Redeemer Network Podcast
The Redeemer Network exists to catalyze church planting, replanting, and revitalization in Texas and beyond. The purpose of our podcast is to resource our churches in the work of establishing healthy, gospel-centered church-planting churches.
Redeemer Network Podcast
What’s Next?
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What is God doing across the Redeemer Network? What are we praying for in the years ahead? And what does it look like for every church, and every person, to find their place in the mission?
In the final episode of Season 3, Jordan Elder sits down with Redeemer Network Executive Director Brandon Barker and Sarah Kiracon to reflect on a season exploring the Network’s three priorities: training, funding, and supporting healthy churches. Together, they look back at what has encouraged them, share what they’re seeing God do across the Network, and look ahead to the opportunities in front of our churches.
Along the way, they discuss:
- Why the Redeemer Network is ultimately a story of people and churches caring for one another
- What they learned from conversations about church planting, church renewal, pastoral care, and worship ministry
- The vision behind the annual Redeemer Network Conference and this year’s Mission Matters theme
- Why every church member has a role to play in advancing the gospel and multiplying healthy churches
- What’s ahead for church planting and the Church Renewal Residency
- Why the Network is preparing now to train, fund, and support more church planters in the years ahead
- Stories of God’s faithfulness across churches, cities, and generations
Whether you're a pastor, church leader, church member, or someone passionate about church planting and healthy church multiplication, this conversation is an invitation to remember why the mission matters. We aren't trying to build an organization for its own sake…we want to see more people, in more places, know and follow Jesus through healthy, gospel-centered local churches.
Resources & Links
Redeemer Network Conference: redeemernetwork.org/conference
Learn more about the Redeemer Network: redeemernetwork.org
Welcome to the Redeemer Network Podcast, where we talk church planning, church health, and multiplying churches for the sake of the gospel. To learn more about the Redeemer Network, visit RedeemerNetwork.org. Welcome back to the Redeemer Network Podcast. Today we're putting a bow on our third season. This season we've spent time talking through what we do as a network as we work to advance the gospel by multiplying healthy churches. We've worked through each of our three priorities as a network training, funding, and support. And today, this episode is titled What's Next? I'm joined with uh by two awesome uh members of our network staff, Sarah Caracon and Brandon Barker. Guys, welcome to the podcast.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_02Really glad to have you with us. Brandon serves as the executive director of the network. If you don't know Brandon, most of you do. And Sarah is our comms strategist all-star. What's her real time?
SPEAKER_01Communication manager.
SPEAKER_02Communication manager. And um, and she's such a joy, and so we're so glad to have her on. So I was thinking about a fun kickoff question here. Uh I took my kids back to school shopping this week, and I've got an incoming freshman, a seventh grader, and a fourth grader. And so they all were, you know, they've all been kind of looking through the new clothes they got, and they're trying to figure out what is their first day of school fit gonna be? What's their best outfit? And so I was just thinking about that, curious for you, if you could go back in time. Uh, what was the all-time best first day of school outfit that you ever had? Can you remember one?
SPEAKER_01I can. Sarah, do you want me to go first on this one?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, you go.
SPEAKER_01So my um uh my best back to school outfit was a beautiful cast I wore on my right hand. Uh, because at the peak of Jordan's uh dominance, I wanted a pair of Jordans and my mom wouldn't buy them for me. Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan. Not me.
SPEAKER_02You Michael Jordan, yeah, yeah. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Uh Michael Jordan. Uh, and as a bratty 12-year-old, when my mom said no, I punched a hole in the wall and I hit the stud and broke my hand. So I went back to school with a nice cast. That was my outfit.
SPEAKER_02Wow. What kind of shoes? Jordans. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Oh, no, no, no. That's what I wanted. I have no idea what I'm for. I have no clue.
SPEAKER_02Man, that is that's awesome. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Sarah, can you top that? That boys like punch holes in the wall. That's just not something as a girl I would ever think to be like. I'm mad. Let me let me go. And I feel like you guys are stud finders in those moments. Mine, you could probably find my outfit right now, currently at Hollister, because it's coming back in um multi-layered tanks, like a white tank underneath a blue tank with the Hollister logo. That would that would be for me. Like it was like peak, like I've made it. I I think I worked all summer and saved up to purchase it.
