Melisa Keller is the Director of Events & Project Management for Vineyard Worship. In her role, Melisa oversees Vineyard Worship Leader Retreats and Rise events, and serves as project manager for all products and releases.    In this episode, Melisa recounts her faith journey growing up in the Vineyard as the daughter of drummer Bill Dragoo, who was featured on many early Vineyard recordings of the ‘90s.  Adam and Melisa then discuss the role of the prophetic in worship leadership highlighting the need to pastor the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our gatherings.    Melisa attends the Vineyard church in Fullerton, CA where she helps oversee worship.

This special edition of the podcast is entitled “So You've Turned 35” featuring a candid and helpful conversation between our host Adam Russell and his wife Heather about this overlooked stage of life.   This is an important episode discuss both the pitfalls and opportunities we face when life is at its fullest. Whether you are in this life stage, not quite yet, or even beyond it, there is gold in pastoral wisdom shared in this episode.

Sarah Pemberton is a worship leader, songwriter, and — alongside her husband Grant — co-pastors the Nashville Vineyard in Tennessee.     In this episode Sarah shares the origins of the Nashville Vineyard, from planting in the basement of a restaurant to acquiring the second oldest church building in Nashville. An added anecdote involves an American Idol finalist and a renovation television show!   Adam and Sarah then dive into her prolific and prophetic songwriting practice, pulling out both inspiring and practical insights for creatives in any field.

Sam Yoder is a chiropractor in Campbellsville, KY and the author of the modern Vineyard hymns “All Things Rise,” “Wonderful,” and the upcoming Vineyard Worship single,  “Jesus Beautiful.”   In this wide-ranging conversation, Sam shares about his journey - from being raised Old Order Amish to discovering the music of Bob Dylan and the writing of Carl Sagan.  Sam and Adam cover various topics including the experience of the immigrant and outsider in society, the songwriting genius of Dylan, and Sam's deep love of space and the universe that inspired his upcoming album, The Reaches, featuring songs about black holes and other surprises.    Sam is an inspiring and curious person who pursues his creative life with ferocity. This is a fascinating conversation you won't want to miss.

Josh Ray is a producer, worship leader, and the owner of Anchour Studios in Windham, Maine. In addition to running Anchour Studio he serves as worship pastor at the Vineyard Church in Mechanic Falls, Maine. Josh and his wife Ryan have five children and live a very full life surrounded by friends and family. In this unique episode Josh and Adam dive into the world of music production, exploring what makes music truly great and why it is important to our life of worship.

Paul Anleitner is a worship pastor based in Minneapolis, MN and host of the Deep Talks podcast - Exploring Theology and Meaning-Making.    It was during college that Paul realized his calling to help people experience the Spirit of God through song and teaching. After his freshman year, he gave up his basketball scholarship to begin his journey with God in ministry. It led him through ups and downs, victories and disappointments, moments of running hard and moments of running away, leading worship, church planting, training to be a pastor, and finishing his degree to become a teacher.   In 2006, he married the girl of his dreams, moved to Minnesota and got involved with cross-denominational gatherings of worship and prayer both locally and nationally. He served as regional director for an international worship and prayer ministry and traveled the country meeting with pastors, worship leaders and musicians and helped launch city-wide prayer and worship events.   In 2009, he joined the staff of Redeeming Love Church in St. Paul, MN as their worship director and is still serving there today.His is on the staff of Redeeming Love Church in St. Paul, MN as their worship director.   In this episode Paul shares his journey, beginning in the charismatic movement and moving through various other denominations — all the while broadening and deepening his experience of God in worship and developing a deep love for the whole Church.   

John Kim is an Investor, entrepreneur, and co-pastor of The166, a Vineyard church plant in the Hell's Kitchen section of midtown Manhattan, NY.    After graduating from Harvard in 1995, John received his Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 1998.  John joined MSD Capital in 1998, serving as partner from 2001 to 2008. He then founded the Karamaan Group —a long-term investing firm that takes ownership interest in public and private companies.   John resides in Manhattan with his wife, Kara, and son, Samuel. The Kims are one of three founding families of Coram Deo: A House of Worship, Prayer and Entrepreneurship, located in midtown Manhattan.    In this unique episode, John shares his journey of being a Jesus follower in the fast-paced NYC business world, surviving with his faith intact and actually finding his God-breathed vocation in the midst of it. This is a deeply encouraging conversation for anyone seeking to walk out their calling, whether inside or outside the walls of the Church.

Carol Wimber-Wong was an early Vineyard pioneer and, along with her late husband John Wimber, helped birth the Vineyard Movement. Carol has been closely involved in the development of the Vineyard for over 40 years.   In this broad conversation, Adam and Carol discuss her journey of faith and the deep impact the Quakers had on both her and John and the foundation of the Vineyard Movement. They then dive into her perspective on the history of the Vineyard and her dreams for the future Church.

Ray Hollenbach is an author, communicator, and pastor from Campbellsville, KY, and has written extensively about faith and culture for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, ChurchLeaders.com, SermonCentral.com, Relevant Magazine, My Faith Radio, and Collide Magazine.   Ray earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from Illinois State University and a master's degree in theology from Campbellsville University, and is currently a lecturer in theology at Campbellsville University.  As an author, he has penned several books including Deeper Grace, a book designed to widen our understanding of grace from "salvation" to transformation, The Impossible Mentor, a book on the foundations of discipleship, and a small collection of very short stories addressing spiritual themes titled The Man with All the Answers (and other spiritual stories).   After pastoring for 15 years, he is now passionate about helping people and organizations navigate change, and working with church leaders to focus on spiritual formation to create church-wide cultures of discipleship.   In this episode of the podcast, Adam and Ray discuss Ray's journey in the discipleship movement of the 70s & 80s, to a Holy Spirit-inspired re-evaluation of his entire life, and back to a life radically surrendered to making disciples in the local church.

Audrey Assad is a recording artist, songwriter, and record producer from Nashville, TN. Her debut album, The House You’re Building, became the 2010 Christian Album of the Year on Amazon and the Christian Breakthrough Album of the Year on iTunes. That success led to collaborations and tours with Chris Tomlin, Tenth Avenue North, and Jars of Clay.    In this episode, Audrey recounts her journey through multiple Christian denominations before landing in the Catholic Church. The conversation continues by diving deep into Audrey's creative process. She and Adam also discuss the under-representation of women in the production world as well as the over-emphasis on appearance in the Christian music industry.