Rainer on Leadership with Thom Rainer, Church Coaching

Rainer on Leadership tackles church health, staffing, trends, and next steps, giving pastors clear, actionable advice to lead with confidence.

Released on 12/15/2025

Published by Thom Rainer

Episodes

The Burge Report: Why the 1990s Were the Most Consequential in Modern U.S. Religious History

7/27/2026. 29min

What Successful Evangelistic Churches Actually Do for Outreach

7/23/2026. 24min

Dodging Detours: Five Ways a Feasibility Study Protects Your Campaign from Pitfalls

7/20/2026. 22min

The Burge Report: Are Non-Denominational Churches Just Southern Baptists in Disguise?

6/29/2026. 28min

The Ongoing Shortage of Student Pastors (Where Did They Go?)

6/25/2026. 21min

The Church Summer Slump: What Every Pastor Should Know

6/22/2026. 21min

The Top Ten Most Common Low Attendance Days in Churches

6/18/2026. 17min

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Bible Translation Committee (What Really Happens)

6/15/2026. 27min

The Reality of Church Hoppers: A Pastor’s Honest Perspective

6/11/2026. 23min

Why Members Leave Their Church and Never Come Back

6/8/2026. 28min

Why Some Pastors Stay for Decades (and Thrive in Their Churches)

6/4/2026. 19min

The Hyper-Traditionalist Movement in Church Architecture (Is Anyone Really Building Churches This Way?)

6/1/2026. 26min

The Church “Fault Lines” That Could Become Ministry Tsunamis

5/28/2026. 25min

The Burge Report: Boomers Can’t Save Us Forever: The Hard Truth About Church Demographics

5/25/2026. 24min

What Churches Should Do About Inactive Members

5/21/2026. 23min

Are Sunday Morning Service Times Changing? What the Data Says About the Future of Church Worship Schedules

5/18/2026. 28min

What to Say (and Not Say) Immediately After a Church Crisis

5/14/2026. 27min

Crucial Commitments: 5 Simple Decisions That Members of Healthy and Growing Churches Make

5/11/2026. 26min

How to Become Your Pastor’s Favorite Church Member

5/7/2026. 30min

The Best Board and Trustee Structure for Churches

5/4/2026. 24min

Seven Things Pastors Do You Probably Don’t Know About

4/30/2026. 29min

The Burge Report: Gen Z and the Church: Lonely, Cautious, Skeptical, But… Open

4/27/2026. 27min

How to Discard a Worn-Out Bible Properly

4/23/2026. 18min

Should Full-Time Pastors Have a Side Hustle?

4/20/2026. 23min

The Critical Functions of a Pastor Rarely Found in a Church Job Description

4/16/2026. 29min

After 25 Years of Consistent Recreation Ministry, This Church Discovered Something…

4/13/2026. 22min

What We’re Doing as Pastors to Keep Our Marriages Healthy

4/9/2026. 26min

Six Reasons Pastors Must Be More Courageous Today

4/6/2026. 25min

The Top Ways to Annoy Your Pastor

4/2/2026. 24min

The Burge Report: The Latest Data on Transgender Young Adults and the Church

3/30/2026. 27min

Tithing Or Not: Should Lead Pastors Know What Church Staff Give?

3/26/2026. 22min

What Growing Churches Actually Do to Reach and Keep People

3/23/2026. 23min

Churches Are Targets for Predators (Here’s Why)

3/19/2026. 21min

Marriage Discipleship Is the Missing Piece in Family Ministry

3/16/2026. 23min

Why Churches Are MUCH Older Now…

3/12/2026. 20min

Why Guests Don’t Come Back to Church After a Big Ministry Event

3/9/2026. 23min

America’s Gambling Problem and the Church

3/5/2026. 26min

Why Small Churches Matter More Than Ever

3/2/2026. 25min

When Church Members Become Online Trolls: What Pastors Should Do

2/26/2026. 26min

The Burge Report: The Assemblies of God: Why This Denomination Is Defying Gravity

2/23/2026. 25min

How Long Should a Pastor Pray Each Day?

