According to a recent Lifeway Research study, 51% of pastors and church leaders in 2023 said they had seriously considered leaving their congregations, compared with only 21% in 2021. What does that mean? Church leaders are facing challenges! We discuss five of them in this episode including pastoral exhaustion, cultures that limit growth, and others. We also found helpful information in this article by Anthony Hilder. And don't forget to email phil@talantonservices.com for your free Talanton Mug! It's awesome!

Does your church stream any services other than Sunday morning? Matt has decided to start streaming his Wednesday Youth services. What do you think? What are the challenges and benefits? 

Join Kyle, Phil, and Matt in a lively discussion about the unintended consequences of online church. We love online church; we need online church; but we need to do it better! One of the unintended consequences of the online paradigm is the difficulty in maintaining good connection, communication, and caring in regards to our online attenders. In other words--community! We want to help you find the best ways to do online church and we also need you to join the conversation, so please shoot us a DM, email, or comment. Thanks for joining us on the Thriving In Ministry Podcast!

Can we really engage in worship in an online service? Should Churches include their Praise and Worship sets as a part of their livestreams at all? If members only engage online, what are they missing in the area of worship? Kyle, Matt, & Phil discuss these questions and others in this episode. Join the conversation!

This week, we're beginning a mini-season featuring a few episodes in which we talk about the possible unintended consequences of online church. We start with giving and ask this compelling question: Is online giving robbing you of the opportunity to disciple your kids and new members in the area of giving? Are there other unintended consequences, and what do we do about them? Join the conversation!

On today's episode of the Thriving in Ministry Podcast, we talk about an issue close to the heart of every church leader—volunteers. We love them. Especially the most faithful ones. But if we're not careful, that faithfulness can turn to exhaustion, discouragement, and even disillusionment. How can we help them keep from getting burned out? Kyle Willis, Matt Dotson, and Phil Blount discuss this outstanding article from Churchtrac.com and speak from their own experience as well. Join the conversation!

Join us for the epic journey of 2024. Kyle, Matt & Phil have some fun talking New Year's resolutions and some other nonsense, but mostly give some pointed advice on 7 things to NOT do this year in your church. Join the conversation!

In this special episode, we take a quick break from our usual format and just hang out and talk all things Christmas! Join us as we discuss everything from Advent calendars to food to Santa Clause, i.e., does one of our staff still believe? We had a blast recording it; we hope you enjoy listening! Merry Christmas!