By: Discipleship.org

Discipleship-first Friends,

The United States is the midst of big change. First, it was COVID-19 and all the changes around which everyone had to adopt. Then, it was economic shock. And now it has moved to public protests, demonstrations, and civil unrest.

Now, it has moved even further with changes in police departments, sponsorships, corporations, and many public institutions.

What are disciples and disciple makers to do in such times?

Natasha Crain recently published a very helpful post entitled, “5 Ways Christians are Getting Swept into a Secular Worldview in This Cultural Moment.” As she points out, many people around us are jumping on a bandwagon of some kind, and the dominant bandwagon is not rooted in values consistent with a biblical worldview.

As I pointed out in my blog on this topic last week (click here), we must be aware of the cultural moment in which we are living and realize that we must do what the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 10:5—and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

But how do we do that?

I would like to recommend twelve key resources that can help guide us as disciples and disciple makers of Jesus.

1. Podcasts on Emotional Health, we must engage at an emotional level to understand and listen. Our friend Pete Scazzero has a couple of great podcasts on why we must get under the surface and empathize with our hearts at the level of hurt, emotion and grief. As Pete points out, if we do not carefully enter in at this level, then we will likely not be able to talk meaningfully about practices or beliefs or the worldviews that may be guiding the narrative. Check out Pete’s June 8th and June 15th podcasts at emotionallyhealthy.org/podcasts.

2. An Empathetic Biblical Posture, I want to mention a great conversation I had recently with a friend of mine who is an African American. She pointed out why so many African Americans are attracted to Critical Race Theory (which is a sub-set of Critical Theory) and the book White Fragility.

She said, “It describes our narrative.”

She said that Critical Race Theory (White Fragility) explains the experience of African American better than anything else she has seen out there. It is hard to listen to another perspective if it does not adequately describe your personal narrative. She wants church leaders to show her a better lens – she wants a Biblical perspective that connects with her experience. I believe that it is important to listen to her. It is important that we do not come across as being opposed to understanding their systemic mistreatment and experience, as we look at the important underlying philosophical factors at work in our society.

There are two resources that I recommended to her. The first one is Tony Evan’s book, Oneness Embraced: Reconciliation, the Kingdom, and How We are Stronger Together. Tony is a widely respected African American preacher and he does a good job describing the teaching of God’s Word in light of the black experience in America—you can click here to look at his book.

The second is a draft church position paper that the leaders in our church have been working through as we seek to provide an alternative posture to the world based upon the teaching of God’s Word (click here to read).

A Big World-View Problem

The vast majority of pastors, leaders, and disciple makers do not even understand the underlying philosophical change that we are witnessing in our society. In the words of a friend, “we have to help church leaders and disciple makers to easily go to school so they can understand what is happening.”

To help us all “go to school” on the new dominant philosophy that is being revealed in these times, I hope the following resources will be helpful to you. I start with those that are the most accessible for quick understanding up through the most in-depth (the last links).

3. Short Video—“Is Critical Theory Biblical?” by the Colson Center—click here. This short, animated video is the best simple introduction to Critical Theory and its conflict with biblical teaching that I have found. We showed it in church recently. (5 mins.).

4. Blog Post—5 Ways Christians are Getting Swept into a Secular Worldview in this Cultural Moment, by Natasha Crain—click here. A great summary of how the events of the last few weeks cause more and more people to be discipled into Critical Theory. (8 mins.)

5. Podcast—Critical Theory and Intersectionality: What Christians Need to Know, by Alisa Childers and Neil Shenvi—click here. Alisa hosts an excellent regular podcast, and in this episode, she gets Neil Shenvi to introduce the key points of Critical Theory. The podcast ends with a great discussion on race. (58 min.)

6. YouTube Discussion—Race, Injustice, and the Gospel of Critical Race Theory, by Alisa Childers and Monique Duson—click here. This is a dynamic interview and discussion by Alisa Childers with Monique Duson, an African American woman and former Critical Theory devotee. Monique describes the attraction and consequences of Critical Theory. (56 min.)

