NEXT SUNDAY

Shaping the Churches of Tomorrow, Today

Welcome to Next Sunday, more than just a podcast—it's your vibrant community of forward-thinking church leaders. Our episodes are crafted to serve as a dynamic field guide for bridging generations, cultivating generosity, and inspiring transformation within the church. Together, we will tackle challenges head-on, celebrate our victories, and possibly ruffle a few feathers because what happens next Sunday could change everything.

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BI-WEEKLY EPISODES: A NEW EPISODE IS RELEASED EVERY OTHER TUESDAY

MOST RECENT EPISODE

Stop Apologizing! You're not "Spending Money On Yourself"

Posted 4/14/26

“Spending money on ourselves” is one of the most common phrases church leaders use during building campaigns—and one of the most confusing.

In this episode of The Next Sunday Podcast, Jim Sheppard and Frank Bealer unpack why that language quietly undermines confidence, creates unnecessary guilt, and misframes what church infrastructure is actually for. Jim argues that most facility projects are not designed for the people already in the room. They’re designed to create capacity for the people who aren’t there yet.

The solution is a simple reframing that brings theology and strategy into alignment: we invest inside the walls so we can be more effective outside the walls. When leaders adopt that language, the mission becomes clearer, the giving conversation becomes cleaner, and the church stops apologizing for building the “base camp” needed to advance the work God has called them to do.

Along the way, they explore why this phrase keeps creeping in (anxiety about money, transactional framing, inherited tradition), how misused “percentage give-back” language can further muddy the waters, and why pastors must lead a cultural reset so the whole church gets on the same page.

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All Givers Are The Same, But Not All Gifts Are The same

Posted 3/31/26

All givers are the same. But not all gifts are the same.

In this episode of The Next Sunday Podcast, Jim Sheppard and Frank Bealer tackle a common tension church leaders feel in generosity conversations: how do you honor every giver without pretending every gift has the same impact?

Jim explains why this matters, especially when churches default to a single giving story, often the widow and her two coins, as the primary lens for generosity. While that story is powerful, Jim argues it can unintentionally shrink a church’s theology of giving, limit how leaders speak to generosity, and even become a subtle justification for undeveloped discipleship.

To bring clarity, Jim walks through three “bookend” giving examples in Scripture:

• The widow’s gift, magnanimous because of sacrifice

• Mary’s gift, profound because of worship and devotion

• David’s gift, transformational because of scale and impact

Scripture honors all three, not because the gifts were equal, but because the givers were.

The conversation also addresses a practical fear: “If we segment conversations in a giving initiative, are we showing favoritism?” Jim offers a reframing that many leaders miss: gathering faithful givers first isn’t favoritism—it’s often the opposite. These are the people asked to sacrifice first, set the pace, and carry the heaviest load so the whole church can move forward together.

This episode gives pastors and church leaders clear language, biblical grounding, and a healthier framework for talking about generosity in a way that honors every person while acknowledging the real differences gifts can make in advancing the mission.

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A Giving Initiative Is Like An X-Ray

Posted 3/17/26

A giving initiative is like an X-ray. It doesn’t create problems. It reveals what’s already there.

In this episode of The Next Sunday Podcast, Jim Sheppard and Frank Bealer unpack why generosity initiatives are rarely “about the money.” They’re about people—trust, clarity, alignment, leadership health, and spiritual maturity. And when a church steps into a giving season, those underlying realities become impossible to ignore. The strong bones show. The fractures show. The truth shows.

Jim shares how this insight emerged early in his work, especially after a campaign that should have gone well didn’t. That moment forced an “excavation” to uncover what the church wasn’t seeing, and it eventually shaped one of his most clarifying frameworks: generosity reveals the true condition of a church’s culture.

They also explore a critical warning for leaders: a giving initiative won’t fix division. In fact, trying to use generosity as a shortcut to unity can backfire. Campaigns don’t heal fractures. They expose them.

The good news? Exposure can be a gift. Because once you can see clearly, you can begin to strengthen what’s weak, treat what’s broken, and build a healthier foundation for long-term generosity.

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From Tax Deductions To Discipleship

Posted 3/3/26

Tax policy once served as quiet “training wheels” for church giving. But after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, those wheels came off and many churches are now seeing a clearer picture of what’s really driving generosity.

In this episode of The Next Sunday Podcast, Jim Sheppard and Frank Bealer unpack how the shift from itemized to standard deductions changed the incentive landscape for millions of households and why that shift hits undeveloped givers hardest. They explain the difference between itemized and standard deductions, why charitable deductions influenced giving patterns more than many leaders realized, and how the “One Big Beautiful Act Bill” extends and reinforces those dynamics long-term.

Along the way, they explore what leaders may start seeing next: giving “bunching” (loading generosity into one year), more donor-advised fund (DAF) usage, and wider adoption of tax strategy thinking—especially among middle-class households. But the heart of the conversation comes back to discipleship: if government incentives are no longer propping up generosity, churches must return to teaching giving as worship, formation, and reverence before God.

The episode closes with a pastoral challenge for leaders and boards: don’t let tax strategy replace spiritual formation. Use Scripture to re-center the conversation, because the heart of the issue is always the heart.

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Frank Bealer

Frank is a distinguished leader and innovator in organizational leadership, church ministry, and family-centered development. As the Co-Founder of Phase Franchise Partners, Frank has demonstrated a profound commitment to creating environments that support family growth and community engagement.

He also serves as an advisor and Chief Strategy Officer at Generis. Frank leverages his diverse background to serve churches and non-profit organizations to help maximize their potential through effective stewardship and generosity strategies.

Frank is a devoted husband and father to six children with many other notable professional endeavors that have informed his extensive leadership. His family is at the heart of everything he does, inspiring his work and his dedication to creating positive change in the lives of others.

Jim Sheppard

Jim Sheppard is CEO & Principal of Generis, a consulting firm passionate about helping churches inspire and cultivate generosity through giving development, coaching, and strategy.

Jim is a student of generosity and is passionate about spreading it throughout the Church. For the last 30+ years, he has devoted his life to coaching pastors especially in navigating the resource limitations that restrict their ministry potential. Jim understands the financial challenges that churches face today; annual giving, debt, capital projects, and planned giving. He is a positive force in bridging these needs with the power of spiritually motivated stewardship. Cumulatively, Jim has partnered with his clients to raise over $2 billion for local church ministry. Jim is a frequent writer and speaker on generosity and ministry funding. He is co-author of Contagious Generosity: Creating A Culture Of Giving In Your Church.

Jim and his wife, Nancy, live in the Atlanta, GA area and they have two married daughters. He is actively involved in his church where he serves as an elder and provides guidance to the Generosity Ministry Team.

NEXT SUNDAY

Stop Apologizing! You're not "Spending Money On Yourself"

All Givers Are The Same, But Not All Gifts Are The same

A Giving Initiative Is Like An X-Ray

From Tax Deductions To Discipleship

FRANK BEALER &

JIM SHEPARD

Frank Bealer

Jim Sheppard

Accelerating Generosity Towards God-Inspired Vision