10 Best Pastor Webinars to Watch in 2026
Some of the most useful pastoral learning happens in webinars, when someone who's been in the trenches walks you through something you've been quietly wrestling with for months.
The challenge is knowing where to look. Pastor webinars are scattered across research organizations, denominational sites, church health platforms, and seminary initiatives — and quality varies widely. Some are free and genuinely excellent. Others are gated behind memberships or aimed at a very specific audience.
We've done the digging for you. Here are 12 webinar hubs and series worth bookmarking, whether you're looking for research-backed church health insights, spiritual formation content, or practical ministry tools.
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OUR SHORTLIST
- RightNow Media Webinars
- Barna Group Webinars
- Renovaré Webinars
- Church Answers Webinars
- Exponential Webinars
- Wheaton Billy Graham Center — Resilient Church Leadership
- Church Leader Insights (Nelson Searcy)
- CCCC Webcasts
- Ministry Forum Webinars
- Baptist Churches of New England (BCNE) Webinars
10 Best Pastor Webinars
Webinars have become one of the easiest ways for pastors to keep learning without leaving their church or calendar behind. The best ones combine real ministry experience with practical insight you can apply right away. Here are ten webinar series worth exploring if you want to grow as a leader and shepherd.
1. RightNow Media — for access and availability
RightNow Media has partnered with well-known ministry leaders and pastors to offer free, focused webinars on some of the most pressing challenges in church leadership.
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders across all sizes and contexts
- Format: Free, on-demand and upcoming live webinars (approx. 60 minutes each)
- Cost: Free
The biggest webinar library from trusted names in ministry — free and immediately accessible.
If you want to learn from voices like Glenn Packiam, Ed Stetzer, Matt Chandler, or Jim Putman without paying a conference fee, this is your first stop. Topics span discipleship, church growth, evangelism, leadership challenges, and pastoral resilience. The on-demand library makes it easy to find exactly what you need right now.
2. Barna Group — for research backed insights
Barna is one of the most respected research organizations in the church world, and their webinars bring that data directly to pastors in a digestible, conversational format.
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders who want to lead from research, not guesswork
- Format: Free live and on-demand webinars, typically 60–90 minutes
- Cost: Free
The only webinar series that pairs original pastoral research with honest, practitioner-led conversation.
Barna's webinars aren't motivational — they're informational in the best way. You'll walk away understanding what's actually happening in the church landscape, not just what feels true. Recent topics have covered pastoral burnout, the state of pastors' marriages, small group discipleship, and ministry in urban churches — all grounded in fresh data.
3. Renovaré — for spiritual formation
Founded on the legacy of Richard Foster, Renovaré has been one of the most influential voices in Christian spiritual formation for decades. Their webinar series continues that tradition — honest, unhurried conversations about what it means to go deep with God.
- Audience: Pastors and ministry leaders seeking spiritual depth and formation
- Format: Free on-demand webinars, typically 60–75 minutes
- Cost: Free
The best webinar series for pastors who are tired of ministry tactics and hungry for soul-level renewal.
Hosted by Carolyn Arends, these aren't how-to sessions — they're unhurried conversations with authors, pastors, and spiritual directors about prayer, discipleship, the spiritual disciplines, and transformational ministry. If you're leading from an empty tank, this is a place to slow down and refill.
4. Church Answers — for practical church health
Church Answers, led by Thom and Sam Rainer, is one of the most practical church health platforms available for pastors. Their webinars dig into the real questions pastors are asking — about revitalization, growth, staffing, discipleship, and leadership — with no fluff and plenty of hard-won wisdom.
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders focused on church health and revitalization
- Format: Free on-demand (some require free membership); live webinars hosted regularly
- Cost: Free / membership unlocks full archive
The most practically focused webinar library for pastors leading typical-sized churches through real challenges.
The Rainers have spent decades helping churches of all sizes navigate growth barriers, revitalization, post-pandemic recovery, and ministry transitions. Their webinars reflect that experience directly — you won't hear much theory here. If you're wrestling with a concrete problem in your church, there's a good chance they've already done a webinar on it.
5. Exponential — for growth-minded leaders
Exponential exists to equip church leaders who want to move beyond addition-focused ministry and toward multiplication. Their webinars bring in leading voices on church planting, discipleship, and what it looks like to build a reproducing church.
- Audience: Pastors and church leaders with a heart for church multiplication and reproduction
- Format: Free on-demand and live webinars, typically 60 minutes
- Cost: Free
Best webinar series for pastors who feel called to plant, multiply, or lead their church into its next chapter of kingdom impact.
If you've sensed that God may be calling your church to reproduce — or you're simply hungry for a vision bigger than weekend attendance — Exponential's webinar library is full of encouragement and practical insight from leaders who've led that journey. Recent sessions have featured voices like Drew Hyun, Christine Caine, Joby Martin, and Daniel Yang.