2/19/2026. 22min

Before You Enroll: What You Need to Know About Seminary

2/16/2026. 24min

Should the Pastor Know How Much People Give to the Church?

2/12/2026. 25min

The Silent Exodus of Senior Adults (What’s Happening in Churches?)

2/9/2026. 21min

Should Churches Acknowledge Super Bowl Sunday?

2/5/2026. 22min

The Church Number: 60% The Power of a Personal Invitation

2/2/2026. 23min

The Best Ways to Encourage a Discouraged Church (Your Next Three Steps)

1/29/2026. 24min

Revisiting Simple Church: What Worked, What Didn’t

1/26/2026. 24min

How Do You Fire a Church Employee?

1/22/2026. 28min

The Burge Report: The Democrats Have a Religion Problem (Does It Matter?)

1/19/2026. 26min

When Should a Church Hire an Executive Pastor?

1/15/2026. 23min

Digital Worship Fatigue: Why Online Church Can’t Replace the In-Person Gathering

1/12/2026. 22min

Church Conflict: Five Common Ways Small Fights Turn into Big Problems

1/8/2026. 24min

Does Counting Church Worship Attendance Still Make Sense?

1/5/2026. 22min

Five Pastoral New Year’s Resolutions that Aren’t About You

1/1/2026. 20min

The Burge Report: Who’s Really Watching Online Church?

12/29/2025. 26min

After the Christmas Chaos: The Lightest Work Week of the Year for Pastors

12/25/2025. 21min

Religious People Are Happier (And the Data Proves It)

12/22/2025. 22min

Unbelievable: 72% of Churches Have No Marriage Ministry!

12/18/2025. 21min

NEW Research: What Really Matters in Theological Education?

12/15/2025. 25min

Non-Churchy Looking Churches: The Advantages of Big-Box Church Architecture

12/11/2025. 22min

Should Churches Look Churchy? The Advantages of Traditional Architecture

12/8/2025. 21min

How to Handle Losing Your Church’s Biggest Financial Supporter

12/4/2025. 23min

Small-Church Breakout Growth: The Incredible Story of First Baptist Caldwell, NJ

12/1/2025. 22min

Why You Should Leave Your Church (A Pastor’s Perspective)

11/27/2025. 23min

The Burge Report: How Do Pastors Actually End Up in Ministry?

11/24/2025. 23min

The Top Reasons Why It’s Painful for Pastors to Lose Church Members

11/20/2025. 22min

An Entrepreneurial-Minded Pastor in an Established Church: The Unique Story of a Baltimore Congregation

11/17/2025. 26min

Three Things Every Church Small Group Leader Should Be Doing

11/13/2025. 24min

How to Grow Generosity in Your Church (Without Making It Complicated)

11/10/2025. 23min

The Unchurched Are Not Angry with You (But They Are Indifferent)

11/6/2025. 19min

The Church Number: From 137 to 60 The Shrinking Median Church in America (2000–2023)

11/3/2025. 24min

Many Churches Face Future Sticker Shock with Deferred Maintenance

10/30/2025. 24min

The Burge Report: The Biggest Little Denomination: The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)

10/27/2025. 25min

The One-Person Church Communication Plan (That Actually Works)

10/23/2025. 29min

How to Get Families in Your Church to Read the Bible Together

10/20/2025. 22min

The Least Appreciated People in Your Church (And What To Do About It)

10/16/2025. 20min

The Legacy Life with David Green, Founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, and Bill High, CEO of Legacy Stone

10/13/2025. 27min

How We’re Using AI in Sermon Prep Ethically and Efficiently

10/9/2025. 28min

The Unknown Connection Most Unchurched Have with the Church

10/6/2025. 24min

Six Essential Pastoral Meetings No One is Scheduling For You

10/2/2025. 25min

The Burge Report: The Kids Aren’t Alright—And Church Student Ministry Might Actually Help

9/29/2025. 31min

What Really Scares People Away from Church

9/25/2025. 29min

The Big Front Door for Guests Just About Every Church Misses

9/22/2025. 26min

Building a Worship Ministry that Excels On and Off the Stage

9/18/2025. 31min

The Top 6 Gripes About Church Curriculum (and What to Do About Them)

