Ep. 116 - From Church Planter to Tech CEO: Dean Sweetman & the Future of Church Tech
Description
In this episode, Greg Nettle talks with Dean Sweetman, co-founder and co-CEO of Tithely, a digital giving platform now used by over 50,000 churches worldwide. Dean shares his remarkable journey from being a high school dropout and aspiring surfer in Australia to planting over 60 churches globally and building a church tech company processing billions in donations annually.
Key highlights:
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Dean’s unconventional path into church planting across Asia, Africa, and North America.
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Why demographic research + Holy Spirit leading matters when choosing a church plant location.
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How a Starbucks app experience inspired the creation of Tithely.
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The impact of recurring digital giving on financial stability for churches.
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Future of church tech: AI, VR, and holographic gospel preaching.
Resources mentioned:
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Tithely’s free tools for church planters (https://get.tithe.ly/)
- Stadia Church Planting (https://stadia.org)
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Learn more about church planting with Stadia: https://stadia.org/discovery
01:18 – Dean’s early life & conversion story
02:44 – Becoming a youth pastor and seminary in Australia
04:10 – Global missions & planting churches in Asia and Africa
06:08 – Real estate and bi-vocational ministry
07:30 – Choosing Atlanta for church planting
09:13 – The power of sending leaders to plant
11:00 – Planting 60+ churches through C3 movement
13:07 – The Starbucks moment: inspiration for Tithely
16:09 – Launching the first giving app with his son
17:11 – Sabbatical and shifting from pastor to entrepreneur
18:28 – Explosive growth during COVID (12K churches in 6 weeks)
20:14 – Building an all-in-one church platform
21:11 – Discipleship through digital giving
23:31 – Tech adoption in younger generations
24:18 – Getting started with Tithely
25:01 – Power of recurring giving
26:15 – AI, AR, and the future of church tech
United States
