Cornerstone Pastors Network

Lance Witt and Warren Schuh discuss the difficulites for pastors and church leaders with taking time for themselves.  Lance shares his experiences and supportive information to help pastors.  Cornerstone Pastors Network strives to give pastors resources to help with all the different challenges they face.

The youth coming out of our churches are in spiritual trouble. More than half of all students raised in Christian homes and participating in local churches forsake their faith sometime during their college years. What changes do we need to make in the local church to change this alarming trend? Join Campus Pastor, Jim Musser, and CPN Executive Director, Kevin Huff, as they discuss this growing trend and how churches and parents can make a difference. Jim Musser was raised in a church-going home, but came to understand what it meant to follow Jesus early in his freshman year at Ball State University. He was a student leader in his campus ministry and graduated with a degree in Social Work. He went on to complete a Master of Divinity degree at Emmanuel Seminary at Milligan University in Tennessee. After graduating, he served as Director of Campus Christians at the University of Kansas for 21 years, where he also earned a Master of Education degree in Counseling Psychology. He then was called in 2004 to the same position with Campus Christian Fellowship at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina where he lives with his wife, Marianna. He is serving as Campus Minister Emeritus with CCF until July 2022. He also leads UpStream Ministries and is the author of the book, Letters from Downstream: Why Teaching Young People HOW TO Follow Jesus Is So Important—Insights for Parents and Churches.

In this second part to the discussion with Jon Ritner and Warren Schuh, Jon discusses more of the "how to's" to renewing the focus of discipling like Jesus and how that can look in the modern world.  Jon points out the challenges non-christians have with the church and the subtle items like language that creates confusion and apprehension to walking into a traditional church program. This discussion's purpose is to give perspective to how to grow followers in Christ and not just church numbers with practical ideas.

Jon Ritner shares, with Warren Schuh, his experiences with discipleship in Europe and how bringing this paradigm back to the States has increased believers in Christ and grown the church. He talks about the differences in measuring church growth and challenges if we are really growing at all.  His ideas are authentic and inspiring, check out this next podcast by Cornerstone Pastors Network. https://www.cpnonline.net

Jon Ritner shares, with Warren Schuh, his experiences with discipling in Europe and how he is using the same structure to renew discipling in his community in the United States and how true discipling increases believers and not just church members.

Brad Leeper and Warren Schuh discuss the generosity present in your church, end-of-year-giving, and the ongoing recovery of the pandemic.     Listening the the podcast feels like you are just one of the members of the discussion as these two comfortably chat about the issues many pastors and churches are facing.      

