Try Tank Podcast

In this episode, Fr. Lorenzo chats with Ken and Jacob about EpiscopalPulse, a TryTank experiment that is now its own ministry. EpiscopalPulse is launching in January 2024 as a monthly micro survey which aims to provide reliable, timely, and actionable data to the church.  You can find out more or join at https://www.ecf.org/programs/adaptive-ministries/episcopal-pulse  For the pilot questions and responses visit www.EpiscopalPulse.org   The Rev. Ken Howard is the founder and president of The FaithX Project, a faith-based nonprofit consulting, research, and resource development practice. Founded in late 2016, FaithX's mission is to help congregations and the judicatories that support them survive and thrive in challenging times through data-grounded discernment and strategic missional planning. FaithX has developed a number of ground-breaking resources for assessing vitality and sustainability in congregations and judicatories, identifying missional opportunities and challenges in communities, and assisting congregations in leveraging their strongest areas of vitality to engage the greatest missional opportunities. An ordained priest in the Episcopal Church for 30 years, Ken has planted two congregations, and in his spare time has written two books and several research papers.  Jacob is the Program Director for Adaptive Ministries at the Episcopal Church Foundation. His work focuses on supporting the ongoing and burgeoning programs at ECF that enable the congregational vitality and sustainability of communities throughout The Episcopal Church. He hails from Chicago, where he worked as a Research Consultant at a marketing research consultancy for several years. In the Fall of 2022, Jacob moved to New York City to dedicate a year to living in community and supporting the outreach work at Church of the Heavenly Rest in Manhattan (via the Episcopal Service Corps). His work focused on key areas: prison reentry, food insecurity, education access, mental health, housing, and emergency response. He also organized formation for a small parish in the South Bronx; creating and leading liturgy for bilingual prayer services and a children's formation program to facilitate church growth and community engagement.

In this episode, Fr. Lorenzo talks with the Rev Dr Sam Wells, Vicar at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Central London. They talk about a Theology of abundance. What is it? Where does it come from? What does it mean for ministry? And, perhaps most importantly, how we can change our mindset to have a posture of abundance in our work.   From the podcast Great Sacred Music: https://soundcloud.com/greatsacredmusic St Martin-in-the-Fields: https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/ Vivaldi as Social Enterprise: https://www.gramophone.co.uk/blogs/article/vivaldi-and-social-enterprise  Revd Dr Sam Wells has been Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields since 2012. He has served as a parish priest for 25 years – 10 of those in urban priority areas. He also spent 7 years in North Carolina, where he was Dean of Duke University Chapel. Sam is also Visiting Professor of Christian Ethics at King’s College. He is a regular contributor to Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He has published 44 books, including works on Christian ethics, mission, ministry, scripture, liturgy, and preaching. Sam is married to Jo Wells, who is Bishop for Episcopal Ministry in the Anglican Communion. They have two adult children.

In this episode Fr Lorenzo chats with James Fawcett. James is the head of the Being With program from St. Martin in the Fields in London. As you will see, Fr. Lorenzo is a big fan. They discuss the program and also about God’s desire to Be With us and how you too can use the program. It’s a fascinating conversation about an innovative framework that allows people the opportunity to build deep relationships. www.being-with.org   Bio: James is Head of Being With leading on sharing this wonderful, life changing and innovative resource world wide. He has broad experience in the Charity sector working within and outside the Church starting up new projects. He values honest, deep conversations with a healthy mix of humour and delight - trying not to take himself too seriously. Loves a coffee in the morning, favourite cocktail would be a Negroni in the summer and an Old Fashioned in the winter. 

TryTank discovered an interesting insight about growing congregations: they have robust faith formation programs that ask MORE of members. In this episode, Fr. Lorenzo chats with Fr. Jason Prati from All Saints Episcopal Church in New Albany, Ohio about their faith formation program, Alive. This is a growing congregation which has doubled down on faith formation and is reaping the rewards. From an very early age, Fr. Jason Prati felt called to serve our Lord as well as His Church. Entering seminary after High School, he received my Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy as well as my Masters of Divinity from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.  Fr. Prati was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in May of 2002 serving as Parochial Vicar of four parishes, Assistant Director of Vocations, Chaplain of a High School and Coordinator of Pontifical Liturgies.  In 2008, God moved in his life and he found my way into the Episcopal Church being received as an Episcopalian by Bishop Kenneth Price in May of 2009 and as a priest by Bishop Thomas Breidenthal of the Diocese of Southern Ohio in April of 2013. Fr. Prati is a teacher by nature, loving to share the Good News of Jesus Christ by his life and witness not only as a priest, but as a Christian on fire! Fr. Prati comes from an Italian-American family, so people, faith and love are his passion! He is beyond blessed to be called to serve as Rector of All Saints.  Website: http://allsaintsnewalbany.org/Email for Alive: alive@http:allsaintsnewalbany.org

Hailing from Saint Louis, Whitworth has made a splash in the Indie pop scene as a unique addition to an otherwise radio friendly genre. Producer and lead Singer Owen Ragland has spent years working behind the scenes with talent from around the world launching Whitworth as an Avenue to showcase his own artistry. Together with fellow musicians Elijah Melvin, Julian Cotom, Dominic Mauro, and Ross Spellman, Ragland has created a community of young artists aimed at furthering messages of love and unity in a time of dominant divisiveness.” HandlesIG @_Whitworth_ All links here www.whitworthmusic.net

