The church in North American appears to be in a bit of trouble. Let’s face it, it doesn’t have the greatest reputation; it’s been losing as many as a million members a year; and it doesn’t look like much is going change any time soon. Indeed, there are those who have predicted that the demise of the church is at hand. Not so. Drs. Bill Tenny-Brittian and Kris Tenny-Brittian have been working with churches for years, helping them become faithful disciple-making congregations. Their consultations and training events bring hope to beleaguered church leaders and renewed energy to congregations as they make a commitment to transforming lives. And now Drs. Kris and Bill are taking to the airwaves again. Each show features a conversation about topics that make a difference to the church: leadership, disciple-making, evangelism, what’s working, what’s not, and much much more. Join them for ChurchTalk and help change your church, your community, and your world.
Jump into the art of visitor retention with Bill T-B in this week’s Catalytic Conversation. Discover practical strategies to transform first-time guests into engaged community members. Learn the secrets behind making meaningful connections, ensuring every newcomer feels valued. Join us on Thursday at 10 CDT as we unlock the potential for growth in your congregation.
Welcome to the Growing Church Network Catalytic Conversations podcast with host Bill Tenney-Britton. In this episode Bill explains why hospitality is the crucial factor in turning first-time visitors into returning guests, especially during the holiday season. He covers the importance of web presence, guest parking, greeters outside, clear signage, ushers, conversation-based connection techniques, details like coffee and restrooms,...
Sure, "Everyone" knows who you are ... or at least knows what your church is all about. Right?
Probably not. In fact, you'd be surprised how little your community knows about your church, even if you're highly visible in your community. And there's a great way to test that ... and once you know the truth, there are plans you put into place to "fix" the problem that you probably don't even know you have.
In this episode, Drs. K...
Join us for another lively conversation with Drs. Kris and Bill as they uncover the real priorities driving your church. They’ll explore how to spot the difference between what you say you value and what you actually prioritize. Using practical exercises and biblical examples, they’ll reveal your church's true core values and give you tools to help align them with your mission.
The vast majority of churches in the United States seem to have embraced the model of congregational chaplaincy. The church hired the pastor to take care of the flock. The problem with that model is that it's not biblical and it guarantees that the church will decline to the point that it must close. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively conversation about leading a congregation to the transition from chaplaincy to tran...
It's that time of year when planning summer, fall, and event winter events is upon us. Instead of creating events that only a few neighbors attend, and virtually nobody shows up for worship as a result, Drs. Kris and Bill will show you how to create events that will allow your neighbors and connect them with your congregation and with your Sunday services.
If you are a marketing pro, you already know the difference between Impressions and reach. Impressions are the number of times a particular ad is displayed, and reach is the number of people who connected with that ad in some meaningful way. When it comes to the church, the effectiveness of your reach is largely based on who sees the Impressions. If this sounds confusing, don't worry, Drs. Kris and Bill will be having a lively conv...
Ever wonder why so many church growth initiatives fail? It's because there's a lack of strategy in most of them. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively conversation about The core strategy that it takes to grow a church today.
How do you define “Ministry Failure”? Too often, it’s not defined at all, so “dead” ministries are still in operation months and years after they should have been gently “put down.” In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill look at ministry failure, how to diagnose it, and how to learn from it.
Too many church leaders look at growing churches in their community as if they were the enemy ... or as if there was some secret sauce, a magical spell, or a potent pill that made the growth happen. "What do they have that we don't have?" Believe it or not, it's not the smoke machine, rock band, and youth group that's growing that church. In almost all of those churches, it's something completely different. In this episode, Drs. Kr...
Christianity is not and never has been a solo sport. There is no Christianity without the church. Similarly, church leadership is not a solo sport. There is no church without a team – or teams. However, in most churches, there is some serious role confusion about what church leadership is all about, who's really in charge, and how decisions are made. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively conversation about your church's...
Drs. Kris and Bill engage in an insightful conversation about the vital role of church hospitality in their podcast, "First Impressions Last: Securing a Second Visit." They explore surprising statistics that reveal low retention rates for first-time church visitors and discuss the psychology behind guest experiences. The episode emphasizes the importance of forging genuine emotional and intellectual connections and offers practical...
If you have a blurry vision, your church will have a bleak future. It amazes us how often we see the deer in the headlights look from church members when we ask, "What is your vision for the future of this church?" A church without a unified and compelling vision is a church that is going nowhere pretty rapidly. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively conversation about developing strategies to focus your Church's future.
...Join Drs. Kris and Bill as they dive into the crucial topic of crafting an effective church mission statement. They’ll explore what sets a great mission statement apart, how to anchor it in biblical principles, and how to make it a living, guiding force for your church. Discover the power of a clear, compelling mission statement.
Every church has more than its fair share of bullies – I call them Rats in my Herding Cats book. The truth is, it only takes one to make life on earth a bit of hell for the pastor and for those who are trying to lead the church in Mission fulfillment. However, ultimately the bullies aren't the real problem. It's the rest of the zoo that's killing churches. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill Have a lively conversation about your ...
It’s a perpetual problem. A visitor manages to make their way to your worship service, but before you can make a real connection, they’ve darted out the door without a word to anybody. TRUTH: If you can’t retain your guests, you can’t grow your church. In this week’s episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively discussion about four things you can do to turn your visitors into returning guests.
Join Drs. Kris and Bill for a lively conversation on crafting sermons that resonate deeply, presenting simple solutions to complex problems, and embedding actionable calls to action for transformative impacts. Discover the 10 things your sermon must and must not have to transform lives today.
Every week, you sweat bullets to create a sermon that invites your church members and guests to live a transformed life. But studies have shown, all that work you've done is little more than a foggy memory by Monday and forgotten completely by Tuesday. This week, Drs. Bill and Kris are doing something different ... join them as they dig into the world of ChatGPT and show you how to leverage your sermon so that by next Friday, every...
The stats are in and they're not pretty. 53% of US Churches have not yet reached their pre-COVID numbers (Hartford Research, 2024) and 66% of US Churches are in some state of decline. And to that the recent report that pastors (and by extension, churches) are falling lower in the "We Trust You" polls and that spells T.R.O.U.B.L.E. At least part of the reason for the failures is that most of those in our pews are "Hobbyist Church Me...
Quick question: you've been tasked with finding a new church treasurer. Which of the following traits will you prioritize in the selection process? (1) Experience in Accounting; (2) Longevity as a Church Member; (3) Church Giving History; (4) Personal Spiritual Practices; (5) Financial Education. In this episode, Drs. Kris and Bill have a lively conversation about getting the right people into the right seats on the right bus.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.
"SmartLess" with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett is a podcast that connects and unites people from all walks of life to learn about shared experiences through thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity. A nice surprise: in each episode of SmartLess, one of the hosts reveals his mystery guest to the other two. What ensues is a genuinely improvised and authentic conversation filled with laughter and newfound knowledge to feed the SmartLess mind. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!