Church consulting

Ask the hard questions about your church's health

We need healthy, evangelical and multiplying churches. Learn from the experiences of 300+ churches in the Reach Australia network. Build a clear picture of where your church is at, get clarity for future directions and develop a plan to get there.

Pause and reflect
as a team

Healthy churches help people be saved and grow to be like Jesus. In every church there’s a mix of theological, cultural and practical challenges that hold us back from making the most of our contexts. Create a safe space to ask the right questions.

Pause and reflect
as a team

Healthy churches help people be saved and grow to be like Jesus. In every church there’s a mix of theological, cultural and practical challenges that hold us back from making the most of our contexts. Create a safe space to ask the right questions.

Start with your convictions and work from there

✅ Go back to God’s Word to remember what we’re called to do
✅ Unearth the encouraging and challenging realities of where your church is at
✅ With God’s mission in mind, develop a vision for where your church is heading
✅ Build a roadmap to get there
✅ Three months of coaching post-consult as you start implementing change

The team listened to the complexities of our context (migrants, international students and planting a church). They helped us see many more options than we could have come up with ourselves.

Ben Ho
SLE Church QLD

It always freaks you out when someone takes a look under the hood. It gave our leaders permission to think deeply and be critical about how we can be improving.

Dan Wilton
Crossroads Church ACT

We were given small things we could implement quickly and larger things to plan towards. Some things were obvious, and some we just didn’t see.

Daniel Presland
Riverwood
Presbyterian
Church NSW

Helpful to draw different things to the surface that we just weren’t thinking about.

Rob Doyle
Lake Mac Church
NSW

The consult was 11 months ago and we’re still referring to it in terms of changes that we’re looking to make.

Dave Kuen
Kellyville Anglican
Church NSW

The statistics they gathered for us were excellent. After the consult, I am more deliberate in our Sunday gatherings to explain next steps for people visiting our church.

Stew Playsted
Southern Cross Presbyterian Church Lismore NSW

They helped us with the little things - the easy wins - that would make a difference. So a critique of our website, which we shifted to make it more outsider friendly, and we changed our physical signage.

Paul Owens
Stromlo Christian Church ACT

We were given small things we could implement quickly and larger things to plan towards. Some things were obvious, and some we just didn’t see.

Daniel Presland
Riverwood
Presbyterian
Church NSW

The consult has been tremendously helpful. They know what they're talking about. They've seen it before, but it's not one size fits all. The consult is hard work, but it gave us so much more confidence for our team and for our church in where we're going.

Marcus Reeves
Crossroads Church ACT

Well worth the money and time. If you care about people in your community that aren't at your church, and if you want to have people be part of a better version of your church, it makes the cost worth it.

Mike Veith
Mentone Baptist Church VIC

We all have the same mission, but every church is unique

Our network partners with church leaders to help them navigate the complexities of ministry in challenging environments. We’ll work with your team to build specific answers to your specific challenges in ways that reflect our biblical convictions.

Andrew Heard

Senior Pastor of EV Church

Greg Lee

Senior Pastor of Hunter Bible Church

Jo Gibbs

Effective Teams Facilitator at Reach Australia

Phil Colgan

Senior Pastor of St Georges North Anglican Church

Al Stewart

Executive Director of FIEC

Scott Sanders

Executive Director of Reach Australia

Michael Lin

Founder of Oilstone Leadership Training Australia

Cathie Heard

Director of the Wives Network at Reach Australia

Bruce Bennett

Coach & consultant at Reach Australia

Peter Blanch

Director of Church Development at Reach Australia

Mike Sams

Coaching Unit Facilitator at Reach Australia

Gary Eastment

Leadership Development Facilitator at Reach Australia

Sarah Blanch

Wives Network Coaching Unit Facilitator at Reach Australia

Connan O'Shea

Senior Pastor at Lighthouse Church

Scott Curtis

Scott Curtis

Ministry & Maturity Pastor at EV Church

Rhett Harris

Ministry Pastor at EV Church

Dave Jensen

Mission Pastor at EV Church

Derek Hanna

Director for Church Planting at Reach Australia

Types of consults

This consult is a comprehensive review of your  church to assist in identifying current health, strengths and growth areas. 

What’s the current health of our church? Where are our barriers to growth? What next steps should we take in making disciples? 

  • An assessment of your wider community, including demographics
  • Interaction and interviews with pastors, staff and church leaders
  • Analysis of church facilities
  • Statistical analysis of key church metrics
  • Stewardship/financial analysis
  • Discovery of growth and/or ministry obstacles and opportunities
  • Secret guest visit/survey for main gatherings
  • Analysis of current church structures
  • Reports for wider distribution and internal use
  • Three months of coaching 
  • Access to Reach Australia online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: $4,500

This consult helps you identify options so that you can make intentional strategic plans. It will equip you with best practice options for building momentum towards sustainable multiplication and new churches, while providing resources and strategies for helping the sending church to continue to thrive.