SPEAKER_02That's amazing. Wow. Yeah. Well, I I've got a similar story to yours, except I wasn't a child. I was a grown man and I I got frustrated and I kicked something. I didn't punch something, I kicked something, and I broke my toe. So yeah, we'll we'll learn from those.
SPEAKER_01What was your outfit?
SPEAKER_02You know, probably had something to do with Michael Jordan as well. 90s. My name is Jordan. I always wanted Jordan shoes, and I I had kind of a head-to-toe black and red Michael Jordan fit. I had some bull jerseys. Probably probably fifth grade. Okay. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I had some bull jerseys that I loved.
SPEAKER_02Um and it's all the Hollister's back and the and the Air Jordan stuff is still around.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I need pictures of y'all in high school. I want, I need some like outfit picks.
SPEAKER_01This will not happen, Sarah. We love you. I don't trust you. I'm not doing it.
SPEAKER_00And you you know what? You shouldn't. I do have a folder saved on my laptop of embarrassing photos that spouses have sent me of my pastors.
SPEAKER_02So stay out of that folder. All right. Well, as the kids go back to school and start a new year, we're bringing this podcast to an end. And so I wanted just to reflect a little bit on the episodes that we've put out this uh this season. I've really enjoyed this episode of the podcast. It's probably been one of my favorites so far. And I know both of you are very close to the work that we're doing in the network, but I'm just curious, did you learn anything new or is there anything in particular that has stood out to you from our previous episodes?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say like I kind of already knew broadly like what the network does. And but listening back to all the episodes, I think just reminded me that there are real people behind like every one of those stories. I think just getting to hear every um single one of a member of our staff like reference specific situations was just really a reminder to me that it's like it's all these individual stories that make up this network that isn't ethereal. It's actually like very embodied and very um real, very personal. And so I was just super encouraged by those those stories. And um, yeah, it gave me a lot of things like I want to hear more, I want to hear more about that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I I wouldn't I wouldn't say that I learned anything new necessarily about the the work that we're doing. It was a good chance to uh sort of step back and see the forest um and not just look at the trees along the way. And that yeah, that's been really enjoyable. I do love the the reminder that there's people behind all of the work that we do, uh a reminder of how much I I love we do, how much I love the people that we get to do it with. Um there were some episodes that really stood out to me as uh ones that I enjoyed. Uh one of them was the church planning residency that we train church planners. Uh I love the content of that one, but also, man, if we if it's you, Reed Monaghan, Peyton Barons. I can listen to you also about Badman. Like it's just I just love it. Um the one on support I really enjoyed. Uh one of the things I enjoyed most about that one is how often you would ask a question to Jeremy or to to Buck. Um I'm sorry, Jeremy or Kyle. Uh, and their answer was something like, uh, we we just call people, we just show up. Um that it wasn't a grand strategy for care, uh, for the coaching, the support we provide. It was people caring for people. I I loved that reminder. And I really enjoyed the the the one on supporting worship leaders, the one that uh as of our recording today that came out today, Sarah, I don't know how you felt about that one, but I um I don't know, I loved it. I loved the reminder of the kind of coaching we're trying to provide worship leaders, not just lead planters. Uh the the the way that we're trying to write songs is collaborative songwriting, songs written by our churches and for our churches, that we're not we're not trying to start some music label, but but I do hope one day uh that we're able to have a conference where our conference, all of the songs are songs written by Redeemer Churches for Redeemer Churches, sung together at our conference. Anyway, those those episodes stood out to me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It was fun for me too. A lot of the same things, just uh seeing the breadth of the work that is happening through the network, and then just getting to spend time and talking about the work with the people who are really doing it. Uh, all of those people are doing such a great job, and it was fun to actually have them in or have them on on the podcast to hear more of their heart and and uh let them tell a story of what God's doing. So really enjoyed it. Well, we we've got our conference coming up. I think that's kind of the next thing for us if we if we're talking about what's next, is our conference is coming up in October. Let's talk about that. Brandon, uh, share a little bit of the why behind the conference.