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All Episodes

Rainer on Leadership — 123 episodes

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Title
1

Should Pastors Engage in Online Fights?

2

The Future of Church Hiring When Pastors Are in Short Supply

3

Amiable Autocrats: Why Some of the Nicest Pastors Make the Worst Bosses

4

Why Churches Are Struggling More and More to Find Staff

5

Why Can’t Pastors Talk About Politics?

6

The Burge Report: Are Non-Denominational Churches Just Southern Baptists in Disguise?

7

The Ongoing Shortage of Student Pastors (Where Did They Go?)

8

The Church Summer Slump: What Every Pastor Should Know

9

The Top Ten Most Common Low Attendance Days in Churches

10

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Bible Translation Committee (What Really Happens)

11

The Reality of Church Hoppers: A Pastor’s Honest Perspective

12

Why Members Leave Their Church and Never Come Back

13

Why Some Pastors Stay for Decades (and Thrive in Their Churches)

14

The Hyper-Traditionalist Movement in Church Architecture (Is Anyone Really Building Churches This Way?)

15

The Church “Fault Lines” That Could Become Ministry Tsunamis

16

The Burge Report: Boomers Can’t Save Us Forever: The Hard Truth About Church Demographics

17

What Churches Should Do About Inactive Members

18

Are Sunday Morning Service Times Changing? What the Data Says About the Future of Church Worship Schedules

19

What to Say (and Not Say) Immediately After a Church Crisis

20

Crucial Commitments: 5 Simple Decisions That Members of Healthy and Growing Churches Make

21

How to Become Your Pastor’s Favorite Church Member

22

The Best Board and Trustee Structure for Churches

23

Seven Things Pastors Do You Probably Don’t Know About

24

The Burge Report: Gen Z and the Church: Lonely, Cautious, Skeptical, But… Open

25

How to Discard a Worn-Out Bible Properly

26

Should Full-Time Pastors Have a Side Hustle?

27

The Critical Functions of a Pastor Rarely Found in a Church Job Description

28

After 25 Years of Consistent Recreation Ministry, This Church Discovered Something…

29

What We’re Doing as Pastors to Keep Our Marriages Healthy

30

Six Reasons Pastors Must Be More Courageous Today

31

The Top Ways to Annoy Your Pastor

32

The Burge Report: The Latest Data on Transgender Young Adults and the Church

33

Tithing Or Not: Should Lead Pastors Know What Church Staff Give?

34

What Growing Churches Actually Do to Reach and Keep People

35

Churches Are Targets for Predators (Here’s Why)

36

Marriage Discipleship Is the Missing Piece in Family Ministry

37

Why Churches Are MUCH Older Now…

38

Why Guests Don’t Come Back to Church After a Big Ministry Event

39

America’s Gambling Problem and the Church

40

Why Small Churches Matter More Than Ever

41

When Church Members Become Online Trolls: What Pastors Should Do

42

The Burge Report: The Assemblies of God: Why This Denomination Is Defying Gravity

43

How Long Should a Pastor Pray Each Day?

44

Before You Enroll: What You Need to Know About Seminary

45

Should the Pastor Know How Much People Give to the Church?

46

The Silent Exodus of Senior Adults (What’s Happening in Churches?)

47

Should Churches Acknowledge Super Bowl Sunday?

48

The Church Number: 60% The Power of a Personal Invitation

49

The Best Ways to Encourage a Discouraged Church (Your Next Three Steps)

50

Revisiting Simple Church: What Worked, What Didn’t

51

How Do You Fire a Church Employee?

52

The Burge Report: The Democrats Have a Religion Problem (Does It Matter?)

53

When Should a Church Hire an Executive Pastor?

54

Digital Worship Fatigue: Why Online Church Can’t Replace the In-Person Gathering

55

Church Conflict: Five Common Ways Small Fights Turn into Big Problems

56

Does Counting Church Worship Attendance Still Make Sense?

57

Five Pastoral New Year’s Resolutions that Aren’t About You

58

The Burge Report: Who’s Really Watching Online Church?

59

After the Christmas Chaos: The Lightest Work Week of the Year for Pastors

60

Religious People Are Happier (And the Data Proves It)

61

Unbelievable: 72% of Churches Have No Marriage Ministry!

62

NEW Research: What Really Matters in Theological Education?

