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Karl Vaters, a small church pastor from Fountain Valley, CA, has been joining us as a regular contributor to the 200churches Podcast for almost two years, since August of 2013! Karl has some big, bold news about his future in blogging on the subject of small church ministry - you should read it here before you listen to this episode!
Then, enjoy this episode with Karl, who talks with us about taking ministry outside of the four walls of the church, and how to be creative in doing so. We also talk philosophy of ministry throughout much of the conversation. This will inspire you and encourage you to know and believe that your small church ministry can make a HUGE impact for the Kingdom of God, not only in your community, but beyond! Enjoy this episode as our gift to you! Picture Below Karl and his wife spent a week, just a few days ago, vacationing on beautiful Canandaguia Lake, a mere 25 minutes from where I (Jeff) was the entire time - and we never knew it! I have been helping my elderly parents in Avon, NY - and haven't seen his vacation pics on Facebook, when he was a short drive away from me... Oh Karl, my heart grieves for the lunch we missed together... 
Karl's view of Canadaguia Lake, taken from his Facebook page.
Here are the questions we answer on this episode of the 200churches Podcast. Thanks everyone for contributing great content!
From Scott Dalen, Underwood Lutheran Church, Underwood IA: Question: In past episodes, you've talked about identifying, training, and mentoring leaders within the congregation. I'm excited by this idea and want to implement it within my congregation, but I run into the odd situation of being substantially younger than many of the people that I hope the mentor/coach. Any advice on how to navigate this situation? From Zac Harrel: I would like to hear him speak on how a young pastor can speak into the life if members who are older. What does discipleship look like in this context? It is hard because you know they have much more life experience and you know your calling to lead. What advice would he have? From Scott Tuttle, Wellspring Church, Granada Hills CA: Here's my question: How would Dan work with a "staff" that is completely volunteer (key leadership roles all being volunteer)? What would a schedule look like if he had very limited time with them because they work full time in the secular world as well as leading in key places in the church? Holding them accountable, inspiring them, releasing them, etc.? What would he do with the limited time he has with them to help serve them so they might best serve their calling in the church? What's most important in his opinion? From Rob Tarnoviski, Bethel Philadelphia Mills, PA: Dan, you are a man of great intelligence & spirituality. How on earth do you put up with Jeff & Jonny? (Due to the hateful nature of this question, we did not share it with Dan, but share it here to humiliate Jeff's friend from Philly...) From Patrick Norris, Bridges Church, Winston Salem NC 1. How do you get "unstuck" as a church? 2. What are some key ideas for "closing the back door?" 3. How do you know if a "closed door" is closed for good or just needs more time? From Roger Funk, Synergy Fellowship, Arvada CO How do gifting and capacity go toward determining size of ministry? I have a friend who is a part of a large mega church. When I go to visit him, I can barely keep up with him for a few days. I come home blessed and exhausted. It just seems like he has an energy level and capacity for leadership that I just do not have. I am trying to learn to be content with the gifting and capacity that God has given me. But I would love to hear a discussion on gifting and capacity. From Virgil Vice: My question to him is, how do you identify, recruit and train leaders in a small and rural church environment? How do you develop discipleship in a small church that has never had any? From Gary Floyd: I think a lot of small church pastors feel inferior to pastors of larger churches. Dan has always served as an associate/executive pastor, never as the lead pastor. Therefor, my question for Dan would be: How has he found fulfillment and contentment in that role? From John Finkelde: What's been his biggest mistake in ministry? What would he do differently in raising his family? 
What if...
you are pastoring a small church somewhere... 62 people show up on a Sunday... you are 90 minutes from the closest metro area... you only have one or two leaders in your church... you just don't have a very big population to draw from... you're having a hard time getting volunteers... you're right on the edge financially... there's no college in sight that might provide young people to help... Then... What do you do? What are some steps you can take to create some forward motion in your church? In this episode, #125, Jeff and Jonny share four solid steps you can begin to take today to help you accelerate. These four steps will, as it were, step on the gas in your church as you seek to reach your Kingdom potential as a congregation, no matter the size! Enjoy! Again, in this episode, we refer to Dan Reiland's tremendous book on training volunteers to be leaders: Amplified Leadership! 
Our Children's Ministry Director, Jen - in action!
We have been wanting to have Jen on the podcast for a long time, and we've finally done it! Jen shares her heart and her philosophy of Children's Ministry as she talks with Jeff and Jonny about why working with kids is so crucial in the local church.
This would be a great episode to share with your children's workers, but it's geared toward the pastor, you! We wanted to give you some food for thought, as you consider your own role in leading and encouraging your kid's workers in your 200church. Your leadership of them is pretty significant, both to them personally, and to the effectiveness of their ministry. Research has shown that most Christians today came to their faith sometime between the ages of 4 and 14. We call this the 4/14 window. How much time do you spend interacting with and thinking about the people in your small church who fit into this age window? Jen gives us all some great things to think about! This is an interesting and engaging conversation between colleagues and friends! Enjoy! Click on the image below to buy Melissa's book on Amazon - this is the book that Jen refers to in this episode. 
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