6. Wheaton Billy Graham Center — for leading through pressure
Launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Resilient Church Leadership initiative from the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center was designed to resource pastors facing burnout, mental health challenges, and the pressures of leading through crisis. The webinar archive remains one of the most thoughtful pastoral care resources available online.
- Audience: Pastors dealing with internal pressures — burnout, mental health, leadership fatigue
- Format: Free on-demand webinar archive (produced 2020–ongoing)
- Cost: Free
The most pastor-focused webinar series on mental health, resilience, and sustainable ministry — backed by serious institutional credibility.
This initiative brought together voices like Jimmy Dodd, Mindy Caliguire, and Eddie Copeland to address the things pastors rarely talk about publicly: emotional exhaustion, church board dynamics, pastoral soul care, and the private life behind the pulpit. The archive is worth exploring even now that the acute crisis has passed — these pressures didn't go away.
7. Church Leader Insights — for leading healthy churches
Nelson Searcy is the founding pastor of The Journey Church and has coached thousands of pastors through his Eight Systems of a Healthy Church framework. His free webinar offerings are a low-barrier way to engage with practical, systems-oriented church leadership content.
- Audience: Senior pastors looking for practical, systems-based church growth and leadership training
- Format: Free live and on-demand webinars, typically 75–90 minutes
- Cost: Free (with email signup)
Best webinar option for pastors who want practical, systems-based coaching without a coaching price tag.
Searcy's approach is unapologetically practical — he's talking about preaching calendars, staffing models, volunteer ministry, stewardship, and church growth systems. If you're a pastor who thinks in structures and wants concrete tools, his free webinars deliver real content (not just teasers). Worth noting: his material leans toward church growth methodology, so filter accordingly for your context.
8. Canadian Centre for Christian Charities – for compliance and operations
The Canadian Centre for Christian Charities offers a library of recorded webcasts covering the operational, legal, and governance realities of running a church or ministry in Canada. These aren't leadership inspiration sessions — they're practical continuing education for ministry leaders navigating real institutional complexity.
- Audience: Canadian pastors and ministry leaders managing church administration, HR, and governance
- Format: On-demand recorded webcasts; free for CCCC members, $25 for non-members
- Cost: Free (members) / $25 (non-members)
The only webcast library built specifically for the legal, financial, and governance realities of Canadian Christian charities.
If you're leading a church in Canada and have ever felt in over your head on privacy law, HR policy, board governance, or tax compliance, CCCC's webcasts fill a gap that no other resource does. This isn't content for everyone — but if you're a Canadian pastor who needs this stuff, it's invaluable.
9. Ministry Forum Webinars – for practitioner informed approaches
Ministry Forum is an online platform hosted by Knox College (University of Toronto), serving international ministry leaders across a range of traditions. Their free webinar series covers topics like trauma-informed leadership, intergenerational ministry, and transitional ministry — with a thoughtful, practitioner-informed approach.
- Audience: Canadian ministry leaders across a range of traditions and contexts
- Format: Free live and on-demand webinars; varied length
- Cost: Free
Best webinar series for Canadian ministry leaders who want reflective, ecumenically broad content on pastoral leadership and congregational life.
Ministry Forum occupies a thoughtful middle ground between academic and practical. Recent series have covered topics like trauma-informed ministry, artificial intelligence, and transitional ministry — approached with nuance and pastoral care. Worth noting: the platform is ecumenically broad, including Reformed, Presbyterian, and mainline voices.
10. Baptist Churches of New England – for all round leadership tips
The Baptist Churches of New England hosts a growing library of free webinars created by pastors and ministry practitioners working in real church contexts. While the organization serves churches in the Northeast, the topics themselves are broadly applicable for ministry leaders anywhere.
- Audience: Pastors and ministry leaders looking for practical training from active church practitioners
- Format: Free on-demand webinar library organized by ministry category
- Cost: Free
One of the most practical free webinar libraries created by working pastors, not just ministry platforms.
What makes the BCNE webinars stand out is their grounded, practitioner-led approach. Many sessions are led by pastors currently leading churches, which means the conversations stay practical and experience-driven. Topics range from evangelism and church revitalization to kids ministry, digital engagement, and leadership development. Even if you’re outside New England, the real-world ministry insights translate well to many local church settings.
Finding the Right Webinar for Right Now
Not every webinar is worth your time. Before you click "register," it helps to know what you're actually looking for:
- Are you after research and data to better understand your congregation and context, or practical tools to solve a specific problem?
- Do you need content for your own soul, or content that sharpens your leadership skills?
- Do you require a specific regional context where denominational or local specificity matters?
The right webinar isn't the most popular one — it's the one that meets you where you actually are. Start there.