138 - "Would Any of Them Die for Me?" — The Question That Took a Successful Rector to His Knees - June 25th, 2026

138 - "Would Any of Them Die for Me?" — The Question That Took a Successful Rector to His Knees - June 25th, 2026

"Would Any of Them Die for Me?" — The Question That Took a Successful Rector to His Knees By every external measure, the parish was a triumph: the largest in the diocese, 700 people every Sunday, 1,500 at Easter, a 17-person staff, decades of unbroken growth. Its rector was proud — and he had every worldly reason to be. Then, kneeling alone at the communion rail one evening in 1987, he heard the Spirit of God begin to ask him questions. How many of your new members are members only because they were born or married into it? How much did it cost to gain 17 new believing adults? How much should it cost to make a disciple? And finally, the question that took him from tears to weeping: would any of them die for me? In episode 138 of That NAMS Podcast, Jon Shuler tells this true story and sets it against fresh demographic numbers from the Anglican Church in North America — where half of all congregations have fewer than 50 people. The challenge he leaves with every leader is unforgettable: what is the return on investment for the congregation you serve? A searching, convicting, and unforgettable episode for every pastor, church planter, and Great Commission Christian.

137 - A Christian Not Making Another Christian May Not Yet Be a Christian" — Jon Shuler on the One Thing Worth Measuring - June 18th, 2026

"A Christian Not Making Another Christian May Not Yet Be aChristian" — Jon Shuler on the One Thing Worth Measuring Description Before Jon Shuler had a PhD in church history or a degree in theology, he was a civil engineer — and in episode 137 he reaches back to a diagram from that first training to ask a question every church planter must face. Every church takes in the same resources: people, money, buildings. Every church runs an internal system. Every church produces an output. So why do the outputs differ so wildly? Shuler contrasts abrother in North India who moves men from unbelief to church-planting leadership in under a year with his own Anglican diocese, where the same path takes four years or more — and lands on a line from the great New Testament scholar Raymond Brown that the early Christians believed a Christian who was not helping to make another Christian probably was not yet a Christian. If your system isn't producing disciple-making disciples, Shuler says, the system has to change. A searching, practical, and convicting episode for every companion, church planter, and Great Commission Christian.

136 - We relate to the Anglican Family — we serve beyond it. - June 9th, 2026

Part 10 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series. "We relate to the Anglican Family — we serve beyond it." — Jon Shuler on the Final Two Articles of the NAMS Rule In episode 136, Jon Shuler brings the Rule series toward its close by covering Articles IV and V — doctrine and ecclesiastical connection. On doctrine: the faith NAMS contends for is not something any generation gets to reinvent. Drawing on Jude verse 3 and the Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1888, he makes clear that when there is confusion or conflict in the church, the Holy Scriptures are the rule and ultimate standard — full stop. On ecclesiastical connection: NAMS is not owned by the Anglican family, it relates to it — and that distinction is deliberate. The society is committed to kingdom ministry, not denominational ministry, and seeks to serve and be in unity with any church, community, or network that truly submits to Christ, whatever its tradition or history. A searching and clarifying conclusion to one of the most important stretches of teaching in this series.

135 - "We Are Not a Disembodied Community" — The Call to the 2027 NAMS Global Novena - June 2nd, 2026

Part 9 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series. "We Are Not a Disembodied Community" — The Call to the 2027 NAMS Global Novena A rule without purpose is just bureaucracy. In episode 135, Jon Shuler steps back before finishing Article III to ask the question that underlies everything: are we getting the results we desire? His honest answer is no — and that's exactly why NAMS exists. He then turns to the Global Society section of the Rule and unpacks the two gathering commitments every companion makes, including the NAMS Global Novena — a nine-day assembly of the whole family, last held in Devon in 2022, now being called for 2027. He traces the Novena back to an offhand remark by Bishop Alex Dickson in January 1995 and makes a direct appeal: start saving now, and come. A rallying and clarifying episode for every companion, every NAMS friend, and anyone who believes the church is meant to be a family of brothers, not a scattered collection of individuals.

134 - "You May Not Leave Her in a Separate Room" — Marriage, Mission, and the NAMS Companion - May 26th, 2026

Part 8 of the NAMS Rule & Customary Order Series. "You May Not Leave Her in a Separate Room" — Marriage, Mission, and the NAMS Companion An Anglican order of married church planters is, Jon Shuler admits in episode 134, quite unique in Christian history. And that uniqueness creates a real tension: what happens when the demands of the companion calling collide with the sacred bond of marriage? Shuler is direct — a companion who runs around the world making disciples while neglecting his own wife is an unfaithful companion. Full stop. This episode unpacks two commitments from the Married Companions section of Article III: the path of spousal discipleship and the requirement that a wife not merely tolerate the calling but genuinely understand and believe in it. A searching and pastoral episode for every married companion, Anglican church planter, and Great Commission Christian.