Igniting Imagination

“This place makes me feel human again” is a phrase often heard at Galveston Central Church from people at radically different ends of the socioeconomic spectrum. Being a part of the community grounds people in the truth that they belong to each other. It is not too much to say that this conversation with Rev. Michael Gienger will make you feel human again. We talk with Michael about the church’s transformation from transactional ministry to relational ministry, the systemic impact the congregation is having on the city’s approach to homelessness, the improbable friendships that are probable at Central, and the fruit of scrappiness that churches are discovering as they try ministry in new ways. What you’ll hear from Michael is not just an inspired vision for being the church; you will also experience his authentic love for Jesus and tenacity for the poor that will leave you filled with real hope for what God is doing right now in and through leaders and congregations. Glory be!Quotations“It just became very obvious that with our little teeny tiny church we were never going to be able to do big things that God had in store for us unless we chose to partner with other organizations and utilize their gifts and graces. And our name didn't need to be on everything.” (15:23)“What Central has done really well is fostering improbable friendships. Really what's happening here is we’re getting out of a transactional model, a social service model, that's based on hierarchies of the haves and the have nots.” (16:52)“Our kitchen feeds hundreds of people every week, but when you walk into the kitchen I don't think you can tell who's somebody who slept on the beach last night, who's a UTMB student, and who's a congregant that showed up.” (18:49)“We have this wonderful mix of people that are all serving together, that are learning from each other and are starting with what's right with you rather than what's wrong with you. We're not trying to fix people, we're just trying to have this tenacious solidarity with each other.” (19:02)“It's hard to follow Jesus to live the full life that God's called us to if you don't have access to medical care, or if you don't have access to food or whatever else you need.” (22:01)“My role is to help people come along and understand just a different way of being in the world. I’m convinced when people are met with that kind of love, when they get to see their neighbor up close, that’s really where transformation happens.” (29:03)“If we're going to be in solidarity with the divine, it means solidarity with the poorest among us because this seems to be where God shows up.” (38:15)We discuss:The journey that led Michael to Galveston Central Church and his innovative approach to ministry. (7:10)The challenges of restarting a church that had been around for 130 years that is averse to change and doesn’t have many resources. (9:50)Reopening Galveston Central Church with an eye for who they hadn't been in ministry with before. (12:10)Accomplishing what God had in store for the church required partnering with other organizations and not worrying about who gets credit. (15:19)Michael’s innovative approach to ministry, including fostering friendships, moving away from a transactional model, and partnering with other organizations. (16:28)Flattening power dynamics with monthly listening sessions to really understand the community’s needs and following their lead to meet those needs. (17:41)Central’s innovative clinic where the patients are in charge and the doctors and nurses and social workers and others who come are the guests. (19:40)Starting by caring for the whole person, weaving together their spiritual lives with their “actual” lives as a way to deepen their relationship with God. (21:11)Flipping hierarchies by moving from a model of believe first and then you can belong to belong first and the belief will come. (23:28)How people on all demographic sides at Central have told him that being at Central makes them “feel human again.” (26:01)The challenge of balancing their innovative ministry with expectations of the denomination and the neighborhood. (27:42)All the innovative ways they are finding to fund ministry, relying on the ways they are truly embedded in their community and being entrepreneurial. (29:57)The power of storytelling and how in addition to being pastor he is also chief story collector. (33:32)Sources of hope and creativity amidst all the many challenges the church has faced over the last three years. (41:44)About Michael GiengerRev. Michael Gienger, a community organizer and changemaker, is pastor at Galveston Central Church in Galveston, Texas and an ordained elder in the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He received his undergraduate degree in Religion, concentrating in Christian Ethics, from Baylor University, and his Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Michael is a co-founder of Galveston Housing Plus, a cofounding board member of Galveston CoCare, and a Curricula and Community Consultant for Project Curate.Galveston Central Church is a hybrid church plant/revitalization that is making space for hopeful skeptics and the spiritually homeless through a generous orthodoxy and focus on justice ministries. Since Michael joined Central in 2014, Central has transformed from a dying congregation to a thriving community. In addition to re-planting the church itself, Michael has been able to establish smaller "new faith communities" within the larger Central structure, including the Couch Surfers - a weekly surfing group. Michael helps congregations think through new ways of engaging with people outside of their community through nontraditional, creative, contextual expressions of "church."Show NotesRev. Michael Gienger is pastor at Galveston Central Church in Galveston, Texas. He is an ordained elder in the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He received his undergraduate degree in Religion, concentrating in Christian Ethics, from Baylor University, and his Master of Divinity from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. Michael is a co-founder of Galveston Housing Plus, a cofounding board member of Galveston CoCare, and a Curricula and Community Consultant for Project Curate.This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at Wesleyan Impact Partners. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders who are courageously doing God’s work in the world, partnering in a Spirit-led movement to bring about human flourishing grounded in love, generosity, and belonging.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes.

