jeff medders

Pastor Rodney Hobbs on the Future of Pastoring at our recent Advance Conference event in Dallas, TX.

When we talk about church planting, we often discuss vision casting, mission, and context. But churches also need a good team to lead in the daily ministry. Pastors are tasked with building a cohesive team, resolving conflicts, and doing all they can to make sure everyone is focused and working toward the goal of making disciples of Jesus Christ. But if you’ve never led a church staff before, where do you begin? Who should you hire first? What should staff meetings look like? To help answer these questions, we’re joined by Josh Patterson. Josh serves as a Lead Pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, TX. Josh received his Doctorate in Executive Leadership from Southern Seminary and is also a co-author of the book, “Creature of the Word.”

In Acts 29, our hope is not only to plant healthy, multiplying churches, but also that these churches become multigenerational. Riverview Church, also known as “Riv,” was planted at Michigan State University in 1977 by a small team of planters from Iowa. Today, it’s a multi-site church with four venues in the midwest and has sent pastors to serve all over the world, including Ukraine, Brazil, and two countries in East Asia, with 58 churches planted by the churches they’ve planted. Joining me on today’s episode is Noel Heikkinen, pastor of Riverview Church in Lansing Michigan. Riverview is celebrating her 45th birthday this year, so we’ve invited Noel to share their story to encourage us in church planting for the long haul. Noel is the pastor of Riverview and is also the US Midwest regional executive director for Acts 29. He and his wife, Grace, met at Michigan State University and have four adult children.

Christian entertainment often gets a bad rap. It’s either seen as cheesy, irrelevant or promoting a dishonest view of the faith. But The Chosen, a television series on the ministry of Jesus which debuted in 2018, seems to stand in a category of its own, being hailed as “Christian America’s Must-See TV Show '' by The Atlantic. The series, which is in its third season, is the highest crowd-funded media project of all time and has had 300 million viewers around the world. Dallas Jenkins, creator, director, and co-writer of The Chosen series, joins the podcast to discuss the show's impact and success. Jenkins is a graduate of the University of Northwestern - St. Paul where he met his wife, Amanda. The two also released an interactive study guide of The Chosen in 2021.

Planting healthy, multiplying churches can be costly. In the early stages of church planting, few things occupy a planter’s mind more than finances. A new church’s noble vision to reach its city can be hindered by a lack of resources. This is why fundraising is an essential part of strategic planting. While most pastors receive significant training in biblical theology, many are ill-equipped in fundraising. Acts 29 pastors Travis Cunningham and Adam Muhtaseb join the podcast to discuss how church planters can gain confidence in fundraising. Travis planted Story Church in Rancho Cucamonga, California and Adam planted Redemption City Church in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ministry is a joy but also a burden. It’s a calling from the Lord that we cannot sustain apart from him. When we’re young in church planting and optimistic at the start of something new, we might know in our heads that it won’t always feel so exciting—but still, we’re excited. But as months and years pass, hard times can wear us down. Ministry challenges, pressures, failures, and heartaches assail us; we realize this whole church planting / pastoral ministry thing is way beyond us. How do we keep going in faithful gospel ministry? Hunter Beaumont joins the podcast today to discuss ministry faithfulness for the long haul. Hunter is the lead pastor of Fellowship Denver Church in central Denver, CO. He has a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, was a CPA in his previous life, and claims to be “mediocre” at several Colorado pursuits such as snow skiing, cycling, and fly fishing.

God has shown immeasurable grace toward Acts 29’s diverse, global community of healthy, multiplying churches committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ among the nations. We’re thankful for what he’s done in and through us and excited for what our future holds. We’re building on the missional momentum of 2021 as we enter into a new year with great expectations for God to advance his kingdom on earth through church planting. Brian Howard joins the podcast today to discuss what we’re working toward in Acts 29 in 2022. Brian has over 20 years of ministry and leadership experience and serves as the executive director of Acts 29. Brian is married to the love of his life and they have four children together.