In this episode Fr. Lorenzo talks with Fr Jon Davis about the dinner church movement in the US. What is it? What does it take to do dinner church? And what are the steps to follow to get one going.  Fr. Jon Davis Quick: Fr. Jon is the coordinator for Fresh Expressions. www.freshexpressions.com  and coordinator for Dinner Church - https://www.dinnerchurch.com/  Twitter: @fatherjond and Facebook: fatherjonThe Dinner Church Website - https://www.dinnerchurch.com/  The Fresh Expressions Website - https://freshexpressions.com/ https://youtu.be/5hGYaIMqVdg  This is a commercial not Dinner Church - an initiative called Eating Together - but very moving - https://youtu.be/yLsSy64xILI  Dinner Church School of Leadership Graduate Coursehttps://www.dinnerchurch.com/graduate-course  Register at - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dinner-church-school-of-leadership-2023-2024-registration-tickets-595734898117 

In this episode Fr. Lorenzo talks with Fr Tim Bear about the rule of life that was developed for his congregation and how they have lived fully into it and how he thinks it has led to church growth.  Fr. Tim Bear Fr. Tim is a priest in the Diocese of Oklahoma and planted Grace Church in Yukon, OK in 2014 with his wife, The Rev. Kirsten Baer. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and Virginia Theological Seminary. A father of two kids and one dog, Tim enjoys cycling, hiking, and martial arts in his free time.  

In this episode Fr. Lorenzo talks with an expert on Gen Z to figure out what they are like andhow the church might meet them on their spiritual journey. From diversity (in many forms) to“Adopt a Grandma,” it’s a deeper dive into the future of the church.Antonin FicatierAnto has a portfolio career at the crossroad of entrepreneurship, youth culture, and academicwork. He co-founded Chinese Institute, today one of France's leading training centers dedicatedto teaching Chinese. Anto went to Business School in France, studied Economics in China, andcompleted a Master's Degree in Christian Education at Princeton Seminary. He worked for 6years with youth and young adults in Hong Kong and England, before joining YPulse (the world’sbest youth intelligence company) as the Director for Western Europe in 2022. His hope is to oneday finish his Ph.D. in experimental theology that he started a while back at the University ofBirmingham (UK). Originally from France, Anto lives in south London with his wife Jess and theirbaby Leo.Book mentioned:Fight: How Gen Z Is Channeling Their Passion and Fear to Save America, By John Della Volpehttps://www.amazon.com/Fight-Channeling-Their-Passion-America/dp/125087551X

In this episode, Lorenzo discusses the challenges faced by young clergy, including burnout, financial pressure, and loneliness, with Reverend Rachel Fields and Reverend Moe Letterman. The guests share their experiences of leaving parish ministry and finding their true calling, emphasizing the importance of supporting and nurturing young clergy to ensure the future of the church. Father Lorenzo announces an upcoming experiment that Try Tank is conducting to work with clergy and help them find joy and fulfillment in their lives.The TryTank Podcast is produced with the assistance of Resonate Media.TryTank music is provided by Blue Dot sessionsOur opening theme is Town Market and our closing theme is Lakal

In this episode Lorenzo is joined by Bob Johansen. He shows us how to think future back — asking the questions: What future do we envision? What changes are coming next? What shall we do now, to prepare ourselves for unprecedented futures? In his new book, Bob shows how COVID-19, with all its tragic consequences, also created an opportunity to ask this basic question: why do we work in offices at all? You’ll be surprised as to how this applies to the church as well.  As you’ll hear, Bob’s book, Office Shock, may be the first book to have its own chatbot. You can try it here by asking the questions you have about office shock: Talk with Office Shock (https://officeshock.ai/)  To get Bob’s new book go here: wwww.bkconnection.com and use code OFFSHOCK for 30% off. (eBook and Audiobook anywhere in the world) (Print U.S. only). For group orders contact Leslie Davis ldavis@bkpub.com.  Bob Johansen is a distinguished fellow with the Institute for the Future in Silicon Valley. For more than 30 years, Bob has helped organizations around the world prepare for and shape the future, including corporations such as P&G, Walmart, United Rentals, and GlaxoSmithKline, as well as a range of major universities and nonprofits.  The author or co-author of twelve books, including the best-selling Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present, Leaders Make the Future, The New Leadership Literacies: Thriving in a Future of Extreme Disruption and Distributed Everything, Full-Spectrum Thinking: Escaping the Boxes in a Post-Categorical Future, and Office Shock: Creating Better Futures for Working and Living. Bob’s books are used widely in corporations, universities, nonprofits, and at the Army War College.  Bob holds a B.S. from the University of Illinois, which he attended on a basketball scholarship, and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University—as well as a master’s degree that focused on world religions.The TryTank Podcast is produced with the assistance of Resonate Media.TryTank music is provided by Blue Dot sessionsOur opening theme is Town Market and our closing theme is Lakal