Do you struggle to manage your time? What should be your #1 priority when facing the demands of ministry? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses four non-negotiables of ministry with Dale Cunningham. At the top of the list is sitting at Jesus' feet. Speaking of the attitude that should drive us to the Source, Dale Cunningham quotes Oswald Chambers: “The greatest blessing that God gives to us is the knowledge of our utter destitution.” Dale Cunningham has been in ministry for 40 years, serving as the senior pastor at Boones Creek Bible Church in Johnson City, TN, for 23 years. He and his wife, Denise, now minister to ministry couples through D&D Ministries.
Who qualifies for minister’s housing allowance? What is the process for determining it, and what are the most confusing or misunderstood points? How can pastors and church leaders exercise good stewardship as they establish the 2026 church budget? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses minister’s housing allowances with Corey Pfaffe, CPA and Principal at MinistryCPA.com and retired dean of the school of business at Maranatha Baptist University.
The following resources are available on the website of MinistryCPA.
Financial Health Questionnaire: https://ministrycpa.org/resources/other
Housing Allowance Worksheet: https://ministrycpa.org/services/tax-organizers
Should you create and host a podcast for your church? What are some considerations for the format, technology, and content? Can such a podcast enhance your shepherding or take away from it? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses this topic with Joe Fant, pastor of Community Baptist Church in South Bend, IN. Speaking of the opportunity a church podcast gave for informal ministry discussions, Joe Fant says, “If you can do it for your church, it’s an awesome opportunity to have conversations you couldn’t have in any other vein, but you have to be ready and make a commitment for a certain period of time.”
How long was the time from when your husband announced his retirement to the church until you left the church? What were some of the biggest practical changes you noticed right away after your husband stepped down from the full-time pastorate? Did you feel a sense of loss, freedom, or both? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses life after the pastorate with his wife, Gretchen, and Sue Goodwill. Sue Goodwill served as a pastor’s wife for 35 years, following her husband to three different churches. After retirement, Scott and Sue Goodwill began assisting churches through GFA’s interim pastors ministry. Gretchen Fant served as a pastor’s wife during the 21 years her husband replanted Harvest Baptist Church in Rock Hill, SC. The Fants transitioned from that church to GFA, where Marshall Fant leads the interim pastors ministry and church-planting and revitalization efforts.
How does a church’s pulpit committee vet multiple pastoral candidates and narrow down its recommendation to one candidate for the entire church to consider? How does the committee keep the church informed of progress while maintaining confidentiality? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses the function of pulpit committees with Kerry Baggett and Art Springer, chairman and member respectively of the pulpit committee of Faith Baptist Church in Taylors, SC. Kerry Baggett shares this encouragement for pastoral candidates, “For any pastor out there, the maturity you bring to the table—your spiritual maturity, your love for the Lord, your desire to want what God wants—is what will help keep you calm, knowing that you are wanting what God wants.”
Artificial intelligence, a rapidly changing but powerful tool, is changing how we live, much like automobiles did. In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses with David Shumate his article, “An AI ‘Interview’ with C. H. Spurgeon,” published in the January/February 2025 issue of Frontline. Using well-crafted prompts and Anthropic's Claude, Dr. Shumate “interviewed” Spurgeon. What is the difference between a plausible answer and an accurate answer? What is a hallucination? How essential is fact-checking a quotation? Dr. Shumate, Academic Dean at International Baptist College and Seminary in Chandler, AZ, gives this advice about AI: “Treat it more as a brainstorming partner rather than an authority.”
How can church leadership plan for a pastoral change? What makes a pastoral transition successful? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Doug and Ben DeMar share with Marshall Fant the story of the pastoral transition at Salem Bible Church in Salem, OH. As the founding pastor with 45 years of pastoral experience, Doug DeMar passed the baton to his son Ben DeMar after a five-year transition. Speaking of one lesson he learned during that process, Pastor Ben DeMar says, “You are not in the lead until you are in the lead.” His father says, “The primary thing is the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, not a man. We are servants, unprofitable at best. We want to follow His leading.”
What are the predominant worldviews in your community? How can you more effectively reach people from different cultural perspectives? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses with Greg Baker three questions to ask a person to learn his or her basis for determining truth, dominant view of God, and dominant fear. Greg Baker serves as pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Liberty, UT, and president of the Sego Lily Foundation, which creates and provides resources for evangelizing Mormons. Speaking of how posturing himself as a learner has helped him, Pastor Greg says, "When you start asking these questions, it doesn't diminish your burden for those people; it increases it."
What leadership style does God expect of leaders? Following Christ’s example means we lead through serving. In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses this topic with Ken Collier, friend, preacher, mentor, and the voice of many characters on The Adventures of Patch the Pirate. Ken Collier has spent 56 years employed by The Wilds, living out what it means to lead by serving. He has also co-authored Biblical Leadership: Becoming a Different Kind of Leader. Speaking of his desire to hear God’s “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” Ken Collier says, “The man or woman who dies with the dirtiest towel wins.”
Serving in a small ministry can magnify the isolation of a pastor and his wife. How can a pastor’s wife make wise decisions about ministry involvement and also benefit from the “one anothers” of the body of Christ? Whom can she tap for wisdom in her role? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses this topic with Crystal Joos. Her husband, Taigen, has served as senior pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH, since 2007.
