The Church Lobby

Karl Vaters
  • 4.8 (35)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Karl Vaters interviews church leaders about the important issues of faith and ministry. It's called The Church Lobby because: The church lobby is where the church meets and does ministry. The church lobby moves conversations from the stage to the floor. The church lobby is a good place to take the temperature of a church’s health. Karl Vaters is the author of several books, including Small Church Essentials and The Grasshopper Myth. Formerly known as Can This Work In a Small Church?, this podcast primarily looks at church leadership from a small church perspective.

  1. 2D AGO

    Ep 124: The Art and Science of Making Disciples, with Peyton Jones

    Karl Vaters talks with Peyton Jones about the severe need for our churches to become better at the main command Jesus gave His church: making disciples. Peyton is the author of several books, including the newly released, Discipology: The Art and Science of Making Disciples, which is the basis for this conversation. The stats are troubling. In a recent survey, pastors acknowledged that discipleship is the aspect of church ministry that they do least well. And when church members are surveyed, only 23 percent of Christians say they were ever discipled one-on-one. Peyton is a church planter and church planting specialist who is tackling this crisis head on. In his new book, Peyton uses the disciple-making pattern from the life of Jesus to describe the Discipology Flywheel, where three essential elements come together: Time—Where Disciples Are FormedTeaching—Where Disciples Are TrainedTactics—Where Disciples Are Sent Links:Discipology: The Art and Science of Making DisciplesChurch Planting For Everyone, with Peyton Jones (Podcast Ep 021)Church Plantology: The Art and Science of Planting ChurchesFew Pastors Believe Discipleship Tops Their Churches’ Efforts (article)The State of Discipleship (article) Bonus Content SummaryThe SHALOM Star: Six Aspects of Life that Find Balance as God Permeates Them, with Peyton Jones Karl Vaters talks with Peyton Jones about Peyton’s acronym for balanced Christian living, based on the word and the concept of Shalom. From the content of Peyton’s new book, Discipology: The Art and Science of Making Disciples. Spirit: Your soul’s connection to GodHonor: The areas of life you stewardAffections: Your family and friendshipsLearning: Your intellect and creativityOthers: Your allies on missionMental: Your emotional well-being To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    51 min

  2. MAR 5

    Ep 123: Six Things I’d Do Differently If I Was a Young Pastor Today, with Darryl Dash

    Karl Vaters interviews Darryl Dash, a long-time pastor in Toronto, Canada. Darryl recently wrote the article, Advice to New and Aspiring Pastors, for The Gospel Coalition, Canada in which raised several issues that are helpful, not just for younger pastors, but for anyone who wants to be a better pastor for the long haul. Links:Advice to New and Aspiring PastorsDashHouse.comGospel for Life PodcastPrayerMate AppHow to Grow: Applying the Gospel to All of Your Life8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like ChristPreach Well: A Short Guide to Making Even the Average Sermon Much Better Bonus Content 8 Habits to Become More Like Christ, with Darryl Dash Karl Vaters interviews Darryl Dash about the content of his helpful discipleship book, 8 Habits for Growth: A Simple Guide to Becoming More Like Christ. The habits include: the importance of spending time with God, daily Bible reading, involvement in a healthy local church, and more. This is a great book for discipleship in the local church, and this interview with Darryl will give you an idea of what it’s about and how to use it. To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    49 min

  3. FEB 19

    Ep 122: Philip Yancey, Shattered Trust, and Rebuilding Your Integrity, with Kurt Bubna

