The U.S. Church is always on the move. Currently, there is a decline in attendance amongst Gen Z and Millenials. This trend is partially attributed to the mono-cultural nature of many churches. The world around us is more and more multi-cultural and multi-ethnic and often churches remain mono-cultural and mono-ethnic. This lack of diversity is not a place where younger generations want to invite friends and colleagues to attend because it doesn’t look like our workplaces and communities.

Efrem Smith and his co-author Dan Kreiss (who was not able to join the conversation) wrote the book “Church for Everyone” which puts forward the idea that we need a multi-inclusive environment in our churches. Multi-inclusive churches create environments where all people are welcome, and their stories and histories are acknowledged.

Efrem Smith, (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the co lead pastor of Midtown Church, a thriving multiethnic community in Sacramento, California. His books include Raising Up Young Heroes and The Post-Black and Post-White Church.

Dan Kreiss (DMin, George Fox University) who was not able to join the conversation, is the associate minister for mission and community outreach at Roswell Presbyterian Church in the greater Atlanta area. He was previously professor of youth ministry and dean of the School of Missions at King University in Bristol, Tennessee.

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In the heart of Mississippi, there’s an organization that is bringing people together across divides. Jackson, Mississippi has historically been one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. In the early 90’s, a group of people set out to bring people together across ethnic lines and Mission Mississippi was born. Over the past 30 years, hundreds of relationships have been built, which has made a significant impact on race relations in that city and state.

In this episode, we talk to Neddie Winters, former President and Brian Crawford, current president of Mission Mississippi. The mission of Mission Mississippi is to engage, to equip and to empower the next generation to build relationships across racial lines, to work together with better understanding, to build greater respect for one another and to trust each other while making a better Mississippi together.

Brian Crawford is the President of Mission Mississippi, and lead pastor of City Light Church, an intentional multiethnic church plant in Downtown Vicksburg, Mississippi. Brian and his wife, Candi, are natives and long-time residents of Vicksburg and have a passion to share the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ with the city they hold dear. Brian is also committed to the work of assessing, training, and coaching church planters across the US through his work with 242 Network and MyBlvd.

Neddie Winters is the former Executive Director and President of Mission Mississippi. Born in the Mississippi Delta into a family of sharecroppers, he started his career in the FDA. Eventually, he became a pastor and then into his role with Mission Mississippi. Neddie brings 30 years of experience in racial reconciliation and has endless stories of seeing people’s attitudes and hearts change.

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Mission Mississippi. links:

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Ever wonder if God is sitting in heaven laughing as we try to live a hopeful life. God has a wry smile saying “they bought it, they think hope is real.” If so, then check out this podcast. Pastor Irwyn Ince Jr. wrote the book “Hope Ain’t a Hustle”-as in God didn’t get one over on us when He told us that hope was a real thing.

In this conversation, we discuss living with the Holy Spirit in us and how that affects our interactions with other Christians from across traditional divides. We discuss getting comfortable on this earth, while our eternal destiny is in heaven. We also journey into a few questions around grace, and living through difficult circumstances. And of course, we discuss HOPE!!

Irwyn L. Ince Jr. is the coordinator of Mission to North America, part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Formerly, he was a pastor at Grace DC Presbyterian Church. He is also the author of The Beautiful Community. In 2018, Ince was unanimously elected as the forty-sixth Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) General Assembly moderator—the first African American to hold the position.

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Book: Hope Ain’t A Hustle

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Jazz music is eclectic, unpredictable, local and moves with the spirit of the musicians playing together. Church can be the same!!! Eclectic, unpredictable, local and moves with the Spirit as Jesus’ followers live together. Mark Glanville, Jazz Musician, pastor and professor uses Jazz as a metaphor to describe what Jesus’ followers and His Church can (should?) look like.

In this conversation Mark and Elliot riff on everything from Jazz music to using storytelling to introduce Jesus to our friends. They talk about integrating local culture into worship music, written by people in the worshiping community. There were certainly some good vibes and improvisation going on in this podcast.

Mark R. Glanville (PhD, Bristol University) is associate professor of pastoral theology at Regent College, Vancouver, and an Old Testament scholar. He is the author of Improvising Church, Adopting the Stranger as Kindred in Deuteronomy and Freed to Be God's Family: The Book of Exodus and has written articles for a variety of publications including the Journal of Biblical Literature, Refuge Journal, Journal of Missional Practice, Christian Educators Journal, Evangelicals for Social Action, Faith Today, The Light Magazine, Fortune Magazine, and The Presbyterian Pulse.

