Dear Pastor,
Trust me when I say that I know church planting is difficult. I’ve started churches in New York City and Boca Raton, FL and have been coaching hundreds of Church Planters since 2004.
Star...
Big Idea #3 from Understanding Church Growth:
Do not neglect the important steps of assimilation and ongoing discipleship.
Donald McGavran writes that the church must be faithful in “folding and feeding...
Big Idea #6 from Understanding Church Growth:
Church planters who enable people to become Christians without crossing barriers are more effective — people prefer to join churches whose members look, ta...
Big Idea #1 from Understanding Church Growth:
Don’t grow content with mediocrity or stagnancy.
We are called not simply to search, but to find. Results matter. As pastors, we must set membership goals a...
Big Idea #5 from Understanding Church Growth:
The two principle preconditions for revival are prayer and feeding on God’s word.
Although evangelical awakening is a movement of the Holy Spirit that depen...
Big Idea #2 from Understanding Church Growth:
Always keep evangelism forefront in your mind and mission.
God’s mission is for us to be His ambassadors, bringing the Gospel to all people. As pastors, we ...
Interested in practical, profound insights to grow your church? Today you have free access to a new summary of THE most influential book on church growth for pastors today.Â
Hey, you are among the first to be able to sign up for my brand new online training event to help you make 2026 your BEST EASTER EVER!
At my 90-minute Maximizing Easter in 2026 online training, you’l...
As a pastor, I’m very familiar with the weekly grind of preaching week in and week out.
But I also know there is a way to break the week-to-week cycle — through the POWER OF PLANNING YOUR PREACHING C...
You're invited to sign up for the most anticipated training event I do all year — one that will literally save you HOURS next year:
PLANNING YOUR 2026 PREACHING CALENDAR - ONLINE TRAINING
Relieve Stre...
Church Growth is not rocket science…or is it?
How does a church grow? It’s not as simple as adding chairs to your worship center.
Most pastors long to see their churches grow — but few have ever bee...
Join me and Dr. Gary McIntosh this Thursday for a special online event as we explore proven biblical principles and how they can grow YOUR local church!
As a pastor, you probably spend a great deal o...
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Meet Dr. Nelson Searcy
Nelson Searcy is the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. By God’s grace, he identified and developed the Eight Systems of a Healthy Church® that he has used to coach over 5,000 churches in the US and around the world to adapt those eight systems to their unique ministry fields, resulting in great health and growth.
Nelson regularly coaches pastors online and in-person through the Church Leader Insights and Renegade Pastors Network ministries that he founded. He also leads several annual pastor in-person conferences and online training events. In ministry for more than 25 years, Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.”
He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 20+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life and Ministry, The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests Into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church. Nelson is the recipient of the prestigious Donald A. McGavran Award for Outstanding Leadership in Great Commission Research.
He is a longtime student of church history, especially mastering the areas of evangelism and church growth. He divides his time between NYC and South Florida. He battled Stage 4 cancer and has been cancer-free since 2018, praise God! He has an amazing wife, Kelley, and a teenage son, Alexander, who continues to grow in so many ways.
