Episode 19: On Church Mergers and Plants

We just released a Journal on church planting and church mergers. Because neither Mark nor Jonathan wrote an article for it, we devoted this episode of Pastors’ Talk to the topic. Also: this will be our last Pastors’ Talk until September, though we’ll be recording them all summer, so send us your ideas if you have them! SHOW NOTES: — Have you (Mark) ever been a church planter? (2:30) — Why are the topics of planting and mergers worth thinking through? (4:10) — Is there a different skill set for the church planter and someone leading a church merger? (8:00) — What’s some bad advice you often hear for church planters? (9:20) — Do some of the problems stem from a dependence on agencies as opposed to churches? What are agencies useful for? What should they not do that they tend to do? (11:00) — What common wisdom do you have to offer those involved in church mergers? (13:10) — When does the “church plant” become a church? (19:00) — Who should leave a church to go with a plant? (20:00) — Do you have elders first, and then members? Or the other way around? (22:20)