Most, if not all, churches have a mission that drives what they do, but how often are we making radical alignment to that mission the main thing? Today on The Intentional Churches podcast Erin and Doug sit down with Travis Kaiser, lead pastor of Florence Baptist Church in Florence, Kentucky. Travis is passionate about fostering a Great Commission-driven mission in every aspect of his church’s culture. How does he do it? Erin and Doug ask him exactly that.

Given Florence Baptist’s historical roots (the church was originally founded in 1855!), Erin and Doug invite Travis to share a bit of the context and history behind the church before jumping into their conversation on mission. Travis then walks us through how the church went from an organization of siloed teams to a culture of mission-focused disciples bent on reaching their ones. Travis also talks about some of the challenges behind aligning to a shared mission, stories of pursuing his ones, and the practical steps any church leader can take today to make a mission based on The Great Commission the main thing for their people and church.

Register for The Intentional Churches Conference 2025 here: https://www.intentionalchurches.com/podcast.

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com
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CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Intentional Churches Podcast
03:05 Travis Kaiser: Background and Church Context
05:53 Radical Alignment and Leadership Challenges
08:51 Building Trust and Relationships in Ministry
12:07 Living the Great Commission: Personal Stories
17:46 Creating a Culture of Mission
21:07 Aligning Staff and Leadership with Mission
26:02 Practical Steps for Greater Alignment
32:04 Conclusion and Conference Invitation

Welcome to season 6 of The Intentional Churches podcast! For this season of the podcast, we’re talking all about inviting and preparing for that next big event on your church’s calendar in light of The Great Commission. With Christmas right around the corner, this is the perfect time to talk about the invite potential of an event that will ultimately draw people closer to Jesus.

On today’s episode Erin and Doug are joined by Doug’s good friend (and fellow Steelers fan!), Mark Weigt. Mark is the founder and lead pastor of The Ridge Community Church in Milwaukee, WI. For this conversation, Erin and Doug focus in on how we invite our ones well—those far from God and the church. Given the large unchurched population in Milwaukee, Mark is the perfect person to tackle this topic.

Together the three dive into some of the context of Milwaukee’s church population and how that’s affected Mark’s strategies as a church leader—taking a look at how Mark and his team gear up for a big invite potential season like Christmas and the ways leaders can approach inviting their ones. Plus Mark and Doug even share some personal stories of how their relationships with ones led to further connection.

We’re excited for all the conversations to come in season 6!

Don’t forget to register for The 2025 Intentional Churches Conference at a discounted rate here: https://www.intentionalchurchesconference.com/.

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Heart of Ministry and Personal Connection
02:03 Understanding the Unique Context of Milwaukee
06:13 Vision and Mission of Ridge Community Church
10:12 Strategies for Big Invite Opportunities
14:00 Engaging Ones: Personal Stories and Community Impact
20:01 Aligning Leadership with the Great Commission
23:46 Practical Insights for Effective Church Growth

On the final episode of season 5, Erin and Doug invite Intentional Churches’ president and co-founder, Bart Rendel, to the show to outline the differences between intentional and unintentional churches. Bart has a heart for helping church leaders take personal ownership of The Great Commission, and that passion bleeds through every part of this conversation.

Since Bart is Doug’s partner in crime at Intentional Churches, Erin invites Doug to share his expertise too, and together the two outline exactly what an intentional versus unintentional church looks like, the steps every church should take towards being more intentional, and how Intentional Churches has truly become a learning community for church leaders. Doug and Bart wrap up this final episode of the season by sharing practical steps churches can take today to radically align with The Great Commission.

We hope you enjoyed this season of The Intentional Churches podcast!

Download Intentional Churches’ FREE e-book on radical alignment here:
https://www.intentionalchurches.com/podcast.

New to Intentional Churches? Start here:
https://assessment.intentionalchurches.com/churchos

Website: https://intentionalchurches.com
The Book: https://a.co/d/hFlz17C
The Blog: https://intentionalchurches.com/blog/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/@IntentionalChurches
Facebook: https://facebook.com/intentionalchurches
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/intentional-churches/mycompany/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/IntentionalChurches
X/Twitter: https://x.com/intentchurches

CHAPTERS

00:00 The Heart of Discipleship
03:05 Understanding Intentional Churches
06:00 Characteristics of Unintentional Churches
12:04 Steps Towards Intentionality
20:44 Building a Learning Community