Our Journey Begins

>> Christina (Cece): Welcome, dear listeners, to a pod burst or a pocket size episode of Emissaries of Renewal.

I am Christina or Cece, and I'm thrilled to embark on this transformative journey with you. >> Denise (DeDe): Hello, friends. I'm Denise or DeDe This episode is brought to you by the, uh, Episcopal Evangelism Society, or ees, a community committed to spreading the good news in fresh and inspiring ways. With its rich history of deep rooted values, the EES has been at the forefront of, uh, innovative evangelism within the

Episcopal Church. We're proud to be associated with them on this journey and to share their inspiring work with you. And for me, I'd like to thank Vicki Suren for suggesting that we call our pocket sized episodes podbursts. Thanks, Vicky. Today, while here at our fall retreat in this beautiful vacation rental that we're at with our fellow seminarians, we wanted to lay the foundation for what's to come.

Sharing a podcast exploring thoughtful and ethical evangelism, church growth and inclusion through the lens of two seminarians pursuing our master of Divinity at, uh, Bexley Seabury, which is an Episcopal seminary here in Chicago. I'll personally share that I am at the beginning of a journey of discernment towards Holy Orders. >> Christina (Cece): I'm a postulant on Holy Orders and the Episcopal Church through the Diocese of Idaho.

Denise and I come from diverse faith backgrounds, each with our unique journey to the church, which we will discuss in upcoming episodes. Friends, this episode is our humble beginning. You are not just here to learn and share, but we hope you actively engage with us. Your questions, comments and insights are, uh, invaluable to us, and we look forward to building a vibrant community together. My email is CeCe emissaries of renewal.com.

>> Denise (DeDe): You can also find us on social media, at Facebook or Instagram, and on threads at Emissaries of Renewal. We hope that by joining us here on the podcast of Emissaries of Renewal, you'll we'll explore the vibrant faith communities within the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement. This community is all about love, reconciliation and caring for creation. Essentially, we're following Jesus's

example. It's not just a title, it's a way of life. In our first full episode, CeCe is going to give us a whole picture and we're going to draw for inspiration from one of the travel courses that she just completed from London. Personally, I was supposed to be there too, but had canceled due to an, um, unfortunate. What, uh, we'll call it an animal rescue incident, which we're going to talk about too, in

our first episode. We also have plenty of our own experience behind us, and we hope to bridge the wisdom of the past, fit the stories and insights of today. Our belief, well, that comes straight from the wisdom of our retiring Presiding Bishop Michael Curry. What held for the apostles and disciples in the first century remains relevant in the 21st century. >> Christina (Cece): Speaking of wisdom, Dede, let's touch on the

Episcopal Church's goals. Their steadfast dedication to social justice, inclusivity and love isn't merely a topic of discussion. It's at, uh, the heart of everything that we do. And here at Emissaries of

Renewal, we'll explore how these values inform our approach to ethical evangelism. >> Denise (DeDe): Absolutely. And friends, keep your ears perked for future episodes where we're going to unpack the Episcopal Church's toolkit on evangelism. We're hoping you'll see it as a treasure chest filled with resources for nurturing, vibrant, compassionate communities. From mission strategies to innovative practices, we're going to do a bit of a deep dive.

>> Christina (Cece): Essentially, we are laying the cornerstone for a dialogue that will challenge, inspire and transform us. Our purpose, to cut through the chaos and explore the true essence of evangelism, not through coercive fear tactics, but through respectful, inclusive and love rooted approach. You won't find fire and brimstone here. Instead, we embrace authenticity, vulnerability, genuine connection and ethical evangelism.

>> Denise (DeDe): Say more, Christina What do we here at Emissaries of Renewal mean when we say thoughtful and ethical evangelism? >> Christina (Cece): Good question, Denise. To start with, I would say that to be effective, evangelism needs to combine grace, truth and action that reflects Jesus example, sharing the good news with integrity, compassion and respect for others beliefs. It involves being honest, respectful and considerate of, um, not only ourselves, but each other.

>> Denise (DeDe): Right. We aim to present a biblical view of evangelism and mission for me and for cece. This evolution from a narrow understanding of mission to a liberating dialogical approach is essential to what we're trying to do here. >> Christina (Cece): It is a testament to the power of mutual respect and transformative potential of engaging with others not as targets of conversation, but as partners in a shared spiritual journey.

Just open hearts and minds and commit to reflecting God's love Me. >> Denise (DeDe): I want to peel back the layers of misunderstanding and kind of illuminate the true nature of evangelism. Do you want to break that down a little further, Cece? >> Christina (Cece): Absolutely. Go for it, DeDe I was just going to go look at the definition in Webster's dictionary. >> Denise (DeDe): Hey. Hey. There's nothing wrong with consulting a

Dictionary. Um, I'll turn to the Bible Dictionary from HarperCollins a lot. I mean, and not just as a seminarian, but, you know, just trying to understand what's happening when you read the Bible. Um, but, okay, let's. Let's start from the beginning a little bit, dive into the term of evangelism as a whole. When we return to the Greek word, which

is you and galleon, it just simply translates to excellent or good announcements, which, I don't know. Personally, I like that good announcement or, uh, I probably actually prefer the excellent announcement. So you good announcement and galleon, the gospel, the good news. That's what gospel means. So think about it. The early days of the church, um, you know, when they called it the way or following of the Nazarene or what we know now as being Christians.

And they were out there, the apostles, all the followers proclaiming the Christian gospel. That's what evangelism was. That's what they did. Um, they all took up that task. And so let's think of Philip, for instance. He earned the title of evangelist in Acts 21:8. And we're not talking about the Apostle Philip, you know, the one who went after, you know, Nathaniel. Uh, we're talking about the one who had the four

daughters. As time passed, he was given the title of evangelist, and evangelism itself evolved into an office, a ministry. And in Ephesians 4:11, it's one of the highlighted spiritual gifts that we have today. Like many of, uh, many other faith denominations, the Episcopal Church carries forward that tradition, you know, of find, you know, of having those gifts. We were actually having that conversation not too long ago, my priest and I, about spiritual

gifts and offices. That the Episcopal Church has canons for both lay and ordained. And evangelist is one of those offices that's still there and recognized as a gift from the Holy Spirit, you know, for us. It's sharing good news with respect, though, and inclusivity, a heart deeply rooted in the ways of love. We've said it earlier in the podcast. The Episcopal Church stands as the Episcopal branch of the Jesus movement, which is continuing the work toward becoming beloved community and

embracing evangelism. These are the very topics that I would like, and I believe you as well, cece. We are going to be discussing in our future episodes as we break down what thoughtful and ethical evangelism is. >> Christina (Cece): So buckle up, friends. Consider this

episode our invitation. We're just getting started, and the road ahead is exciting. There's so much ground to cover, and we'll discover what it means to be emissaries of um, renewal. >> Denise (DeDe): And so as we conclude this pod burst, this episode, we would like to and I think all of our episodes what we're going to do is we would like to always do a reflection on Scripture. So today let's reflect on the words from First Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 12 through 13.

For just as the body is one and has many members and all the members of the body through many are, uh one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or freed and we were all made to drink of uh one spirit. This passage invites us to celebrate our diversity as a gift that unites us within the body of Christ. So let us embrace this unity as we live out our faith together. >> Christina (Cece): Until next time, keep the faith

alive, keep the doors open, love one another and uh, keep listening. >> Denise (DeDe): Farewell, friends. Until next time.