Expanding imagination for ministry can happen when you employ the FISHing differently framework developed by today’s inspired guest and 2023 Locke Innovative Leader, Rev. Dr. Sidney WIlliams. As the saying goes: “what got us here won’t get us there.” Instead of focusing purely on the financial capital needed to fund ministry, Sidney invites us to FISH differently than we ever have before, and harness the power of Faith capital, Intellectual capital, Social capital, and Human capital. If you are like the disciples who are tired of catching few fish, this episode will make you want to get back in the boat and try again with a Jesus-led and Spirit-driven invitation to fish differently for the sake of the kingdom.Quotations“Storytelling is a form of pastoral care. To get people to do things differently, they have to know you know their story, so that before we write the next chapter in this journey together, you know how we got here.” (12:37)“Churches that really excel in making an impact in their communities have created a safe space where people feel like their ideas will be heard and their differences are nurtured.” (17:15)“We've got pastors and bishops and church leaders and lay leaders who are focused on budgets and money as if that's the goal rather than the harvest. What I try to teach and preach is there is no shortage of money, but we have to focus on solving problems.” (25:47)“It's less about fixing people and more about asking, God, how can I partner with the people closest to the pain?” (29:18)“Greatness is not about how great the speech you give, how big the crowd you assemble, how much power you assemble in your community organizing. Greatness is what's replicable.” (40:30)“If we kind of blame the system it can almost give us a reason not to do the work as opposed to knowing we are a part of the system and asking how we can bring about justice and equity and mercy and love and grace and hope and those things that God is calling us to be.” (44:35)“Fishing differently is learning how to thread to needle in a way that you can put together a tapestry, a cloth of different fabrics that would probably never come together on their own and threading that fabric together in a way that comfort gives warmth and comfort to the people in our community who need it most.” (47:48)We discuss:Sidney’s journey from Wall Street to Fishing differently. (5:36)The FISHing Differently framework and how Sidney developed it. (9:54)Healing and pastoral care through storytelling. (12:37)Churches are part of the ecosystem that God has put in place. (17:36)Discerning purpose and measuring impact of a congregation. (23:54)Solving problems, finding funding, and partnering with communities. (28:31)How Sidney led the church to rebuild and reimagine ministry. (30:09)Partnerships to sustain ministry. (35:25)Changing systems from within and working with flawed systems. (39:28)Why calling everyone to a common table matters today. (47:05)About Sidney WilliamsRev. Dr. Sidney Williams, a social impact advisor and community builder, is President & CEO of Crossing Capital Group and Senior Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Morristown, New Jersey. Sidney is the author of Morning Meditations: 100 Days to Believing You’re Successful and Fishing Differently: Ministry Formation in the Marketplace. Through his FISHing Differently framework, he helps churches and nonprofits engage with impact investors to fund ministries that accelerate sustained thriving in underfinanced communities. Through his 30 year corporate and community development experience, Sidney has participated in over $10 billion in public equity and debt offerings, including working for leading Wall Street firms in New York City and helping to start several companies. Since 2005, Pastor Sidney has been training leaders of faith communities using his FISHing Differently framework. In addition to providing leadership development training for local churches, Pastor Sidney is an adjunct professor at Drew Theological Seminary and a Senior Lecturer at Payne Theological Seminary in Wilberforce, Ohio. He has also lectured in graduate business programs and taught corporate executives from Asia, Europe and the United States.His greatest joys in life include spending time with family, traveling, meeting new people, cooking, and learning how to greet people in their native tongue.Show NotesRev. Dr. Sidney Williams, a social impact advisor and community builder, is President & CEO of Crossing Capital Group and Senior Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Morristown, New Jersey. Sidney is the author of Morning Meditations: 100 Days to Believing You’re Successful and Fishing Differently: Ministry Formation in the Marketplace. Through his FISHing Differently framework, he helps churches and nonprofits engage with impact investors to fund ministries that accelerate sustained thriving in underfinanced communities.This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at Wesleyan Impact Partners. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders who are courageously doing God’s work in the world, partnering in a Spirit-led movement to bring about human flourishing grounded in love, generosity, and belonging.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes.