When does a man whom God has called to ministry stop ministering? How can he use his next season of life to help a church without a pastor? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses with Jonathan Edwards how God has used him for 50 years in Utah in church planting, pastoring, and, most recently, church revitalization. Jonathan Edwards has served with Northwest Baptist Missions since 1975. His advice when reflecting on the only three eternal things in this world—God, His Word, and the human soul—is simple: “Invest in things that will last forever.”
How can a pulpit committee wisely use a doctrinal statement, questionnaires, video calls, and a weekend visit as part of the process of calling a new senior pastor to a church? What considerations should the pulpit committee give to the candidate’s family, to the church he is leaving, and to learning his positions and thoughts about areas important to the church? In this RE:CHURCH episode, Marshall Fant discusses with Caleb Phelps five key areas in which a pulpit committee can thoughtfully interact with the pastoral candidate. Pastor Caleb has served as senior pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Taylors, SC, since 2023.
Churches benefit from developing a missions philosophy, but why form a missions committee? What are the benefits? Are there any challenges? In this episode, Marshall Fant discusses this topic with Taigen Joos, senior pastor since 2007 of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH. He relates that the biggest blessing is having others who carry the load of filtering requests and making recommendations on whether to support new missionaries.
What can we do about the shortage of laborers? What is God’s plan for putting laborers into the harvest? Is it enough to preach the Word faithfully? In this episode, Marshall Fant discusses with Jeff Estes what one church is doing to invest in the next generation and be part of the solution to the labor shortage. Jeff Estes pastors in Nampa, ID, at Fellowship Baptist Church, a church plant begun in 2002.
How are humans distinct from artificial intelligence? What are the tradeoffs for using AI? Is it appropriate to use AI tools in sermon or teaching preparation? Do we owe AI politeness? According to IBM.com, “Artificial intelligence is technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities.” In this podcast, Marshall Fant III discusses the usefulness of artificial intelligence to pastors with Marshall Fant IV, pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Rock Hill, SC.
Discouragement, burnout, church conflict, marriage, children, bitterness, hurts in ministry—these are reasons men leave the ministry. How can a church better serve pastors and their families? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses this topic with Charles Smith, deacon of pastor relations at Harvest Baptist Church in Rock Hill, SC, during Marshall Fant’s years of pastoring there. What began as accountability for not working all the time evolved into accountability in many areas: consistency in personal devotions, battling against ungodly thoughts, compromising situations, financial integrity, family harmony, eating and exercise, sharing the Gospel, and making personal visits. Speaking of the benefit weekly accountability was to him, Marshall Fant says, “If we are honest as pastors, we realize that if we lose our wives and families, we have lost our ministry.”
When crisis strikes your community, what are the priorities? As the pastor, how did you shepherd your church family? How did you reach out to the community? In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses with Dan Smetana the effects of Hurricane Helene on his North Carolina community of Arden located 10 miles south of Asheville, where he pastors Cornerstone Baptist Church. Speaking of the lessons he learned, Pastor Smetana says, “I don’t have to have a good understanding of the future in order to shepherd the people for the future. All I have to do is bring the Word of God to bear on where we are now and trust that the Lord is leading us each step of the way.”
What one word captures the emphasis of the theologically rich book of Romans? Romans is all about righteousness—the righteousness obtained with the greatest display of God's righteousness (chapters 1–11) and righteousness practiced (chapters 12–16). In this concluding episode of RE:CHURCH’s “Preparing to Preach” series, Marshall Fant discusses the book of Romans with Mark Minnick, senior pastor for 35 years of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, SC. Speaking of the benefit of preaching through Romans early in his ministry, Pastor Minnick says, “That series, unbeknownst to me, established a foundation in our church theologically and expositionally, and raised our people’s level of expectation for what happens in our services with the Scripture.”
What book makes us more certain of the truths and facts of the Gospel but also challenges us to pursue our own sanctification? The Gospel of Luke! While the narrative material is easy to preach and holds people’s interest, the kingdom of God and repentance are two theological challenges of the book. In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses the book of Luke with Mike Harding, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Troy in Troy, MI, for almost 40 years. Reflecting on how he nearly died of COVID in 2021, Pastor Harding says, “Preaching in my older years through books like this gives me great confidence that I know the Lord and, more importantly, the Lord knows me because I don’t want to hear, ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you.’”
Where do you turn in your New Testament to preach a book that is all about Jesus Christ? To Revelation! Despite the challenges of knowing when to interpret the text literally or figuratively and working through the chronology of eschatological events such as the tribulation and millennium, Revelation presents Jesus in all His power, majesty, and glory. To preach God’s grace after the heaviness of 14 chapters of judgment startles people. In this episode of RE:CHURCH, Marshall Fant discusses Revelation with Jerry Jacquot, pastor of Kingsway Baptist Church in Lake Wylie, SC. Speaking of how rich Revelation has been for him, Pastor Jacquot says, “I’ve never been more blessed than these past two years in my preaching ministry. It has been an incredible in-depth study on what God has awaiting both believers and unbelievers.”