We have left Egypt and going back is not an option.Our world is in a moment of both profound change and Kingdom opportunity, literally at the intersection of chronos and kairos in human and divine history. For pastors and church leaders , this is a time to learn and lean into the moment rather than hope that it will pass and we return to "normal."This "season of COVID" has forced many churches to begin to do things that they had never thought about doing previously or if they had thought about them, they resisted the change and now they are being forced to make changes. And forced change is always more difficult to successfully implement.Carol Childress is known for her ability to help leaders “connect the dots” and enable churches and organizations to create a healthy internal culture, craft strategic direction, navigate change, and process transition in our twenty-first century world. "My greatest concern is that I hear everyone talking about changes, but few are talking about transition. Change and transition are not the same and without paying attention to the process of transition, most efforts at managing change fail." This is a time for pastors and churches to be hopeful rather than fearful.Carol Childress is the founder of the CarolChildress Group, a consulting practice that helps leaders and faith-based organizations understand today and more importantly lead for tomorrow. With four decades of leadership experience in city management, community development, non-profit and faith-based organizations, including thirteen years as a Knowledge Broker at Leadership Network and work with the Cornerstone Pastors Network team, Carol is a trusted advisor and experienced consultant to churches and nonprofit organizations across the country.A resident of the Dallas area, Carol is graduate of Texas Tech University, The Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Conway Edwards & Jeff Jones: Working Together To Address Racial InjusticeJeff Jones and Conway Edwards will challenge us to engage with others who don’t look like us.  They will share the lessons they’ve been learning during their journey and help us understand the personal growth that has resulted from stepping outside of comfort zones.You won’t want to miss this insightful conversation.  We hope to see you there!About Our Speakers:Dr. Conway Edwards is the founding and Lead Pastor of One Community Church, a fast growing church in Plano, Texas ministering to the communities of Collin County and hosting 7000 weekly in attendance. Dr. Edward’s unique ability to communicate the truths of the Bible in a relevant and uncompromising manner has helped to reach a generation of men, women, singles, couples and families embedded in a culture defined by individualism, materialism and humanism.Dr. Edwards holds a Master of Theology, with an emphasis in Pastoral Ministry, from Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS). While at DTS, he was a Leadership Fellow with the Center for Christian Leadership, under the guidance of Dr. Howard Hendricks. Dr. Edwards also holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University.Dr. Edwards is passionate about leadership and the local church.  He is the author of Leading a Turnaround Ministry: A Process for Exponential Growth and is co-author of When Love’s In View and The Undercover Woman, with his wife, Jada.Dr. Edwards and Jada have a son named Joah and daughter named Chloe.Since 2004, Jeff Jones has served as Senior Pastor of Chase Oaks Church. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and helped launch the Center for Church-Based Training, an organization that helps churches around the world disciple and develop new ministry leaders. He is co-author of the book, The Leadership Baton.

Do you feel like you are leading in a context that you were not expecting? You may even feel that your training holds you back more often than it carries you along. Tod Bolsinger brings decades of expertise in guiding churches and organizations through uncharted territory to help you reimagine what effective leadership looks like in our rapidly changing world. This Pastors Resource Call will give you the tools you need to live and lead in a COVID19 culture.Tod Bolsinger is the vice president for vocation and formation and teaches practical theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has also served as senior pastor of San Clemente Presbyterian Church and associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.

At such a volatile time in our history, many pastors are struggling with the right way to lead their congregation in giving a biblical response to racism. Renowned scholar Craig Blomberg will be discussing the New Testament theology on racism and what we can learn from a deeper look into the Biblical text. Dr. Blomberg's teaching will be incredibly helpful in allowing you to clearly communicate the Biblical framework of race and justice to your congregation.Dr. Craig Blomberg is Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Littleton, Colorado. He holds the B.A. from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, the M.A. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, and the Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Craig is the author of sixteen books and has co-authored or co-edited ten more, along with more than 150 journal articles or chapters in multi-author works. His books include four on the historical reliability and interpretation of parts or all of the Bible (esp. the Gospels), two on interpreting and preaching the parables, three commentaries (on Matthew, 1 Corinthians and James), a textbook on Jesus and the Gospels and another on Acts through Revelation, a handbook on exegetical method, a New Testament Theology, and three books on material possessions in the Bible. He is a member of the Committee on Bible Translation for the New International Version and served on the subcommittee tasked with producing the 35th anniversary edition of the NIV Study Bible.

Life as a pastor has changed a LOT in the past three months! We’ve been in a non-stop season of adjustment to the challenges of each day. Not only are we figuring out how to engage with our congregations during a time of social-distancing but now we’re also called to help people respond in meaningful ways to the newly exposed deep divides of our society at large.Larry Osborne has always been able to provide clarity and biblically-based wisdom for pastors and church leaders. We are thrilled to be able to provide time for you to process the challenges of these days with Larry during this month’s Pastor Resource Call.Together we will address current concerns like re-opening the building, addressing racial reconciliation in our communities as well as the stress levels being experienced by pastors in these days. This will not be a ‘webinar’! This will be a conversation with Larry…pastor to pastor. Register today and plan to bring your questions for Larry!Larry Osborne is one of the pastors at North Coast Church in Southern California. During his tenure, the church has grown from 128 to over 13,000 in weekend attendance with 7 regional campuses. Known for its innovative approach to ministry, North Coast has played a pioneering role in prototyping and helping churches around the globe adopt teaching teams, sermon-based small groups, video venues, and multisite ministry.Larry writes and speaks on both discipleship and leadership. His books on the Christian life include: Thriving in Babylon, Accidental Pharisees, A Contrarian’s Guide To Knowing God, and 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe. His leadership books include: Sticky Teams, Sticky Church, Sticky Leaders, Mission Creep, The Unity Factor and Lead Like a Shepherd.