Why do we innovate? The goal is never innovation itself. As Rev. Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean says, “The goal is always loving people well.” This conversation is packed with insight and wisdom that gets to the heart of why innovation matters. We often feel pressure to innovate in big ways that make things bigger, faster, stronger but Kendra reminds us that the innovation present in the incarnation was smaller, slower, and more vulnerable. How can we cultivate a balance between prayerfully listening and holy impatience so that we meet people where they are and love them well? This conversation ignited our imagination for innovation in ministry–we can’t wait for you to hear it!  Quotations“We know we’re supposed to love our neighbor, but we don’t always know how to love well.” (8:29)“Social innovation is a way of making change that keeps human relationships at the center. We are creating new ways to relate to one another that are helpful and life giving and dignity restoring.” (11:38)“We don’t have to go out and look for people who need ministry. We just look around and figure out how God has called us to be Christ’s envoys in that setting.” (13:49) “We don’t want to make our goal innovation. We want to make our goal loving people well.” (16:03)“We often think about innovation as helping things get bigger, faster, and stronger. But in the incarnation, God got more limited. God got smaller, slower, and more vulnerable.” (25:18)“The innovation we are behind is about slowing things down, breaking things apart, making people more human and vulnerable.” (25:26)“The point is to disrupt and to re-enter our large systems with the perspective of love. There’s nothing more disruptive than sacrificial love.” (27:45)“There's nothing that gives me more hope than the young leaders who are out there. They have holy impatience in spades. They will make a hundred mistakes. They will jump the gun, and they will be eager and in their own way.  They are completely smitten with God and with the people who God has put on their path. It's really hard not to be hopeful when you get to work with young leaders.” (38:36)We discuss:Owen Ross shares what he means by “every church planting” (4:43)Kenda Creasy Dean on the point of innovation (10:27)Where the focus of the church needs to be (14:02)How innovation is connected with loving people well (17:30)The two things Kenda is hearing from leaders in the church right now (18:42)The role of connection and permission in innovation (21:18)Leading ministry that is responsive to the Spirit (22:32)Innovation that is centered in relationships and vulnerability (25:22)Learning to prayerfully listen (30:57)Discerning the difference God is calling us to make (33:44)Where Kenda draws the most hope (38:37)About Kenda Creasy DeanKenda Creasy Dean is the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained United Methodist pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. In addition to teaching in practical theology, education, and formation, Dean works closely with Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry and the Farminary. Dean is the author of numerous books on youth, church, and culture, the best known of which includes Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church,  Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church Eerdmans, and The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry with Ron Foster Upper Room, 1998).Kenda has directed numerous grants on youth, innovation, and the church, including The Zoe Project (2017-2021), and was co-director with Harold Masback of The Joy and Adolescent Faith and Flourishing Project through Yale’s Center for Faith and Culture. In 2013, she co-founded Ministry Incubators, Inc., an educational and consulting group that supports Christian social innovation and entrepreneurial ministries. A graduate of Wesley Theological Seminary, she served as a pastor in Virginia, Maryland, and New Jersey and as a campus minister in suburban Washington, D.C. before receiving her PhD from Princeton Seminary in 1997.Show NotesKenda Creasy Dean is the Mary D. Synnott Professor of Youth, Church, and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary and an ordained United Methodist pastor in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference. In addition to teaching in practical theology, education, and formation, Dean works closely with Princeton’s Institute for Youth Ministry and the Farminary. Dean is the author of numerous books on youth, church, and culture, the best known of which includes Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church.This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at Wesleyan Impact Partners. Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

In this engaging discussion, Pastah J, a passionate advocate for community engagement, shares his vision of the church leading the way in loving neighborhoods. He challenges the notion of God-forsaken places, emphasizing that it’s often the church that turns away from struggling areas. He urges listeners to recognize the importance of place and community in faith, stating that loving your neighborhood is as crucial as loving your neighbor. With a call to action, Pastah J invites everyone to actively engage in their local communities for God's glory.