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So we this will be our fourth annual Redeemer Network uh conference. Uh, could not be more excited about it, excited that's in Austin. Uh, but the first thing to know about our conference uh is that it is not a conference for our pastors, it's a conference for our churches. Uh it is aimed at being a connecting point for churches in Redeemer Network where we bring people together and we can equip them for faithful and fruitful ministry. Um we we want it to be a one of the tools in our tool belt for making the Redeemer Network relationship a meaningful relationship beyond just pastors to staff, to elders, to leaders, to community group leaders, to members. Uh, we want to build some, if I can say it this way, kind of relational value for Redeemer Network that gets deep into our churches. And so that's one of our hopes with the conference. And one of the reasons why our our breakouts, which I know Sarah's gonna talk about in a second, are are really aimed at members, not just aimed at pastors. Um, but we also want to identify future church planners. Uh, we want this conference to be a rallying point where guys who are interested in planting churches can come together, be there, and we can identify them to steal Dusty's language of smoking them out. We want a chance to smoke out future church planters. We also want to identify potential partner churches. Uh, so if there's a church out there that is a good fit for joining Redeemer Network, uh, that door is a door that's cracked open for churches. It's not a wide open door for anybody to walk through, but it is a door that's that's unlocked, if I could say it that way. Um and we want this to be a chance to meet them, to connect in person, and to start the conversation around maybe, maybe they're a good fit for us and for our network. But then also uh for to identify churches that are um maybe in need of greater degrees of health. Um, that would be a good fit for our church renewal residency, where we walk alongside existing churches uh who are in need of some coaching and support. Uh and so we can identify them there as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's a big part of our ministry every year. This conference is, and it's a free event. Uh, our friends at the Austin Stone and Round Rock, their North Campus, are going to be hosting us and uh really excited about it. I love I love that. Yeah, it's not just a pastors conference, although there will be plenty for pastors, and it's one of my favorite things is to get to connect with not only other pastors in our network, but other pastors from the area that that come and join us. Um, but it's really is geared toward our teams. Rick Bowers, who's on our staff here at Redeemer Round Rock, was uh doing a gospel community leader training this Sunday, and he was giving the conference dates to all of our uh GC leaders and encouraging them to come. And uh and he was talking about that, about how the biggest benefit of that conference is that everyday leaders, lay leaders in the church can come and there will be a breakout, there will be something for them, both from the main sessions and from the from the breakouts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, everybody who shows up is gonna be able to leave equipped in some area for life and ministry.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, totally. Yeah. So let's let's talk a little more in detail. Sarah, what what's the what's the theme? Uh talk talk to us about any special initiatives or yeah, on your end, as you've been working on the conference, um, what what can you share with us?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, I would just echo that that I think, you know, I've had the gift of being part of the conference from the beginning and from that first gathering here in Lubbock, which I'm now that I think about it, I think I just got looped in because Kristen was here and um and so she was like, Hey, would you help me? And I was like, Yes, let's go. Um, but I think it just felt like a family reunion. And so I think that that, you know, I remember as we were debriefing that first conference, um, you know, I didn't know anyone really in the network. I knew that we did, you know, I knew that Redeemer Lubbock was a part of this network. Um, but it was so cool to look up and to see all these people, like nobody was showing up and putting on airs. Um, it was just people who are genuinely excited to be together. And I think that over the years, that really has expanded now, specifically through the conference, to include more than just pastors, but to include our whole teams and church members. And I just think that is so cool because even the other day I was on a call with um Doxa in Tucson, and it was so fun to be like, hey, we'll see see you in Austin, you know, that we um we're excited to get to be there together. But then also like I was thinking about friends that have like moved um and are no longer on staff at Redeemer Loving Church or Redeemer Network churches and thinking to myself, like, I'm so sad I'm not gonna see them this year because the conference has been this thing that we're getting to get together and encourage one another and just, you know, yeah, be with your friends. And it feels kind of like summer camp. Um, but this year, our theme, you know, uniquely is mission matters. That's really what we're keying in on. You know, this year we've really been working on our mission statement and really clarifying, like, like, why does the Redeemer Network exist? What does it mean to be a part of it? Why should you um be a part of it? What are we, what are we contributing to together? And so um our mission statement, you know, is to advance the gospel through multiplying healthy churches. And you're gonna see that just woven through the entire conference that this isn't a new direction. This is what we have always been doing, but we want to clarify it and we want to make it sticky for every single person. So for every member, for every um staff