In this episode I interview Cory Hartman, co-author of Future Church: Seven Laws of Real Church Growth about what happened when church growth answers didn’t work for him or the church he served.
His background and experiences will sound familiar to most small church leaders. And this conversation will be very encouraging.
In this conversation, Cory and I talk about
- How Cory, a “failed” small church pastor became the co-author of a book about church growth (including an update of what “failure” really means)
- The essential distinction between what he calls Upper Room and Lower Room churches
- The four “can’t miss” answers for church growth, and how they did miss for him
- How he redefines some important terms like “church growth”, “success”, “discipleship” and “conversion” in more biblical ways
And more.
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Credits
Producer
Veronica Beaver | [email protected]
Editor
Phil Vaters | [email protected]
Music composed and performed by
Jack Wilkins | JackWilkinsMusic.com
Podcast logo created by
Solomon Joy | Joyetic.com
Correspondence
Shelley Vaters | Shelley@KarlVaters.com
![](https://i0.wp.com/karlvaters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/worshiper-1000x562-1.jpg?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1)
Five Must-Haves For The Small Church
Sometimes, the things we should do seem so obvious they remain unspoken, so they become forgotten. Here are five of them.
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Why So Sensitive? (An Appeal To Pastoral Conference Organizers)
Your small-church friends have a lot to say, and your big-church friends are not that easily offended.
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Four Unexpected Consequences Of Christian Celebrity Culture
Twenty centuries ago Paul expressed concern about the effect of a celebrity mindset on the Corinthian believers.
Author
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Karl produces resources for Helping Small Churches Thrive at KarlVaters.com.
He's the author of five books on church leadership, including his newest, De-Sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What's Next. His other books include The Grasshopper Myth and Small Church Essentials.
Karl also hosts a bi-weekly podcast,The Church Lobby: Conversations on Faith & Ministry, featuring in-depth interviews about topics that concern pastors, especially those who minister in a small church context.
Karl has served in small-church ministry for over 40 years, so he speaks and writes from decades of hands-on pastoral experience. He and his wife, Shelley have three children and two grandkids.
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