Rosa Lee Harden, Episcopal priest and serial entrepreneur, says that a conversation about generosity should bring about the best in us. This conversation certainly does just that! Each minute with Rosa Lee is inspired and inspiring. Rosa Lee shares her journey of faith that led her to bring together her desire to follow Jesus with her financial savvy and to start SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) and Neighborhood Economics, both dedicated to bringing capital to neighborhoods that cannot normally access it and expanding the reach of impact investing. This conversation invites us to think deeply about how we invest our money. We may be born into a consumer economy, but we can think and live better and more in line with the economy God imagines. Rosa Lee’s authentic, wholehearted, and brilliant presence shines throughout this conversation and challenges us to let our faith formation change how we see and use our financial resources. Quotations“I cared more about following Jesus than loving Jesus. I was always wondering why did Jesus do something and how did that impact who we are today.” (5:58)“Impact investing, people investing in change, is a response to a moral hunger in the market.” (14:30)“Everybody knows, you scratch an impact investor and you have a faith story.” (15:15)“A conversation about generosity should bring about the best in us instead of the worst in us.” (17:30)“The people who live upstream from us determine the quality of the water in our river, and we determine the quality of the water in the river of the people downstream. So we are in it together.” (22:28)“When you dig into the traditional bank way of doing things and the traditional accounting way of doing things, folks on the ground, folks in the trenches, folks who are in need, know a whole lot more about how to manage money effectively than we do.” (32:57)“We want to open the eyes of people in the pews to get rid of that idea that when we're talking about being more generous, we’re not coming after your stuff, we’re saying that your stuff can participate in this new economy. Your stuff can be generative in a way that you actually don't lose anything and everybody gains.” (34:10)We discuss:Key moments in her formation as a follower of Jesus (5:38)How she became a leader at the intersection of faith and finance (8:30)Being called to become a priest while running the Mississippi Business Journal (10:08)Keeping meaning alive as a motive for impact investing (12:00)Jesus and our understanding of money (15:30)Why it’s so hard to talk about money from a biblical, theological frame (16:30)The challenge of preaching about money (19:00)Biblical and theological threads that have guided her work (20:53)Her work with Neighborhood Economics (24:00)Building innovative loans funds by listening to people on the ground who are closest to the challenges (33:00)The relationship between Christian formation and our every-day relationship with money (38:47)Paying attention to the ways in which how you spend your money in your community can improve your community (43:19)How to think differently despite the fact that we are born into a consumer economy (47:30)How she’s being formed currently and how that is making a difference for her and in her work (49:52)About Rosa Lee HardenThe Rev. Canon Rosa Lee Harden is an Episcopal priest and self-described serial-entrepreneur. She is executive producer of Neighborhood Economics, and a founder of SOCAP, both dedicated to bringing capital to neighborhoods that cannot normally access it and expanding the reach of impact investing.Her vocational life has included being publisher of weekly newspapers, trade journals, a business journal and CEO of a ‘Silicon Valley’ start-up. She was ordained as an Episcopal Priest in 2000 and served as Vicar of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in San Francisco for ten years. She also served as the Canon for Money and Meaning at All Soul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Asheville, NC. In 2003, she developed ‘via media,’ a video curriculum about basic theology for the Episcopal church, at a time when the church was under great stress. Purchased by more than 1000 churches, it brought healing and connection across the denomination. In 2008, she and her husband, Kevin Jones, launched the global SOCAP (Social Capital Markets) conference, the conference at the intersection of money and meaning. In its 11th year, SOCAP18 brought more than 3,000 people from more than 60 countries to San Francisco to accelerate the good economy. Now, Rosa Lee is leading F+F: Reimagining God’s Economy, a conference to enable the varied and disconnected tribes of the Christian church to learn a language for making theological sense of money and its uses. Show NotesRev. Canon Rosa Lee Harden, Episcopal priest and serial entrepreneur, is executive producer of Neighborhood Economics, a founder of SOCAP and a leader of F+F: Reimagining God’s EconomyThis podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Mark DeYmaz, founder of Mosaix Church and the Mosaix Global Network, passionately articulates how the multi-ethnic church is the visible sign of the Gospel. In this wide-ranging conversation, Mark shares the origin story of Mosaix Church and his conviction that “if a people group or an individual is missing, then we’re actually missing part of the beauty of what God is revealing.” From a gripping football metaphor to scriptural analysis and an in-depth reflection about the economic and demographic challenges for churches today, this fast-moving, hopeful, and challenging conversation is not to be missed! Quotations“Formation isn’t a Christian idea. It’s a human one. All of us are always being formed.” (1:14)“In the New Testament, men and women, Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor all walk, work and worship God together as one, in local churches.” (11:59)“If the Kingdom of Heaven is not segregated, why on earth is the church?”(14:12)“We live in a Matthew 5:16 century” (19:49)“Jesus didn’t say let them hear your good words. He said let them see your good works.” (19:50)“In the 21st century you have to get people comfortable living with tension.” (35:01)"So it's not about size, it's about influence. The greater diversity, the greater your influence, comfort versus tension in the 20th century. You make people feel comfortable at church in the 21st. You gotta get people comfortable with tension, right? Because that's where the unity is. And the, the, the picture of that to me is Jesus with his arms outstretched dying on the cross, lifted up to draw all people himself."“We are called to be ministers of reconciliation and ambassadors of peace.” (41:45)“We have to stand on our faith, our stewardship, our love, and just go for it.” (43:28)We Discuss:The complicated relationship between what’s happening in the church today and the role of formation (2:35)We have to consistently ask who we are seeking to become and what is asked of us. (3:24)If we are not intentional about how we are formed, we will default to being formed by the influences around us. (4:08)Starting and growing Mosaic Church following a New Testament model (9:00)Mosaic Church functions like a football team – different teams all working together to meet the particular challenges of its congregation (16:35)How Mosaic Church blends spiritual, nonprofit and for-profit strategies to thrive (19:11)The credit that Mosaic Church gets is to the glory of God (20:51)Their drive to advance the cause of Christ by meeting the needs of their community led them to innovate their business model (23:30)Metrics for the church in the 21st century (30:17)We have to show pastors how to stop just managing decline (31:14)In the 21st century the key purpose of the church is to help people get comfortable living in tension (35:01)Regardless of the challenges, and emboldened by the Gospel, we have to act out of faith and optimism (43:28)About Mark DeYmazMark DeYmaz is a thought-leading writer and recognized champion of the Multi-Ethnic Church Movement. Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network, and currently serves as its president and the convener of the National Multi-ethnic Church Conference which occurs every three years. He has written several books, including his most recent, The Coming Revolution in Church Economics, as well as Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community. His book Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award in 2008.Show NotesMore information about Mark DeYmaz can be found on his website.Mark DeYmaz is the author of several books including The Coming Revolution in Church Economics, Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community and Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic ChurchThis podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Joe Park, CEO of Horizons Stewardship, discusses creating cultures of generosity. He emphasizes the connection between generosity and spiritual growth, shares practical ideas for fostering generosity in congregations, and highlights the importance of storytelling and forming financial responsibility teams in churches.

This is a first for us: we recorded this bonus episode on location at a gathering we hosted in Austin, Texas! You’ll hear from eleven amazing leaders and practitioners of physical and digital ministry, or “phygital” as we’ve now learned to say. These pioneers in digital ministry will share their experiences, questions, and ideas for what the digital space makes possible for formation. From designing apps that reach younger generations to exploring virtual reality in the Metaverse, and so much more, this episode is interesting, informative, and inspiring! In this episode, we discuss: What formation is and what the digital space makes possible? (3:20)Three experiences of digital ministry: worship, an app, and campus ministry (18:38)Experiments in the Metaverse and the possibilities of virtual reality (34:36)Ethics and digital ministry (44:37)Reaching the unchurched or dechurched in digital space (51:54)Quotes:“I think the church is supposed to be the one making that clarion call to adventure for people to accept and then we're supposed to equip them along the way to launch them back into the world they came from so they can awaken others. … All the things that happen along the way take us from walking towards Jesus to walking with Jesus.” -Christian WashingtonThere's an app that you can download that actually wakes you up inside of a homeless person's tent. It starts with 360 degree recording of a real person's tent being arrested and dragged out of her tent. Then it fades to black and then you open up in a virtual environment, it's still her tent, but you can reach out and grab her mug, and then it plays an audio story of where the mug came from. You can pick up her journal and flip through it, or you can pick up her family photo and it flashes back to a memory of her and her family. It’s immersive, empathy building storytelling where you take somebody and transport them into somebody else's life, experiencing what other people are going through and building empathy across people groups.” -Dan BrackenBios of GuestsRachel BillupsRachel Billups is a visionary, leader, speaker and author. Currently she serves as Senior Pastor at New Albany United Methodist Church, New Albany/Columbus, Ohio. Rachel draws on her love of people and passion to explore new venues for ministry and mission. Rachel is an ordained Elder within the United Methodist Church and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Bible/Religion and History from Anderson University and a Master of Divinity Degree from Duke Divinity School. Rachel is a popular speaker for national gatherings and has recently authored BE BOLD: Finding Four Fierce published by Abingdon Press. You can find her on social media at: @rlbillups.Dan BrackenDan has been on staff at Ginghamsburg Church since 2006, where he serves as Ginghamsburg’s communication director. Dan also leads the Ginghamsburg Design Studio, the church’s in-house creative media resourcing team where he practices all aspects of communication – video production, graphic design, social media, website development, app creation, creative storytelling, marketing and wayfinding.Phil DiekePhil is a Deacon in the North Texas Conference, currently serving as the Associate Pastor of Discipleship and Digital Ministry at White Rock UMC in East Dallas. He chairs the Board of Church and Society for the North Texas Conference, is a facilitator for Project Unity's Together We Dine, sits on the Executive Board of Texas Impact and the Leadership Council for Faith Forward Dallas. Phil believes technology, like human nature, has the potential to do good and all kinds of harm in this world, and creation as a whole. Rohini Drake Rohini Drake is the Director of Welcoming and Online Ministries at First UMC Richardson. Rachel GilmoreRachel is a former Peace Corp Volunteer who spent 10 years as a church planter and spiritual entrepreneur in Virginia Beach before serving as the Director of Recruiting, Assessing and Training of Church Planters for the United Methodist Church at Path 1/Discipleship Ministries. She now serves as the Director of New and Vital Faith in the Desert Southwest Conference and lives with her husband, two kids and two dogs in Phoenix, Arizona. She has also authored two books and launched two podcasts and co-founded Intersect: a Co-Planting Network in the fall of 2021.Aaron ManesAaron Manes is a Spiritual Director, Enneagramist and haphazard participant in spiritual practices. Aaron is the Director of Online Ministry and Spiritual Engagement at Arapaho United Methodist Church where he produces content and leads small groups. Aaron is also a trained and practicing Spiritual Director and is nearing completion of a Somatic Inquiry certification (a meditative prayer practice using the body as a guide for healing). Matt RawleMatt is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and he loves meditating on scripture, listening to the heart of God, and inspiring people to build God’s kingdom through radical love. He currently serves as Lead Pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Bossier City, LA. He has authored eleven studies through Abingdon Press (Including Jesus Revealed, The Grace of Les Miserables, The Redemption of Scrooge, and Faith of a Mockingbird). Matt is a Louisiana delegate to the General and Jurisdictional Conferences, and the LA Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. He has a BA in Music from LSU and a MDiv from Duke Divinity School. His website is http://www.MattRawle.com.Derrick ScottDerrick is first a follower of Jesus. He seeks to offer everything he does, all that he has and all that he is in response to all God has done for him. His passion is raising up a new generation of leaders and laborers who will live as disciples of Jesus Christ to transform the world. Derrick believes all of life flows from our spiritual being. He believes the deeper we go into understanding who we are as souls, the more we are able to experience life in its fullness. Wherever he goes, his goal is to inspire individuals to steward this moment we are in by holding space for all to bring their true selves. Jeremy SteeleJeremy Steele is a writer, technologist, conspirator and spiritual entrepreneur who refuses to give up on Christianity. He is the Founder of the Zoay app and currently works two jobs as the Church Translator for the Changemaker initiative in Silicon Valley and as the Executive director of the Wesley Foundation in Mobile, Al. Jeremy also consults with digital ministry innovators and churches on developing new ministry and scaling up their digital strategy to impact more people and reach sustainability. You can find more about him and his work at Jeremy-Steele.comChristian WashingtonChristian Washington serves as lead pastor of Upper Room Heights, an intentionally multiethnic community of Chapelwood UMC. Prior to his work in ministry Christian started REAL Coaching, Incorporated (realcoaching.net) in 2004 as the first “rapid solutions” consulting practice that focuses on faith-based and non-profit organizations. Much in demand as a public speaker, Christian is a native of Los Angeles (It’s true, he is from Compton!) and enjoys inspiring leaders to make a significant impact on the world. He studied theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and management science at the University of California in San Diego. Christian sits on numerous non-profit boards, is a Project Curate Lily Fellow and a Fellow of the Loyola University Institute of Politics. John WhirledgeJohn believes he was placed in the world by God to be a shepherd of people. He has served churches as a youth pastor, worship pastor and now finds himself immersed in all things related to digital ministry. His greatest joy comes from seeing people connect with Jesus, wherever they are physically, spiritually, emotionally, or anywhere else in between. Show NotesThis podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Humans are equipped with an innate capacity for spirituality and our brains become more resilient and robust the more we engage with spirituality. This groundbreaking research from Dr. Lisa Miller has enormous implications for the church. Dr. Miller joins our podcast to make a case for why the church is desperately needed today, not just as an antidote to the “diseases of despair,” but also as a key and necessary ingredient for human thriving. From her own personal journey of spiritual awakening to her passionate plea to bring religion back into the public square, Dr. Miller shares insight and inspiration that is not to be missed. Quotations“Sometimes God tells you when there’s only one answer and that answer is ‘yes!’” (07:12)“Just as we have two eyes, two ears and a nose, every single baby is born with a capacity for spiritual life” (12:01) (Quote for Graphic)“We can no longer locate diagnosis, suffering, or despair at the level of the individual. This is a culture and climate crisis. Our entire society needs to put our spiritual heart back into the center of who we are.” (23:30)“I feel that our culture at large is in a state of developmental depression. This is the knock at the door for our own spiritual awakening and deepening.” (31:10)“The greatest gift that I wish for my children is not that they ace AP Chemistry, it's that they can develop a sacred relationship through which they find guidance in very unpredictable waters.” (38:56)We discuss:Dr. Miller’s ‘aha’ moment that led her to study spirituality and the brain (5:23)Key research about the brain not to be missed (9:00)Our capacity of spiritual life is one third innate and two-thirds environmental (14:40)Why we can’t throw religion out of the public square (15:50)Dr. Miller’s work with the military to integrate spiritual life into the armed forces (19:30)The impact of spiritual decline on the mental well-being of our youth (21:30)The path forward out of the epidemic of despair among young people (26:20)Research insights about the impact of spirituality on children and young people (36:38)We are all born with the ability to see and know God (42:30)About Lisa MillerLisa Miller, Ph.D., is the New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain, and a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She is the founder and director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program and research institute in spirituality and psychology, and has held over a decade of joint appointments in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical School. Dr. Miller has published more than one hundred peer-reviewed articles in leading journals in leading journals such as The American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is also Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality and Founding Co-Editor-in-Chief of Spirituality in Clinical Practice.Show NotesLisa Miller is a professor in the Clinical Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University and Founder and Director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. Find out more about her work at her work with the awakened brain and the spiritual child at her website.Lisa Miller is author of The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life and the New York Times bestseller The Spiritual Child: The New Science on Parenting for Health and Lifelong Thriving.This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Our podcast aims to “spark the Spirit within you” and what you will hear in this conversation with Anne Snyder is a person whose spirit is on fire for something bigger than herself. What an inspired and inspiring time we had with Anne Snyder–we can’t wait for you to listen! From her vulnerable sharing of her own formation story to her reflection on why institutions matter today and how we can become whole people, Anne offers us so much to be hopeful for. In addition to her wise and thoughtful articulation of these ideas, Anne also shares inspiring stories of the everyday heroes she’s encountered who humbly bring people together, working to be “agents of repair” in their institutions, their neighborhoods, and on their front porches. Enjoy this dynamic conversation, share with others, and keep the conversation going! Thanks for listening.Quotations“Love, to be, to have integrity, has to suffer with.” (12:34)“If we can name some of the deeper principles at work in a healthy organization that save people and provide a bridge in times of displacement and loss, maybe that's where we need to begin in the century of so much institutional distrust. (15:01)“Institutions are the bridge for us between individual self-actualization and contribution and understanding our role within something larger.” (19:56)“We awaken to the deepest truth of things always in dialogue, and institutions are the containers that allow us to experience that dialogue, even when it's discordant.” (21:21)“I long to be welcomed into an alternative reality through words and bread and hugs, and tears and shared prayers.” (49:00)We discuss:Anne’s formation story (12:00)Why institutions bring important gifts in these challenging times (14:53)The deeper stream of change and growth available to us (19:30)What it means to to be a whole human (23:30)Positive change through institutionalists with a revolutionary impulse (29:50)Every day, people “suffer their way to serve our world and keep our democracy alive” (37:18)How institutions can be life-giving and uniting (38:00)The mystery of God plays out in the mix people, neighborhoods and churches (45:05)Anne’s current formation lies in the tensions of being a “weaver of people.” (48:03)Being a woman in a public and the role of the feminine spirit in the world (52:28)About Anne SnyderAnne Snyder is the editor in chief of Comment Magazine and oversees Comment’s partner project Breaking Ground. She's the host of the podcast The Whole Person Evolution and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year that came out in January of 2022. Her book, The Fabric of Character: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Renewing our Social and Moral Landscape was published in 2019.Before leading Comment, she directed the Philanthropy Round Table Character Initiative, a program seeking to help foundations and business leaders strengthen the “middle ring” of morally formative institutions. In addition to regular pieces for Comment, Anne has also published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Washington Post, and Bittersweet Monthly, and her writings are available at her site, Souls and Silos.Show NotesAnne Snyder is editor in chief of Comment MagazineAnne Snyder is the author of The Fabric of Character: A Wise Giver’s Guide to Renewing our Social and Moral Landscape (2019) and co-editor of Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year (2022). This podcast is brought to you by the Leadership Ministry team at TMF and Wesleyan Investive. Leadership Ministry connects diverse, high-capacity leaders in conversations and environments that create a network of courage, learning, and innovation in order to help the church lean into its God-appointed mission.Subscribe to our Leadership Ministry emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode’s topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?