team, for every planter, potential planter. We want them to understand what it is uniquely that we think God has called us to do, um, what role we believe he's calling us to play. And so we're gonna be talking about just what it means to be healthy churches, healthy leaders, healthy followers of Christ, um, and then what that looks like for healthy disciples to multiply healthy disciples and healthy churches to multiply healthy churches. And so um my hope really is that people leave not only understanding the mission of the Redeemer Network, but really recognizing their own place in it wherever they are. Um, uniquely this year, I think with breakouts, I think you can really expect really practical breakouts. That's something I have loved with the breakouts every year, is that um, like I said, this isn't like we have some of the best leaders. I do, I believe that. Like we have some of the people that I'm just like, I want to sit at your feet and I want to learn how you have loved your local church and how you've, you know, worked this out and how you've grown in it. Um, but I think that that I love just the humility of so many of our leaders that are saying we are across the network in so many different contexts, from small towns to college towns to big cities. Um, so we're not coming with this like, hey, this is how to do ministry, but really getting to share, hey, here's what I've tried, here's what's worked, here's what's here's what didn't, and hey, I want to help you to think about what this could look like in your context. So that'll be everything from women's ministry to worship to communications to groups to um leading an elder team. And so I think that that's just gonna be really great and uniquely this year. Um, I'm really excited that we actually I think have some members from around rock, like lay members, not in vocational ministry, who are gonna be leading breakouts. Um, and I just think that's so exciting because it is just this reminder that like as a staff member, like I can learn from the ministry of like deacons and what they're doing in the church, even if they're never paid. It's meaningful ministry and it is like how the mission of God advances.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so good. Well, I I would love to hear from you guys. I mean, not only is the conference a great time for us to be together and get some practical equipping, but I hope that God ministers to us. Like I'm praying that as we get together, the Lord moves in our midst as well. We don't just walk away with some connections and some tools, but with a real sense of renewal, spiritual renewal. And so I'm curious for you guys as you think, as you pray about the conference, which is coming quickly. Um, what do you want to see God do? What's the spiritual work that you're that you're hungry for?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Sarah, you kick us off on this one.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say ultimately, like I want to see more people in more places come to know Jesus. And like there's a line from Zach S. Wine that I love where he he was just describing like a a church member's living room and he described it as like unknown to the world, but cherished by God, like cherished by him. And I think that when I think about the network and even the conference, I just think about the fact that there are people like that in every community represented at our conference who are right now unknown to us. They're unknown to the world. They're maybe not even significant or important to the world, but like they're fully known and cherished by God. And um, I think I just want us to leave with greater faith like for those people and greater affection for like the particular places that God has entrusted to it, to us. Um, because I would say like that's my personal wise. Like I have friends that I have known and prayed for for there to be like over the last decade churches in their city. And like I've prayed for healthy, Christ-centered, you know, gospel-centered Bible teaching churches. Um, not because I care about expanding an organization, but because I want Christ for them. I want Christ for their kids. And, you know, just have watched them struggle to find a church, um, struggle to be in a church. And it, I think, you know, who in my community, who in my neighborhood who lives around the corner from me has someone praying for them like that, like who around me is just like loved by God and doesn't know it yet. And I think that that's like when I think about the conference, I just want everyone to walk away with just a deep, um, yeah, like in their bones, just God, you care about those people. You've cared about me and you cherish them. And what a privilege that like you're you're inviting us. And because we're in church planting, like and in the work of church, like we get to be a part of your mission. Um and just yeah, I want them to just be really encouraged and expectant and just ready to pay attention to what God's already doing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So good. Sarah, I want to follow up on just what you're saying there before I get to in uh Acts 18. The Lord said to Paul, one night in a vision, do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you. For I have many in this city who are my people. And he stayed there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. Um this has been a banner verse for church planting for my own heart, for my life, um, because there are men, women, and children uh in town after town and city after city who belong to God and just don't