In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews a German United Methodist pastor, Bernd Schwenkschuster. Bernd planted a new church in Metzingen, Germany a decade ago - one of about 15 planted in by United Methodists in the Southern Germany Conference in recent times. Why are United Methodists planting successfully in a very secular culture such as Germany? There are things to learn here for Americans and others who may think that planting is impossible in current c...
Nov 02, 2022•32 min
In this episode of Church is Changing, host Paul Nixon interviews Elaine Heath, former dean of Duke Divinity school, author/expert on neo-monasticism and Abbess of Spring Forest Farm in North Carolina. This conversation offers great insight into the contours of the emerging 21st century church.
Oct 19, 2022•31 min
Rachel Gilmore is one of those high capacity leaders that has been there and done that. She seems to bring life to everything she touches. She started out as a church planter in Virginia then moved on to the Path 1 staff where, among other things, she birthed The Field Preachers podcast that has now morphed into this podcast. She currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona where she continues to form faith communities as well as serve as the Director of New Faith and Vital Faith Communities. In this hig...
Oct 05, 2022•37 min
In this episode of Church is Changing, we cross over the pond to Hull, England in the Yorkshire area to hear about the Kairos movement with Liane Kensett. Liane is a Contemplative at heart who offers an organic life-giving approach to starting new faith communities. If you are interested in learning about how to form faith communities with folks who want nothing to do with the existing church paradigms and vice versa this podcast is for you. To find out more about the Kairos Movement go to kairo...
Sep 21, 2022•29 min
In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, Pastorista Christine Potter in Wichita, Kansas, describes to host Paul Nixon the life of a church based in a coffee shop.
Sep 07, 2022•27 min
In many respects, we have moved into a season of perpetual crises, unlike any time in recent history for much of the world's people. In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock discuss the challenge of new ministry paradigms and strategies to match the changing life conditions in which people live. This conversation is rooted in an article Paul Nixon published, which can be accessed here: https://paulnixonepicentergroup.blogspot.com/2022/07/ministry-in-sea...
Aug 24, 2022•38 min
In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Justin Cason of Indiana Conference, who has planted a digital campus of Monticello UMC with over 600 participants accumulating in two years. Listen to find out how one church is moving far beyond live-streaming to community building and discipling online!
Aug 10, 2022•29 min
What would it be like to start a church in the wild, literally? In this episode of Church is Changing, listen to Beth Estock's inspiring conversation with Corey Turnpenny, pastor of Church in the Wild in Windsor, New York. Their church gathers outside at a camp and retreat center with a mission to care for the earth. Corey has intuitively reoriented her leadership from top-down to community informed, from knowing it all to deep listening with a curious heart. Through the depth of people's nature...
Jul 27, 2022•38 min
In this episode, Paul Nixon visits with Dawn Canham, who leads the Lantern Methodist Church in Raynes Park, a suburb of London, England. Lantern Church has developed a community arts program touching hundreds of people, and in so doing, has created a rich neighborhood in which the church can find root. We spend much of the time pondering the ways that worship can engage and come alive for people the way live theater still does. The West End theaters are packed post-Omicron and the churches are s...
Jun 15, 2022•37 min
Could British Central Halls be a ministry model whose time has come again? What would it be like to be the hub of activity in city and town centers out of which ministry flowed in all directions? How can we reclaim the gifts of being “friars” in community? In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, listen to Rev. Ian Rutherford, pastor at Manchester Central Hall, share the beauty of this old form coming back to life for sustainable civic engagement at all levels. For more information abo...
Jun 01, 2022•33 min
In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Mike Whang, a church planter near Houston, Texas. Mike is pastor of Oikon UMC, a church that is focused on small group engagement and discipleship. For more about Oikon, visit www.oikonhtx.org.
May 18, 2022•24 min
On this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, Bo Sanders, pastor of Vermont Hills UMC in Portland, Oregon, shares his worship experiments of decentering the broadcast, one-to-many form of 20th century worship and reconfiguring the worship space to support that. Sanders is also passionate about creating a seamless hybrid worship experience. Find out what he has discovered during these last three years. To discover more about Sanders and his ministry, visit https://vermonthillsumc.org. You ca...
May 04, 2022•41 min
On this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, we are joined by author Jason Moore. Moore is author of the book Both/And, which explores the new ways we gather people for worship in the 2020s. Moore lives near Dayton, Ohio and has worked for two decades resourcing churches in terms of worship design. To learn more about Jason, or to invite him to your judicatory or your church, visit midnightoilproductions.com.
Apr 20, 2022•36 min
The pandemic not only affected churches; it also impacted the recovery community. Out of a need for connection, Tracey Hume, a deacon in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, started an online twelve-step group that has become an online recovery church. In this episode of the Church is Changing podcast, Hume shares what she has learned as a leader and how this church movement continues to grow and adapt. You can contact Tracey Hume at deacontraceyhume@gmail.com.
