Terminal: The Dying Church Planter
You are dying.
And the only difference between you and Richard Pope is Richard knows how long he probably has left.
In 2021, exactly one month before he and his church plant team were going to launch Canvas Church in Salisbury, Maryland, Richard learned he had terminal cancer.
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 18 minutes
- Episodes
- 10
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2024
Episode Nine: One Year Later: Signs and Wonders
A lot can happen in one year when you’re terminally ill and planting a church. This update episode tells the story of a completely unexpected and miraculous surprise that landed in Richard Pope’s lap…
Episode Eight: A Heart of Wisdom
It’s crazy what you can learn about living after you find out you’re dying. This is a story about how Richard Pope found an incomparable weight of glory in the middle of his light and momentary affli…
Episode Seven: Sunday Best
Inside, it’s standing room only. And outside, people gather around Canvas Church’s open windows just so they can hear the pastor up on the stage. This is a story about what it’s like to attend a wors…
Episode Six: Completeness
How do you plant a church when you’re terminally ill? The same way you’d plant a church if you were perfectly healthy. Kind of. This is the story of how Canvas Church in Salisbury, Maryland, grew and…
Episode Five: Where Thirty or More Are Gathered
When Richard Pope announced to his church plant launch team that he’d received a terminal diagnosis, he told them, “You can leave if you want.” This is a story about what happened next.
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Episode Four: A Little Help From My Friends
No one can plant a church by themselves. Not even Richard Pope. This is a story about how Richard serendipitously found friends in high — and low — places.
Dive deeper into the story with our bonus…
Episode Three: Love Stories
Killing monsters requires love in all its earthly and heavenly forms. This is a story about hamburgers and hometowns and girlfriends and Jesus and other lovely things.
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Episode Two: Young Richard
If Charles Dickens was alive today, “Young Richard” would be the title of his darkest modern-day work. This is a story about a little boy named Richard and all of his big, scary monsters.
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Episode One: The Craziest Thing
Everybody says Richard Pope is a little crazy—in a good way. And everybody says talking to Richard means talking about crazy things. This then, is a story about a crazy thing.
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