know it yet. And we plant churches so they can find out. So we can take that gospel and that gospel reach more men, women, and children. Encountering Jesus, encountering grace, encountering the mercy of God. Um one of the things I'm really excited and hungry about at this conference is that we're gonna build in space to pray for it. Um so in each one of our sessions, it's not just gonna be teaching and worship, we're gonna build in time to pray. Uh, we we want to see the gospel advance, multiplying healthy churches. Um, but that's a work that we can't just do. We can labor for it, but it's work that God has to do. And so we're gonna build time to pray, and uh, and mixed into that prayer is gonna be to be prayer for people who are struggling and hurting uh those who show up feeling like I'm alone in this world and um we want them to know they're not. Uh, and we're gonna gather around and pray for them. We're gonna have a prayer wall. Is that is that right, Sarah?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there we go. We're gonna have a a place for people to write out prayers for our churches, for friends, family members who don't know the Lord yet, that they want to know the Lord. Um we're gonna take time to cry out to thank God for it. Um for both multiplication and for health, for sustained health. Uh I want people to leave there knowing that giving my life away for the mission of God is worth it. Um, it's absolutely worth it. Um and then there's something else that I really hope happens. Uh, and I hope my heart, I hope our heart is not misunderstood on on this part. Uh, but we're we're gonna launch a uh a campaign called Multiply the Mission. We're gonna ask people to partner with and join in and dive in and support the work of uh Redeemer Network. Uh and uh in particular, we're we're really trying to grow our what we call monthly multipliers with people who support Redeemer Network uh on a monthly basis. And and here's here's what we're doing. We are not trying to raise money to to keep the pay bills and keep lights on. Um six, seven, eight, nine months ago or so, uh, I was one neighborhood over where I walk and run. Uh because my neighborhood, it's a pop-up new build, and there's no trees and there's no shade. So I go to that neighborhood to walk, and uh and I was walking around just praying and in particular praying gratitude for last year and how the year went. And I really felt like I heard the Lord, and I'm not trying to be charismatic in that. I just felt this impression from the Lord to get ready, to get ready for what's to come. Uh what followed that was our largest residency class that we've ever had. Nine church planning residents, probably like five churches out of that class uh coming. Uh, and then fast forward to today, uh we're recording this in early August. Uh normally at this time of the year we have one or two conversations going on about future church planning residents. There's seven active conversations going on for next year. Uh, I know we're supposed to talk about that later, but um we need people bought into the mission of God in this particular way so we can continue funding the kinds of church plants at the rates that we want to fund the numbers of church plants that are coming. Um, and so we're gonna launch that. Uh, we also know, just pastorally speaking, that uh there's this direct line from our money to our heart and our heart to our money, where our what we spend our money on both reflects our our heart and our values, but it also directs them. And so when we put money into multiplying healthy churches, it it draws our heart more deeply into the value of seeing the gospel go out through the multiplication of healthy churches. And so we'll be launching the multiple admission campaign. Uh and all people bought into that for that reason.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I'm so excited. I I'm ready for October for many reasons. One, that hopefully the Dallas Cowboys will be undefeated.
SPEAKER_01They won't be.
SPEAKER_02Um, the weather will cool off and the Redeemer Network Conference. I I'm I'm I can't wait. It's gonna be it's gonna be great. I trust that the Lord is going before in all the preparations and um I hope folks will will come and that they will not just our pastors and staffs, but even even uh people from our churches, lay people from our churches will be there. It's just such a sweet time to be together, worship together, and and to renew our commitment to our our mission, which is the got the mission of God. And so um it's a good idea.
SPEAKER_00Which I actually do think last I talked to Kristen, who's in charge of all of our events, I think that lay members actually right now represent like the greatest majority number of like, you know, lead pastors versus planters versus comms people or worship. So members, they'd be showing up in the Austin area.
SPEAKER_01Right, let's go. That's right. So a couple of things on that. One, you're right, that's still the metric. Uh that is still what is leading on the registration. Uh, two, our current registration today is about three to four times higher than it normally would be at this point, uh, which is encouraging. But also, we need to pause and back up. And we can't talk about our conference without talking about uh Kristen Barron uh and the work that she does serving our network. She both blends a role of executive assistant and director of events uh and just knocks it out of the park every single time. And this conference is proving to be. No exception. And so we are deeply, deeply thankful for the work that Kristen does.