9/15/2025. 26min

The Trust Gap: Why Outsiders Won’t Step Inside Your Church

9/11/2025. 29min

Five Reasons Churches Should Still Try to Reach Boomers

9/8/2025. 23min

Realistic One-to-Two-Year Objectives for Small-Church Revitalization

9/4/2025. 30min

Millennials Move LESS than Gen X and Boomers (New Implications for Your Church)

9/1/2025. 22min

Which “Higher Standard” Measures Actually Make Sense for Pastors

8/28/2025. 23min

How Your Building Shapes Your Ministry: The Baptist T – When Building Design Limits Ministry

8/27/2025. 22min

How Your Building Shapes Your Ministry: Five Ways the Baptist T Still Shapes (and Limits) Your Ministry

8/27/2025. 24min

The Burge Report: Do Churchgoers Want More or Less Politics in the Pulpit?

8/25/2025. 29min

The Loneliness Epidemic Among Pastors

8/21/2025. 30min

The Non-Legalist Reasons for Weekly Church Attendance

8/18/2025. 25min

Who in the Church Should Hold Pastors Accountable?

8/14/2025. 29min

Weekly Church Attendance Patterns by Generation: 2016 to 2024

8/11/2025. 24min

The Johnson Amendment Reversal: Endorsing Political Candidates from the Pulpit

8/7/2025. 28min

Why the NLT Might Be the Best Bible You’ve Never Considered

8/4/2025. 27min

Sermon Illustrations that Connect to the Bible Text (And Your Church!)

7/31/2025. 27min

The Easiest (and Most Incredible) Way to Get Information from Your Guests!

7/30/2025. 30min

The Burge Report: Is Gen Z More Religiously Engaged than Their Parents?

7/28/2025. 31min

The Limits of Pastoral Care: When Counseling Isn’t Appropriate

7/24/2025. 30min

The Top 5 Legal Issues Churches Face Today

7/21/2025. 30min

Ten Quiet Disrupters in American Church Life (Part 2)

7/17/2025. 24min

Ten Quiet Disrupters in American Church Life (Part 1)

7/14/2025. 21min

What Young Families Really Want in a Church

7/10/2025. 24min

Seven Occasions When You Should Not Hire More Church Staff

7/7/2025. 24min

How Much Money Should a Pastor Make?

7/3/2025. 26min

The Burge Report: Are Religious People More Prone to Conspiracy Theories?

6/30/2025. 32min

The Future of America’s Largest Churches: An Interview with Eric Geiger

6/26/2025. 30min

The Shifts in How Churches Choose Small Group Curriculum (What You Need to Know): An Interview with Michael Kelley

6/23/2025. 28min

The Best Bible Translation for Preaching

6/19/2025. 24min

Four Kinds of Church Leaders Who Will Not Lead in Revitalization

6/16/2025. 25min

What Should I Do After Getting Fired from a Church?

6/12/2025. 23min

Four Common Reasons Most Churches Aren’t Breakout Churches

6/9/2025. 25min

Five Key Tips to Teach Your Church to Tithe

6/5/2025. 26min

Eight Causes for a Ministry Slump

6/2/2025. 27min

Is There Any Hope for Revitalizing Mainline Churches?

5/29/2025. 30min

The Burge Report: Why Are Non-Denominational Churches Growing?

5/26/2025. 29min

Are Church Members Cussing More Today Than in the Past?

5/22/2025. 22min

Five Reasons Healthy Churches Seek Outside Help

5/19/2025. 21min

Why Some Pastors Never Experience Church Growth

5/15/2025. 26min

What Is the Right Age to Retire as a Lead Pastor?

5/12/2025. 25min

Is Student Ministry Still a Stepping Stone?

5/8/2025. 27min

The Pastor’s Dilemma: Loving Preaching, Loathing Sermon Prep

5/5/2025. 29min

Approval Addiction, People Pleasing, and How Pastors Can Let Go

5/1/2025. 30min

The Burge Report: Does Homeschooling Change the Political and Religious Views of Children?

