Church Consulting
Order Before Growth.
For church planters, lead pastors, and elder boards who can feel that something isn't working but can't quite name it yet.
Most of what gets called an organizational problem is actually a clarity problem. Someone doesn't know what they own. Someone else is carrying weight that isn't theirs. The vision is clear to the lead pastor and unclear to everyone else. I come in from the outside and help you see what you're too close to see. I don't hand you a report and leave. I stay until the real problem is named and something is actually being done about it.
Ben Rush
How We Work Together
Three engagement shapes, depending on where you are and what you need.
The Diagnostic
Name the real problem first.
Before you restructure, hire, or fire anyone, you need to know what you're actually dealing with. I come in, talk to your key people, look at how decisions are actually being made, and give you a written report of what I found. Honest. Specific. No hedging. Most churches walk away with three to five things they can act on immediately, with or without me.
Flat rate. One engagement.
Ideal For
What You Walk Away With
A written report with a clear-eyed read of what is working, what isn't, and a prioritized list of next steps you can take without needing to hire anyone else.
90-Day Governance Engagement
Build something that lasts.
Sometimes naming the problem isn't enough. You need someone in it with you while you fix it. The 90-day engagement is sustained work: regular calls, on-site visits where the situation calls for it, and a steady outside voice in the room as you make the decisions that will shape the next several years. We don't stop when the report is written. We stop when the foundation is solid.
90-day engagement. Payment plans available.
Ideal For
What You Walk Away With
A governance structure your team understands and can operate. Clear roles, clear accountability, and a leadership culture that doesn't depend on a single person holding it all together.
Fractional Executive Pastor
The seat without the salary.
A growing church often needs an executive pastor before it can afford one. I step into that seat on a fractional basis: present in staff meetings, engaged with elders, helping carry the operational weight that tends to pile up on the lead pastor and quietly drain them. You get the steady hand. Your pastor gets to pastor.
Monthly retainer. Minimum 3-month commitment.
Ideal For
What You Walk Away With
A lead pastor who can actually lead, because someone else is carrying the operational load. And when you're ready to hire full-time, you'll have a clear job description, a documented role, and a culture of accountability already in place.
Why Ben
I have sat in every seat you're working with. I have been the church planter trying to build governance from nothing while also preaching, counseling, and fundraising. I have been the lead pastor who didn't know what he owned and what he should have delegated. I know the particular loneliness of being the person everyone else looks to for answers.
I have also lived outside the church world long enough to know what organizational health actually looks like. My time as VP of Business Development for Gringo's Tex-Mex taught me what clarity looks like at scale, and what the cost of ambiguity is when it compounds over time. I brought that same diagnostic instinct to leading church planting initiatives in Houston, working with planters on the organizational and pastoral challenges that come with starting something from nothing.
I am completing a Master of Biblical Leadership from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon, graduating in May 2027.
This is not for every church.
You are looking for a keynote speaker, a branding agency, or a denominational consultant. That is different work, and I am not the right person for it.
You want a strategic-planning retreat with someone who doesn't know your theology. I work from within a theologically serious, mutualist, and continuationist framework. If that doesn't fit your polity, we will frustrate each other.
You want someone to validate a decision you have already made. I will tell you what I actually see. If you need a yes-man, I am not your guy.
Your church is in acute crisis: an abuse situation, a legal matter, a denominational investigation. That requires specialists I am not. I can refer you to the right people.
Tell me about your church.
Fill this out and I will follow up within 48 hours. If it sounds like a good fit, we will schedule a call. If it doesn't, I will tell you that too.