Renegade Pastors Network: Your Path to Abandoning Average and Maximizing Growth in Your Church

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EVENTS CALENDAR

New Senior Pastor Coaching with Nelson Searcy
Oct 28
2:00pm - 3:30pm Eastern

Conformed to His Image Pastors Discipleship Coaching
Oct 30
2:00pm - 4:00pm Eastern

View Full Calendar

Featured Book Summary

EVENTS CALENDAR

New Senior Pastor Coaching with Nelson Searcy
Oct 28
2:00pm - 3:30pm Eastern

Conformed to His Image Pastors Discipleship Coaching
Oct 30
2:00pm - 4:00pm Eastern

View Full Calendar

Featured Book Summary

THE SEVEN COMMITMENTS OF A RENEGADE PASTOR™

1- I WILL FOLLOW MY LORD: Am I valuing my relationship with God above all other relationships? Matt. 6:33; Mark 8:34; Phil. 1:21-24

2- I WILL LOVE MY FAMILY: Am I sacrificing my family on the altar of ministry? Matt. 19:4-6; Eph. 5:25-33; Eph. 6:4

3- I WILL FULFILL MY CALLING: Am I using my gifts and abilities to become all that God has called me to be? 1 Tim. 3:1-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-4

4- I WILL MANAGE MY TIME: Am I in control of my most limited commodity? Ps. 39:4-5; Eph. 5:15-17

5- I WILL SHEPHERD MY FLOCK: Am I effectively leading, feeding and protecting the sheep under my care? Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2-4

6- I WILL MAXIMIZE MY CHURCH: Am I doing everything I can to lead my church for maximum impact? Matt. 10:16; Acts 2:42-47; 1 Cor. 3:7-8

7- I WILL EXPAND GOD’S KINGDOM: Am I leading my church to reach its full redemptive potential? Matt. 28:18-20; Luke 10:2; 2 Tim. 4:5

2025 Renegade Pastors Memory Verse

"Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken.

My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge."

- Psalm 62:5-8 (NLT)

LATEST BLOG POSTS

How do pastors build a growth conscience? (guest article)
on October 24, 2025 at 3:22 pm
If you’re interested in really growing your church, dig into these insights from my friend and mentor, Dr. Gary McIntosh. He’s a professor, author and America’s foremost Church Growth expert. Here’s an exclusive excerpt from one of his recent “Growth Points” articles for pastors. The […]
Church Growth 101: New Resource to Help You Grow Your Church to Its Full Potential
on October 15, 2025 at 10:08 am
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 been taught how church growth actually works. The fact is a myriad of factors will determine the […]
A Conversation on Biblical Church Growth - Save Your FREE Spot
on October 10, 2025 at 2:11 pm
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 of time thinking about how to help the church you serve grow. And Jesus promised the growth of His […]

Go to Nelson's Blog

Church Growth Champions

CLICK HERE FOR ALL CHURCH GROWTH REPORTS

What Members Are Saying About Our Coaching Networks

When I arrived we were running less than 40 people and it took us 12 years to break the 100 barrier. Seven years ago, we began implementing the principles in the Assimilation Seminar. Our paradigm completely shifted. We now average 9 first time guests every week and 80% of them return back as a second time guest. We went from 110 people to nearly 350 in four years. This Assimilation Seminar will change your culture!

Roger House

Allen St. Baptist Church, Clinton, MO

We were big in evangelism but we were not effective in keeping people. It wasn’t until the Assimilation Seminar with Nelson Searcy that we had an intentional plan to follow up with people. We’re now able to retain the people who come in to our church.

Paul Earle

Life Church, Victorville, CA

Your seminars and resources are so practical and helpful. I know that implementing the things I’ve learned from you has made it easier for God to work through our congregation to reach non-churched people from my community.

David Michel

Pastor, Stepping Stones Community Church, State College, PA

The church systems are very good. But what makes Nelson so good is the bigger picture that he brings to everything. He knows so many people — both by coaching and as mentors — and reads so much that he is able to pass on the best of his learning to those in his network.

Jeff Fartro

Pleasant Valley Presbyterian, Parma, OH

I enjoy the nuts and bolts approach. I am a systems/process thinker and the network helps me think through different areas of our church and challenges the way I think about our processes and how I lead/pastor.

Andy Rainey

Blue Ash Community Church, Blue Ash, OH

Second only to my relationship with God is my family. In a growing church this can be a challenge. I am thankful for Nelson’s coaching to keep my priorities God honoring. I have seen so many pastors struggle in their marriage and their kids end up resenting the church. The principles I have learned have helped me make my marriage better than ever and both my boys love the church. All the while having 6 years of steady growth the church is now 5 times larger than we started. It is possible.

Michael Shreve

Mountain West Church, Stone Mountain, GA

Joining the Coaching Network will be a personal and ministry- impacting experience. It brings real clarity to what’s required to lead a growing church. It will be an investment into yourself and your ministry.

Jesse Giddens

Destiny Christian Center, Apple Valley, CA

When I first heard about the eight church systems, my first thought was this could help the ministry of my church go to a whole new level. Well, it has! Our giving has increased 10% every year, we’ve grown from 200 to 330 in morning worship, there are now 150 volunteers and we actually have a system for following up with first-time guests.

Rick Rouse

Akron Free Methodist Church, Akron, NY

Being a part of this network has helped me to lead our church more effectively, reverse what had been a slow decline, mobilize greater numbers of our people in outreach and service, reach and retain more new people, and significantly raise the level of generosity in our church.

Robert Haynes

New Life Community, Olive Branch, MS

Nelson gives you a plan — then we get to wrestle with it, apply it and he is there to offer suggestions based on how we are doing. I didn’t get the practical side of ministry in Seminary and this filled the gaps for me when I got the ‘big’ office at church. I knew how to preach — I needed to know how the church ran and what my role was as we look at all the systems; what was missing, working, needing attention.

Timothy Thiessen

Birch Bay Bible Community Church, Blaine, WA

Assimilation has helped me to build our congregation. We’re serious about discipleship. We’ve learned how to handle guests so that we can bring them into a relationship with Christ. We help them to stick and stay in our church through the Assimilation system.

Robert Fowler

Victory Baptist Church, Las Vegas, NV

The Renegade Pastors Network is the single greatest investment you can make towards growing your church. Period.

Lon Dean

Connect with Nelson

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 3,500 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.

THE SEVEN COMMITMENTS OF A RENEGADE PASTOR™

Church Growth Champions

What Members Are Saying About Our Coaching Networks

Connect with Nelson

Meet Dr. Nelson Searcy

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