Pro Church Podcast With Brady Shearer

Did you know Google offers non-profits, including churches, up to $10,000 in free monthly ad grants? That’s right—$10K to spend on ads for your church! But what’s the catch? Today, we’re joined by Brady Sticker from Church Candy, who manages these campaigns for churches, to break it all down.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:13 - What Is The Catch? 2:43 - What Are The First Steps To Get Signed-Up? 7:21 - Once You’re Validated, What Do You Do First? 11:53 - Is It Reasonable To Spend That Much Money On Ads With Low Click Through Rates? 13:48 - How To Write An Effective Google Ad? 18:28 - Is Searching ‘Church Near Me’ The Highest Searched Thing? 27:33 - How Do Ads Different Between Evergreen Events And Seasonal Events?   IMPORTANT LINKS - Google Ad Grants: https://www.google.ca/grants/ - Launch Big by Brady Sticker: https://amzn.to/3ZP1x1u - ChurchCandy: https://churchcandy.com/ - Brady Sticker IG: https://www.instagram.com/bradysticker/ - ChurchCand

October is Pastor Appreciation Month, and we’ve compiled a list of ways your church can show love to your pastor. Some ideas are free, others cost a little, and a few are out-of-the-box, but they’ll all make your pastor feel valued. Plus, we’ll dive into the surprising history and origins of Pastor Appreciation Month!   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:47 - Idea #1: Aura Digital Frame 3:18 - Bonus: Origin Of Pastor Appreciation Cay 8:40 - Idea #2: Handwritten Notes 9:02 - Idea #3: Video Thank You Card From Kids 10:51 - Idea #4: Gift Cards To A Favorite Restaurant Or Store 12:42 - Idea #5: Plan A Night Out 17:40 - Idea #6: Hobby-Related Gifts 19:23 - Idea #7: Home Improvements 20:46 - Idea #8: Award Ceremony "The Clergies" 22:40 - Idea #9: Select Subscription Service 28:26 - Idea #10: Car Detailing   IMPORTANT LINKS - Aura Frames: https://auraframes.com - Meal Train: https://www.mealtrain.com - Audible: https://www.audible.com/ - The Roasters Pack: h

Recruiting church volunteers often feels desperate, leaving people feeling guilted into serving. But to do it right, there are three key stages: recruit, train, and celebrate. Today, we'll cover proven techniques that any church can use to make the process smoother—and even do much of the heavy lifting for you.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 2:40 - How To Recruit 12:40 - How To Train 21:57 - How To Celebrate   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

Today, we're sharing some sermon series ideas we believe every church should consider for 2025—with a unique twist in how they were generated. These ideas are Biblically based, timely, and versatile, making them perfect for any ministry, regardless of size or denomination.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 4:22 - More Singles 11:48 - Fewer Parents 18:09 - The Gender War Within Gen Z 25:02 - The Nones Have Hit A Ceiling 31:01 - Fewer Close Friends Than Ever   IMPORTANT LINKS - Share of 40-year-olds in US who have never married reaches new high | Pew Research Center: https://pewrsr.ch/3ZcvisN - Millennials aren’t having kids. Here’s why. | The Washington Post: https://wapo.st/3XEYO9y - Many Gen Z Men Feel Left Behind. Some See Trump as an Answer. | The New York Times: https://nyti.ms/4e18P6v - The Nones Have Hit a Ceiling | Ryan Burge: https://bit.ly/4ehZ1Vm - Disconnected: The Growing Class Divide in American Civic Life | The Survey Center on American

Every week, we send photographers to churches worldwide with a detailed shot list, etiquette guidelines, and gear recommendations. Today, we’re sharing all of that with you, along with example galleries from real churches to show what a successful church photoshoot looks like. Welcome to The Definitive Church Photography Shot List!   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Definition Of A Successful Church Photoshoot 7:00 - What To Bring 12:30 - Shot List 19:24 - Rules & Etiquette   IMPORTANT LINKS - Makeovers: https://www.nucleus.church/makeovers - Photo Gallery #1: https://prochur.ch/3Zay2qq - Photo Gallery #2: https://prochur.ch/4dOO3XB - Photo Gallery #3: https://prochur.ch/4dQPsNn   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

If you're a pastor or church leader juggling social media duties, this video is for you! We’re sharing five repeatable Instagram Stories frameworks that you can use every week. These tried-and-true methods are highly engaging and have stood the test of time for over five years. Plus, we’re offering step-by-step downloadable guides to make it even easier.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:44 - The Slider Select 7:18 - The Irresistible Question 12:15 - The Poll Precursor 17:24 - Tuesday Trivia 22:38 - The Alley-Oop   IMPORTANT LINKS - The Busy Pastor's Guide to Instagram Stories DOWNLOAD: https://prochur.ch/4cCiEGp   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