4/28/2025. 25min

A Checklist for Making Your First Hire in the Church

4/24/2025. 27min

Um, Uh, and You Know: Killer Fillers in Public Speaking

4/21/2025. 23min

Going to a Dead Church on Purpose

4/17/2025. 30min

Five Ways to Report Truthful Worship Attendance

4/14/2025. 24min

Young Pastors Are Rare (Here Is What Happened)

4/10/2025. 32min

How Wedding Ceremonies Are Different Than in the 1990s (A Pastor’s Perspective)

4/7/2025. 24min

Should Churches Share Their Campuses with Other Non-Profits?

4/3/2025. 29min

The Burge Report: Everyone Is Having Less Sex (What It Means for the Church)

3/31/2025. 31min

What’s Often Missed with Student Ministry Safety in Churches

3/27/2025. 27min

Seven Power Groups in Churches (The Good and the Bad)

3/24/2025. 27min

The Surprise Benefits of a Culture of Continual Education in Your Church: An Interview with Timothy Paul Jones

3/20/2025. 29min

What Business Leaders in the Church Want Pastors to Know: An Interview with Steve Graves

3/17/2025. 29min

The Ten Commandments of a Pastor’s Vacation

3/13/2025. 30min

The Hidden Opportunity of Hospitality in Churches: An Interview with Danny Franks

3/10/2025. 25min

Are Smart Phones Killing Student Ministries in Churches?

3/6/2025. 24min

Why Some of Our Churches Are Not Safe Places

3/3/2025. 29min

Does Divorce Disqualify a Pastor from Ministry?

2/27/2025. 27min

The Burge Report: How Church Attendance Makes You a Better American

2/24/2025. 29min

How to Celebrate Church Staff Birthdays, Work Anniversaries, and Major Milestones

2/20/2025. 25min

Why Hiring Friends Usually Ends in Disaster

2/17/2025. 24min

Why Churches Are Not Early Adopters of Technology

2/13/2025. 29min

The Right Expectations Churches Should Have of Pastors

2/10/2025. 26min

What’s Different about Pastor’s Kids These Days?

2/6/2025. 23min

Do Dying Churches Really Know They Are Dying?

2/3/2025. 23min

How Pastors Spend Their Time During the Workweek (Any Surprises?)

1/30/2025. 27min

The Burge Report: The New Era in American Religion Begins Now (What’s Happening?!)

1/27/2025. 28min

The Tell-Tale Signs of Abusive Pastors

1/23/2025. 27min

Do You Really Remember What Took Place in Churches During COVID?

1/20/2025. 25min

What Will Be the Sacred Cows in Church Worship When the Millennials Are the Oldest Generation?

1/16/2025. 23min

Making Change in an Older Church (Without Running Over the Old Guard)

1/13/2025. 24min

Rainer on Leadership Podcast

The Burge Report: Why the 1990s Were the Most Consequential in Modern U.S. Religious History

What Successful Evangelistic Churches Actually Do for Outreach

Dodging Detours: Five Ways a Feasibility Study Protects Your Campaign from Pitfalls

Should Pastors Engage in Online Fights?

The Future of Church Hiring When Pastors Are in Short Supply

Amiable Autocrats: Why Some of the Nicest Pastors Make the Worst Bosses

Why Churches Are Struggling More and More to Find Staff

Why Can’t Pastors Talk About Politics?

The Burge Report: Are Non-Denominational Churches Just Southern Baptists in Disguise?

The Ongoing Shortage of Student Pastors (Where Did They Go?)

The Church Summer Slump: What Every Pastor Should Know

The Top Ten Most Common Low Attendance Days in Churches

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a Bible Translation Committee (What Really Happens)

The Reality of Church Hoppers: A Pastor’s Honest Perspective

Why Members Leave Their Church and Never Come Back

Why Some Pastors Stay for Decades (and Thrive in Their Churches)

The Hyper-Traditionalist Movement in Church Architecture (Is Anyone Really Building Churches This Way?)