In a time when we have more questions than answers and more problems than solutions, all the uncertainty can rattle your confidence. Authentic confidence is never easy to achieve, and in this COVID season, it can be more challenging than ever. The good news is that your confidence can be developed! ADAPTABILITY is one of the essentials to your confidence and this call will focus on the practical nature of how that works.Dan Reiland has been a pastor and leader for 39 years. Formerly John Maxwell’s Executive Pastor; Dan is the author of four books including leadership titles Shoulder to Shoulder and Amplified Leadership. He blogs regularly and is considered among the top church consultants and leadership coaches. For the past 19 years, Dan has served as Executive Pastor of 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He and his wife, Patti, have two children.

Unprecedented. That's the buzz word of the year. 2020 has brought unexpected twists and turns to our nation, our families and our ministries. Twenty-year family ministry veteran, Jessica Bealer, will be joining us on our April 16th call to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on our ministries, particularly how we serve kids, students and parents. She'll be discussing best practices in relation to content creation and delivery as well as what's next for our churches when this season comes to an end. We hope you'll choose to participate as we strive to keep families connected during this unusual season.Jessica Bealer has been leading children’s ministry for 19 years. Six of which were spent overseeing standards, systems, staffing and atmosphere for the children’s ministry of Elevation Church. She has overseen the launch of twenty locations, and is considered a specialist in kidmin multisite. Jessica currently oversees the Family Ministry Services Division of Generis, an organization dedicated to helping churches see their mission accomplished. Jessica is a mother of four, published author and host of the Women’s Leadership Workshop podcast. She is married to Frank, the CEO of Phase Family Centers and Executive Director of Leadership Development at Orange.

Lots of church leaders dream about kingdom advance.  Why do few actually experience it? That's because specific competencies and practices are required. Want to know what those are and how you can add them to your leadership skill set?  Author and consultant Reggie McNeal has spent several decades working with high-octane kingdom leaders.  His latest book, Kingdom Collaborators, identifies and explores 8 signature practices of leaders who make significant kingdom impact.  Join us for a conversation as he unpacks his insights for us.

Culture is changing so rapidly that our trusted ways of reaching those we are called to reach are working less, leading some to throw up their hands and think the world is spiraling away from God and there isn’t much we can do. The truth is, God is always at work in the harvest. We just have to discern where and how he is working. What are the new realities, challenges, and opportunities in reaching people?Jeff Jones is the Senior Pastor of Chase Oaks Church in Plano, Texas. He’s the author of Distinct by Design and co-author of "The Leadership Baton.”

How Jesus Turned 12 Nobodies Into Leaders Who Changed The World.   We all know that leadership development is critically important for growing a healthy church. There are thousands of books, articles, and podcasts on this topic.    Yet how often do we actually look into how Jesus developed leaders? He was able to take 12 nobodies from a backwood corner of the Roman empire and change the world! Dan will share the 8 principles of leadership development that can be seen directly in the ministry of Jesus.    If you have ever felt struggled to raise up great leaders in your church, then this is the PRC for you!   Dan Reiland is Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.

