142 - You Seem So Focused on the Spread of the Gospel — And That's Not Normal - September 1, 2026

"You Seem So Focused on the Spread of the Gospel — And That's Not Normal"A Presbyterian pastor once told Jon Shuler he didn't seem like an ordinary Anglican: "You seem so focused on the spread of the gospel, and that's not normal." In episode 142 — the third and final part on branding — Shuler takes that offhand remark and turns it into a searching question about what NAMS has become and what it could be. He faces the hard reality that by 2006 the society had helped plant over 227 churches in North America, yet most, however faithful, quietly resembled ordinary Episcopal parishes and were missing the apostolic DNA that makes a church plant churches. Overseas, where leaders expected conversion, the New Testament pattern flourished; at home, Anglican culture impeded it. So Shuler offers a vision to pray over: what if the world heard "NAMS" and instantly thought Kingdom Advance — disciples who make disciples, churches that plant churches, the kingdom of God furthered the way it was in the beginning? A candid, hopeful, and clarifying episode for every church planter and Great Commission Christian.