmond, VA for a conversation on the future of the missions organization. Eric has years of experience in missions and is now the director of church relations and mobilization for Send International. Eric & Brad both have varied experiences serving through missions and the local church, making for rich conversation on this subject. listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Nathan Sloan is back in the studio to join us for this conversation on leading missions within the context of a multisite church. Nathan has years of overseas ministry experience as well as years of being a missions pastor at Sojourn Church Midtown so he is able to come at this topic from a well informed position. Multisite churches come in many different shapes and sizes, similar to the issues they face. Nathan and Brad cover a wide array of questions and concerns listeners may have. To dig deeper into this topic or to check out this episode’s sponsors, follow the links below: -Multichurch by Gregg Allison & Brad House-Establishing Missions Convictions (free document download)-Sign up for our Missions Leader Cohort -GivApp donate your spare change to your favorite nonprofit listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode of The Upstream Podcast, Kyle Goen joins the gang from Life Point Church in Smyrna, Tennessee, where he is the executive pastor of ministries. Kyle Goen has years of experience in ministry both domestically and abroad, serving with his family. In today’s conversation Kyle speaks on the importance of health within the family and how parents who feel called to serve abroad may include their children in the work and give them a voice in what’s happening in the life of their family. Our Sponsors & Further Resources: -The Sending Church by Pat Hood-Equipped to Go-Family Cast with Kyle & Amy Goen listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Hello, Upstream Podcast listeners! We are back from our mid-season hiatus. Thank you for sticking with us. We have rethought some things about the podcast and plan to start a new release schedule of one guaranteed episode per month with the occasional bi-weekly episode. This week on the show we are joined remotely by Mike who is a pastor of missions at Henderson Hills Baptist Church. Years ago, Mike felt led to help his church rethink the way they did missions. Missionaries are sent out to be a part of international revenue generating businesses created by those in the church. The profit made by these businesses goes directly to the ministry and funding the missionaries’ stay, created a self-sufficient model for missions within their local church. Mike shares with the listeners what it was like to approach his congregation with this idea and he and Brad discuss in more detail what it could be like for this kind of approach to become common place. Finally, if you love The Upstream Podcast let us know by leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes or Stitcher, OR just by telling a friend about us. We really do appreciate it so much! listen on itunes LISTEN ON STITCHER

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode we discuss singleness on (and off) the mission field. Our guest for this conversation was Dan Bush. Dan is Upstream’s newest team member and a recently returned missionary (who is also single). Brad wasn’t here for this conversation, so Tabitha took the hosting wheel. As Upstream’s only single team members (ironic?), Tabitha & Dan were able to draw on experience to provide the listeners with a rich conversation. Finally, if you love The Upstream Podcast let us know by leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes or Stitcher, OR just by telling a friend about us. We really do appreciate it so much! listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Gregg Allison, a friend of Upstream with a lengthy list of titles. Among other things, Gregg is a professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of Historical Theology and Sojourners and Strangers, an elder at Sojourn Community Church East, as well as a former missionary to Switzerland and Italy with his wife for many years. Gregg and Brad look at the book of Acts and discuss the Holy Spirit and sending out of missionaries. Due to a technical difficulty, the interview with Gregg does not start at the beginning of our conversation but it was a rich conversation that we still wanted to be able to share. Finally, if you love The Upstream Podcast let us know by leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes or Stitcher, OR just by telling a friend about us. We really do appreciate it so much! listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode, we are joined by Travis McGowan, who has also appeared in one of our favorite articles from the blog series, Mobilizing Smaller Churches. Travis is a non-staff pastor at Sojourn Church New Albany who has thought a lot about God’s mission. Travis has developed a hermeneutic, or way of thinking about missions, based on Psalm 51, a confessional psalm (not usually a go-to passage for the topic of missions). So naturally, the folks at Upstream wanted to have him on the show to talk about it. Finally, if you love The Upstream Podcast let us know by leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes or Stitcher, OR just by telling a friend about us. We really do appreciate it so much! listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.We’re back from our little thanksgiving break and here to give you another episode! Larry McCrarry, our co-founder and executive director, took the hosting reigns for this conversation and talks with our usual host, Brad Bell, about sending marketplace workers. As the head pastor of “sending church”, Antioch, this is a topic Brad has had to start thinking through. However, he admits that he has had much more experience with providing care to sent ones going overseas through a more traditional path. Listen as the two think through the nuances between caring for marketplace and traditional workers,the need for both of them, and the importance of truly valuing vocation. Additional Resources: -For more on relationships between sending churches, marketplace workers, and missionary teams check out Larry’s latest book, The Marketspace. -Purchase it on kindle for $6.99 here! -“Choosing Your Alternative Path” FREE download from The Upstream CollectiveFinally, if you love The Upstream Podcast let us know by leaving a rating and/or a review on iTunes or Stitcher, OR just by telling a friend about us. We really do appreciate it so much! listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode, financial advisor and GivApp founder, Jason Hunsucker, joins Brad and Tabitha. As one of the founding pastors of Antioch Church, Jason has a decade of experience in planting churches while working full-time in the marketplace. Jason and Brad discuss the ups and downs of family, work, and ministry, as well as things they’ve learned along the way. If you love The Upstream Podcast, we’d love it if you let us know! Leave a rating or review on iTunes OR tag us in a post on instagram (ig story) or twitter about the show and we’ll put you into a drawing for a free mug delivered to you! We’ll announce the winner on November 9th! listen on itunes listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.Larry, Susan, and Brad are back together for another episode. This time, the three of them sat down for a conversation on missionary care. The experience of the sent ones as well as the senders back at home is often bittersweet—and should be if the relationship is healthy. All three of this gang have been in the position of sender and sent one so they can speak to both sides of the situation. As with most things in life, Susan reminds us that relationship is key. We can’t know and understand each others’ needs outside of relationship with each other. Larry and Brad jump in and expand on this thought as well as others on the subject in this conversation. Want more to dig deeper into this topic? Check out our “free downloads” page for multiple resources available at the click of your mouse! https://www.theupstreamcollective.org/freedownloads/ LISTEN ON ITUNES listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In this episode Upstream regulars, Larry & Susan McCrarry join Brad for a conversation on how to care for marketplace missionaries. Many churches often have a hard time navigating how to send and care for who we commonly refer to as “marketplace workers” or “marketplace missionaries” and Larry and Susan offer listeners perspective and knowledge that comes from years of experience living, serving and working abroad. To dig deeper into this topic, check out The Marketplace by Larry McCrarry. https://www.theupstreamcollective.org/the-market-space/the-marketspace-essential-relationships-between-the-sending-church-marketplace-worker-and-missionary-team-paperback LISTEN ON ITUNES listen on stitcher

The Upstream Podcast was created to share our rich conversations about sending churches with the world. For anyone passionate about the overlap between God’s church & God’s mission, this podcast will be great food for thought.In our first episode of season two, our host Brad interviews Lynn & Suzanne Groce who have decades of experience as a married couple devoted to full time missions. They discuss a number of things, including how the health of their marriage played into their commitment to missions & how churches can invest in the marriage of their sent ones. Find the “Establishing Advocacy Teams” download mentioned in this episode here: https://www.theupstreamcollective.org/freedownloads/ listen on itunes listen on stitcher