The One Thing

Over the last few years, churches have become very good at welcoming systems - name tags, check-in flows, connection cards, follow-up processes.
But here’s the uncomfortable question: Have we become organised… but not warm?
Today we’re talking about welcoming teams, and why relationships - not numbers - must be the hero.

sits down with Amber Edmonds (MBM Parramatta) to talk about follow-up - thinking deeply about how churches welcome people as individuals, not projects - and how training, theology, and culture shape that welcome across the whole church.

Toolbox:
⁠Secret Shopper Evaluation⁠ - Reach Australia
⁠People Are the Mission⁠: How Churches Can Welcome Guests Without Compromising the Gospel - Danny Franks
⁠Welcoming In Action⁠ - Video Episode with Kellyville Anglican

Credits:This episode was brought to you by ⁠Safe Ministry Check⁠
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠⁠
⁠⁠Support Reach Australia's online library

The foundations you have for follow up at church matter more than you think - how do we move people from a welcome, to a relationship?
Derek Hanna sits down with Dan Gorton (Cross & Crown Gold Coast) to talk about follow-up - not as admin, not as a system, but as love, names & relationships. As churches fill with visitors at the start of the year, this episode asks a deeper question: what does it look like to move from welcome to relationship?
They explore why follow-up matters theologically, why timing shapes perception, how tone communicates care (or kills it), and who should actually own the process. Because people don’t remember polished systems - they remember whether someone genuinely cared.
Follow-up isn’t about finishing a task. It’s about beginning shepherding.

Toolbox:
Welcoming In Action - Video Episode with Kellyville Anglican
Gospel Growth and Christian Community Ebook by Tim Clemens
Becoming a Welcoming Church by Thom Rainer

Credits:
This episode was brought to you by Safe Ministry Check
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠
⁠Support Reach Australia's online library

There might be someone in your Bible study who keeps asking uncomfortable questions about church.
- Why aren’t more people being reached?
- Why do we keep doing church this way?
And you might be tempted to shut them down.
In this episode, Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna talk about the early signs of future church planters — including a holy dissatisfaction with church as usual and a deep conviction that the gospel should be reaching more people than it is.
They’re often the ones who unsettle leaders, question systems, and refuse to be satisfied with maintenance ministry.
They might be mistaken as difficult.
They might be future planters.
A sharp listen for pastors and leaders who want to discern the difference — for the sake of more people hearing about Jesus.

Toolbox: 
Church Planter Questionnaire 
Serving Others Ebook

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Reach Australia National Conference
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

The first meeting of the year does more than set rosters. It shapes how a team understands why they serve.
Scott Sanders and Derek Hanna walk through what to do when a volunteer team gathers for the first time: reconnect people, set the church’s gospel direction in front of them again, and show how this team helps that happen.
They also cover what not to do.
A practical listen for anyone leading volunteer teams or kicking off a staff year, so we start together around the gospel.

Toolbox: 
Ep 387 How to Run a Meeting 

Credits: 
This episode was brought to you by Lending Hands Mortgage Brokers 
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠
Support Reach Australia's online library

Rallies feel outdated to some, but Dave Jensen thinks the problem was never the rally itself. With Gen Z more open than expected, he’s convinced large, clear gospel events might be overdue for a rethink.
Why rallies may be working again, and why bad execution killed them last time
Targeting people closest to belief, not starting with the hardest cases
How the Alive rallies are structured, music, preaching, response, follow-up
The role of local churches before and after the event
What preparation actually matters if you want conversions, not just crowds

Toolbox:
Alive Movement Connections:
⁠Made Alive Website⁠
⁠Alive Movement Youtube Channel⁠
⁠Alivemvment Instagram⁠
⁠Fire Up! Podcast⁠
Recommended Books:
⁠Mission ebook ⁠by Dave Jensen
⁠Discover⁠ by Dave Jensen 
⁠What is a Christian?⁠ By Dave Jensen

Credits:
This episode was brought to you by ⁠Safe Ministry Check⁠
The One Thing is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠Reach Australia⁠⁠⁠
To pray for Reach Australia, join our ⁠⁠⁠WhatsApp Group⁠⁠⁠
For ideas or questions please email ⁠⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠⁠
⁠Support Reach Australia's online library