7. YouTube Presentation—“Social Justice, Critical Theory, and Christianity: Are They Compatible?” by Neil Shevni—click here. The best expanded explanation of Critical Theory I can find on the web, with a focus on the strengths and weaknesses. (1 hour and 15 mins.)

8. Six-Part Blog Post—“Social Justice, Critical Theory, and Christianity: Are They Compatible?” by Neil Shevni (exact written copy of the video presentation)—click here. These short posts explain in a simple by comprehensive way what Critical Theory is and how it is in conflict with the Bible. (20 mins.)

9. YouTube Presentation—Defining Social Justice, by Voddie Baucham—click here. This presentation by an African American preacher is an excellent discussion of social justice as the term is used today, as well as how people use it to twist it away from Bible teaching and how it is now being used against biblical teaching. (37 mins).

10. YouTube Presentation—White Privilege: The New Original Sin, by Thomas Ascol—click here. This teaching contrasts the teachings of Critical Theory on White Privilege with what the Bible Teaches. (33 mins.)

11. YouTube Presentation—Cultural Marxism, by Voddie Baucham—click here. This presentation by an African American preacher is an excellent discussion of the underlying philosophical battle that is occurring in our culture (1 hour and 5 mins.)

12. YouTube Presentation—The Trojan Horse, Episode 1: Deconstructing Communities, by Peter Boghassian and James Lindsay, hosted by Michael O’Fallon—click here. This is the most substantive source of information on Critical Theory. It is an interview with two atheist philosophers (Ph.Ds.) who are experts in Critical Theory. They were asked to describe the results of the Southern Baptist Denomination affirming part of Critical Theory (as they did in 2019). They describe the decision as a “Trojan Horse” because the adoption of Critical Theory will destroy the denomination. It may be the most important, substantive and terrifying presentation on Critical Race Theory you will ever hear. (1 hour and 35 mins.)

We believe the Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let’s follow Jesus and help other people to turn away from harmful human-made philosophy to follow Jesus with us.

We want to be disciples of Jesus who love people enough to help disciple their minds in this important cultural moment.

The post Twelve Resources for This Cultural Moment appeared first on Discipleship.org.

Source: Twelve Resources for This Cultural Moment

The post Twelve Resources for This Cultural Moment appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: To Build, Buy, Lease or Rent…that IS the question

The post To Build, Buy, Lease or Rent…that IS the question appeared first on Passion for Planting.

NOTE:  Demographic data provided for United States locations only.

We’re thrilled to be able to help support your church planting journey!  Complete the form below for your free demographic report. Our detailed reports include several different data types including:

• Demographic Summary Chart (Population, Income, Age, Race, Education, Martial Status)
• Recent Census Data & Future Projections
• Demographic Trends
• Executive Summary Report with Charts
• Household Summary Report
• Income Summary Report

The report will be emailed to the email address provided typically within 72 hours.

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by Patrick Bradley: Google has plenty of free* products generally, but there are a few premium services they offer only to qualifying nonprofits. Check out these 3 free things you get from Google for Nonprofits:

Unfortunately, the first thing they do in your application process is ping the IRS’s online database of registered nonprofits (more below). Your church will only show on that list if you’ve applied for your own 501c3 Determination Letter. If you’re relying on your automatic blanket exemption as a church, or if you’re using your denomination’s umbrella exemption, you won’t get past this first step.

And even once you’ve received your 501c3 Determination Letter back in writing, you may have to wait a few weeks for the IRS to update their database. Google’s ping is automated and, in my experience, they’re not open to exceptions.

Once you’ve made it on the list, there are several free products they offer. Here are the 3 that are the best match for new churches:

G Suite for Nonprofits

If you’ve ever had a Gmail account, you’ll be familiar with this suite of products. But instead of your email address being @gmail.com, you get to use your church’s domain name. They include:

Gmail
Google calendar
Google Drive
Google docs, sheets, slides & forms
Google Hangouts
…and more

Businesses can buy this service for $50/user/year, but nonprofits get it free.