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Book: Improvising Church

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Life is a journey of learning who we are, trying to figure out how we fit into our communities and into God’s creation. This journey can be more challenging when we look different than the majority culture, when we think differently than our peers, when our food has different spices and ingredients. For many people, blending in, and not standing out is highly important. That can be challenging when your skin tone, and hair color is different. It’s a journey that many people in our society go through.

This episode’s guest, Prasanta Verma (MBA, MPH) was born under an Asian sun, raised in the Appalachian foothills in the South, and now resides in the Upper Midwest. Her essays and poetry have been published in Sojourners, Propel Women, (in)courage, Inheritance Magazine, the Indianapolis Review, Barren Magazine, and the Mudroom blog. She served as a speech and debate coach for over ten years.

Majority white American culture has historically marginalized people of color, who at times feel invisible and alienated and at other times are traumatized by oppression and public discrimination. This reality leads to a particular kind of aloneness: ethnic and racial loneliness.

An Indian American immigrant who grew up in white Southern culture, Prasanta Verma names and sheds light on the realities of ethnic loneliness. She unpacks the exhausting effects of cultural isolation, the dynamics of marginalization, and the weight of being other. In the midst of disconnection and erasure, she points to the longing to belong, the need to share our stories, and the hope of finding safe friendships and community. Our places of exile can become places where we find belonging—to ourselves, to others, and to God.

In this podcast episode, we discuss many of these subjects as we all strive to build bridges in our society.

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Book: Beyond Ethnic Loneliness

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Faith, risk, perseverance, unexpected obstacles, community, belonging, family-these are all words that describe Chris and Julie Bennett’s journey from Oklahoma to California, living in 20 places in 12 months, surviving cancer TWICE and building community and belonging at the same time.

Chris and Julie Bennett are the authors of “Fighting for Family” a story of fighting for family (not with family). In a time when so many suffer from loneliness and it feels like developing authentic relationships is impossible, Chris and Julie invite you to step into their story to discover the fundamentals that lead to healthy, thriving families and friendships. You’ll discover the power of embracing vulnerability, accepting imperfection, and extending forgiveness, while finding fulfillment through enforcing boundaries and honoring and serving others.

In this episode we discuss perseverance when our plan isn’t playing out the way we expected, cultivating belonging when we feel like an outsider, and showing up when it isn’t convenient. This is a fun conversation that will give you tools for building relationships and hope to be part of a thriving community.

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Chris & Julie Bennett links:

Book: Fighting for Family

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How is your work life balance? Are you where you thought you’d be in your career? What do I do if I’m just starting out in my career? I’m at the twilight of my career-what do I have to offer? This podcast answers all these questions and more.

We interview Jeff Haanen, founder of Denver Institute of Faith and Work and the author of “Working from the Inside Out.” Jeff writes on faith, finance, work, business, and culture. You will find his work in Christianity Today and Comment magazine, and is the author of An Uncommon Guide to Retirement: Finding God's Purpose for the Next Season of Life.

This episode will interact with the questions of how does my faith and work intersect, and how has the return to work and hybrid model effected the workplace? We also ask questions about trends in the work place, and what we should be looking for at each stage of our career.

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Jeff Haanen links:

Book: Working from the Inside Out

An Uncommon Guide to Retirement

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The beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount start with the beatitudes-the “Blessed are the…” and when we read that blessed are the meek, and blessed are those that mourn it’s easy to wonder if this really applies to us. I don’t feel meek, and what does meekness truly look like? If the beatitudes start Jesus’ most famous sermon then knowing how they apply and how to live them out may be really important.

Author, Mark Scandrette, digs into the beatitudes in his book The Ninefold Paths of Jesus and gives us practical application for living the beatitudes. Where many books may stop after digging into the theology, Mark takes it to the next level by giving us practices that we can do each and every day.

Mark Scandrette is an internationally recognized expert in practical Christian spirituality. He is the founding director of ReIMAGINE: A Center for Integral Christian Practice, where he leads an annual series of retreats, workshops, and projects designed to help participants apply spiritual wisdom to everyday life. His multidisciplinary studies in applied psychology, family health, and theology have shaped his approach to learning and transformation. He is on the creative team for NINE BEATS collective, a project exploring the beatitudes as a 21st century vocabulary for the living way of Jesus.

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Book: The Ninefold Path of Jesus

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