SPEAKER_02Yes, and amen. Amen. Okay, well, let's um let's keep moving. I'm both you guys have really important roles in our network. Brandon, you lead our day-to-day ministry, you lead our network staff, you uh are in frequent communication with our pastors and church planners. Sarah, your job is to share our story. I'm so thankful for you. When you first stepped into this role, remember the first thing that you did is you just said, I want to learn everybody's story, not just the network story, but I want to learn as much as I can about the people that lead this thing, the churches that are in it. And you just took that posture and you've done such a great job leading our communication strategy and helping us share our story. Those are both really important roles for us. And I'm just curious for for you guys, kind of where we sit today. What's got you excited right now? Is is there something that you're currently working on or something that you're seeing in our network that's got you fired up?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I so Sarah, when you talk about the Redeemer Network, I tear up almost every time. Um even a few minutes ago when I said, Sarah, you kick us off. It was because uh you had just rifted on the network and I um I just I couldn't jump in right away. And it's not just the emotion and the way you talk about, but you're also so good at helping us clarify and hone in and zero in on how we articulate and communicate the work that we're doing, uh the work our churches are doing, and so uh deeply grateful for you. Um but there's a few things that I would say that I'm uh to this question. One is I just I love where we are as a network. We are focused, we're not chasing shiny objects, we know who we are, we know who we're not. Uh I'm excited about doing more of the work that we're doing, not doing new and different work, but just doing more of the work that we're doing. And the things that I'm uniquely grateful for uh right now, one of them is that in the last few months, we've had two churches go through significant, significant crisis. Both of those churches are coming through the crisis and they're gonna be healthier tomorrow than they've ever been. But also watching our support team step in, give guidance, coaching, care, and to do it up close and personal. Um I they just knocked it out of the park, and I could not be more proud of the work that they've done in really difficult, really difficult seasons and stretches serving our churches. It's been real care. It has been.
SPEAKER_02It's been real care. It has been.
SPEAKER_01Um I love our network staff. I am so thankful for the team that we have top to bottom, we have the right people in the right seats to most effectively serve our churches and our residents. Um everyone who's ever led a team knows uh how rare it is to look up and say we have the team that we want. And when I look at our team, without flattery to anybody, we have the team from my seat that we want. Um I I love this team. I do not take for granted uh the level of competency and care and passion that our team has. Uh and incredibly thankful uh for each one of them.
SPEAKER_02Nobody's on the trading block.
SPEAKER_01Nobody's on the trading cap. Okay, good, good. Nobody's on the trading block. Good, good. You're out of the city. Nothing I'm aware of.
SPEAKER_02You're out of salary cap any case, so I'm glad you like your team.
SPEAKER_01And then our conference in Austin. Uh, this is one I'm really excited about. Uh, it's it's actually, I think, a big deal for us. Uh, probably a bigger deal on the inside than most people feel or realize, but but it we have historically been known as more West Texas to rural small town. And the reason for that is that we started in Lubbock and we naturally planted in in smaller towns around as we kind of made our way over there. Uh, and I I love our West Texas roots. Um and I truly am proud in the I think in the most Christ-honoring way about our love for rural church planting and rural ministry. Um, but I do not want us to be known for a geography. I I don't want us to be known as the urban church planning network or the suburban or the rural. I want us to be known as the people uh who are passionate about multiplying healthy churches and where our churches plant, we plant. And when that's city, that's city. When that's uh town, it's town, when it's suburb, it's suburb. Uh and so we have um one of the fruits of that is that we have seven churches actively who have been planted in the greater Austin area. And our eighth is going to be planted and launching one month from right now, at the time of this recording. Um and then we have a plethora of churches who are suburban, who are in uh rural communities all over. And I want us to love all of them and just to value not a particular geography, but healthy church multiplication.
SPEAKER_02Good. Yeah, I think it's also safe to say that um West Sexons probably like coming to Austin more than uh than us, uh the eight churches that are in the Austin area like going to West Texas.
SPEAKER_01Probably so. Although I I do kind of want to pitch to y'all maybe.
SPEAKER_02I love Lubbock.