Google Ad Grants

You know those ads that show up across the top and down the side of your search results when you google something? Google Ad Grants would allow our church to place up to $10,000 a month worth of ads there. For real.

Google Ad Basics

You’ll need to do a couple hours’ planning to get the ads up and running. Here are the basic steps:

Create a properly configured Adwords account (including NOT entering any billing info)
Create your first ad campaign
Enroll in the Adwords Grant program
Publish the ad(s)
Wait for ad review/approval
Monitor them at least once a month and adjust your settings to improve their performance

YouTube Nonprofit Program

Get a nonprofit YouTube channel with premium features, like:

“Donation cards” (collect donations and Google covers processing fees)
“Link anywhere cards” (allow viewers to click through to your website, etc)
Tech support

Be Prepared for Social Engineering

Google for Nonprofits pioneered social engineering clauses: in the application process, they will ask you to certify several things about how your church conducts itself as a nonprofit, particularly around hot-button cultural issues. Follow your conscience and only proceed with your application if you can support those certifications.

Apply Now

Check the IRS database. If your church shows, then you’re ready to apply to get these free products from Google for Nonprofits.

* while monetarily free, you ‘pay’ for many google products by allowing their algorithms to monitor how you use those products so they can put more targeted ads in front of you

The post Get These 3 Free Products from Google for Nonprofits appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Get These 3 Free Products from Google for Nonprofits

The post Get These 3 Free Products from Google for Nonprofits appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Amazon is generous to nonprofits. Here are some ideas to maximize 3 of their Amazon nonprofit programs for your church.

Two of the three programs may require you to have your 501c3 Determination Letter back from the IRS. So if you haven’t already filed, here’s yet another reason to take care of that early in the church planting process.

Amazon Giveaway

OK, so this one isn’t just for nonprofits, but it has lots of potential: Amazon Giveaway.

Amazon Giveaway provides an easy three-step setup for creating engaging and interactive instant win and random draw sweepstakes promotions.”

Basic instructions:

Select a prize (and arrange for payment)
Set up the contest
Promote it
Notify the winner and export everyone’s answers and email addresses

You could use this for community surveys at your booth at the fair or for fun giveaways at an event you host.

Amazon Smile

This one really is just for nonprofits: Amazon Smile

Amazon customers specify in advance (just once) who their nonprofit of choice is, then a portion of Amazon’s profits from their purchases get donated right to your church as a charity.

…when customers shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers…”

Basic instructions:

Register as a nonprofit
Encourage friends, family and congregants to select your church as their charity
Make sure they shop at smile.amazon.com (not the regular site)
Donations automatically get deposited to the church bank account

Depending on how many people you get to select your church as their charity, this could amount to hundreds of dollars every year.

Amazon Tax Exemption Program

This one requires that you’ve already applied for sales tax exemption in your state: ATEP

With the Amazon Tax Exemption Program (ATEP), you may be eligible to use your tax exempt status for future purchases from Amazon.com…”

Basic instructions:

Get your 501c3 Determination Letter
Apply for sales tax exemption with your state
Register with ATEP and upload documents
Enjoy purchasing things for the church without having to pay sales tax

Depending on how much you purchase through Amazon, this could save you hundreds of dollars in sales tax every year.

Start Sooner Rather than Later

Because the last two have so much pre-work, you won’t be able to take advantage of them from Day One. So lean in a little on the government paperwork so that you can maximize these 3 Amazon nonprofit programs for your church as soon as possible.

The post Maximize these 3 Amazon Nonprofit Programs for Your Church appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: Maximize these 3 Amazon Nonprofit Programs for Your Church

The post Maximize these 3 Amazon Nonprofit Programs for Your Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: As you’re creating the brand for your new church plant, one of your challenges will be to claim consistent social usernames.

Learn from my mistake. I already have this problem:

On Twitter I’m @plantingtactics
And on Instagram I’m @plantingtactics
But on Facebook I’m /churchplantingtactics
And sadly on Google Plus I’m /113079890154934621964 (I think that means I’m a Storm Trooper)

Why Claim Consistent Social Usernames

My son tells me it’s as important as having consistent gamer tags across gaming platforms. Hopefully the benefit of consistency is at least somewhat obvious: it makes it easy for people to find your church from one platform to the next.

