Today’s conversation is with Natalie Runion – Natalie is a worship leader, author, speaker, and founder of the online community Raised to Stay. She’s written two books – Raised to Stay and The House that Jesus Built, both powerful, insightful reads into the realities of local church ministry.
In this conversation we talk about worship ministry tensions, aging out of ministry roles, challenges for women in ministry, the idol of green room culture, responding to church hurt, and why our obsession with church growth can get us off track.
Natalie is bold, challenging, and an important voice to the church today.
Topics Covered:
- How Natalie discovered this concept of “Raised to Stay”
- Worship as a church growth tool
- How to approach a full time ministry role
- Why our emphasis on leadership is hurting our leadership
- The idol of green rooms
- The entitlement of worship leaders
- Why the conversation around “anointing” needs to change
- The tension and struggle of being a female worship pastor
Resources Mentioned:
- Show Sponsor: Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (use promo code BEYOND2025)
- Show Sponsor: Planning Center
- Raised to Stay (website)
- Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk Away by Natalie Runion
- The House That Jesus Built: Leading Our Churches Back to God’s Original Blueprint by Natalie Runion
- Instagram.com/raisedtostay
Show Sponsor #1: Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies
This episode is brought to you by the Robert E Webber Institute for Worship Studies.
One of the questions I hear often is what are the best ways to further your training as a worship leader? Many worship pastors jump right into full time ministry out of college or ministry school. While practical ministry experience is necessary, it is often incomplete. You need a theological, historical, and biblical framework to sustain a healthy worship ministry today. Otherwise, it becomes a game of chasing fads and maintaining the status quo.
I can’t recommend the Robert E Webber Institute for Worship Studies enough.
IWS offers academically and spiritually rich doctoral and master’s programs in worship studies, designed to transform you as a leader and deepen your connection to God’s purpose for worship. The focus is all about discipling worship leaders to disciple worshipers, which we need more of in the church today. If you’re searching for something truly unique, IWS is the place for you.
Visit IWS.edu and use the code BEYOND2025 for a discount. Now is the time to start your journey toward a more meaningful and impactful worship ministry.
Show Sponsor #2: Planning Center
My goal in this podcast is to help you grow as a worship leader. Of course that includes your formation, but it isn’t limited to that—it’s also with practical tools to help you in your ministry.
It’s hard to talk about being a worship leader without mentioning Planning Center. As you know, I’m a huge fan. A lot of you are already using Planning Center Services to schedule your volunteers, plan your worship services, and give your team the tools they need to learn their music. But with Planning Center People, you can stay even more engaged with your volunteers and anyone looking for how to get plugged in.
First, some good news: People is completely free with any Planning Center subscription. No, you didn’t hear me wrong—it’s free. Second, some better news: you can use People to add new volunteers to your teams quickly and automatically.
In People, you can make forms for anyone interested in volunteering, put them in a step-by-step training workflow, and then automatically add them to Services to schedule them for the right team. And that’s just one way you can use People. From sending automated emails and seeing church-wide engagement to organizing your member database and keeping information up-to-date, there’s tons you can do.
So go to planningcenter.com to use People for free.
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