Pro Church Podcast With Brady Shearer

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

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: Central Hub Why Your Church Service Needs A Host Pro Church Tools Pro Church Tools on Facebook Pro Church Tools on YouTube

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 w

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

Today, I want to share with you fifteen books that will benefit every church leader. The twist? None of these books are written by church leaders themselves. Instead, the authors are business leaders, financial experts, FBI hostage negotiators, NAVY Seals, and more. And while their vocations may differ from yours, that’s the point! Because the wisdom within these books is applicable anywhere. And by the end of this episode, you’ll surely have a couple of new books to add to your reading list.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/15-secular-books-church-leaders-should-read/    What's In This Session? Moneyball example (0:39) Everything Is A Remix (2:02) #1. Tuesday’s with Morrie, Mitch Albom (3:21) #2. Extreme Ownership, Jocko Willink (4:08) #3. One Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard (4:54) #4. The E-Myth Revisited, Michael E. Gerber (5:25) #5. It Doesn’t Have To Be Crazy At Work, Jason Fried (7:18) #6. An astronauts guide to life on earth, Chris Hadfield (7:57) #7. Atomic Habits, James Clear

  ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/5-ways-to-host-better-church-meetings/     If you’re like most people, you probably don’t enjoy meetings. Why? Well, because they’re often poorly planned and just waste time without actually accomplishing much. But it doesn’t have to be this way! So in this episode of Pro Church Tools, you’ll learn five ways to truly improve your church’s meetings.   What's In This Session? Disclaimer: Pro Church Tools doesn’t really have meetings because they suck (1:35) 47% of workers complain that meetings are where productivity goes to die. Furthermore, workers consider roughly half of their meetings to be a waste of time, and 73% confess to sneaking in some real work during meetings. (2:23) #1: Before a meeting ever begins, be ruthless with determining whether or not something deserves a meeting and be ruthless with who you invite (3:35) #2: Set the meeting’s agenda and send it to everyone ahead of time (5:04) #3: Deal with the devices (6:33) #4: Set a start time

Today, you’re going to learn The Ultimate 7-Day Social Media Calendar For Churches. This is the same framework that hundreds of churches around the world are beginning to embrace - and they’re seeing their engagement skyrocket because of it. So buckle up, because by the end of this video, you and your church will have a complete social media posting strategy for every single day of the week.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/the-ultimate-7-day-social-media-calendar-for-churches/   What's In This Session? 7 out of every 10 Americans adults is active on Facebook (Pew Research) (1:06) Millennials and Gen X spend ~7 hours on social each week (Nielsen) (1:12) The second largest demographic on Facebook is people ages 55+ (Statista) (1:23) Boomers spend about ~4 hours on social each week overall (Nielsen) (1:29) Compare social media to traditional media for a moment. Now, these costs will vary per region, but on average an outreach tool like a billboard will cost about ~$3,000/month. Circula

Creating dramatic and cinematic videos for your church is what this episode of Pro Church Tools is all about - as we breakdown seven eye-popping shot setups that you can copy and start using right away. By the end of this video, you’ll have a bag full of tricks that you can reach into next time you’ve got a camera in your hand.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/shot-setups-for-better-church-videos/   What's In This Session? #1: Sunbeam at edge of frame - makes shot more dynamic; create lens flare; manufactured light leak; wash the entire scene with a lens flare pinkish color; Time Of Day: Golden Hour (1:51) #2: Block out sun with object - Creates silhouettes and lens flares; makes shot more dynamic; Time Of Day: Golden Hour (Exception: Point up with tall trees) (5:10) #3: Background/Foreground -Create movement within shot (landscape); Create depth within shot (cross); Time Of Day: Any (7:05) #4: Wide angle facing up with movement - Exaggerate compression with wide angle lens; unique p

Many churches I know struggle with quantifying “success” when it comes to their digital efforts. Maybe a pastor asks, “Hey, why do we have a podcast?” Or, “What’s the point of a YouTube channel anyway?” So if you hear a question like that and struggle with the thought of how to answer it - you’re not alone. But by the end of this video, you will know how to answer those questions and you’ll have a three-part framework to measure every digital decision you make.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-to-get-any-idea-approved-by-your-pastor/  What's In This Session? “We are starting a Podcast here at the church and have been asked by lead pastor to present some metrics on how we will measure 'success' in year one. Any thoughts?" (0:38) "That would largely depend on what you're trying to achieve and how your church measures success.” (1:02) 3 part framework (3:18) The Goal: Every Christ-following church exists to help people: love God, love others, and make disciples (3:44) The Resource:

If you’ve ever been involved with your church’s social media accounts, you probably know how easy it is to be repetitive. It can feel like you’re just posting the same stuff over and over again. So we want to help you with that. By the end of this video, you’ll learn five social media ideas for posts that are anything but ordinary - and we’ll show you real examples of what this can look like.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/abnormal-social-media-ideas-for-your-church/   What's In This Session? THE GOAL: Stop the scroll, start a meaningful conversation, provoke spiritual practice (1:17) #1. 20-Second Bible Lesson (2:17) Promote Biblical literacy (2:20) #2. Would You Rather with examples (4:26) #3. Bible Lottery (6:58) #4. “How To" (8:04) One of the best frameworks for blog posts when it comes to ranking in google is a "how to" post - we took this idea and applied it to social (8:07) Taking the truths of scripture and shaping it into frameworks that are clear and actionable (9:23) #5.

Storytelling is the most powerful form of human communication. And it has the ability to shape the way we think about God and ourselves. Unfortunately, this power can be used to do harm. And so in this episode of Pro Church Tools, we’ll examine three prominent narratives persisting within the Christian faith that - while perhaps are rooted in good intentions - are doing more harm than good.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/harmful-christian-narratives-we-need-to-stop-telling/   What's In This Session? Example #1: Perkins Wand (0:35) Example #2: Henry Beecher in WWll (1:58) The placebo effect (3:35) The Goal: Love God, love others, make disciples (6:20) How we talk about God shapes the way people view God and themselves (8:28) Harmful Narrative #1: “Morality Police” (8:40) Agape love - selfless, unconditional, sacrificial, promoting the goodwill of all humanity - the same love that God has for each of us (11:35) "Morality police" narrative teaches people that God is a drill sergeant -

Today, I want to share with you five leadership lessons that I think every leader should grasp before they turn 30. These lessons are applicable in both personal and professional life - and each lesson is condensed into a quote to make it easy to remember and apply as you serve the world and the people around you.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/5-leadership-lessons-you-need-to-know-before-youre-30/   What's In This Session? What if you’re older than thirty? “Never too late" (0:42) Why before you're thirty? (0:55) #1. "For the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you.” (1:35) #2. “Surrender the need to be right.” (8:35) #3. "Once you settle into a story about your pain, you are extremely reluctant to challenge it.” - Johann Hari (16:45) #4. "Never miss twice.” - James Clear (23:16) #5. “Become unoffendable." (26:30)   Show Notes & Resources Mentioned: Pro Church Tools Pro Church Tools on Facebook Pro Church Too

There are a ton of new Instagram features that are coming later this year - along with many that have already been released. Do you know all of them? Do you know how to use them to help your church? By the end of this episode of Pro Church Tools you will - as we’ll cover thirteen of the newest and most exciting changes to Instagram in 2019.  ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/13-exciting-new-instagram-features-for-churches-in-2019/  What's In This Session? SOON: Create Mode: Simplified design (1:45) Donation sticker (4:56) Creator Profiles (7:55) The downsides of creator profiles (12:00) Instagram Stories Filters (13:37) Anti-Bullying Initiatives (14:32) NOW: Countdown (17:00) Remove followers (18:50) Close friends (19:15) Q&A IG Live (19:38) Line breaks (21:20) IGTV Previews (22:17) IGTV Horizontal Videos (25:40) Pro Church Tools GIFs (27:20)   Show Notes & Resources Mentioned: 7 Exciting Instagram Features Coming in 2019 New Instagram Update Pro Church Tools Pro Church Tools

The way churches hire has drastically changed with the rise of digital platforms and the Internet. Positions in ministry now exist that never did before - and the process for filling these positions is different as well! So what does this mean for you if you want to work at a church? In this video, I’ll share seven skills that contributed to me getting hired at a church when I was 21 years old - and how these skills can help you as well.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-to-get-hired-by-a-church-7-skills-you-need/  What's In This Session? #1. Understand the senior leader's vision and struggles - and identify ways you can help (1:58) #2. A portfolio/platform (6:52) #3. Relationships (9:30) #4. Indicate your ability to work on yourself (12:05) #5. Organization (14:44) #6. Exceed expectations (15:49) #7. Volunteer/Free Work/Don’t get taken advantage of (16:22) WARNING FLAGS: You trash your old church and boss (18:25) You’re overly critical with few solutions (18:43) Someone who wants

In this podcast, you're going to learn three advanced tips for prepping your church's services. I'll show you how my church prepares for Sunday each and every week, and by the end of this episode, you'll know exactly how to implement these tips in your church as well.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/how-the-internet-is-provoking-the-next-christian-reformation/   What's In This Session? What role does/will the Internet have in reforming the church? (1:50) The story of Martin Luther is that he nailed his 95 theses to a door and thus began the Protestant Reformation (2:15) How can an unpublished, obscure Roman Catholic monk move from the shadows to the world stage in a matter of years? (2:27) Brand Luther by Andrew Pettegree (3:15) Luther quickly learned how to use printed books and pamphlets to spread his views widely and effectively. He obsessed not just about the words he wrote but about the timing, accuracy, visual appeal, and effective distribution of these printed works. Second,