But a second advantage is if people @tag you in their post and have cross-platform automation set up, the other platforms may recognize you as the same user.

And rumor has it that consistency across your digital footprint can help your search engine ranking.

3 Tools to Claim Consistent Social Usernames

Thanks to the Pro Church Tools podcast, I learned about these sites that make figuring out which usernames are available across platforms:

namecheckr – “check domain & social username availability across multiple networks” (53 domains & platforms by my count)
namechk – “see if your desired username or vanity url is still available at dozens of popular Social Networking and Social Bookmarking websites” (I counted 35+ domains, 122 social platforms plus the US Trademark database)
knowem – “Search over 500 popular social networks, over 150 domain names, and the entire USPTO Trademark Database to instantly secure your brand on the internet” (for a fee, these guys will do the registering for you)

Twitter has the shortest limit at 15, so keep your proposed social username to 15 characters max. Try different versions of your church’s name and see which is/are available. Throw in your city’s name or common abbreviation (like the airport code) if you need more options.

Until today I didn’t know tools like this existed. Use one and you’ll know in advance if the social username (and even website address) you want is available. Then go and claim your social usernames like it was the Oklahoma Land Rush.

The post 3 Tools to Claim Consistent Social Usernames appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 3 Tools to Claim Consistent Social Usernames

The post 3 Tools to Claim Consistent Social Usernames appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Rich Birch: Church growth is more of a flywheel than a cannon shot. It requires consistent energy applied in the same direction over time to see results. It doesn’t happen overnight but as you gain traction the small wins start to add up and something truly amazing happens.

A year ago, the church I worked in was named one of the fastest-growing churches in the country by Outreach Magazine [ref]. As I reflected on this, I tried to dissect our strategies and what made us different from other churches. I wondered what it was that seemed to make a difference and enable our growth. I became convinced that our consistent focus on series promotion was part of the equation. For over 30 series in a row (that’s nearly three years), we would do the same thing to promote every new series. And although we’d mix up the content to ensure the approach didn’t get stale, we always applied the same core elements every time we did something new.

If you’re looking for ways to jumpstart your church’s growth and help you launch a new series, repeat these same elements every time you launch a new series at your church. The goal is to build excitement for the new series and encourage your people to bring as many friends and family members as they please. Staying focused on repeating these eight every series is a part of the discipline that will add energy to your church growth flywheel!

