Send Network Podcast

Supporting your husband, taking care of the kids and their schoolwork, following up with members in your church and sharing the gospel — planting wives do a lot. And now, with the COVID-19 outbreak, they do it all from their home. In this episode, Dhati Lewis sits down with Kathy Litton, director of planter spouse development for Send Network, and planting wife Seané Rice, who along with husband, Ryan, serve Connect Church in New Orleans, to talk about the unique challenges and fears COVID-19 presents for planting wives, how their church has continued to serve the community and practical ways their family has stayed healthy in this season. Related Blog Post: 5 Challenges for church planting wives during COVID-19

In a short time, COVID-19 consumed our world (literally), and the Church has been forced to adjust. The coronavirus has revealed aspects about the Church in North America that have previously been obscure. In this episode, Dhati Lewis and Brad Brisco, the director of bivocational church planting for the North American Mission Board, discuss four things every pastor and church planter should be thinking about today, before COVID-19 subsides. Mentions: “Covocational Church Planting” by Brad Brisco “ReThink: 9 Paradigm Shifts for Activating the Church” by Brad Brisco

What we’re seeing right now with COVID-19 is not the crisis—it’s only phase one. How can the Church be prepared for the coming phases of the COVID-19 pandemic? In this episode, Dhati Lewis interviews Ed Stetzer, executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College and an expert consultant on crisis management, about the Church’s response to COVID-19, the different phases we’ll experience and the hopeful new normal after the crisis subsides.

COVID-19 has brought Sunday services—and the world—to a temporary halt. These are unnerving, unpredictable times. As pastors and church planters, our initial impulse could be fear — fear of what’s going to happen to our church, our community, our family. In this special episode, Dhati Lewis sits down (virtually, of course!) with Clint Clifton, church planter and lead pastor of Pillar Church in the D.C. area and the new senior director of development for Send Network, and Noah Oldham, church planter and lead pastor of August Gate Church in St. Louis and the new senior director of deployment for Send Network. Together, they discuss what pastors need in these unprecedented times, initiatives their churches are doing to stay connected and the hope we have as God’s people. More information about pastoring amid COVID-19 available here.

Money can’t solve all of your church’s issues, but it can fund the vision. Fundraising is important, but money and finances is a prominent struggle for church planters. On this episode of We are Send Network, Dhati Lewis interviews Matt Lawson, lead pastor of Story City Church in Burbank, CA, to talk about two essential things every church planter needs to fundraise for their church. Related Blog Post: Maintaining an ongoing relationship with supporters

The numbers don’t tell the whole story, but they tell an important part of it. In 2015, 4,000 churches were planted. In the same year, 3,700 churches closed their doors. Five years later, our numbers aren’t much better. We need to plant and revitalize churches. In this episode, Dhati Lewis interviews Daniel Yang, the director of Send Institute, to talk about the state and stats of North American missions. Related Blog Post: Church Planting Capacity for the Next Generation

How do pastors start residencies? Should they begin with leaders in their church or draw from people outside of their congregation? On this episode, Dhati Lewis sits down with Clint Clifton— church planter and lead pastor of Pillar Church in Dumfries, Virginia— to talk about how pastors and church planters can practically start residency programs and raise up missional leaders from within their congregation. Mentions: Interested in receiving a baseline syllabus for your residency program? Email residencies@namb.net. Related Blog Post: The Essential Resource for Church Planting

“70% of kids who grew up in good churches walk away from Jesus in college,” said Troy Nesbitt, Director of the Salt Network. The college campus is littered with prodigals and students who have never been exposed to Christianity. Learn why and how church plants can reach this demographic as Dhati Lewis and Troy Nesbitt talk about their strategy behind planting churches on major university campuses and why reaching the next generation is vital. Mentions: Interested in the Salt Company Conference? Learn more and register here. Click here, for more resources on reaching college students from the Salt Company. Related Blog Post: The College Campus: A Plentiful Harvest