Noticed a drop in your church's Instagram Story views? You're not alone, and we know why. It’s not a mystery, and better yet, we can fix it! In this video, we’ll cover eight reasons your church’s Instagram Stories are flopping—and how to turn it around.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:41 - Instagram Has Different Algorithms 4:02 - What Should We Prioritize On Stories? 8:09 - Viewing History 15:27 - Engagement History 21:03 - Closeness 26:50 - What Are Best Practices For Links In Stories? 31:42 - Best Practice In The Previous Era Is Worst Practice In The Current Era 37:43 - How Can We Take Advantage Of The Fact That Stories Expire?   IMPORTANT LINKS - The 3 Rules for Church Social Media Managers: https://youtu.be/XQCQkucazGg - “Add to Favorites” DOWNLOAD: https://prochur.ch/3Mc9963   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

Your church’s website isn’t always the first stop for online visitors. Often, they’ll see your Google Business Profile first—the widget in Google search and maps with photos, contact info, and reviews. If this isn’t optimized, visitors might never reach your site. In this video, we dive into the essentials of Google Business Profiles for churches.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:12 - How Do Churches Claim Their Google Business Profil 4:00 - Filling Out Your Basic Info 6:28 - Crucial Steps For A Great First Impression: Photos 16:45 - Crucial Steps For A Great First Impression: Reviews 22:33 - Questions & Answers 26:00 - Special Considerations   IMPORTANT LINKS - Makeovers: https://www.nucleus.church/makeovers   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

Having a host is one of the best ways to truly elevate a church service. But what exactly is a host and what do they do? In this video, we'll break down the 7 essential things every church needs to know about hosting. Plus, if you're hesitant, we've got word-for-word script options for you to use.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:37 - What Is A Host? 1:20 - What Is The Goal Of A Host? Why Does "Fluidity" Matter? 7:26 - Connecting Pieces Behind The Scenes 12:59 - Pushback: Is This Not Just A Modern Church Invention Coming From The Secular World? 15:49 - Scripting Options 21:10 - Host Behaviour   THE 167 NEWSLETTER

03Is your church guilty of these 10 visitor-repelling behaviors? We've compiled real reports from church visitors detailing what scares them off. Because you only get to make one first impression. So let's make it a good one. Let's dive in.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:40 - The New Visitor Spotlight 4:30 - Insider Jargon OR Traditions 9:43 - Forced Small Talk & Mingling 13:05 - Inauthentic Or Incomplete Online Footprint 15:50 - Unfriendly 21:15 - Lack Of Structure 24:22 - Too Much Recruitment In Service 25:47 - Inaccessible Biblical Teaching 27:58 - Nowhere To Sit 33:02 - Singles Feel Left Out   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Start your 30-day free trial (no credit card required) of Nucleus here: https://www.nucleus.church/   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/pfArcS/ Twitt

Today, we list 15 supposed essentials for church websites. Some are unnecessary! We'll categorize them: necessary, nice to have, or nonsense. By the end, you'll know what truly matters for your site. Let's dive in.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:03 - Speed 10:08 - Live Stream Primary CTA 14:22 - Pop-Ups 20:37 - Sermon Archive 24:22 - Beliefs 30:29 - Links To Social 32:01 - 5-Star Domain Name 35:48 - Sliders 44:55 - Responsive Design4 8:02 - App CTAs 52:30 - Service Times, Address, & Contact Info 55:55 - Staff Page 59:56 - Scroll Animation 01:03:18 - Photography 01:06:42 - SEO   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Pingdom Website Speed Test: https://bit.ly/4fi7ut3 - Makeovers: https://www.nucleus.church/makeovers - Holy Trinity Brompton: https://htb.org/   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.t

Does online church negatively impact in-person attendance? It's a debate we've been having for years, and now we finally have some great data to shed light on it. Join us as Ryan Burge from Graphs About Religion helps us untangle the insights and implications.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:54 - Who Is Attending Online Church? 17:53 - Does Going To Church Keep Youth From Drinking And Smoking? 38:04 - Are Women More Spiritual and Men More Religious?   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Who is Attending Online Church?: https://bit.ly/4fceCHe - Does Going to Church Keep High School Students from Drinking and Smoking?: https://bit.ly/4bJzPWc - Are Women More Spiritual and Men More Religious?: https://bit.ly/4bPoxQl - Generations by Jean M. Twenge: https://bit.ly/4d9PleX - Ryan Burge: https://www.drburge.com/ - Ryan Burge | Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/ryanburge - Graphs about Religion: https://www.graphsabout

Rohn Starling returns to the show for a section we’re called “Rohn’s Rankings”. We're discussing trending social media sounds and sharing five church post ideas.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 1:58 - Trend #5: Part of me feels bad, but not that bad 12:28 - Trend #4: Not my problem 28:23 - Trend #3: Number 44, that’s me! 35:08 - Trend #2: Inside Out 2 43:46 - Trend #1: Blinking Sound   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Trend #5: Part of me feels bad, but not that bad: https://bit.ly/3LrAeli - Trend #4: Not my problem: https://bit.ly/4f2a5au - Trend #3: Number 44, that’s me!: https://bit.ly/46a2HFR - Trend #2: Inside Out 2: https://bit.ly/3LqaG8j - Trend #1: Blinking Sound: https://bit.ly/3W3lzSq - Rohn Starling IG: https://www.instagram.com/rohnstarling/   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tikto