SPEAKER_01Well, maybe Lubbock next year for the conference again. Just I haven't I haven't pitched that yet. I haven't asked permission yet, but I'm just gonna leak it now. That's what I'm hoping.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm good with I'm good with that. I'll stick around for a tech football game.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Sarah, what what about you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I mean I would say that really, and it's gonna sound odd, but but kind of to what Brandon was saying, I think what has really fired me up, you know, to use that language, is is actually seeing our churches carry the weight of ministry together. Um, you know, I'm on staff at a local church in the Redeemer Network. And I love that I never want to be apart from, you know, being embodied in this place. Um, but I just think over, you know, some of those hard situations that have happened this last year, it's been so cool to me to see that I think what really started, even in terms of the network story, is it was a co like it was a network of lead pastors. But in a lot of those situations, yes, the network was stepping in to care, um, to do so well in terms of supporting those churches, but also laterally, like I'm on the phone with their comms people. And I just think about like in the moment when you wear so many hats as a staff member, as a church member, as just a Christian, to get to have that camaraderie and relationship and trust to say, hey, we are on the same mission. I know that we have the same values around truth and transparency and gospel-centered community. Um, and here's what you need to like look out for when it comes to the unity of your staff team, what you might be experiencing when you walk through, yeah, just like dark days was like such a beautiful picture to me that it wasn't just on just lead pastors. It was like whole staff teams getting to care for one another from other churches and offer that support. Um, it was just, yeah, it was a really, I think that is such a cool thing that the network really has is that it's not just one person on your staff receiving support. It's that we're starting to have more of the network, um, even among among our staffs in um like at all different levels to be able to learn from one another and to also be able to provide the camaraderie. Um, but the other thing I would say is like I really, you know, I would say even part of like my own story with the network is like I was at Redeemer Lubbock as a college kid when the network was starting. You know, like I think I came to Lubbock the fall right after Jordan and Josh moved. And so, you know, I I knew about this church planning thing. I'd heard about it. Um, you know, I got to see some of those first church plants. I was there when Peyton was one of the first church planning residents. Um, but I was just a college student, was a member, had no design on, you know, I was gonna leave Lubbock and never be a part of that again. Love it so much, it's important. But um, but now to look up and to see like all these connections, like as our network has grown, um, that, you know, I was a kid's gospel community leader my whole time I was in college. And now one of those kids is at college at ACU and is attending the well there. And like that is just such a privilege, like getting to recognize that it's like, hey, I was a part of ministering to you at this one season in this locality. And now, because of the network, like I'm getting my friends now are getting to minister to you in this different season. And similarly, we had some friends from Redeemer Love just moved to Abilene and just being so sad that they're not here in my everyday life anymore, but the joy of getting to be like, I know that there's this Christ-centered church, let me connect you. Um I think is just like so cool to see, like, that takes longevity to be able to see that happen and to have those kinds of connections. Um, but man, I think also what fires me up is just seeing the work that God is doing in so many of our leaders that then reflects what God's doing in his church. Um, you know, like I said, I I get to interact more, like maybe less with lead pastors, but with staff members from other churches. And I think the temptation could be to just like, let's just talk calm strategy. But I truly, um, part of what I love about what we're doing is that, yeah, we want to multiply healthy churches. And that starts with being healthy. Like we care about people's souls and we want them to encounter Jesus and it's not just be a job, it'd be a place that they know Christ and make him known. And I think that like even some of those challenging situations this year, um, it's just been really cool to get to go to those deeper places, even with other staff members from different churches and to get to be reminded that, like, you know, there's so much brokenness in my church. You know, there's like all the things in the day-to-day life that I see that I'm like, I'm frustrated by that, or that's hard or that difficult conversation. Um, and when you zoom out and you get to like see, well, that's in every church, that's in every place. Um, it's just like a reminder to me and getting to encourage younger churches that I'm like, yes, like there is hope. God is able. Um, and it reminds me of the gospel every single time. And not just like why we're in this, but um reminds me that like, no, Jesus, you are going to, you you love your local church, like you love the church. And that's why we love it. Um, not because it's our job, but because it's your bride. Um and I, yeah, that just I could talk forever about all of our churches that I get to interact with. Um, because yeah, I just think that it's so cool to see their commitment to growth in the places that they are and again, their love for the locality. I just that really sticks out to me that um they matter to God, they matter to those people. Um, and that we get to then see, we just we have insight into places that we I'm like, I am bound in time and place to Lubbock, Texas. But because the network getting to hear about what God's doing in Brennan, what he's doing in Arizona, what he's gonna hopefully be doing in Oklahoma, in Austin, it's like I get to participate in seeing God, Jesus. You you really are the king of your church, and I get to see that. It's such a joy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I'll piggyback on on what you shared earlier, Sarah. We I've I'm fired up about some of the same things. We we've got uh some some uh high school a high school graduate that's that really, I guess when their their family was a part of our core team or early early on, definitely like year one, Redeemer Round Rock. And she was probably four, three or four at the time. And now she's about to graduate and she's going to tech and she's excited to get to Lubbock and connect with Redeemer Lubbock. And I'm so fired up about that. I can't wait. And we have uh talked to somebody else in our church that's moving uh more towards South Austin. And I was like, hey, not only is there one, but there's two, three, four Redeemer Network churches that are all around Austin. And so you need to go check this out. And they were so excited about that. I'm like, wow, I didn't realize that. And and uh we have a uh church member here that has just been one of the most servant-hearted. Um, she's a single lady in our church, she's been amazing, and she's just moved the Lord has called her to move to San Antonio. And I was able to connect her with with uh some of our Redeemer Network churches there, and and she was so thrilled to know that there would be something very similar to what's been so meaningful to her that she's gonna get to step into there. And so, yeah, that that is uh that is the fruit of longevity, like you said, Sarah. And it is a really exciting thing for me, for us, as we lead this network, but I think it's a really life-giving thing. It's a blessing to to the people of our churches as well.