To see Acts 2 lived out today, you need not look any further than university age students living out their faith. Meeting daily, breaking bread, praying and studying God’s Word regularly—there’s perhaps no easier place to model Acts 2 than on the campus. This week, Dhati Lewis interviews Ed Kang, lead pastor of Gracepoint Church, as he shares about how they develop and train leaders on the college campus toward the vision of having “an Acts 2 church in every college town.” Related Blog Post: 3 Ways to reach university students

“I wanted to quit so many times,” said James Roberson, lead pastor and church planter of The Bridge Church in Brooklyn, New York. On this episode of We are Send Network Roberson vulnerably shares the unique challenges and fears of planting a church in New York and two essential aspects of church planting anywhere. Related Blog Post: 3 Ways to endure in Church Planting

Martin Vargas planted Iglesia Church out of a deep need in his community. Forty percent of the people in his community were Spanish-speaking residents, but there were no healthy Spanish-speaking churches in Hollywood, Florida. This week on We Are Send Network, Dhati Lewis sits down with Martin Vargas, lead pastor of Iglesia Church in Florida, to talk about Vargas’ church planting story and his heart to discover and develop three types of church planting leaders in his community and across the world. Related Blog Post: 3 Things Church Planters Must Do to Multiply

No one has ever said being a multiplying church is easy. At Lifepoint Church, it’s not uncommon for life groups to become churches—and with church multiplication comes the reality of saying goodbye to key leaders and friends. On this episode of We are Send Network Dhati Lewis interviews Dean Fulks, lead pastor at Lifepoint Church in Columbus, Ohio, about how they became a multiplying church through their life groups, the sacrifice of being a multiplying church and the essentials of church planting. Related Blog Post: The Hardest Part About Being a Multiplying Church

Rob Wilton, founder and pastor of Vintage Church in New Orleans and Pittsburgh sits down with Dhati Lewis, Vice President of Send Network and founder and pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, to talk about church planting at home and in a new city. Related Blog Post: Church Planting: A Low Road with a High Calling.

We say we love the lost, but do the lost feel loved by us? This week, Dhati Lewis interviews Sean Sears, lead pastor at Grace Church in Boston to discuss the need for church planters to have relationships with non-Christians, and how planters can equip their members to do the same. Listen to the Evangelism with Johnny Hunt to learn more about how to love your neighbor and share the gospel. Related Blog Post: Who’s Your One Sunday Initiative.

Everyone has trauma. It’s the great divider in our nation and our relationships, and it keeps us from intimacy and healing. This week, Dhati Lewis interviews Chip Dodd, author of Voice of the Heart: A Call to Full Living, to discuss how we overcome trauma through feeling our feelings, telling the truth to the right people and giving ourselves back to a process that allows us to respond to life, not react to it. Related Blog Post: Healing from Trauma in a Divided Nation

Pastors—and anyone serving in caregiving vocations—are some of the most vulnerable to burnout. They generously pour out their lives to others, and often at the expense of their themselves. In the midst of shepherding their people and cultivating their hearts to love God and others, their own heart gets lost in the shadow of the needs of others. This week, Dhati Lewis sits down with Chip Dodd, author of Voice of the Heart: A Call to Full Living, to discuss why it is necessary for pastors to be vigilant about what’s going on in their heart.

Bruce Moore sits down with Dhati Lewis, Vice President of Send Network and founder and pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, to discuss planting in the urban context, being resourceful as a church planter and the importance of being plugged in to the Send Network.

Keynon Akers and Shay Bethea sit down with Dhati Lewis, Vice President of Send Network and founder and pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, to discuss the importance of restoration and the best practices while working to restore dignity to underserved people in our communities. Read more about restoration from Dhati in his blog post Restoration through the Great Requirement.

Dhati Lewis, Vice President of Send Network and founder and pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, sits down with his wife, Angie to discuss managing expectations as well as finding your own stride as a pastor’s wife. Related Blog Post: Three ways pastors’ wives set healthy expectations

Jackie Taylor and Pam Wolfe sit down with Dhati Lewis, Vice President of Send Network and founder and pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, to discuss how they navigate their roles in the church as pastors wives. Related Blog Post: Pastor’s Wives: There are no molds