Heads Up Announcement – Two Weeks Before // As you near the end of the series that you are currently on, take some time to telegraph what’s coming up next. Doing this helps your people know what to anticipate next in the life of the church. It could also serve as an incentive to persevere to people who might not be raving fans of the current series. Momentum is generated in all organizations by “new” things. Our minds are hardwired to see the new and novel and be attracted to it. By articulating what is “new and exciting” in the life of your church, you can start generating positive momentum. Momentum is first an idea in your people’s minds before it translates in tangible impact. This announcement should be anticipation-inducing and explain the core “hook” for the series. A positively toned announcement on a slide with the start date and core “look” of the series would be a great start for your church!
Trailer Video – One Week Before // The week before the series launches is critical for your people. During the service, play a short trailer (45-60 seconds) that sets up the tension of the series. This video is designed to entice its viewers to want to learn more and to invite their friends to the series. Oftentimes, you’ll notice churches use questions in these trailers because it is a simple way to frame the series. A video trailer is an important communication tool because it breaks up the format of a “talking head” doing announcements and grabs peoples’ attention. This video should also be shared on your social media channels during the week after it’s played. (Bonus: email core “insiders” and invite them to share the video online so it spreads more on other channels.) Two-thirds of your church are visual learners so the stretch of communicating what is coming up through a highly visual form, like a trailer, is important to consider. If you are looking for ideas for trailers, New Spring, Elevation & Life.Church all give away their video trailers (and more) from their series.
Invite Card Packs – One Week Before // Invite cards continue to be a relevant tool even in an age of ever-increasing digital communication. These physical cards are inexpensive to produce and provide a tangible reminder to your people to invite their friends. There should be enough information on the card so it stands alone as a communication tool. The series information, as well as the dates, times and location, need to be clear on the card. In the text, ensure that the card actually invites people to attend. (You’d be surprised how people from outside church don’t know if they are actually welcome to attend your church). Work with your guest services team to ensure that these end up in the hands of as many people as possible. You could place them on every seat in the auditorium so people have to pick them up and look at them when they sit down. Another potential distribution idea is to have a team of people stand at your exits and hand them out to people as they leave. However, don’t just hand these cards out one at a time; package them into packs of 2-3 with a rubberband around them. The implicit message is that you hope your people will invite more than one friend or family member to the series’ launch.
Pastoral Moment – One Week Before // As you head into the week before the series, it is important for your people to hear the pastoral heart behind inviting people to come to the new series. This isn’t another “announcement” about the “dates, facts and figures” of the series. It is a moment to slow down and impress upon people how important it is to invite people to what’s coming up next. Explain why your church is heading in this new direction, take the time to tell them who you are inviting, and ask them to join you in inviting people to come the following week. The tenor of this time is showing the congregation how being an “inviter” is a part of their Christian faith. It also gives a clear indication to your people that the topic you’re transitioning into has some weight and is worth them investing the time to be a part of. Show some passion for the “new” topic!
Social Shareables – Week Before // We all know that social media can have a profound impact on how our ministries communicate with people. Don’t miss the opportunity to ask your people to share some content online before a series launches. The goal here is to not post something that simply “advertises” the series but rather something that has content your people would actually be willing to share. The primary goal is “shareability” and the secondary goal is that people are informed about the new series. The trailer for the series is a “must share” piece of the puzzle but you should also experiment with other content types. Over time some forms of content get more shares than others so keep an eye out for what seems to be “trending” in the networks you follow.
Team Huddles – Week Before // Your volunteers represent an important audience in and of themselves; ensure that they are well-primed to invite friends. Because they are disproportionately committed to the vision of the church as volunteers, you need to make sure you ask them directly to invite friends the following week. We often overlook this group because we think they will just catch the messaging from the rest of the “general pipelines” that you’re talking about it in. This is a missed opportunity because the group wants to feel in on the development of the church and will be more receptive to your inquiries to invite people. This could take the form of the lead pastor holding a special “all team huddle” the week before a new series launches or simply a “cascade of information” through the leadership structure of the church. The important thing is that this group gets a special request to pray for and invites friends to the upcoming series. There is just a small percentage of people who actually invite friends and these people are usually also volunteers. Thus, make sure to address this group directly.
Direct “Ask to Ask” Email – Thursday Before // Most people who make the decision to attend your church this weekend for the first time will do it the last three or four days before the service. The prime inviting time is Thursday through Saturday because most guests that will choose to come to your church during that period. A strategically placed reminder from the church on the Thursday before is a something you should do every time you launch a new series. This multifaceted email should highlight the social media that seems to be getting the best traction as well as provide some simple tools people can put into play right away for inviting their friends and family. This email should be focused on “tools” to help equip your people to invite their friends. Assume that they’ve lost the invite card and can’t remember what the series is about and provide them everything they need to learn about the series to invite their friends.
“Starts Tomorrow!” Email – Saturday Before // We’ve referenced this in the past but emails from the church on Saturday do help drive attendance. As opposed to the Thursday email, this one does better coming from the Lead Pastor, or the Campus Pastor if you’re a multisite church. The tone of this email is a last-minute request for people to attend the following day and to invite friends to come with them. The aim is to build anticipation about what is happening the next day. It should be “underwritten”, that is direct and to the point and should not contain a lot of graphics and formatting. It should look as if it was sent out from the leader to people directly. Quick and to the point. It doesn’t need a lot of frills but is just a direct ask to attend the following day and to bring friends. You could link to a single sharable item like the trailer or social media post that has performed well over the week but don’t overdo it. The email is designed to get people’s attention as they are going about their day.

