church planting

Every 4 to 7 days, Substance (through the Association of Related Churches) has the opportunity to help launch another church somewhere around the United States. Substance was ARC church plant #15. And since that time, I’ve watched the ARC launch over 500 new churches with a 93% success rate (after 5 yrs). So, over the…

A new Harvard study recently found out that I’m awesome. What I mean is, the study found out that sarcasm appears to have some fascinating scientific benefits. And because sa rcasm is one of my spiritual gifts, I’m freaking amazing. (And by the way, I’m being sarcastic – for those of you who have special…

We have some exciting news to share.  Substance is going to be launching a brand new campus coming up this August.  For some of you this doesn’t come as much of a shock.  After all we keep setting new attendance records at each of our locations.  But, as we announce this joyful expansion, I thought…

People at Substance are always asking me:  “Peter, where did you fly this last week?”  And I love to talk about it because:  Much of the coolest ministry that Substance does happens outside of the Twin Cities.  And even though this fruit isn’t as visible as the stuff that happens locally, it’s nonetheless powerful to…

As many of you know, Jeff Zaugg and his wife Michelle (on our elder-board) have been hanging out at Substance for quite some time.  And like everyone who’s been with us since the beginning, he’s heard me endlessly rant about the power of Christian friendships.  After all, (here I go again) the single greatest statistical…

I love to ask people deep questions.   For example, “What is a deep church?“… or “What is a healthy church?”  When people answer, I can almost immediately figure out what they love and hate most about church.  For example, there’s a lot of people who love extended worship because they grew up in a church…

The Momentum Principle: "The right person, at the right time, in the right location, with the right methods, with the right inner circle of leaders equals success."

Based on the investigation of Lifeway research [linked below], Outreach magazine recently reported that Substance is officially one of the fastest growing churches in the U.S.!  Way to go Substance!  Officially, we’re number 8 in terms of national growth percentages, and number 21 in terms of overall numbers. (Go God!)  Especially as we hit our…

  Wow, I just got to do one of the coolest things yesterday.  In case you didn’t know, we belong to one of the most amazing church organizations called the Association of Related Churches. (ARC).   Yesterday was a national “C.P.R.” Church Planters Roundtable where people fly in from all across the country to learn about…