We Are Vineyard

Kirsten Schwartz, Director of Church Partnerships at Generous Giving, shares insights drawn from her journey in urban planning and faith. She discusses how personal tragedy shaped her path toward church leadership, highlighting the importance of a culture of generosity. Kirsten reveals a groundbreaking approach to fundraising that emphasizes joy and personal growth over traditional campaigns. She also shares her strategies for empowering churches and the transformative impact of the Journey of Generosity retreats on congregational giving and stewardship.

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay chats with Chris Jensen about how a blue-haired punk rock kid ended up in ministry, the prayer that interrupted his life, and learning to be himself in a secular work environment. Chris talks about becoming an organizational health consultant, the role of artificial harmony in the dysfunction of the Church, and markers of health he’s looking for when working with a team. Finally, Chris shares why he decided to work with the Vineyard, and what he’d like to say to Vineyard pastors.  Chris brings over 15 years of experience to his partnership with The Table Group. Whether he's working with a CEO and their leadership team, addressing groups of leaders during a conference or workshop, or counseling a client one-on-one, Chris brings his passion, enthusiasm and contagious optimism for organizational health to every client he touches. Currently, Chris works regularly with CEOs and executive teams in quickly and effectively applying the concepts related to organizational health. His clients span a broad spectrum of various industries, including aerospace, consumer goods, health care, technology, education and local churches. Chris has extensive first hand experience building high-performing teams by implementing the models in his own teams under pressure to produce results.  Prior to partnering with The Table Group, Chris worked for InsideTrack, a San Francisco based technology and service organization, in the enterprise education segment. Before that, he worked in the ministry for nearly 10 years in California. He received his degree in Biblical Studies from Patten University. Chris lives with his wife and five children in Portland, Oregon.    Show notes:  Vineyard USA’s Day of Giving 2025  The Table Group  5 Dysfunctions of a Team  The Advantage by Patrick M. Lencioni 

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, we are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! Rubén Quintero, leader of our Hispanic Association chats with Joel and Emmy Seymour about their visit to the US/Mexico border, Miguel Aviles about pastoring a predominantly immigrant Vineyard church, and Jimmy Reyes about the cultural differences in Hispanic and American churches, navigating a multilingual church, and maturing toward unity.  Joel Seymour serves as a Super Regional Leader for Vineyard USA.  Emmie Seymour is a junior studying nursing at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. She has a deep desire to combine healthcare and missions and feels a calling to become a medical missionary. Her love for the Vineyard runs deep - she grew up at the Lancaster Vineyard in Ohio, where she’s served in many roles over the years, from leading Alpha small groups to volunteering with kids and serving as a youth ambassador. Emmie completed the leadership track for Project Timothy in 2023, which helped shape her growth as a leader. Miguel Aviles serves as the lead pastor of La Viña Burnsville in Minnesota alongside his wife Rocio Hernandez. La Viña Burnsville is a vibrant and diverse community, representing people from 17 different Latin American countries and highlighting the cultural richness of the body of Christ. Additionally, the church is home to a flourishing Brazilian ministry, led by a dedicated team, which continues to grow and impact lives with the message of the Gospel. Jimmy Reyes is the lead pastor of the Valley Vineyard in Reseda, CA. He has helped plant two Viña communities in Los Angeles, produced 2 Spanish albums with Vineyard Worship, and led worship at the first Vineyard Hispanic Gathering in the 90’s as a teenager. He also currently serves Vineyard USA as an Area Leader in Southern California.    Show Notes:  Register for Vineyard USA’s Women’s Conference: More. Day of Giving 2025  Vineyard USA’s Hispanic Association  Vineyard USA celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Dr. Charles Montgomery, Jr. talks with Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin about when she first recognized she was called to leadership and the philosophy of redemptive leadership. Dr. Massie Martin also discusses how the Lord shapes us through the struggles and sacrifices of ministry, likening us to a piece of clay on the Potter’s wheel.  Rev. Dr. Nicole Massie Martin holds degrees from Vanderbilt University, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She is the Chief Operating Officer at Christianity Today and founder and Executive Director of Soulfire International Ministries. She is an accomplished writer and author, serves on various boards and councils, and leads the Grow Ministry at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church in Maryland. She and her husband, Mark, are proud parents to two amazing daughters.   Show Notes:  Register for Vineyard USA’s Women’s Conference: More. Nailing It by Nicole Massie Martin Nicolemassiemartin.com  sfiministries.org  Get a year of Christianity Today for free! 

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay and Dr. Charles Montgomery, Jr. talk about the preliminary work of the Associations, and how immersive experiences like Sankofa and a trip to the border wall of Mexico opened up opportunities for connection and sharing experiences. Charles also shares how the ordination process dovetails with the work of Associations to make more space at the table for historically underrepresented leaders, the opportunities created by clear systems, and how you can be praying for the Vineyard.    Charles A. Montgomery, Jr serves as the Associations Director for Vineyard USA. Charles also founded a successful multiethnic Campus (Vineyard Columbus East) and has pastored there since 2012. His passion is to develop Beloved Communities as espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, an alumnus of Charles’ alma mater, Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Charles has a B.A. in Mathematics from Morehouse, a Master of Divinity from Emory University (Ga) and a PhD in Ethical and Creative Leadership from Union Institute University (OH). He has earned several credentials in Diversity Training and is a Certified Spiritual Director through the Sustainable School of Faith. He considers his greatest accomplishment (ok, grace) being married to his childhood crush, Kimberly. Charles and Kimberly are avid Buckeye fans (Go Bucks!) and make their home in Columbus Ohio.   Show Notes:  Register for Vineyard USA’s Women’s Conference: More.  Tenx10 Undivided