Steve will be teaching us the same system he has used at Saddleback Church since 1998 to have a massive impact with small group discipleship. It will help you to increase your small group engagement 100%. He will teach the systems and strategies that encourage spiritual growth through deepened relationships to make mature disciples.Steve has been Pastor of Small Groups at Saddleback Church since February 1998 and serves as an Elder of the church. He oversees the strategic launch and spiritual development of over 7,000 adult small groups on multiple campuses. He has authored Small Groups With Purpose, which has been translated into twelve languages to date, Leading Small Groups With Purpose and Planning Small Groups With Purpose.He has a driving passion to see each church attendee connected to a qualified leader and become an integral part of their church body, living purposefully for Christ. He frequently speaks at conferences and consults with church leaders from many denominations both in the United States and around the world.Prior to joining Saddleback, Steve has been on four other church staffs of varying sizes. He earned a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary in 1985, and a B.A. in Biblical Studies, with minors in Greek and Philosophy in 1982, from Evangel University. Steve and Lisa have been married since 1989 and have two children, Erika and Ethan.

Every leader in ministry works with and through a team. Whether paid staff or dedicated volunteers, we all rely on a team. It is not a stretch to say that your church’s impact has direct correlation to the health and effectiveness of the team around you. The two critical components of great teams are Health and High-Performance. The very best teams focus on BOTH relationships and results. During this call, we will explore best practices result in the synergy of Health and High-Performance. Lance is the founder of a ministry called REPLENISH (www.replenish.net). Replenish has been around for 10 years and is dedicated to helping people live and lead from a healthy soul. Along with speaking, consulting and training, Lance does Life Plans, individual coaching, and staff training and development. Lance has also authored a book entitled Replenish. His newest book High Impact Teams … Where Healthy Meets High Performance will release in 2018. Lance served 20 years as a senior pastor before serving 7 years as an Executive/Teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Southern California. He led Saddleback’s Spiritual Growth Campaigns, such as 40 Days of Purpose and 40 Days of Community. Lance has been married to his wife Connie for 39 years and they have two married children and four beautiful grand daughters.

Do you feel like you’re doing everything? You probably are. Now is the time to change it. Me to We: It is an all-too-common reality that pastors feel buried by too much to do and often pulled in too many directions. The pastor-centric congregation is a formula for continuing this dynamic. This Pastor Resource Call identifies the telltale signs of this style of leadership and suggests practical ways to develop shared ownership of the vision and workload. We’ll focus on practical ways to move from Me to We, developing people and avoiding burnout. Alan E. Nelson, Ed.D., practiced leadership as a pastor the first 20 years of his life. After earning a doctorate in the field, writing books and teaching seminary courses, he hit midlife. Catalyzed by a conversation with futurist, George Barna, Nelson moved from pastoring to becoming a social entrepreneur. The last decade he’s focused on studying the gift of leadership in the very young (ages 3-23), for the purpose of getting to leaders while they’re moldable, not moldy (www.LeadYoungTraining.com). He also teaches leadership at USC Marshall School of Business and the Naval Postgraduate School. Alan lives with his wife of 38 years (Nancy), in Thousand Oaks, CA.

Someone once said, “Vision frames the future, leaders activate the future, and generosity fuels the future.” If that’s true, then we ought to be creating a culture of generosity in our churches that goes way beyond a two-minute offering moment in the weekend service. Dave Dummitt will help us understand what it takes to create a deeply rooted culture of generosity. When a church is generous at its core, individual disciples are strengthened, the church is healthier and the church’s community can be impacted in amazing ways. David Dummitt is an innovative leader with a strong passion to see church leaders win and have fun doing it. He is a “pastor to pastors,” committed to equipping and coaching church leaders to lead themselves and lead their churches well. Dave is the Founding and Lead Pastor of 2|42 Community Church, ranked by Outreach Magazine for six years in a row as one of the fastest-growing churches in America. 2|42 has grown from a 40-member launch team meeting in Dave’s living room to over 7500 people meeting at four different campuses each weekend. As a church committed to community outreach and radical generosity, 2|42 builds award-winning Community Centers with indoor sports and fitness facilities, cafes, playscapes for kids, and a school for the arts. Dave and his wife, Rachel, reside in Howell, Michigan with their four awesome children.