The Pro Church Tools Show with Brady Shearer

April 2024
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Tue, 13 August 2019

How To Attract New People To Church Through Invitations

If you asked 100 church leaders - what’s the best way to attract new people to a church? The majority would answer...personal invitations. And I agree. Knowing this, how can your church’s leadership inspire your congregation to take those steps and begin inviting their friends and family? By the end of this podcast, you’ll have your answer as we dive into what it takes to create a culture of invitation.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-to-attract-new-people-to-church-through-invitations/

What's In This Session?

Starting with some stats... (2:08)

#1 - Creating a welcoming atmosphere (5:15)

#2 - Equip churchgoers with resources (11:40)

#3 - Timely campaigns (15:40)

#4 - Create a culture of invitation in how you communicate (18:05)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-01-How-To-Attract-New-People-To-Church-Through-Invitations-118.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Thu, 8 August 2019

The 5 Unwritten Rules Every Church Announcement Should Follow

Because of the work that I do, I have been privileged to read through and present tens of thousands of different church announcements. So I know what makes a good church announcement and what doesn’t. So in this video, I want to share with you some of what I’ve learned - as we examine five unwritten rules that every church announcement follow.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/the-5-unwritten-rules-every-church-announcement-should-follow/

What's In This Session?

Announcement #1 (2:50)

Unwritten Rule #1: Don’t use guilt as a motivator (5:00)

Alternative Announcement (6:20)

Announcement #2 (7:15)

Unwritten Rule #2: Don’t lead with rhetorical questions (9:30)

Announcement #3 (10:25)

Unwritten Rule #3: Don’t be break your own rules (11:05)

Announcement #4 (13:30)

Unwritten Rule #4: Don’t use acronyms that need explanation (14:30)

Announcement #5: (18:30)

Unwritten Rule #5: Don’t elevate information over inspiration (19:20)

Honorable Mention (20:00)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-02-The-5-Unwritten-Rules-Every-Church-Announcement-Should-Follow-117.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Tue, 6 August 2019

How To Build A Social Media Following From Scratch For A Church

Starting from scratch on social media can feel like a monumental undertaking - but keep in mind, we all started with zero followers at one point or another. So follow along, and by the end of this video, you’ll have a complete social media marketing plan for starting from scratch.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-to-build-a-social-media-following-from-scratch-for-a-church/https://prochurchtools.com/7-fixable-mistakes-churches-make-on-social-media/

What's In This Session?

#1: Leverage your existing audience (1:30)
#2: Choose your platform (3:00)
#3: Fill out your profile (4:05)
#4: Determine when you should be posting (4:30)
#5: Start posting! (5:25)
#6: Measure and audit (6:00
Other tips (8:00)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-01-How-To-Build-A-Social-Media-Following-From-Scratch-For-A-Church-116.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Thu, 1 August 2019

3 Ways To Ensure Church Services Are Never Predictable Or Stale

When you’re a church, and you’re hosting a new service every seven days, in perpetuity - things can start to feel monotonous. So how do you mix it up? How do you inject new life into something that feels stale or predictable? Well I think this is actually one of my church’s strengths, so I talked with my pastor about how we continually change things up within service and by the end of this video, you’ll know exactly how to do the same thing in your church.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/3-ways-to-ensure-sunday-services-are-never-predictable-or-stale/

What's In This Session?

#1. Anecdotal (Short-Term): One-off curveball pieces built around engagement with things that are already happening (2:08)
Recipe for this is to train yourself to see everything as a creative inspiration for church (I take pictures of everything, screen capture and keep it all in an Evernote note for easy recall) (5:20)
#2. Seasonal (Medium-Term): A temporary move to either change it up or to strategically focus on something we want people to move towards (8:40)
this could be as simple as every week this month we are going to live interview a key volunteer in a different area each week (how did you start, what do you love about it, and why does it matter?) and encourage people to take a next step to get involved (9:05)
It could be a book series that we encourage people to purchase the book and follow along with us (9:30)
It can be language as well - we have written down 26 things that your giving goes to support and we cycle through those twice a year right now - started a couple months ago (10:57)
Q&A for a series - text in your questions (11:57)
#3. Format Changeup (Long-Term): Can you change the holy grail of worship, announcements, message? That is the question. We are looking to address this one coming for September (12:42)
Going to experiment with 3 x 18 minute segments (Shared Spiritual Experience, Shared Family Experience, Shared Learning Experience) (14:01)
1st segment: We are going to lengthen our worship time from 15 to 18 minutes (from 3 to 4 songs) - add in an 80% known hymn or song everyone can participate, also going to play around with scripture reading, and contemplation, more sharing from other worship team members, etc. create more opportunity to participate (14:01)
2nd segment: Shared family experience - alongside of information and inspiration we want a celebration of our family (15:11)
3rd segment: more practical teaching particularly with next steps - not so philosophical, but practical not only what step can you take here at church but also just real practical things you can do this week (16:25)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-02-3-Ways-To-Ensure-Sunday-Services-Are-Never-Predictable-Or-Stale-115.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Tue, 30 July 2019