The Church “Fault Lines” That Could Become Ministry Tsunamis

The Burge Report: Boomers Can’t Save Us Forever: The Hard Truth About Church Demographics

What Churches Should Do About Inactive Members

Are Sunday Morning Service Times Changing? What the Data Says About the Future of Church Worship Schedules

What to Say (and Not Say) Immediately After a Church Crisis

Crucial Commitments: 5 Simple Decisions That Members of Healthy and Growing Churches Make

How to Become Your Pastor’s Favorite Church Member

The Best Board and Trustee Structure for Churches

Seven Things Pastors Do You Probably Don’t Know About

The Burge Report: Gen Z and the Church: Lonely, Cautious, Skeptical, But… Open

How to Discard a Worn-Out Bible Properly

Should Full-Time Pastors Have a Side Hustle?

The Critical Functions of a Pastor Rarely Found in a Church Job Description

After 25 Years of Consistent Recreation Ministry, This Church Discovered Something…

What We’re Doing as Pastors to Keep Our Marriages Healthy

Six Reasons Pastors Must Be More Courageous Today

The Top Ways to Annoy Your Pastor

The Burge Report: The Latest Data on Transgender Young Adults and the Church

Tithing Or Not: Should Lead Pastors Know What Church Staff Give?

What Growing Churches Actually Do to Reach and Keep People

Churches Are Targets for Predators (Here’s Why)

Marriage Discipleship Is the Missing Piece in Family Ministry

Why Churches Are MUCH Older Now…

Why Guests Don’t Come Back to Church After a Big Ministry Event

America’s Gambling Problem and the Church

Why Small Churches Matter More Than Ever

When Church Members Become Online Trolls: What Pastors Should Do

The Burge Report: The Assemblies of God: Why This Denomination Is Defying Gravity

How Long Should a Pastor Pray Each Day?

Before You Enroll: What You Need to Know About Seminary

Should the Pastor Know How Much People Give to the Church?

The Silent Exodus of Senior Adults (What’s Happening in Churches?)

Should Churches Acknowledge Super Bowl Sunday?

The Church Number: 60% The Power of a Personal Invitation

The Best Ways to Encourage a Discouraged Church (Your Next Three Steps)

Revisiting Simple Church: What Worked, What Didn’t

How Do You Fire a Church Employee?

The Burge Report: The Democrats Have a Religion Problem (Does It Matter?)

When Should a Church Hire an Executive Pastor?

Digital Worship Fatigue: Why Online Church Can’t Replace the In-Person Gathering

Church Conflict: Five Common Ways Small Fights Turn into Big Problems

Does Counting Church Worship Attendance Still Make Sense?

Five Pastoral New Year’s Resolutions that Aren’t About You

The Burge Report: Who’s Really Watching Online Church?

After the Christmas Chaos: The Lightest Work Week of the Year for Pastors

Religious People Are Happier (And the Data Proves It)

Unbelievable: 72% of Churches Have No Marriage Ministry!

NEW Research: What Really Matters in Theological Education?

Non-Churchy Looking Churches: The Advantages of Big-Box Church Architecture

Should Churches Look Churchy? The Advantages of Traditional Architecture

How to Handle Losing Your Church’s Biggest Financial Supporter

Small-Church Breakout Growth: The Incredible Story of First Baptist Caldwell, NJ

Why You Should Leave Your Church (A Pastor’s Perspective)

The Burge Report: How Do Pastors Actually End Up in Ministry?

The Top Reasons Why It’s Painful for Pastors to Lose Church Members

An Entrepreneurial-Minded Pastor in an Established Church: The Unique Story of a Baltimore Congregation

Three Things Every Church Small Group Leader Should Be Doing

How to Grow Generosity in Your Church (Without Making It Complicated)

The Unchurched Are Not Angry with You (But They Are Indifferent)

The Church Number: From 137 to 60 The Shrinking Median Church in America (2000–2023)

Many Churches Face Future Sticker Shock with Deferred Maintenance

The Burge Report: The Biggest Little Denomination: The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA)