The Ferment Podcast - Conversations About Worship And Transformation

As we take our mid-season break for the month of July, we have hand-picked some of our favorite episodes from season one! We'll be releasing these curated archive episodes on Mondays and Thursdays. We’ll be back with brand new episodes on Monday, August 3rd!   On this premiere episode of the Ferment Podcast Adam sits down with David Ruis, well-known songwriter, worship leader, pastor, and creative thinker. David is the author of many beloved worship songs sung all over the world (You're Worthy Of My Praise (I Will Worship), Every Move I Make, Sweet Mercies) and has spent many years ministering and working on social justice initiatives in Kathmandu, Hollywood, and among First Nations people in his native Canada.  

As we take our mid-season break for the month of July, we have hand-picked some of our favorite episodes from season one! We'll be releasing these curated archive episodes on Mondays and Thursdays. We’ll be back with brand new episodes on Monday, August 3rd!   Tina Colón Williams is an accomplished vocalist, immigration attorney, and worship pastor. She and her husband Josh lead the Elm City Vineyard church in shadow of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Tina's powerful vocals are featured on the last two Vineyard Soul releases - We Are Ready and Generous God.

As we take our mid-season break for the month of July, we have hand-picked some of our favorite episodes from season one! We'll be releasing these curated archive episodes on Mondays and Thursdays. We’ll be back with brand new episodes on Monday, August 3rd!   Jared Boyd is a pastor, spiritual director, and founder of The Order of Sustainable Faith, a missional monastic expression of the Vineyard Church.  In addition to his role in Sustainable Faith, Jared is Pastor at Franklinton Abbey and is part of The Society of Vineyard Scholars.    In this rich episode, Jared and Adam dig deep into the topic of discernment and explore the benefits of spiritual direction and a contemplative life. Jared is a deep well and this episode is overflowing with practical wisdom for the long-term life of faith.    For more information about The Order of Sustainable Faith visit: https://www.sustainablefaith.com/

This episode is part of our new series, Black Voices In The Vineyard, which features interviews with Black leaders from around the Vineyard movement.  Kim McNeal and her husband have lived in Raleigh, NC for over 20 years, but they are proud natives of the “City of Brotherly Love,” Philadelphia, PA (#goeagles). Presently, Kim works as financial literacy educator at a non-profit and serves as an elder and worship leader at Raleigh Vineyard Church.  On this inspiring episode Kim shares her journey of faith, beginning with a seminal moment of seeing Aretha Franklin perform when Kim was only 5 years old to the start of her life following Jesus in college. Kim has spent many years in both the white and black Church, bringing with her helpful and challenging insights into journeying together as the people of God from "every tribe, tongue, and nation."

Today we have another edition of our “conversations” series with Adam & Heather Russell.  2020 has been a wild year to say the least. On today's episode Adam and Heather provide some helpful pastoral reflection after the first six months of this crazy year.

John Barnett is a veteran in Vineyard Worship known for his songs “Father of Lights” and “Holy and Anointed One,” as well as his trademark beard.  He is a worship leader, songwriter, mentor, and teacher, and his songs have become standards in churches around the world.  He and his wife Marie (author of “Breathe”) carry a passion for traveling the country to train up young worship leaders, sharing their unique experiences and stories of the Vineyard Movement.  John and Marie live in Montana where they enjoy being parents and grandparents, and living the country life.   On this wide-ranging episode, John shares stories from the earliest days of Vineyard Worship working with founder John Wimber and producer Randy Rigby.  John provides words of fatherly wisdom for those currently involved in worship ministry trying to navigate the ever-changing world of the Church, our culture, and their intersection with the music industry. This is an entertaining and rich episode!

This episode is part of our new series, Black Voices In The Vineyard, which features interviews with black leaders from around the Vineyard movement.  Gary Dawkins is a site pastor at the Vineyard Church in Syracuse, NY. On this challenging episode, Gary and our host Adam Russell tackle larger themes of systemic racism in our society.  This episode culminates with a discussion on how to frame our response within the context of the Kingdom of God.

This re-broadcast episode is part of our new series, Black Voices In The Vineyard, which features interviews with Black leaders from around the Vineyard movement.  Josh Williams is the Lead Pastor of the Elm City Vineyard in New Haven, CT and serves on the Executive Board for Vineyard USA. Originally from Iowa, Josh moved to New Haven to attend Yale and later Yale Divinity School where he earned his M.Div. He was the first intern at the Elm City Vineyard where he started prayer groups on Yale’s campus and established and grew a connection with Agape Church for the Housed and Unhoused. He served as a campus minister at Yale for InterVarsity before becoming ECV’s first full-time Lead Pastor in 2014. He currently lives with his wife Tina and their daughter Zoe in the Edgewood neighborhood of New Haven. In this episode, Josh and our host Adam Russell discuss Josh's reluctant journey into pastoral ministry from his small town Iowa roots to Yale Divinity School. This wide-ranging conversation covers a lot of helpful ground from the power of ministering together with your spouse (Josh's wife is Tina Colón Williams, vocal phenom and previous Ferment podcast guest) to learning to preach like a worship leader to the concept of worship as protest.

This re-broadcast episode is part of our new series, Black Voices In The Vineyard, which features interviews with Black leaders from around the Vineyard movement.  Shyla and Leon Powell are this week's guests. Leon is the worship pastor at the Vineyard Church in Syracuse, NY, and Shyla leads worship at the Syracuse Vineyard as well as works as a clinical therapist with the Salvation Army. This conversation runs the gamut — from personal stories about growing up Black in predominately white environments to the blessings and challenges of leading worship together as a married couple. Both Shyla and Leon share some important personal insights from their own lives as well as hopes for the growing multi-ethnic Church experience.

This episode is part of our new series, Black Voices In The Vineyard, which features interviews with Black leaders from around the Vineyard movement.  Joshua Miller is a pastor, worship leader, and songwriter in Lancaster, California. Joshua's powerful voice was featured on Vineyard Worship's first two singles of 2019, ALL THE SAME & YOU'RE CARRYING ME. On this re-broadcast episode Joshua recounts his story of abandoning faith at a young age to pursue a life of crime and violence, and eventually finding his way back through dramatic encounters with the Living God. Joshua also shares great insight into the local church's journey into a broader multi-cultural worship expression.