Episode 55: "I'm Not in the Business of Losing People" | Pastor Mike Orta

Welcome back to another episode of The Sunday's Coming Podcast! This week, Caleb and Kaleb sit down with Mike Orta — co-pastor (with his wife Tiff) of City House Church in downtown Milwaukee, former helicopter-factory worker turned 24-year-old lead pastor of a 100-year-old Presbyterian church, and one of the most refreshingly honest church planters we've had on the show.Mike walks us through a journey that reads like fiction: at 24, filling the pulpit of a small-town Presbyterian church that grew from 20 to 140 in a village of 1,000 people. Sitting bedside with an 80-year-old WWII vet named Don as he decided whether to take his wife off life support. Getting furloughed with pay from a real-estate job the very month COVID hit ("COVID was my fault"), which gave him the runway to raise $175,000 to plant a church while national church giving was down 73%. Living with his pastor's family for three years — six people in one house, his whole family in one bedroom, kids on a bunk bed — while serving as the setup-and-tear-down guy for a church plant in Orange County.And then, the philosophy that emerged from all of it: dropping his church-planting networks because their "booster rocket" metaphor for launch teams didn't sit right, refusing to build a brand, and insisting that people ARE the mission — not a means to grow one.They talk about: 🏚 Pastoring a toxic Presbyterian church at 24 (and growing it 7x) 🏥 The hospital moment that reframed what ministry is really about 🍪 Baking cookies while everyone else made COVID contingency plans 🛏 Six people, one house, three years — and one bedroom for a family of four 🗺 Choosing Milwaukee with a dollar-store map and a prayer 🛍 The TJ Maxx security guard moment God used to say "here" 💸 Raising $175K during COVID when U.S. giving was down 73% 🚀 Why he refuses the "booster rocket" model of church planting 🙏 "You can't get a miracle without putting yourself in a position to need one" 💰 Tithing weekly from the church back INTO the church 📜 The dream of one day writing to City House Church like Paul wrote to EphesusThis episode is for the church planter tired of the playbook, the pastor drowning in the tension between the auditorium and the hospital room, and anyone who needs a reminder that the mission was never numbers — it was always people.Because Sunday's always coming, and we're all in this together.Connect with Mike & City House Church🏛 cityhouse.church📱 @cityhousechurch on Instagram👤 @michaelorta on Instagram 📍 123 E State St — downtown MilwaukeeExtras (Want More?)📸 Follow us on Instagram: @sundayscomingpodcast📬 Email us your guest ideas: hello@sundayscomingpodcast.com⭐️ Leave a review and share the show with your team!