Larry’s 2025 Christmas Letter
“Todd, we need help.”
Last February, when Pastor Chris called about an upcoming evangelistic series, Todd recommended our Prophecies of Hope theme. They had gotten away from “traditional” evangelism marketing, but weren’t seeing the results they wanted. So Todd put together a multi-touch campaign for them that included:
- a bifold mailing
- advertising on Facebook and Instagram
- video ads on YouTube
- a roadside banner
- invitation cards for members to hand out
- an event registration website
- AttendanceTracker for managing check-ins at each meeting
The result? Nearly 100 people in the community registered with their contact information, and over the course of the series, they saw over 70 guests. One of them, Mike, got the flyer in the mail and was intrigued. He reserved his seat through our pre-registration platform, showed up opening night, and kept coming back. As the meetings came to a close, he responded to an appeal, and 2 months later was baptized. Today, he’s an active member in the church.
That’s SermonView’s big “why”: we want to see more and better disciples in every Seventh-day Adventist congregation across North America. Mike was just one of the nearly 27,000 people who responded to SermonView evangelistic advertising this year and, as a result, connected with a local Seventh-day Adventist church.
Welcome to my annual Christmas letter, where I document the current state of SermonView Welcome to my annual Christmas letter, where I document the current state of SermonView and reflect on the ministry environment in which we operate. I write this mostly for myself, but you’re welcome to listen in.In my 2021 letter, I shared about a really tough year for me personally, and last year I talked about how SermonView is helping pastors cultivate parasocial relationships through our ReelFaith program.
And this year? Frankly, we’re just grateful we made it through our busiest fall evangelism season ever, even in the midst of loss and grief.
2025 Highlights
It’s been another incredible year of growth for the SermonView crew. Over the last 12 months:
Marketing for Local Churches
We ran 490 marketing campaigns, for both evangelistic events and to find Bible study interests for local churches—a 16% increase.
We partnered with Amazing Facts to offer evangelism marketing for churches that participated in Prophecy Countdown last October, supporting 60 host sites.
We reached 9.2 million people through social media advertising and direct mail, with ads for our churches seen nearly 20 million times.
In InterestTracker, 80,628 new interests were added this year. Over 2,000 churches now manage nearly 275,000 interests.
The Propel Conference
In April, we held our third Propel Conference, offering inspiration and innovation for church growth. We more than doubled in size, with 287 registrations. In addition, we’ve now published 78 episodes of the Propel Podcast, featuring content from the event.
Registration for next year is now open and we already have over 200 registrations. By God’s grace we hope to double last year’s attendance when we bring the Propel Conference to Silver Spring, MD, coming April 12-15, 2026.
Pastor Connections
We love connecting with you in person, and our team has been out in the field attending a number of events this year. ASI Convention, It Is Written ReCharge, NAD eHuddle and 2 Boot Camps, Hyve, Alaska and Arizona Conference pastors’ meetings, Southern Union EC3, Society of Adventist Communicators, Pastoral Evangelism Leadership Council (PELC), and, of course, the Propel Conference.
As we head into 2026, we’re thrilled to see what God is going to do through your church to advance His Kingdom.
Remembering Todd Farrell
Last August, we lost our dear colleague and friend, Todd Farrell. Todd served as a campaign manager at SermonView for nearly a decade, shepherding more than 1,000 evangelism marketing campaigns. Frankly, we’re still reeling from the loss. We mourned as best we could at the time, but the season was hectic, and the work still had to get done.
What hit me the hardest were the phone calls from pastors asking specifically for Todd. I had to break the news, then somehow transition into talking about the evangelism marketing project they originally called about. But even in the midst of that, we witnessed such an incredible outpouring of love and support from Todd’s clients. More than a dozen pastors traveled to attend his memorial service. To each of you who offered support and encouragement during this time, I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Bouncing Forward
The challenge we faced this fall was much bigger than just Todd’s passing. We spent nine months preparing for what we expected to be our busiest fall evangelism season ever, then had three core team members leave within two weeks of each other just as the season began. So we were already reeling from a tidal wave while unexpectedly short-staffed, and then we grieved Todd on top of all that.
Last month, as we paused for a few days to review our performance over the last 6 months, it became clear we had some slipups. We heard from some of you about quality issues you experienced, and for that, I sincerely apologize. We need to do better, and we will. We’ve already begun implementing new systems to ensure we consistently deliver the quality you’ve come to expect.
Despite these challenges, the SermonView crew is more united in our mission than I’ve ever seen. During the review process, almost every staff member expressed pride in working together. For example, one wrote, “I’m really proud of how our team has stayed committed to delivering high-quality work even through a busy and challenging season. We brought on new team members and faced a tragedy, but still showed up for our customers and each other.”
That really sums it up. We’re not bouncing back from a tough season—we’re bouncing forward. This crew is more unified, more committed to the mission, more supportive of each other than I’ve ever seen. And we’re building a more resilient organization so we can serve you better, more consistently.
SermonView Podcast Update
“Larry, that last episode could be applied to so many areas outside of ministry. Why are you exclusively talking to pastors?”
Last year, we launched a new weekly podcast, Ministry Insights, and over the last 18 months, we’ve released 64 episodes. (We even won awards from the Society of Adventist Communicators for Best Audio Podcast and Best Video Podcast!) Some of our most popular episodes talk about why churches stop growing, the one social post your church should make each week, and the power of insecurity in ministry.
As I was reviewing the metrics for the podcast, it became clear that the episodes making the biggest impact are centered on leadership. The original title, Ministry Insights, says nothing and doesn’t communicate the true focus of the content. That conversation with a friend helped me realize that these principles apply far beyond pastors—they’re valuable for leaders of all kinds, including emerging leaders in the next generation.
So, starting next month, we’ll be rebranding the podcast to Leadership Insights. As part of this pivot, I’m going to start adding interviews into the mix, sharing conversations with a variety of leaders. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this can help encourage the next generation of leaders, and I hope this rebrand brings clarity, expands the audience, and aligns the podcast with the mission God has been shaping all along.
Doctoral Studies
Let me close by reflecting on school. For nearly 4 years, I worked on a PhD in strategic media at Liberty University, graduating last May. My dissertation was focused on digital evangelism, looking at how to cultivate and harvest parasocial relationships for evangelism. I continue to be amazed at how much direct application my doctoral studies have had to the needs of our churches.
In my research, for example, I looked at how to make church websites more effective at reaching people in the community and studied how different marketing communication channels impact attendance at evangelistic meetings. As I went on this PhD journey, I was blessed by the support of the entire SermonView crew as well as the pastors we serve, and I’m grateful for the support. And grateful to be finished.
I love my job! It’s been wonderful to connect with many of you at events this year, because I love seeing you and hearing your stories. I’m incredibly blessed by the support you’ve given the SermonView crew over the years. Thank you for allowing God to use you to reach your community for Jesus. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in your church in 2026.
Thank you for letting us be part of your journey!
Merry Christmas,
P.S. What are your big dreams for 2026? I’d love to hear what God is doing in your church!
Next-generation digital advertising to reach this generation.
At SermonView, we take a multi-touch marketing approach as often as we can when helping churches reach their communities. There are several key ways a multi-touch digital marketing approach can have a positive impact on reaching more people and building trust with your ministry.
We have helped churches with over 6,000 outreach events. We’ve sent over 30 million mailers into communities and reached over 8 million social media users. So we know how to help you plan an effective campaign.