Rich Birch

Rich Birch is one of the early multi-site church pioneers in North America. He led the charge in helping The Meeting House in Toronto to become the leading multi-site church in Canada with over 5,000+ people in 18 locations. In addition, he served on the leadership team of Connexus Church in Ontario, a North Point Community Church Strategic Partner. He has also been a part of the lead team at Liquid Church - a 5 location multisite church serving the Manhattan facing suburbs of New Jersey. Liquid is known for it’s innovative approach to outreach and community impact. Rich is passionate about helping churches reach more people, more quickly through excellent execution.His latest book Church Growth Flywheel: 5 Practical Systems to Drive Growth at Your Church is an Amazon bestseller and is design to help your church reach more people in your community.

communications

6 Reasons to (Occasionally) Skip Church Announcements

Rich BirchApril 21, 2015

Announcements are the part of your service that move people to action. They help people take their next steps into community with your church. Why would you want to take a break from that on any given weekend? Here are a few reasons why I think it's wise to stop doing announcements...

personal productivity strategy

Ron Walborn on Evaluating Personal Growth in Your Church

Rich BirchApril 9, 2015

Welcome to this Thursday’s podcast on unSeminary. Today, I had the privilege of talking to Ron Walborn, Dean of Alliance Theological Seminary. We talked about assessment and how to determine if people are growing. I asked Ron what sort of things we should be thinking about as pastors when...

communications

6 Times Church Communications Needs To Be Clear Not Clever

Rich BirchApril 8, 2015

Clarity is the highest goal of all church communications. Our role is to cut through the clutter and deliver the message we are giving with as much precision as possible. In order to do that we employ a wide variety of tactics to persuade people towards the goals that we've...

strategy

Is it time for a new worship war?

Rich BirchApril 7, 2015

The first church I served at was in the middle of a worship war when I started there. It was like a cold war with a lot of passive-aggressive leadership on both sides of the debate. The "Hymns & Organ Crowd" declared that their music was rich with theological significance, whereas the...

communications multisite podcast

Brandon Cox on Mentoring & Releasing Church Planters

Rich BirchMarch 26, 2015

Spring is finally upon us, so it seems like a great time to talk about planting! In this week’s podcast here on unSeminary, I had the opportunity to talk to Brandon Cox, senior pastor at Grace Hills Church in Bentonville, Arkansas. If you’ve heard of Bentonville, it’s probably because...

communications

10 Secrets to Supporting Teaching Pastors

Rich BirchMarch 25, 2015

As I reflect on my almost 20 years of ministry experience, one of the things that I'm proudest of is serving a handful of amazing communicators. I've played that "second seat" role to support great teaching pastors as they use their gifts and skills to communicate the message of Jesus. Here are some...

communications

3 Spiritual Gift Assessment Tools for Your Church

Rich BirchMarch 24, 2015

Recently in the unSeminary Premium private Facebook group, there was a discussion about the best Spiritual Gift Assessment tools for church use. When people serve within their area of gifting rather than just in your area of need, they experience more freedom and joy. Thriving churches focus on releasing people in their...

strategy

Tim Cool on Counting the Real Cost of Church Buildings

Rich BirchMarch 19, 2015

This week on the unSeminary Podcast, Tim Cool with Cool Solutions joined me for a tremendously informative and enlightening conversation about stewarding the facilities God has entrusted to us. Tim is the father of 18-year-old triplets who are in their last quarter of high school, almost ready to take...

communications strategy

12-Point Checklist of Small Things to Improve Easter at Your Church

Rich BirchMarch 18, 2015

Easter is the biggest of big days at your church. People are more likely to invite friends ... and their friends are more likely to attend! You have a lot to consider when preparing. Here are some smaller details that will add to your Easter experience. Don't debate them —...

communications personal productivity

6 Ways to Keep People Informed Without Calling Another Meeting

Rich BirchMarch 17, 2015

Meetings can be an incredible tool to push the mission of your church forward. A well-executed approach to meetings will ensure people focus on the right ideas and issues. However, meetings can drift to places where they actually slow down the mission. Some common problems that I've seen creep into churches...