63

Non-Churchy Looking Churches: The Advantages of Big-Box Church Architecture

64

Should Churches Look Churchy? The Advantages of Traditional Architecture

65

How to Handle Losing Your Church’s Biggest Financial Supporter

66

Small-Church Breakout Growth: The Incredible Story of First Baptist Caldwell, NJ

67

Why You Should Leave Your Church (A Pastor’s Perspective)

68

The Burge Report: How Do Pastors Actually End Up in Ministry?

69

The Top Reasons Why It’s Painful for Pastors to Lose Church Members

70

An Entrepreneurial-Minded Pastor in an Established Church: The Unique Story of a Baltimore Congregation

71

Three Things Every Church Small Group Leader Should Be Doing

72

How to Grow Generosity in Your Church (Without Making It Complicated)

73

The Unchurched Are Not Angry with You (But They Are Indifferent)

74

The Church Number: From 137 to 60 The Shrinking Median Church in America (2000–2023)

75

Many Churches Face Future Sticker Shock with Deferred Maintenance

76

The Burge Report: The Biggest Little Denomination: The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)

77

The One-Person Church Communication Plan (That Actually Works)

78

How to Get Families in Your Church to Read the Bible Together

79

The Least Appreciated People in Your Church (And What To Do About It)

80

The Legacy Life with David Green, Founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, and Bill High, CEO of Legacy Stone

81

How We’re Using AI in Sermon Prep Ethically and Efficiently

82

The Unknown Connection Most Unchurched Have with the Church

83

Six Essential Pastoral Meetings No One is Scheduling For You

84

The Burge Report: The Kids Aren’t Alright—And Church Student Ministry Might Actually Help

85

What Really Scares People Away from Church

86

The Big Front Door for Guests Just About Every Church Misses

87

Building a Worship Ministry that Excels On and Off the Stage

88

The Top 6 Gripes About Church Curriculum (and What to Do About Them)

89

The Trust Gap: Why Outsiders Won’t Step Inside Your Church

90

Five Reasons Churches Should Still Try to Reach Boomers

91

Realistic One-to-Two-Year Objectives for Small-Church Revitalization

92

Millennials Move LESS than Gen X and Boomers (New Implications for Your Church)

93

Which “Higher Standard” Measures Actually Make Sense for Pastors

94

How Your Building Shapes Your Ministry: Five Ways the Baptist T Still Shapes (and Limits) Your Ministry

95

How Your Building Shapes Your Ministry: The Baptist T – When Building Design Limits Ministry

96

The Burge Report: Do Churchgoers Want More or Less Politics in the Pulpit?

97

The Loneliness Epidemic Among Pastors

98

The Non-Legalist Reasons for Weekly Church Attendance

99

Who in the Church Should Hold Pastors Accountable?

100

Weekly Church Attendance Patterns by Generation: 2016 to 2024

101

The Johnson Amendment Reversal: Endorsing Political Candidates from the Pulpit

102

Why the NLT Might Be the Best Bible You’ve Never Considered

103

Sermon Illustrations that Connect to the Bible Text (And Your Church!)

104

The Easiest (and Most Incredible) Way to Get Information from Your Guests!

105

The Burge Report: Is Gen Z More Religiously Engaged than Their Parents?

106

The Limits of Pastoral Care: When Counseling Isn’t Appropriate

107

The Top 5 Legal Issues Churches Face Today

108

Ten Quiet Disrupters in American Church Life (Part 2)

109

Ten Quiet Disrupters in American Church Life (Part 1)

110

What Young Families Really Want in a Church

111

Seven Occasions When You Should Not Hire More Church Staff

112

How Much Money Should a Pastor Make?

113

The Burge Report: Are Religious People More Prone to Conspiracy Theories?

114

The Future of America’s Largest Churches: An Interview with Eric Geiger

115

The Shifts in How Churches Choose Small Group Curriculum (What You Need to Know): An Interview with Michael Kelley

116

The Best Bible Translation for Preaching

117

Four Kinds of Church Leaders Who Will Not Lead in Revitalization

118

What Should I Do After Getting Fired from a Church?

119

Four Common Reasons Most Churches Aren’t Breakout Churches

120

Five Key Tips to Teach Your Church to Tithe

121

Eight Causes for a Ministry Slump

122

Is There Any Hope for Revitalizing Mainline Churches?

123

The Burge Report: Why Are Non-Denominational Churches Growing?