    Karl Vaters talks with Kurt W. Bubna about what to do if you’re a Christian leader who has betrayed people and broken trust. This conversation was sparked by the Facebook post, An Open Letter to Philip Yancey Regarding His Extramarital Affair, that Bubna wrote in early January. So many have opined about Yancey, and understandably so, but most of them know little if anything about his situation, including Karl and Kurt. So, while this conversation was triggered by that news, it’s an attempt at a measured approach from a perspective that we need to hear—a pastor who broke trust and is rebuilding it again. This conversation focuses on practical help for anyone who is walking through a similar time of sinful behavior, by talking through Kurt’s helpful article, How to Rebuild Trust After You’ve Broken It. Links: An Open Letter to Philip Yancey Regarding His Extramarital AffairHow to Rebuild Trust After You’ve Broken ItKurt Bubna’s Amazon author pageKurtBubna.com To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    38 min

  4. FEB 5

    Ep 121: Six Big Shifts In How People Volunteer—And How To Respond, with Laurie Graham

    Karl Vaters talks to Laurie Graham about some of the big ways volunteerism has changed, and how we, as church leaders, can respond to these trends. Laurie runs smallchurchministry.com, an online ministry that provides resources and support for volunteers and ministry leaders in smaller churches. This is Laurie’s second time on the podcast (the last time she was known as Laurie Acker), and in this conversation she and Karl talk about how church volunteerism has been affected by people’s changing schedules, their desire for deeper meaning, the need to restore their trust, and more. Links: Website: https://smallchurchministry.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallchurchministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallchurchministryCreative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministrySmall Church Network & Academy: https://smallchurchministry.com/membership/ Bonus Content SummaryRethinking Church Programs for Volunteer Flexibility, with Laurie Graham Karl Vaters talks with Laurie Graham of SmallChurchMinistry.com about different ways we, as church leaders, can start to change church programs that were originally designed for the way people used to volunteer, into ministry that works for the more personal, seasonal way people live and commit today. Website: https://smallchurchministry.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smallchurchministry/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smallchurchministryCreative Solutions for Small Churches Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/smallchurchministrySmall Church Network & Academy: https://smallchurchministry.com/membership/ To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    51 min

  5. JAN 22

    Ep 120: Experiencing Scripture Like Dallas Willard, with Dave Ripper

    Karl Vaters talks through some helpful guidelines with Dave Ripper about how to read, meditate, and teach from the Bible in a richer, deeper way. Dave is the lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church, a multicongregational church in southern New Hampshire, focused on spiritual formation, and is the author of Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus: Reading the Bible like Dallas Willard. Karl and Dave explore who Dallas Willard was, and what his way of reading the Bible can do for us, including: Willard’s four steps on how to read the BibleA five-step outline for meditating on a textThe IMMERSE methodPreaching out of the overflowHow to let God speak to the church instead imposing your ideas into the text or onto the congregation Links: Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus: Reading the Bible like Dallas Willard, by Dave RipperThe Dallas Willard podcastDaveRipper.comDeeper Experiences with God Podcast, with Dave RipperDave Ripper on InstagramDave Ripper on FacebookContact Dave Ripper Bonus video summary Three Warnings from Dallas Willard about How Not to Read the Bible, with Dave Ripper In this subscriber-only bonus material, Karl Vaters talks with pastor Dave Ripper, the author of Experiencing Scripture as a Disciple of Jesus: Reading the Bible like Dallas Willard, about why Bible readers should stay away from: Bible rouletteThe “It’s all in the Bible” ViewBible deism To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    48 min

  6. JAN 8

    Ep 119: Pushing Back Against The Lie Of Fast Church Growth, with Jeff Hoglen

    Have you ever gone to a church growth conference and been told “all healthy things grow?” Karl Vaters talks with Jeff Hoglen about what’s happening behind that idea, and why it can be a problem for a lot of pastors and churches. The conversation is based on an article Jeff wrote, called “The Church Growth Lie No One Talks About.” Karl and Jeff talk about what that lie is, why we keep believing it, and what to do, instead. They also discuss alternative ways to look at church health and growth, including: How growth feels more like farming than fireworksHow most real growth is slow, often invisible, and always hardHow the slow seasons don’t have to discourage youHow to deepen before you broadenHow to pursue health over hypeThe importance of celebrating the small stuff And more. Links: The Church Growth Lie No One Talks AboutChurchPlanting.comCanvaChatGPT To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    35 min

