Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

Exponential Australia
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Listen to interviews with ministry leaders and church planters committed to multiplication as they share insights, stories and lessons from their real-life experiences of planting churches and making disciples.

  1. Sep 27

    Ep 134: NOT MY CHURCH: DARRELL JOHNSON ON AMBITION, HUMILITY, AND THE WAY OF JESUS - Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Darrell Johnson, veteran pastor, theologian, and prolific author, for a rich conversation on legacy, leadership health, and the kind of formation that produces lasting multiplication. Darrell shares his personal story from studying physics to sensing a call into preaching, and reflects on what he most hopes to leave behind: helping people know and love Jesus, understand Scripture, and carry a healthy soul in ministry. Darrell unpacks what he is seeing through The Pastorate in Canada, a movement focused on shaping pastors through spiritual formation and long term renewal, and he offers a clear insight for planters and leaders: thriving church plants begin with a team, not a hero. He shares how team based ministry and a culture of sending can prevent leaders from becoming indispensable, and why congregations must keep resisting the drift toward becoming centred on themselves. The conversation goes deeper into ambition, identity, and power. Darrell draws on John the Baptist as his ministry model, reminding leaders to say “I am not” and to keep pointing to Jesus. He challenges leaders to give power away, to see the church as belonging to Christ rather than to themselves, and closes with a timely encouragement for Australia and the Western church: do not chase cultural affirmation or power, just keep serving King Jesus, and trust Him to build His church.

  2. Sep 13

    Ep 133: BUILT DIFFERENT: VIKS MCFARLANE ON PLANTING IN BLACKTOWN, RESILIENCE, AND SECOND GEN MISSION

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Viks McFarlane, who together with her husband Slade has planted and led Triumph Church in Blacktown. Viks shares her journey from growing up as a fifth generation pastor’s kid, serving a decade in the Navy, running from a call to ministry, and eventually recognising that God had placed a church planting and pioneering gift on her life.Viks reflects honestly on the call to plant in Blacktown, an area many people might overlook or avoid, and how obedience led her and Slade from the Sunshine Coast back to Western Sydney. What began with no team, no building, and very little certainty became a journey of prayer, youth ministry, pancakes in local schools, and the launch of Triumph Youth, which eventually became the foundation for Triumph Church.This conversation explores the beauty and brutality of church planting. Viks speaks candidly about resilience, loss, facility challenges, small beginnings, and the courage required to keep showing up when the assignment feels costly. She also shares the joy of seeing young people and families transformed, and how one person’s yes can impact generations.With a deep heart for Blacktown, cultural communities, and second generation migrant young people, Viks challenges leaders to honour culture while communicating the gospel in ways the next generation can receive. She calls pastors and churches to release young leaders, have courageous conversations, and take brave steps toward planting more churches for the sake of the Kingdom.

  3. Aug 30

    Ep 132: THE TABLE AND THE TENSION: LEADING HEALTHY MULTIPLIERS IN A LOUD WORLD - Ian Simkins

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Nashville based pastor and author Ian Simkins for a deeply grounding conversation on what it means to become a healthy multiplier in a world shaped by noise, distraction, and outrage. Ian shares why people are increasingly hungry for what is authentic and embodied, and how the church can respond not by shouting louder, but by recovering a non anxious presence rooted in Jesus. Ian unpacks the hidden drivers behind unhealthy leadership, including workaholism that gets applauded, achievement that masquerades as fruit, and the subtle lie that we are only as valuable as what we produce. Drawing from voices like Henri Nouwen, Dallas Willard, and Eugene Peterson, he reframes ministry as serving from belovedness, not striving for it, and points to Sabbath as a sobering practice that exposes our need for control while restoring trust in God. The conversation then turns to Ian’s central theme of the table. Not as a sentimental idea, but as a practical and powerful rhythm for formation, discipleship, and mission. In a culture marked by division, loneliness, and distraction, Ian calls leaders to recover both temples and tables, and to live with a simple prayer in mind: Lord at this table as it is in heaven. This episode is an invitation to slow down, choose one obedient next step, and abide in the Spirit so that fruit is borne over time rather than forced through pressure.

  4. Aug 16

    THE TEMPTATION BEHIND EVERY TEMPTATION: JOHN ORTBERG ON FORMATION, HEALTH, AND MULTIPLYING WHAT MATTERS - Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with John Ortberg for a deep and disarmingly practical conversation about the inner life required to lead well, especially for planters and multipliers carrying pressure, complexity, and visible expectations. John reflects on seasons of pain and leadership crisis, and why “circumstances being okay” is never a sufficient foundation for ministry or life. John shares one of the most defining lessons from his friendship and mentorship with Dallas Willard: leaders must arrange their days so they are experiencing deep contentment, joy, and confidence in their everyday life with God. He names this as the temptation behind every temptation, because when a satisfying life with God is not being cultivated, shortcuts start to look reasonable. With an Exponential edge, the conversation turns toward multiplying health, not just activity. John explores how spiritual formation is daily “good soil” work, what a thriving leader actually prioritises, and why the main thing God gets out of your life is the person you become. He then offers two concrete practices that sustain leaders long term: a restorative niche each week and a fully disclosing friend, so leaders can live without hiddenness. John closes with hope for leaders facing complexity, calling them away from rumination and toward simple obedience, trusting that God never asks us to do more than we have time to do. This is an episode for anyone who wants to plant, multiply, and lead at the pace of love.

