Celebrity pastor culture is everywhere and it affects a lot of church life and culture. What caused it? How dangerous is it? These are questions I wrestle with a lot.

And I'm not the only one.

The Instagram account, PreachersNSneakers, took social media by storm a few years ago by pointing out the amount of money celebrity pastors were spending on their shoes.

Ben Kirby, the creator of the account, never meant to do anything more than bring attention to this part of celebrity pastor culture, but it struck a chord with so many.

Some pastors came out in support of his work, others were offended that he'd point it out. Others were glad to know their pastors were fitted with $1500 shoes.

In this episode, we're going to dive into the challenge of celebrity pastor culture and see what lessons we can learn moving forward as preachers and church leaders.

My friend, Jameson Reynolds, joins me for episode 27 of the Preaching Donkey Podcast.

In this episode we discuss the vital relationship between the lead pastor and worship pastor. As the lead worship pastor at a large, multi-site church, Jameson shares his experience working with his senior pastor and other senior leadership to create the best possible weekend experiences for their attendees.

We also dive into the importance of building systems, evaluating everything and everyone in the organization and building a culture of trust.

I think you'll really enjoy this one and gain a TON of practical insights!

On a personal note, I really enjoyed this episode. Jameson and I have been friends since high school and we share some of our experiences that built our friendship over the years.

Ministry can be draining. We love the work, the people and the calling, but...

It can still be draining.

This is why we NEED time away. True, actual time away.

But, many pastors can't or won't protect their vacations and they end up being interrupted or cut short.

Friend, it does not have to be this way! In this episode, I will give you a step-by-step plan for making the most of the precious time you get away with your family.

The pandemic changed a lot of the ways we structure our services.

Prioritizing the online experience became essential for any church to thrive during that time.

But now most churches are back to some type of in-person services (depending where you are, of course).

This does NOT mean we should go back to "normal." Instead, we should still seek to engage the people attending online and make them feel part of what we're doing.

In this episode, I'm going to share one thing you can do to keep virtual attendees (those watching online) just as engaged as those attending in-person.

Should your church's focus be on reaching the lost (evangelism) or helping believers grow (discipleship)?

Believe it or not, this is a debate churches can get caught up in. Some churches pride themselves on being discipleship oriented. Still other churches place a high value on aggressively reaching the lost.

I think this whole debate has been framed wrong, and in this episode I'll explain why there's a much better way to approach this question.

Greg Atkinson joins me for episode 23 of the Preaching Donkey Podcast.

In this episode, we discuss the importance of capturing imagination when you preach, the role first impressions play in the effectiveness of your sermon and virtual church best practices.

There is so much packed into this conversation, I know you're going to get a ton of value from it!

As I've worked with and coached preachers over the years, and in my own ministry, I've found that church leadership and preaching is tough work - it's not for the faint of heart.

New challenges are always surfacing; the joys are elating and the lows can be devastating.

At the same time, to remain sharp in my preaching and leadership, I need ongoing training.

I know I'm not the only one! We all need continual training, but many pastors only have their seminary training to fall back on (if they went).

Unfortunately, seminary often isn't adequate to deal with the rigors of day-to-day ministry. And while it's no doubt valuable, it's not designed to help pastors continue growing throughout their ministry careers.

All pastors need three vital things to continue growing throughout their ministries:

1. Ongoing, practical training

2. Personalized coaching

3. A community of like-minded pastors

But so few pastors actually have these three vital resources in an ongoing, intentional way.

In...

If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, preaching is a waste of time, but if he did rise from the dead, it's among the most important things we could ever do.

Every preacher is susceptible to pitfalls. We have to intentionally navigate around them to ensure that we stay healthy.

In this bonus episode, I want to jump into the first of three pitfalls and then invite you to join in on The Preacher's Journey Workshop which is a FREE workshop this week at Preaching Donkey. 

The ministry landscape is always changing and we must be prepared for those changes. What we relied on to work yesterday might not work tomorrow.

This is why I love Carey Nieuwhof's blog post on five preaching trends that will shape the future. In this episode, we'll examine each of the five trends and see what we can discover and apply to our preaching and leadership.