Today on the show we’re answering your questions. Questions about burn out, bilingual church social media strategies, and everything in between. Let’s dive in.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 0:36 - How should bilingual churches post on social media? 4:25 - Where did you get all the wisdom for naming Alex? 7:32 - Best food in Montreal? 17:15 - After 10 years of PCT, what would you do differently as a team? 26:47 - Should we look into creating a new YouTube Channel for our podcast or do we keep it on our church’s YouTube channel? 29:52 - Heard you're going to be at SALT Conference. Excited? 32:56 - What is your daily workflow? Apps? Schedule? Integrations? 44:02 - Can you talk about burnout? 53:50 - What does a well-structured administrative team look like on a church organization chart? 59:11 - How can churches with no sermon build up content for #noweeksoff foundation material?   ============================= Show Notes: ==========================

It's our quarterly social media review. Discover changes, constants, and their impact on your church.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 3:10 - Assessing Our Previous Predictions  8:54 - Adult Content on X 17:40 - Church Invite Memes 23:22 - Reels Split Design 31:26 - YouTube Thumbnail A/B Testing 42:28 - Carousels Over Reels? 48:45 - Apple AI & Unplugging From Our Devices   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Our big announcement (finally): https://youtu.be/edD_Nsu3Qsg - Talking Tech and AI with Tim Cook!: https://youtu.be/pMX2cQdPubk?feature=shared   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/pfArcS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BradyShearer The Pro Church Tools Show: https://prochurchtools.com/podcast

On June 10th, the head of Instagram made a significant statement: "____ matters most across the board." So, what is it? Likes? Comments? Watch time? Saves? None of the above. Today on the show, we're diving into the most important metric on Instagram—a metric that's not easy to find and requires some digging.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 3:04 - Sends per reach are one of the most important things to look at 11:23 - Most people won't like *and* send 24:51 - IG heavily preference accounts who both follow each other 32:44 - Priority notifications come with the verified badge 36:16 - Instagram focuses on creators, not publishers   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - An honest conversation with the CEO of Instagram [Colin and Samir]: https://bit.ly/3KOQUmr   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.

In today's episode, we feature a rural pastor who discovered he had more time for social media than he thought…it’s our very own Alexander Mills! This episode is packed with both introductory and advanced social media tips for churches. If you're part of a smaller church or serving in a rural area, this one's for you.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro / Alex’s Church 5:46 - Strategy for Sustainability 12:10 - High Quality Content 34:10 - Low Effort Design Tools 43:20 - Post Examples   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Life Abundant (Alex’s church): https://www.lifeabundant.info/ - Life Abundant Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeabundantniagara/ - Canva: https://www.canva.com/ - CapCut: https://www.capcut.com/ - Sermon quote (carousel) - https://bit.ly/3RoZiga - Guided prayer (carousel) - https://bit.ly/3Rm8GRT - Simple story (iPhone Reel) - https://bit.ly/4bXXWRW - Simple story (CapCut Reel) - https://bi

Join us in today's episode as we tackle your burning questions! Ever wondered about the ideal time commitment for pastors on social media? Or how to navigate challenges when your social media efforts seem to fall short? Plus, discover insights on maintaining a God-centered focus in fulfilling pursuits.   ============================= Table of Contents: ============================= 0:00 - Intro 2:15 - What are your thoughts on church politics? Are they inevitable? 9:10 - What should we do if Facebook engagement drops but Instagram rises? 15:06 - How much time should a pastor dedicate to making content for social media if any? 20:35 - Should we honestly care what others in church think about us? 24:53 - What are the boys wearing for summer this year? 28:06 - What is the hiring process for Pro Church Tools? 31:00 - Drinks in the shower? Yes or no? 37:54 - Your view on having tattoos? Especially as a leader in the church. 46:16 - Was there a social or communication trend you didn't see coming, but really blew up

Social media changes fast! Today, we discuss these changes with church social media expert Danielle Davis. Alex, Danielle, and I each bring two topics: one exciting and one concerning trend for the future. We're here to keep your church in the know on all of the changes happening on social. ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Start your 30-day free trial (no credit card required) of Nucleus here: https://www.nucleus.church/   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/pfArcS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BradyShearer The Pro Church Tools Show: https://prochurchtools.com/podcast

Today we’re welcoming back to the show, for the second time, former Life.Church photographer - Benjamin Suter. We get to follow along a live demonstration of his photo editing process. We'll cover exposure, white balance, sharpening, grain, and preserving skin tones under stage lighting. Plus, he shares his custom presets, available as a free download in the show notes.   ============================= Show Notes: ============================= - Adobe Lightroom: https://lightroom.adobe.com/ - Benjamin J Suter Presets: https://benjaminjsuter.com/presets - Pro Church Tools Presets: https://prochurchtools.com/presets   ============================= Connect With Brady: ============================= Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradyshearer/ TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/pfArcS/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/BradyShearer The Pro Church Tools Show: https://prochurchtools.com/podcast