  5. Aug 2

    Ep 130: THE HEALTHIEST PERSON IN THE ROOM: ANDREW RANUCCI ON LONELINESS, FRIENDSHIP AND SUSTAINABLE MULTIPLICATION

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by Andrew Ranucci, long time church planter and former lead pastor of Coast Community Church, for a deeply practical conversation on what it takes to multiply with health over decades. Andrew shares formative moments from his early discipleship, including an unexpected season of solitude and Scripture in the outback, and the joys and battle scars of planting and leading a church for 26 years, from council battles to internal resistance and the pain of betrayal. Now serving leaders through supervision, mentoring, and spiritual direction, Andrew unpacks what he sees beneath the surface in pastors and planters: the relentless pressure of the urgent, the erosion of personal devotional life, emotional depletion, and a growing loneliness that mirrors a wider societal crisis. He makes a compelling case that one of the most strategic disciplines for leaders is stewarding life giving friendships outside their local church context, the kind of lifelong relationships that stabilise the soul when ministry gets complex. Andrew also previews his conference message aligned to the Multiplier theme, including his personal vision that when the church gathers on Sunday, the pastor would be the healthiest person in the room. It is an episode full of wisdom for leaders who want to plant, lead, and multiply at a pace that produces lasting impact rather than quiet collapse.

  6. Jul 19

    Ep 129: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE GOOD OF THE CITY: CASS LANGTON ON SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie sits down with Cass Langton from The Local as we continue building toward the National Conference on the Gold Coast. Returning to the podcast for a second time, Cass reflects on what God has been forming in her, Rich, and their church community since planting The Local, including the surprising beauty of discovering that Jesus really does build His church, often in ways we did not first imagine.Cass shares what is giving her hope for the Australian church right now: growing collaboration across denominations and streams, a renewed attentiveness to the Holy Spirit, and a rising spiritual curiosity among people who may be sceptical of institutions but are still hungry for the reality of Jesus. She also reflects honestly on the work and cost of church planting, and how The Local has become a place of return for people rediscovering faith, worship, community, and the presence of God. With her upcoming National Conference session focused on Launching Spiritual Communities, Cass unpacks what it means to form churches that are deeply spiritual, unmistakably local, and shaped by the cross of Jesus. She explores the need for communities marked by authenticity, mission, hospitality, generosity, imagination, beauty, and reproduction, not simply as programs to be multiplied, but as life received from God and given away for the good of the city. This is a hope filled conversation for planters, pastors, and leaders longing to see churches become more than events to attend, but communities where people encounter Jesus, find family, and are sent into the world with fresh joy and courage.

  7. Jul 5

    Ep 128: DOING IT THE KING'S WAY - Sam Harvey - Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by returning guest Sam Harvey, church planter and national leader of 24 7 Prayer New Zealand, as we build toward the August National Gathering keynote series. Sam shares what he is seeing across New Zealand right now, including a growing hunger for prayer and a fresh unity across churches and regions as leaders contend together for renewal.The conversation becomes deeply practical as Sam opens up about the realities of carrying multiple roles as a planter, leader, husband, father, and follower of Jesus. He speaks candidly about the warning signs when pressure rises, the importance of close friendships and honest prayer, and the slow work of letting ministry expose what still needs healing.Sam also previews his upcoming National Gathering session on the Mental and Spiritual Gauge, challenging leaders to care not only about what they build, but how they build it. Doing it the King’s way means pursuing wholeness, cultivating a prayer soaked inner life, and refusing to multiply at the cost of your soul. This is a timely and hope filled conversation for leaders who want to multiply with health, integrity, and spiritual depth.

  8. Jun 21

    Ep 127 : BRINGING YOUR FULL SELF TO THE TABLE - Lisa Pak - Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast

    In this episode of the Exponential Australia Church Leaders Podcast, Charlie is joined by keynote speaker Lisa Pak, a Toronto born Korean Canadian leader serving with Finishing the Task alongside Pastor Rick Warren. Lisa shares how growing up between cultures shaped her conviction that the global church needs leaders who can bring their full selves to the table, across generations, cultures, and calling. Lisa delivers a clear challenge for leaders in a digitised world: discipleship cannot be fast tracked. You cannot microwave formation, and you cannot call convenience discipleship. She unpacks why deep disciple making requires time, self awareness, and real relational investment, and why leaders must resist the illusion of engagement created by bite sized spiritual content. The conversation then turns toward the internal gauges of the Multiplier life. Lisa calls pastors and planters back to two repeatable practices that protect long term fruitfulness: prayer that brings insight and peace, and Sabbath rhythms that keep leaders humble, human, and anchored in the Holy Spirit rather than performance. She also offers a hopeful and prophetic encouragement for Australia as a multicultural Commonwealth nation uniquely positioned for global mission and collaboration.

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Listen to interviews with ministry leaders and church planters committed to multiplication as they share insights, stories and lessons from their real-life experiences of planting churches and making disciples.

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