  7. 12/18/2025

    Ep 118: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters, with Brad Edwards

    Karl Vaters talks with Brad Edwards about the shift that’s happened over the last decade or so in how people perceive institutions, especially the institutional church. In this conversation they talk about how the rise of radical individualism has replaced once-trusted institutions, why a distrust in institutions is problematic, and why institutions—especially the church—still matter. Brad is a church planter and pastor of The Table Church in Lafayette, CO. He’s also the author of, The Reason for Church: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical Individualism. This conversation also includes an overview of the reasons behind the loss of institutionalism, and especially five Church Defeaters: Church Defeater 1: Spiritual PragmatismChurch Defeater 2: The Sacred SelfChurch Defeater 3: Counterfeit InstitutionsChurch Defeater 4: (Un)Civil religionsChurch Defeater 5: Virtuous Victimhood (CONGRATULATIONS to Brad on his book being named Book of the Year by Christianity Today magazine!) Links: The Reason for Church: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical IndividualismMere Orthodoxy   BONUS TALK Our Role in the Grand Narrative of Scripture, with Brad Edwards Karl Vaters talks with Brad Edwards about the importance of understanding the metanarrative of scripture as a foundational teaching for life and faith. In particular, their conversation addresses two storytelling terms. First, Main Character Syndrome, which helps us understand and clarify the dangers of the  hyper-individualism of our current age. Second, the MacGuffin, a term coined by movie director Alfred Hitchcock that helps us see what our role in God’s story really is.   Links: The Reason for Church: Why the Body of Christ Still Matters in an Age of Anxiety, Division, and Radical Individualism To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    1h 8m

  8. 12/04/2025

    Ep 117: The Growing Problem of Gambling Addiction in the Church, with Dr. Donald Lichi

    Do you know how to spot if someone in your congregation has a gambling problem? Once it’s been spotted or confessed, do you know what to do? Karl Vaters talks with Dr. Don Lichi about one of the fastest-growing addictions in the world, including: How is gambling defined?Why does it have such a strong grip on some people?Who is most likely to be addicted?How to get help And more Donald Lichi is vice president emeritus of Emerge Counseling Ministries, and author of the article, Is Gambling a Problem in the Church? You Bet! in Influence magazine.   Links: Is Gambling a Problem in the Church? You Bet! (article)Emerge Counseling MinistriesBroken Windows of the Soul: A Pastor and Christian Psychologist Discuss Sexual Sins and the Prescription to Heal ThemYouVersion Bible App   Bonus Chat What to Do if You’re a Pastor with a Gambling Problem, with Donald Lichi Pastors are not immune to the temptations of gambling and other addictions. In this short conversation, Karl Vaters talks with Dr. Don Lichi about how to recognize those tendencies in yourself, and what to do if you’re trapped in it. They also talk about who you should/should not share these problems with, and how to engage in preventative measures.   Links: Is Gambling a Problem in the Church? You Bet! (article)Emerge Counseling MinistriesBroken Windows of the Soul: A Pastor and Christian Psychologist Discuss Sexual Sins and the Prescription to Heal Them To get Bonus Content every week, click here to become a Financial Partner, or here to subscribe to the Free Weekly Newsletter.

    51 min
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4.8
out of 5
35 Ratings

About

Karl Vaters interviews church leaders about the important issues of faith and ministry. It's called The Church Lobby because: The church lobby is where the church meets and does ministry. The church lobby moves conversations from the stage to the floor. The church lobby is a good place to take the temperature of a church’s health. Karl Vaters is the author of several books, including Small Church Essentials and The Grasshopper Myth. Formerly known as Can This Work In a Small Church?, this podcast primarily looks at church leadership from a small church perspective.

Information

  • Creator
    Karl Vaters
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    128
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    The Church Lobby

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