 

What kind of multiplication should we pursue – parachute, mother-daughter, multisite?  What kind of leader are we looking for?  What would be the steps towards this kind of multiplication and when would we know whether we were ready? 

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Secret guest visit/survey
  • Discovery and planning day with key leadership and staff
  • High level report for wider distribution
  • Detailed written report for internal use
  • Three months of coaching
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $4,500 (full consult)

God’s longs for the lost to come back to him – and the local church should be the centre for mission. This consult will focus on helping you identify who you can reach, what’s stopping you from reaching them, and how you can mobilise your church for mission.

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • An assessment of your wider community, including demographics.
  • Statistical analysis of key church metrics, with a focus on mission and evangelism.
  • Discovery and planning day with leadership and staff
  • High level report
  • Creation of a mission calendar for your church to build mission heat.
  • 3 months coaching
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended
  • High level report

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $1,500 (full day)

This consult focuses on helping you identify the decisions you need to make as you move towards merging, facilitate conversations between different parties, and helps you move towards building healthy churches in places where God has previously worked.

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • An assessment of your wider community, including demographics.
  • Statistical analysis of key church metrics from all churches involved in the discussion.
  • Secret guest visit/survey
  • Discovery and planning day with leadership and staff
  • High level report for wider distribution
  • Detailed written report for internal use
  • 3 months coaching
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $4,500 (full consult)

This consult assists in identifying areas for growth, developing mission plans and a strategy for growing young disciples.

 

What are the key elements for a thriving mission focussed youth group or kids ministry? How do we grow young people as disciples of Jesus? How can we start a youth group or a kids ministry? How can we grow it? 

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Youth group or kids ministry visitation
  • Discovery and planning day with leadership and staff (volunteers if applicable)
  • High level report
  • 3 months coaching
  • Youth group guest speaker (optional)

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $1,500 (full consult)

What is the best way forward in structuring staff? How do we determine what appointments are needed? This consult can help the leadership of the church think through ways to make organisational decisions that help facilitate the church’s vision in light of the great commission. Building effective teams for ministry growth is part of this consult.

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Analysis of existing staffing and leadership structures.
  • Discovery and planning day, with a focus on staffing and structure, with leadership and staff
  • 1-1 with the lead pastor
  • Design of possible staffing structures moving forward that will help mature and build mission heat.
  • 3 months coaching
  • High level report
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $1,500 (full consult)

This consult can help the leadership of the church think through ways to make decisions around buildings that help facilitate the church’s vision in light of the great commission.

 

Is our venue hindering growth? Do we need to start a building project? Where do we start, and who needs to be involved? 

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Venue and facilities assessment
  • Discovery and planning day, with a focus on building and facilities, with leadership and staff
  • 1-1 with the lead pastor
  • 3 months coaching
  • High level report
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $1,500 (full consult)

This consult helps the church consider how to develop leaders and build effective ministry teams for gospel work and growth.

 

Why can’t we get anyone to serve? Why can’t we fill the roster? People are serving, so why does it feel like I’m doing all the work? 

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Discovery and planning day, with a focus on the “Serve” area and mobilising people for ministry, with leadership and staff
  • High level report
  • 3 months coaching
  • Access to all RA online resources with specific resources recommended

Cost: FREE (1 hour), $1,5000 (full consult)

This consult helps staff and leadership build understanding to work together in healthy and godly ways that utilise their gifts, identify growth areas, and handle conflict well. MBTI is used to facilitate conversation and understanding, delivered by an MBTI certified trainer. 

 

How can we handle conflict better amongst our staff team? Can we work more effectively together for the good of our church? 

 

What can I expect from this consult?

  • Pre-consult conversation to understand context.
  • Half-day consult with team.
  • Follow-up conversation with senior leader.
  • MBTI reports (additional cost)
  • Follow-up activities for the team to build on the consult and conversations.

Cost: $500 + MBTI reports

Register your interest for a consult

Got questions?

We work across many denominations across Australia, as we’re willing to work with churches that affirm our biblical convictions.

Our consultants have a wide range of ministry and consulting experience in churches across Australia. The majority of consultations we do are focused on church revitalisation, though we recognise that the context of each church is quite different.

We have a network of coaches across Australia who have been trained in gospel coaching. These are ministry workers with a variety of experience and wisdom who can help you implement changes in your own ministry and across your church.

Yes, we will always come to your church to meet with you and your team in person for our full consults, so that we can make the most of our time together and better serve you.

It takes approximately 2 months to prepare for a consult, however we will always work with you to find the most suitable time to support your ministry.

The Board and the team are driven by a strong desire to see Australia won for Christ. We ask that your church consider making a contribution towards the cost. We love God’s generosity to us in Christ and if your church cannot afford, then we are willing to be involved for whatever amount is reasonable for you to afford. We ask you to consider what is financially possible for your church to contribute.