Apr 06, 2022•29 min
Welcome to the launch of the new Church is Changing podcast! (Formerly known as Field Preachers.) In this episode, hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock set the stage for this season’s episodes as well as begin to talk about that “nasty word” – metrics. In a rapidly changing culture when the old ways of measuring success no longer work, how do we begin to track ministry impact?
Mar 24, 2022•27 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Sean Davis, music director, and Isata Jalloh, children and youth worker, at Edmonton Methodist Church in the north suburbs of London. Davis and Jalloh discuss how the church is pivoting powerfully toward serving community in all of its ministries rather than just focusing on church members and families. This conversation is all about breaking through our mental boundaries about who are our core constituencies in church pr...
Jan 26, 2022•36 min
Hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock reflect on the ways that the pandemic has pushed Christian leaders to a burnout point, and talk about how they can care for themselves so that they will be ready to lead into 2022.
Dec 15, 2021•34 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Daryn DeZengotita of Dallas about the creation of community-building space, especially as we repurpose oversized church buildings in the wake of the pandemic.
Dec 02, 2021•45 min
As rural America continues to undergo massive economic and demographic shifts, rural churches are uniquely positioned to provide community leadership. Leading a rural congregation requires a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing these communities, as well as a strong theological and community-focused identity. Rev. Allen T. Stanton describes how in establishing this identity, rural leaders can build meaningful ministry. His three indicators for vital ministry offers hop...
Nov 17, 2021•31 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Lexi Hernandez, church planter of a community in North Carolina called Serve Co; along with Rev. Mark Stennett of Leeds, United Kingdom. Mark, Lexi, and Paul explore ideas related to digital ministry and agree that it is only just warming up within the global church.
Nov 03, 2021•33 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, Kathi McShane and Karen Kehlet of Los Altos UMC in California join host Paul Nixon to unpack a new paradigm for discipleship development that can work with Spiritual But Not Religious (SBNR) folks.
Oct 20, 2021•29 min
How does transformation happen? In this episode of Field Preachers, Matt Johnson tells us what he has discovered as the Executive Director and Founder of Abundant Life Recovery Housing Network, a ministry of Suncrest UMC in Morgantown, West Virginia. He shares his growing edges as a leader, the gift of failure, and what he has learned through the 12-Step process. For more information about this ministry, visit abundantlifehousing.org.
Oct 06, 2021•36 min
Author Elaine Heath, retired Dean of Duke Divinity School, shares with us about her contemplative approach to pioneering new ministries like Neighborhood Seminary and Spring Forest Farm. We talk about the feeling of fragility and unfinished-ness that is inherent in doing pioneering work, whether in developing new faith communities or new forms of theological education, and how this feeling can actually be a helpful animator as to how we show up in the world. Join us for this rich exploration int...
Aug 25, 2021•37 min
Are you wondering how to invite your preschool families to engage with your church community? Are you trying to figure out how to experiment with new ways of being church in a "we tried that twenty years ago" culture? Beth Evers, pastor of University UMC in Fort Worth, Texas, shares a few of her hard won leadership gems as she tells us about Wiggle Church and Funkytown Music Academy.
Aug 11, 2021•38 min
In this episode of Field Preachers, host Paul Nixon interviews Rai Jackson, pastor of The Well and the Bridge, two young faith communities in Washington DC. Paul and Rai talk about how young adult culture is shifting, even since March of 2020, and the amazing possibilities of enhancing ministry with digital connections.
Jul 28, 2021•36 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, host Paul Nixon interviews Rev. Jonavern Lungub, pastor of Abu Dhabi United Methodist Church. You may have had no idea that Methodism is spreading on the Arab Peninsula in the twenty-first century. Jonavern Lungub shares the details!
Jul 14, 2021•47 min
How do you build a community of faith in a post-modern, post-Christian context? In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, John Helmiere, the Convenor of Valley and Mountain UMC in Seattle, Washington, shares how his core values helped him to create a vibrant faith community as a parachute drop planter and what he learned through the process. For more info on his church visit valleyandmountain.org.
Jun 30, 2021•50 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock interview Melanie Tubbs, a rural UMC pastor in Arkansas whose online platform surpassed 18,000 followers in the past year.
Jun 16, 2021•41 min
In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock interview church planters Rai Jackson (The Bridge and The Well in Washington DC) and Kris Sledge (Journey Harrisburg, PA) about how the Black Lives Matter movement has impacted their ministries in the past year.
Jun 02, 2021•44 min
How do you listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life and ministry? In this episode of the Field Preachers podcast, Dave Shaw, a ministry pioneer and cultural change curator in Nottingham, UK, shares how God has directed his life and ministry in some “highly unusual” ways.
May 19, 2021•37 min