For the last few months, I’ve been experimenting with a new type of social media template for churches. And amazingly, this type of post has quickly become one of the most popular within our social program - and hundreds of churches are seeing great engagement numbers with this kind of post. And so in this video, you’ll learn all about what I like to call the ‘Church Invitation’ template - and I’ll share with you 11 real examples of what it can look like.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/the-church-invitation-social-media-template-11-examples/  What's In This Session? Social program feedback from real churches prompted the creation of these posts (1:58) Three Benefits: Build anticipation for church tomorrow, demonstrate to your congregation that every Sunday is special, fill in a day on your social media calendar (3:00) Example #1: Slideshow (4:47) Example #2: Jackpot (5:55) Example #3: Crossword (Church gathers tomorrow) (7:13) Example #4: Countdown (7:20) Example #5: Breaking News…

 Church stage design can feel intimidating - especially if you’re a smaller church. But here’s the good news: you *can* design a stunning church stage on a budget. And by the end of this video, you’ll know exactly how - and I’ll share with you five churches that are implementing these cost-saving stage designs as inspiring examples.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/simple-cheap-church-stage-design-ideas-real-examples/    What's In This Session? Stage design is one of the things that churches obsess over that doesn’t move the needle forward (0:28) 65 published videos on our YouTube channel - the most popular with a quarter of a million views is called ‘3 Small Church Stage Design Ideas’ (1:08) STAGE DESIGN FOUNDATION: Lighting (1:45) BIG IDEA: 1x2x8 wood boards from Home Depot, painted black and combined with LED tape (2:32) Example #1: Worship Leader Hangout (4:46) Example #2 - The Well (Geneva, IL) (6:22) Example #3 - Palm Valley Church (Mission, TX) (7:12) Example #4 - Dunn’s Creek

“Is the church’s primary goal to convert people to Christianity?” This is a question I recently asked more than 500 church leaders. And the responses I got? Frankly, they surprised me. And so in this video, we’ll breakdown how churches understand conversion - and why we need to stop caring so much about it.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/why-churches-should-stop-caring-so-much-about-conversions/    What's In This Session? My Thesis: Too many churches believe that converting people to Christianity is their primary goal - and this belief causes harm (0:32) 629 people were asked, “Is the church’s primary goal to convert people to Christianity?” 40% said yes; 60% said no (1:05) My IG Demographic: 25-34 age; 70/30 men vs. women (1:43) How do you quantify a conversion? 603 responses: 33% sinner’s prayer; 4% church membership; 25% baptism; 38% IDK (3:05) Harmful #1: Quantifying a conversion is virtually impossible - if your church’s primary goal is immeasurable, how do you know you’re on

Most churches still use bulletins. But with that being said, when was the last time you examined the true purpose of your church bulletin - and whether or not it was accomplishing its goal? In this video, we’ll lay out a series of principles that we believe a church bulletin should abide by and I'll even give you a free bulletin Photoshop template to help you create your own.     BULLETIN TEMPLATE: https://prochurchtools.com/u6oh   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/16645-2/   What's In This Session? Does your church have a bulletin? 64% of responders said yes; 36% said no (0:31) This episode isn’t about eliminating your church’s bulletin (1:04) Principle #1: There is value in physical handouts at an in-person experience (1:20) Principle #2: Your church’s bulletin should align with your overall communication strategy (2:37) Principle #3: The less the content changes - the better (average cost of printing bulletin is $0.25 - a church of 100 people printing weekly bulletins costs more than

A simple and easy way to get more followers and likes on social media is to run a contest or giveaway. But beware! Because these types of promotions can turn sideways if you don’t follow best practices. So by the end of this video, you’ll know the tools, the strategies, and the frameworks needed to run a successful contest on social media.   ***VISIT THE FULL POST HERE: https://prochurchtools.com/16632-2/   What's In This Session? The Simple Contest: ex. We’re giving away a $25 gift card to a person that likes us on Facebook (0:51) Livestock on IG (1:48) The Advanced Contest: Earn more entries by completing more tasks (2:37) Advanced contests should have more valuable prizes (2:37) Stack the prizes to increase chances of winning (5:47) When you should use a contest (7:08) The Downsides: Increased quantity hurts overall engagement rate which may impact people reached (9:28) Livestock has 0.3% engagement rate on IG (500 likes per post with 200K followers) compared to my 3% engagement rate (500 likes per post w