Do you partner in ministry with any other churches in town? If you do, how is it going? Is there unity, mission accomplishment, and neighborhood witness? If you are not partnering with other churches, why not? No time? Not interested? Bad histories? We always teach our people that there is one church in each community, but they meet in separate groups and buildings. But. Just. One. Church.

Pastor Zach Bauer, from Red Door Church in Sioux Falls, really believes this and partners with a number of other churches in the Sioux Falls SD area to accomplish bigger things for God, than any one of those churches could on their own. That's a good thing!

There really is nothing like the feeling of Kingdom glory and satisfaction when you partner with another church to do something for God that is helpful and beneficial to others in your community!

In today's episode, Zach, a small church pastor, tells how the partnering with others fuels his passion for his community, and helps him to achieve more with others than he ever could alone.

Zach refers to Empower Sioux Falls, the partnership he has with other churches. At www.empowersiouxfalls.com you will find ideas, training, and resources to help you in your small church ministry leadership.

At www.empowersiouxfalls.com you will find contact information for each of the church leaders involved. Feel free to call or email them! They are willing to encourage or equip you further as you lead your congregation in caring for the neighborhoods in your community.

We hope you both enjoy and benefit from this episode with Pastor Zach! See you next Wednesday, because...
if it's Wednesday, it's 200churches!

Dr. Cherith Nordling is a professor at Northern Seminary in the Chicagoland area. Check out her bio right here! Also, if you have even an inkling of furthering your education, you should absolutely check out Northern Seminary's offerings, where you can get an advanced degree while remaining in your ministry location!

This is another in the Seminary Series of episodes here on The 200churches Podcast! Put your thinking cap on, get your Bible and a notepad, and plan to delve deep into the doctrines of Christology, Pneumatology, Anthropology, Soteriology, etc. This is an awesome tornadic presentation by Dr. Nordling, who was also a speaker at the Missio Alliance Awakenings Gathering in Alexandria VA.

Honestly, Jeff and Jonny were transfixed, considering the person of Jesus and the person of the Holy Spirit, and following Cherith's machinations on both. She uses imagination, the biblical text, context, and a love for the Scripture to explore the essence and nature of the Triune God.

You will need to think hard on this episode, and all pastors SHOULD be deep thinkers, at least for an hour a week! :-)

You'll also quickly realize this episode will deserve a second listen. It will be well worth it.

We love you, Pastor! We're thrilled to share this episode with you. Enjoy!

Valerie Bell is the CEO of AWANA Clubs International, a global Children's Ministry that reaches over 3 million kids each week. Valerie visited with Jeff and Jonny in person, in the opulent and luxurious 200churches Podcast studio and world headquarters way up in the northwest corner of Iowa!

Valerie has been involved in Christian ministry and radio for many decades, and her husband Steve is the Executive Vice President of the Willowcreek Association and the architect of the Global Leadership Summit. A member of Willowcreek Community Church, Valerie was nonetheless blown away by the grandeur of the 200churches Studio. :-)

Jeff and Jonny were impacted by Valerie's heart and love for small churches and small church pastors. She shares how the backbone of AWANA is found in the small churches that dot the landscape. Small church input from the bottom up has influenced many advances and improvements in AWANA's curriculum and program.

If you are not familiar with the AWANA Clubs program and materials, check them out at www.awana.org. If you want to know more about Willowcreek's Global Leadership Summit, then check it out too! 

More about Steve and Valerie Bell:
STEVE and VALERIE BELL have been married and in ministry together for over 30 years. Steve is currently an executive vice-president of the Willow Creek Association. Valerie travels widely as a conference speaker, making frequent guest appearances on radio and television. Valerie is the author of A Well Tended Soul - Staying Beautiful for the Rest of Your Life, and co-author with her husband of Made to be Loved and Faith-Shaped Kids. Steve and Valerie live in Wheaton, Illinois; they have two grown sons. 

From SmallChurchPastor.com, Dave "The Animal" Jacobs joins us to give great advice and pointers on how to make our meetings more effective. Board meetings, elder meetings, deacon meetings, leadership team meetings, etc. can all be better by implementing what we all share in episode 229.

This is not rocket science pastors! This is common sense that might, amazingly, elude us in the heat of the ministry moment. This is likely as practical as any of the episodes we've done, and you will enjoy the interplay and chemistry between the three of us.

Dave shares some "do's" and "don'ts" regarding our preparation for, and leadership of our ministry meetings. Honestly, recording these episodes with such great and helpful people is more fun that you can imagine - and we are so thankful to be able to share them with you week after week! We are learning and growing with you. Enjoy episode 229 - and contact Dave if you need affordable and effective coaching from Dave, a coach to pastors, and a pastor himself for almost 30 years!

Contact Dave at dave@smallchurchpastor.com.