How Smart Churches Use Social Media To make Better Decisions

Using social media as a church has a number of benefits. For example, you get the opportunity to interact with your congregation beyond Sunday morning. But there’s one particular advantage of social that most churches don’t even consider - and what’s amazing about this social media perk, is that it can actually help you make better decisions in every facet of ministry. Here’s the good news...by the end of this video, you’ll know exactly how to put this overlooked social benefit to use at your church.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-smart-churches-use-social-media-to-make-better-decisions/

What's In This Session?

Find the intersection between your vision and what the people want (4:46)
#1. Have you ever seen tweets in my Instagram Feed? Stop the scroll design intersected with content you’ve already responded to positively (6:30)
#2. Which Scripture has been your greatest comfort? (8:40)
58% of Americans want to read the Bible more - Barna (9:33)
#3. What’s your favorite summer time activity? (10:08)
#4. What is your go-to pie? Perfect way to showcase social media in service (10:48)
#5. What’s one of the biggest life changes you’ve made in the last five years? (13:34)
#6. Elimination - Pizza, tacos, burgers, chicken wings (15:28)
#7. Would you rather have the strength of Samson or the wisdom of Solomon? (17:46)
#8. Do you have a good dog or pet? Let’s see photos! (18:55)
#9. What’s your favorite worship song that we currently sing at church? (20:23)
User feedback is one of the most important things organizations can gather; start an Evernote and just save this stuff for when you need it; the combination of user feedback paired with vision is the ultimate (21:38)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-01-How-Smart-Churches-Use-Social-Media-To-Make-Better-Decisions-114.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Thu, 25 July 2019

The Business Owners Guide To Running A Church [Tips From Ex-Pastors]

I was recently asked the following question: "If you went back to a full time church job - what business lessons would you take with you in order to be more effective?” And this episode of Pro Church Tools is the answer to that question. Not only will you hear from me though, but friends of mine who are also former church leaders and pastors that have since launched their own businesses. Here are the lessons we’ve learned from running businesses, that we’d bring to a church.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/the-business-owners-guide-to-running-a-church/

What's In This Session?

If you went back to a full time church job, what business lessons would you take with you in order to be more effective? (1:02)
#1: Measurement/metrics (1:16)
#2: Hiring (2:07)
Justin Dean - That Church Conference: "Build a core team that’s in on the mission and dedicated to the church, but for most positions be open to outsource and hire people who are good at getting the job done. Design, creative, worship, even marketing can all be outsourced with greater results for about the same cost or less." (2:10)
Brady’s business lessons for church (5:25)
#1: 100% separation of church operations from congregational giving (5:50)
Why? Obligation is the enemy of innovation (6:02)
#2: Multi-purpose facilities - We did a whole episode on this (10:20)
Additional streams of revenue (11:02)
I want as many people as possible to be in life giving relationship with Jesus (12:28)
#3: The Central Hub - Focusing on next steps - always pointing to a single destination (14:14)
Why? Metrics and measurements (14:40)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-02-The-Business-Owners-Guide-To-Running-A-Church-113.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Tue, 23 July 2019

How To Evangelize in 2019 And Beyond

The prospect of evangelism in today’s tension-filled culture can feel intimidating. Yet as a practicing Christian, you and I both know that being a witness about Jesus is a crucial element of our faith. So how do we reconcile this? In this episode of Pro Church Tools, we’ll examine how to evangelize in today’s world - and I’ll even share with you my exact talking points that I use when sharing with someone why I believe in Jesus.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-to-evangelize-in-2019-and-beyond/

What's In This Session?

