As many leaders know first hand, starting a church isn’t easy. Carey has an honest conversation about the ups and downs of planting a church with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa, six months into planting Downtown Harbor Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Welcome to Episode 92 of the Podcast.
Guest Links: Adam Duckworth and John Garippa
Not Normal: Seven Quirks of Incredible Volunteers
Leading Not Normal Volunteers: A Not Normal Guide for Leading Your Incredible, Quirky Team
Downtown Harbor Church on Facebook
Downtown Harbor Church on Instagram
Take a Walk, Adam’s sermon series
Links Mentioned
Takeaways from this Episode
Adam and John discovered that 87 percent of people in their area weren’t going to church, so they spent time figuring out why. What they found was that people didn’t have a problem with the way church operates, but it was much deeper than that. Here are their findings:
- People found church to be a waste of time. The church wasn’t speaking to the community and people didn’t find that it made a difference in their life.
- Acceptance was conditional. Although the church was telling the community they were welcome, people found conflicting messages.
- No politics. People don’t want to hear about political issues discussed in church. It’s a huge distraction in the American church, so don’t talk about it.
- They hate seeing fake. People would see their neighbor attend church and see them outside of church, and they noticed hypocrisy. Be yourself, be normal and be engaging. People outside of church aren’t going to hide who they are. You shouldn’t either.
- The church seemed inward-focused. Many churches will create their own events and have a mentality that people will come to them. That never works. You spend all your time creating the events for your church members, and they’re the only ones who show up. Get out in the community and meet people where they are.
Quotes from this Episode
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
CNLP 092: Start-Up Church…Lessons from the Trenches of Church Planting with Adam Duckworth and John Garippa Click To Tweet
A New Episode Every Week…Just Subscribe
The podcast releases every Tuesday morning.
Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Louie Giglio, Craig Groeschel, Sue Miller, Kara Powell, Jon Acuff and many others.
Subscribe via
Appreciate This? Rate the Podcast.
Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?
The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on iTunes and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn Radio as well.
Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.
Thank you for being so awesome.
Next Episode: Scott Magdalein
Every church struggles with having enough volunteers and leaders. But are the leaders you have well-trained, well-equipped and prepared for the task ahead? Carey Nieuwhof talks with Trained Up founder Scott Magdalein on how to train more leaders more efficiently.