Download the PDF Article

Source: Do These 8 Steps When Your Church Launches a New Series

The post Do These 8 Steps When Your Church Launches a New Series appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Rich Birch: Baptism is a vitally important part of discipleship process for the people at your church. It’s also an amazing time in the life of your church. Make sure that you are leveraging this opportunity in the life of your church to communicate about all the life change that is taking place. We’ve pulled together some fantastic graphics that you can use and edit in the life of your ministry to help communicate about this exciting day!

Click here to download now!

We’ve also provided the “source files” so a designer can modify the graphics to fit your church’s needs. For example, you can add a specific date and your church’s logo. Of course, you could also use Design Pickle’s flat rate, unlimited revision service to modify these designs.

window.addEventListener(‘LPLeadboxesReady’,function(){LPLeadboxes.addDelayedLeadbox(‘146aa6ff3f72a2:14a18a402b46dc’,{delay:’20s’,views:0,dontShowFor:’0d’});});

Source: 20+ Downloadable Graphics Your Church Can Use to Promote Baptisms

The post 20+ Downloadable Graphics Your Church Can Use to Promote Baptisms appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Since launching the new website three weeks ago, we’ve seen our 400+ free resources downloaded by dozens of people, a total of over 2,000 downloads. It’s amazing to see the wide range of topics that are downloaded. This is just a quick post to let you know how to find the latest downloads, encourage you to give us feedback and provide a list (with links) to the most popular downloads so far.

How to find the latest downloads

When you revisit the website, select a category, then sort by date added to see the most recently added files. At this point, we’re still adding lots of resources, too many to list individually. Once we get done adding the rest of our library (about another 200 files), we look for ways to highlight recent additions, most downloaded, etc.

Star Rating System

This is for you, so please use the Star Rating system to let us know what you think about the files.
If something isn’t relevant or working, we’ll look at pulling it off of the list. For every resource on the Free Downloads page, you’ll see some stars. All you need to do is click the appropriate star level to record your vote. That’s is…nothing special…just click a star!

We want to be good steward, excellent librarians, but we need your feedback! We’ll keep track of how these files are rated so we can continue to improve.

Most Popular Downloads

Here’s a list of the most popular downloads since we started:

• New Church Planning Checklist
• Sample Launch Plan
• Launch Plan Template
• Define What Opening Day Looks Like
• Fundraising Template
• NAMB’s Seven Steps to Church Planting
• The Launch Plan
• Church Planting Manual – James Allen
• Equipment List
• Launch Plan – Momentum
• Develop an Outreach Plan
• How to Develop a Next-Step Process
• Philosophy of Ministry Template
• Building a Launch Team – Handout
• Launch Team Expectations
• Are You a Starter?
• Church Planting Prayer Strategy
• Bylaws Template
• Pre-Assessment Checklist
• The City Church

We greatly appreciate your feedback and desire for planting healthy churches. Keep up the great work!

Free Downloads

The post Free Resources Added – April 2016 appeared first on Passion for Planting.

We have tons of free resources to support your efforts in spreading the Gospel and advancing the Kingdom.

Free Church Planting Templates, Worksheets & Samples

At Passion for Planting we love to provide FREE church planting tools & resources to help you plant a healthier church.  The templates will challenge you to answer questions that flesh out God’s vision for your plant in your context. The worksheets will save you time by crunching numbers for your automagically. The samples will inspire you with what other churches have done (just keep in mind that their plants are in different times & places than yours).

Note:  These tools were developed in and for church planting in the United States; principles may apply elsewhere, but be sure to contextualize everything to your culture & community.

FREE Church Planting Tools

Free Demographic Report

For United States locations only.

Complete the form for your free demographic report. Our reports are over 20 pages long and include several different data types including:

• Basic Demographic Summary Chart
• Business Summary Report
• Complete Demographic Summary Report
• Executive Summary Report with Charts
• Household Summary Report
• Housing Units Summary Report
• Income Summary Report

Send me a FREE Demographic Report

The report will be emailed to the email address provided. Reports are typically sent within 72 hours.

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