Almost all practicing Christians believe that part of their faith means being a witness about Jesus (95%-97%) - Barna, Reviving Evangelism (0:35)
Millennials in particular feel equipped to share their faith with others. (0:59)
Almost half of Millennials (47%) agree at least somewhat that it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. This is compared to a little over one-quarter of Gen X (27%), and one in five Boomers (19%) (1:33)
#1: Acknowledge that evangelism is rarely effective outside of relationship (5:00)
#2: Realize that evangelism is about many decision(s) not a singular decision - spectrum versus on/off switch (8:40)
#3: Don’t feel obligated to “defend” your faith - In the same way that Jesus didn’t need Peter to defend him against the guards that came to arrest Jesus (13:26)
#4: On Earth as it is in Heaven (18:42)
“Out of 100 people, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.” ― D.L. Moody (18:50)
#5: When I do use words, I use this framework: I believe I was put on the Earth to make a difference, I believe the best way to make a difference is through love, and I believe the greatest example of love is Jesus - laying down his life for the goodwill of others - transition into Christianity being about a selfless life and dying to self (19:50)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-01-How-To-Evangelize-In-2019-And-Beyond-112.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Thu, 18 July 2019

5 Things Every Church Service Should Include

There are a lot of moving pieces when it comes to planning your church’s services. From scheduling volunteers, to determining what songs you want to sing, announcements, sermon prep - so much goes into a Sunday morning. So what are we missing? In my experience, there are at least five things many churches overlook on a weekend - and by the end of this video, you’ll know what each of those five things is and how to begin incorporating them into your next church service.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/5-things-every-church-service-should-include/

What's In This Session?

#1: Acknowledgement of people who are new (1:45)
#2: Set expectations (5:05)
#3: Next steps promotion (6:43)
#4: Defining of terms - Christianese/theological terms are okay - just make sure it gets defined when used (10:08)
#5: Reiterate vision (13:38)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-02-5-Things-Every-Church-Service-Should-Include-111.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Tue, 16 July 2019

Why Millennials Make Such Terrible Employees

There’s a new crop of leaders volunteering and working in churches - and they’re unlike any prior generation to come before them. And this is causing tension with the senior leadership across every denomination and brand of church. So what do we do about it? By the end of this video, you’ll have a greater understanding of how to lead young people in a rapidly changing culture.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/why-millennials-make-such-terrible-employees/

What's In This Session?

The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019 (1:29)
#1 - Age: Age 17 to 36 in 2019: Largest living generation, largest in workforce, largest voting group (2:18)
#2 - Young people are disillusioned and untrusting (3:43)
#3 - Delays: Home ownership, marriage, parenthood, putting down roots in a job (11:11)
Only 27% of millennials are married (11:27)
More millennials than we have ever surveyed—49 percent—would, if they had a choice, quit their current jobs in the next two years. In our 2017 report, that number was 38 percent (12:11)
Response #1: Talk it out (13:07)
Response #2: Acknowledge the imperfect system and demonstrate empathy and belief (16:45)
Response #3: Build trust and set expectations on both sides (20:18)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: Podcast-01-Why-Millennials-Make-Such-Terrible-Employees-110.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT

Thu, 11 July 2019

What To Do When Your Church Can't Remember Event Date And Times

Stop me if this has ever happened to you: Someone from your church comes up to you after service in the lobby and asks, “Hey, what time and date is that event again?” Even though you’ve been announcing it for two months - your church still can’t remember important details! Here’s the thing though…in my experience, this is usually the church’s fault - not the congregation. Thankfully, you can fix this! And by the end of this video, you’ll know exactly how.

***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/what-to-do-when-your-church-cant-remember-event-date-times/

What's In This Session?

Meme in Church Communications FB Group (0:37)
Problem #1: The assumption that just because you announced an event, people will remember what you’re saying (1:39)
Problem #2: Posting event information everywhere to compensate - because announcements apparently aren’t enough! (2:13)
Analogy: Going to the movies (3:00)
How do movies actually work? Inspiration OVER information with movie trailers (4:51)
#1. The Central Hub - One destination for every single next step in your church (6:18)
#2. The 50% Rule For Church Announcements - Stop conditioning your church to ignore announcements (8:18)
#3. The 2-Part Church Announcements Formula - Inspiration over information (9:31)
#4. One Next Step Every Single Time - Head to lifeabundant.info or visit the lifeabundant.info kiosk in the lobby. (10:28)

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned:

Direct download: JULY_11_PODCAST.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:00am EDT