Center for Congregations Podcast
Center for Congregations
Your congregation is important, and we know that leading and serving in congregations is hard work. Join current and former Center for Congregations consultants Dr. Terrance Bridges, JC Campbell, Abby Miller, Shellie Riggs Jordan, McKenzie Scott Lewis, Ben Tapper, Matt Burke as they interview thought leaders and experts to encourage, inspire and help you find the right information and resources to address your congregation's needs. Center for Congregations staff will share what they're learning through work with congregations. Speakers, authors and congregational practitioners will share their stories and best practices to help your congregation thrive.The views expressed by podcast guests are their own and their appearance on the podcast does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. Views and opinions expressed by CfC employees are those of the employees and do not necessarily reflect the view of the CfC. If you have any questions about this disclaimer, please contact us at 866.307.2381 or info@centerforcongregations.org.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Dec 14, 2022 • 54min
S4 E22: Building Relationships: What We Can Learn from Congolese Christians
Ben and Matt spoke with Emmanuel about the ways that the Congolese Christian community is learning to adapt to life in Indiana. As they unpacked both the challenges and opportunities of that work, they also explored the lessons that non-immigrant congregations can learn from our Congolese kin.
Nov 30, 2022 • 54min
S4 E21: The Next Faithful Step: Discernment in Congregational Life
Understanding how to determine your next faithful step is critically important in congregational life. Center for Congregations president Tim Shapiro and Rev. Stephen Lewis join the podcast this week to discuss the importance of discernment and mutual nature of discernment for both the individual and the community. Our conversation also leads to reflecting on the wisdom of Howard Thurman and the importance of intergenerational discernment.Resourceshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/we-can-do-hard-things-with-glennon-doyle/id1564530722 https://emilypfreeman.com/podcast/ https://emilypfreeman.com/next-right-thing-book/
Nov 16, 2022 • 48min
S4 E20: Cultivating the Edges: Belonging and Racial Equity in White Congregations
Rev. Dr. Seth Richardson of Gravity Leadership joins the podcast this week to discuss the cultural challenges white congregations face when they get serious about racial equity. The conversation centers on a specific case study of a Texas congregation and how they navigated a shift towards racial equity and what these lessons mean for any congregation wishing to become more equitable.Resources:Crossroads Antiracism TrainingRacial Equity ToolsGravity Leadership
Nov 2, 2022 • 52min
S4 E19: Keeping it Beta: Innovation and Congregations
Congregations are a treasure of rich traditions: cultural, communal, historical and theological. But how do you keep tradition from turning into stagnation? This week we welcome Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes, who recently finished her doctoral work related to innovation, as she shares her insight into keeping things fresh in your congregation.Resources https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/handle/10161/25017 https://thecrg.org/resources/traditioned-inovation https://thecrg.org/resources/The_Power_of_Positive_Deviance_How_Unlikely_Innovators_Solve_the_World_s_Toughest_Problems https://www.franklincovey.com/the-4-disciplines/ https://thecrg.org/podcasts/S1_E7_Exchanging_Pews_for_Strollers https://www.inthewater.co/
Oct 19, 2022 • 43min
S4 E18: Clergy Are People Too: No, Really.
In this episode of the Center for Congregations podcast, Marty Sawyers of the Full Strength Network and John Opalewski of Converge Coaching share their experience and insight on the challenges clergy leaders face every day. This episode will help non-clergy members of a congregation learn more about the pressures of being clergy, how to better support their leadership, and the impact of clergy stress on the congregation as a whole.ResourcesCenter for Congregations Podcast Season 1 Episode 3: Do We Have to Hide Our Painhttps://thecrg.org/collections/Do_We_Have_to_Hide_Our_Pain Center for Congregations Podcast Season 3 Episode 6: Don't Be a Clergy Killer https://thecrg.org/collections/Don_t_Be_a_Clergy_Killer Full Strength Network https://fullstrength.org/ Converge Coaching https://convergecoach.com/ Preparing for Amazement Ministries https://amazed15.org/
Oct 5, 2022 • 56min
S4 E17: Be the Bridge: Spanning Cultural Gaps
As people of faith, we are often called to be cultural brokers within our communities by identifying gaps that exist, asking the right questions, and harnessing the power of humility and self-awareness. In this episode of the Center for Congregations podcast, board certified chaplain and doctoral candidate, Alexandra Zareth shares her experience and discusses practical examples of how to bridge cultural gaps within your congregation each and every day. Resourceshttps://thecrg.org/podcasts/S3_E4_Make_It_Personal https://thecrg.org/podcasts/S2_E5_Courting_Justice
Sep 21, 2022 • 50min
S4 E16: Invisible People: Multiculturalism in Your Community
Your community is likely more multicultural than you may realize. In this episode of the Center for Congregations podcast, we speak with Sandy Garcia of Amistad Cristiana Presbyterina about the multicultural nature of congregations and communities including the lives and experiences of members of the Latinx community as well as the changing perceptions of multicultural ministry.Resources:Amistad Fort Wayne9 Mental Health Resources for the Latinx CommunityThe Multicultural CongregationGod's Tapestry
Sep 7, 2022 • 50min
S4 E15: Suffering in Silence: Addressing Mental Health
First, the bad news: mental health issues exist in your congregation. The good news is that there are a wealth of resources and people who can help and a myriad of ways to support those with mental health issues. In this episode, Pastor Ken Hilliard talks about the genesis of the organization Building a Stronger Family and its work to bring hope to those without it.Ben and Matt also discuss some of their own experiences with the topic and how it shows up in the work of the Center for Congregations.Resourceshttps://thecrg.org/resources/Black_Emotional_and_Mental_Health_Collectivehttps://thecrg.org/resources/National_Alliance_on_Mental_Illness_NAMIhttps://buildingastrongerfamily.org/https://www.ecfpl.org/offers/FK6TXRGP/checkout
Aug 24, 2022 • 55min
S4 E14: Are You Seeing What I'm Seeing?
You likely deal with some kind of diversity in your congregational life. Whether that be ethnic, cultural, generational or some other kind of diversity. Wilisha Scaife believes that the answer to dealing with diversity in ministry is learning to listen, learn and love. The phrase is simple but being able to do this takes effort and intentionality. Wilisha unpacks what this means and Ben and Matt share how this has shown up in their work and resources to help think about difference.Resources https://thecrg.org/collections/Is_Race_The_Real_Problem https://thecrg.org/collections/Make_It_Personal_Leading_a_Multicultural_Congregation https://thecrg.org/resources/mutual-ministry https://thecrg.org/resources/the-new-copernicans-series
Aug 10, 2022 • 53min
S4 E13: More Than a Classroom: Reimagining Faith Formation and Discipleship
At the heart of every congregation is the desire to pass on the beliefs and practices of its tradition. This can be called lots of things: catechism, faith formation, discipleship, etc. In this interview, John Roberto discusses how this passing on of faith can be distilled into seven parts that, when addressed in your congregation's context, can help form the faith of everyone.Furthering the conversation, podcast hosts Matt Burke and Ben Tapper share examples of what faith formation and discipleship have looked like for congregations who have partnered with the Center. Resourceshttps://genonministries.org/https://www.amazon.com/Lifelong-Faith-Formation-Ages-Generations/dp/1640654860https://thecrg.org/resources/ReFocus_Ministryhttps://thecrg.org/resources/transformational-groups-part-1-the-exchange-full-episode
