By Andy Hale

When Howard Shultz bought Starbucks in 1987, the Seattle-based coffee company had 17 locations. In 2019, the latte generating machine had over 24,000 worldwide locations. That’s insane when you stop and think about it.

While I’ll admit that I’m a Starbucks junkie, there is something about the way that Shultz ran the company that was more than about coffee. This might include providing healthcare for part-time workers, free college tuition, 401 contributions, life insurance, dental and eye care, and free coffee, to name a few.

Big and successful doesn’t always mean evil, awful, and corrupt.

In the church realm, most looking at megachurches from the outside are more likely to see it through the eyes of disdain. Danny McBride certainly has not helped in changing that perspective with The Righteous Gemstones.

I recently sat down with Dharius Daniels, pastor of Change Church. Recently opening a campus six states away from the main campus in New Jersey, Change Church is becoming one of the fastest-growing churches in America. Except this isn’t that kind of church.

“We started this church because we wanted an intentional incarnational model that learns from the people it is serving. I, along with my staff, have to continually be students of our people, understanding their needs and struggles. We are connected to our people, knowing what is going on in their lives, allowing this to inform our preaching and teaching,” said Daniels.

We sat down with the author and pastor to discuss the dynamics of pastoring and his new book, Relational Intelligence: The People Skills You Need for the Life of Purpose You Want.

Subscribe or Livestream

CBF’s podcast shares stories from across the Fellowship and innovative practices of those working to renew God’s world. The vision is to share ideas, stories, and innovations from ministers, authors, and practitioners.

Join this bi-weekly audio podcast by subscribing in iTunes, SoundCloud, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Facebook.

Sponsorship

This podcast episode is brought to you by Fuller Seminary and The Center for Congregational Health.

Listener Support 

We are inviting you, the listeners, to join us in connecting with the Podcast. Become a monthly listener supporter and receive some perks, including name recognition on the Podcast, questions for upcoming guests, free books from the Podcast, joining the Podcast for an interview, and a VIP experience with the General Assembly Podcast guests.

There are five levels of listener support, starting at $5 per month…learn more and become a supporter today at www.cbf.net/podcastsupport.

Andy Hale created and hosts the podcast of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Hale is the senior pastor of University Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following eight years as the founding pastor of Mosaic Church of Clayton and five years as CBF’s church start specialist. Follow on Twitter @haleandy