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Caleb Maskell talks with Mark Labberton about the life of the mind and how it intertwines beautifully and necessarily with the practical aspects of life and ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit. Mark also shares some thoughts about the most helpful ways for pastors and leaders to prepare themselves educationally for the task before them, and some practical ways of creating frameworks for mental and theological flourishing.  Mark Labberton is the Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair Emeritus and Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Fuller Seminary. He served as Fuller’s fifth president through 2022, after being appointed to the position in 2013. As Fuller’s president, Dr. Labberton brought to his leadership a deep awareness of the urgency of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a passion for the vital role that Fuller Seminary plays in the enactment of that gospel. For Labberton, this urgency was informed by a sense of the critical and unique contribution Fuller is called to make to the global church. Mark was ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and began what was to become three decades of pastoral ministry—along the way, meeting and marrying his life partner, Janet Morrison Labberton. Labberton has been a popular and well-traveled speaker for years, and continues to speak in the US and internationally. In addition to publishing articles in various periodicals such as The Atlantic, Christianity Today, and others, he has authored or edited Still Evangelical? (2017); Called: The Crisis and Promise of Following Jesus Today (2014); The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor: Seeing Others Through the Eyes of Jesus (2010); and The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice (2007). He hosts the podcast Conversing from FULLER studio, where he speaks with a broad spectrum of leaders on critical issues of our day. Show Notes:  Register for Vineyard USA’s Women’s Conference: More.  Conversing with Mark Labberton  How a Thanksgiving Dinner Changed My Life Godly Ambition by Alister Chapman  Reading Revelation Responsibly by Michael J. Gorman

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay talks with Caleb Maskell about his role as AND of Theology and Education: the parts that have been more fun than he expected and those that have been difficult. They discuss the purpose and heart behind the ordination and bylaw process, the work of resourcing what we require of Vineyard pastors, and the challenge of taking into account the diverse needs of the 1200 currently ordained Vineyard pastors. Caleb also provides a look into the resourcing currently available, and a sneak peek into some of what’s coming soon.  Caleb Maskell is the Associate National Director of Theology and Education for Vineyard USA. Born in London, he immigrated with his family to New Jersey in 1986, at the age of nine. Caleb has been involved in leadership in the Vineyard movement for twenty-five years. After spending a gap year at the Toronto Airport Vineyard School of Ministry in 1995, he went to the University of Chicago to study theology, philosophy, and literature in the interdisciplinary undergraduate Fundamentals program. While there, he joined the core planting team of the Hyde Park Vineyard Church, where he served as a worship leader, a small group leader, a setter-up of chairs, and whatever else Rand Tucker asked him to do. After college, full of questions that had emerged from the beautiful collision of serious academic study and the practical realities of church planting, Caleb enrolled in the M.Div. program at Yale Divinity School. For four years, he immersed himself in the study of theology, church history, and scripture, while also leading worship and working with middle school and high school youth groups.  After graduating in 2004, he worked for three years as the Associate Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University. In 2007, along with his wife Kathy and their friends Matt and Hannah Croasmun, Caleb planted Elm City Vineyard Church in New Haven, Connecticut. That year, he also began a Ph.D. program at Princeton University, focusing on the history of American religion, with an additional emphasis in African-American Studies. After moving to Manhattan for four years while Kathy went to seminary, the Maskells ended up in suburban Philadelphia, where Caleb completed his Ph.D, while teaching regularly at Princeton Theological Seminary, and serving as the Worship Pastor at Blue Route Vineyard Church. Since 2010, Caleb has led the Society of Vineyard Scholars, which exists to foster and sustain a community of theological discourse in and for the Vineyard movement. Caleb is passionate about developing leaders and institutions that will help to produce a healthy, courageous, and hospitable future for the church in the twenty-first century. Caleb and Kathy now live with their two kids, Josiah and Emmanuelle, in the heart of Denver, where Kathy pastors East Denver Vineyard Church.   Show notes:  Ordination Website  Be/Know/Do document  Andy Crouch: Order and Abundance illustration Glenn Packiam's books

In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Joel Seymour interviews Ken Sande about his path to peacemaking, how he uses it as an evangelism tool in secular business environments, and how emotional intelligence applies to every one of our relationships. Ken also shares why the Matthew 18 approach is a last resort in managing relationships, and the generational investment that can be made through learning about emotional intelligence.  Ken Sande is the founder of Peacemaker Ministries and RW360. Trained as an engineer, lawyer and mediator, Ken has conciliated hundreds of family, business, church and legal conflicts. He is the author of numerous articles and books, including The Peacemaker, which has sold over 500,000 copies in twenty languages. He teaches internationally on biblical peacemaking, Christian conciliation and relational wisdom, which is an enhanced form of emotional intelligence that helps people “get upstream of conflict” by improving their ability to read and manage emotions in themselves and others. These resources are being used to strengthen relationships, promote teamwork and reduce and resolve conflict in churches, families, businesses, schools and military bases around the world. Ken is a Certified Emotional Intelligence Instructor with TalentSmartEQ and a Certified Relational Wisdom Conciliator, Coach and Instructor. He has served as a church elder, an Editorial Advisor for Christianity Today, a Certified Professional Engineer and as a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Montana Bar Association.   Show Notes:  Register for Vineyard USA’s Women’s Conference: More.  Relational Wisdom 360 The Relationally Wise Leader course  PACE Program