SPEAKER_01So I'm in a similar boat to the to the first person you're talking about. Not that my kids are going to college yet, but I've got a going to be a junior this year and a sophomore. And part of our conversations has been okay, when we start talking colleges, let's prioritize colleges where we know we've got a redeemer church in that town.
SPEAKER_02And a golf team.
SPEAKER_01For one of them. Not my oldest. She doesn't play golf.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's good. Okay, well, uh, let's start to wrap up a little bit here. Uh, anything else as we look ahead as we think about what's next? Is there anything else that you guys would want to share?
SPEAKER_01Sarah, do you have anything?
SPEAKER_00No, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_01Okay. I mean, I know I I know I tipped my hand on this earlier, but um, you know, right now we have 13 uh church planning residents between year one and year two. We've got four year two, nine year one, uh, and we've got active conversations at a time in the year when we normally have one or two conversations maybe going on. Typically, the recruiting really kicks up high after the conference. Um we are months away from the conference, and we have significant conversation, you know, uh seven conversations actively happening right now. That's awesome. We had a call with a guy yesterday who I couldn't be more excited about and hopeful for. Uh meeting with another guy on Monday to talk through in person what it'll look like to come to one of our churches, jump in and be a resident right here. Uh, and and it's not unrealistic to think a year from now we could look up and have 20 residents. It's not unrealistic. It may not happen, but it's not foolish to think that. Um and I'm grateful for that. Man, we we need to keep doing more of what we're doing on all fronts so we can keep doing that and serve more and plant more uh churches. I'm also really excited about this will be year two of our church renewal residency that is kicking off uh in a month or so. And one of the things I'm excited about this year is that one of our churches where our guy's been there for eight, nine years, is jumping into the residency. Uh, he's faithfully loved and served the church well and is looking up going, I I could use some more coaching, I could use some uh a chance to be equipped a little bit more. Uh and so he's jumping in. And and why that matters is is because we're not just um we're not just trying to start churches. Uh we want to see churches established, we want to see the gospel take root, we want to see our churches have longevity and faithfulness right where they are. Uh, and so we have this residency for when you're planting churches. Uh, but also if any of our churches get seven or eight years down the road and they go, okay, I need some more equipping, more coaching, uh, what Marco de Leone has built out in our renewal residency uh is a wonderful resource to our churches. No, and we love that it it's not just an offering to Redeemer Network, it's an offering to the church at large. And so if there's the pastor out there who's going, hey, my my my church could use some some help in growing in particular areas, uh, we would love to offer that to them.
SPEAKER_02And the truth is every one of our churches will need it. I mean, it that's every life cycle of of any church is you start off in mission mode, and within seven, sometimes ten, sometimes fifteen, sometimes twenty years, you look up and you're you're in maintenance mode and you've kind of lost sight of the mission and you're you're managing and you're maintaining. And that the next step after that is plateauing and then declining. And that's, I mean, you people who study the life cycle of churches, it's clear as day. All churches go through the same cycle. So, yeah, if we want our churches to sustain, continue to bear fruit, to stay healthy, like we're gonna need that renewal residency. Everybody's gonna need it uh because it's so normal and easy to get out of mission mode and get into maintenance mode. So I love that. And I love that we have people already identifying that or saying, hey, I I could use some extra training, I could use some extra equipping. Uh we we need to get back into mission mode. And so let me go through this renewal training. Yeah, good. Well, this has been fun. It's been a fun uh season. We'll we'll uh we'll end it here. We've got we'll have a season four coming up uh soon. We're gonna talk uh some more about our culture and some of our uh leadership pillars uh in that next season, and really excited about that. But Sarah, thanks for all you're doing. Thanks for jumping on and joining today. And Brandon, as always, appreciate you, man.