Church is Changing

This Easter season, Paul Nixon gathered four pastors from four western conferences in The United Methodist Church whose churches shared some powerful things in common. These churches live a different narrative than so many in this season where church sanctuaries are mostly emptier than pre-Covid and where disaffiliation troubles are distracting from the work of local ministry. These churches are remarkably different in terms of the communities they serve, but they all are growing as they discover the power of the Christian good news in the lives of their people and neighbors.

In this episode, Paul Nixon visits with Salina, Kansas pastors Nick Talbott and Eric Meyer, who are partnering two churches with Kansas Wesleyan University to totally revision their church’s ministries. Their work offers an example of a twenty-first century paradigm shift that is breathing new life into United Methodism in Salina and far beyond.

What do we have to unlearn in order to show up to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our midst? How does leadership shift when moving into a "new wineskin" church? How can we use the art of discernment to inform ministry engagement? These questions animate this conversation with Ray Altman. Ray is from North Central San Antonio in the Rio Texas Annual conference. He is a United Methodist pastor of the New Wineskins Micro Church Movement. You can find out more about New Wineskins at https://discovernewwineskins.org. You can contact Ray directly at rayjaltman@gmail.com.

How do ministries with Native Americans reveal how traditional evangelism and new church starts orient out of a colonial approach to ministry? And what does that call into question about how we "do" church or even if church really matters? Listen in on this engaging conversation with Rev. Dr. Allen Buck, pastor of Great Spirit United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon. Allen is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and is also the director of the Circle of Indigenous Ministries for the Greater Northwest area of the United Methodist church. You can find out more about Great Spirit at greatspiritpdx.com.

Nicole Reilley has done all sorts of things in ministry over the decades, with one continuous theme: everything she has touched has tended to thrive, including her suburban Los Angeles congregation during the pandemic. In this episode of Church is Changing, Paul Nixon interviews Nicole on what she is seeing and learning in the 2020s.

In this episode of Church is Changing, host Paul Nixon interviews Andy Fishburne, the Discipleship and Spiritual Formation Officer for the Methodist Church in Britain. We explore some new models for making discipleship tangible and practical for modern people. For more information on Fishburne's work: www.methodist.org.uk/discipleship.

In this New Year's episode of Church is Changing, hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock explore the big picture of the changes they saw globally in church life in 2022.

In this episode of Church is Changing, host Beth Estock interviews Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth, recently elected bishop in the Western Jurisdiction of the UMC and appointed to serve the Greater Northwest Area that includes the states of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In this podcast we move from the complexities of 21st century living to the simplicity of the core of the Gospel with the idea that innovation begins as a metanoia. This change of perspective unfolds through attending to relationships both in and outside the walls of the church. In essence, Bishop Bridgeforth invites us to look through the lens of honoring the love languages of the people we meet as a way to partner with the unfolding of God’s preferred future.

In this episode of Church is Changing, host Beth Estock talks with Brittany Isaac, the superintendent of the Lake North District in the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church. Brittany cut her ministry teeth as a scrappy church planter for the third site of Urban Village in Chicago twelve years ago. Now into her last full year as a district superintendent, she shares her perspective on what is needed both structurally and spiritually to support innovation and thrive in the Babylon of our day.

On this episode of Church is Changing, host Paul Nixon converses with both Kenda Dean of Princeton Theological Seminary and Michael Beck, Executive Director of Fresh Expressions United Methodist (FXUM). In this far-ranging conversation, Paul explores emerging trends in the Christian faith community with two leaders who work on the innovative front lines.