Welcome friends! In May of 2020 an email to our congregation where my wife Heidi and I have served in ministry for fifteen years. My email was entitled “Why the church cannot be reopened." This began a series of blog-like postings that immediately attracted an audience on Facebook. As a result, I decided to try a podcast. One of the questions that I began to raise during that time was: “Is God's Spirit dismantling the church because we have so failed God's mission?” Prophetic or not, the idea I posited fifteen years ago of a dismantled church has only gained traction since I first posed it. The response to the podcast has been quite unexpected, now with more than 35,000 episodes downloaded in 73 countries and nearly 1,300 cities. The podcast seems to particularly resonate with those on the run from the church and feel alienated or marginalized by the church. The podcast has allowed me to draw upon nearly three decades of teaching sociology, thirty-five years of sociological research, fifteen years of church and denominational consulting, twenty years of ministry, my childhood and coming of age in a conservative Mennonite/Amish community, and my diagnosis three years ago of Parkinson’s Disease. The podcast consists of five ongoing seasons: 1)A Church Dismantled, 2)Miscellaneous interviews, 3)An Advent series "The Light still Shines," 4)A Lenten series "When Night Falls," and 5)interviews from my LIVE at 345 podcast that airs twice a week and where the videos are posted to YouTube. Thank you for listening and I can be reached at conradkanagy@achurchdismantled.com. Conrad L. Kanagy, Ph.D.
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Despite my efforts, the Spirit just continues to keep this podcast going!Support the show
You may make a donation and receive the two books that contain this Advent series at no cost. Donate at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org Would you be willing to rate this podcast?Support the show
You may make a donation and receive the two books that contain this Advent series at no cost. Donate at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org Would you be willing to rate this podcast?Support the show
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The first in a short series about darkness for this Advent.Support the show
Maybe it's time to reconsider our teaching about grace and the God of grace!Support the show
In the words of Howard Thurman, preacher and early civil rights activist who profoundly impacted Mennonite civil rights leader Vincent Harding, Jesus came for those "whose backs were against the wall."
To hear four additional episodes this week subscribe for 2.99/month at Apple Podcasts or www.centerforpropheticimagination.org
Walter Brueggemann hopes he is most remembered for his work on the psalms of lament. Why? The episode also considers a friendly conversation between the older scholar Brueggemann and a younger theologian at the time--Rolf Jacobson of Luther Seminary. And we reflect on what the Black Church long ago taught us about the power of praise and lament.
To read more about my critique of the Mennonite Church USA 2021 Membership Survey subscribe to my daily blog and website at www.centerforpropheticimagination.org.
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
Interested in knowing more about my forthcoming biography of Walter Brueggemann? Or more about unpublished Brueggemann materials? Or why and how the study and practice of the prophetic imagination can impact you and your religious community? Enroll for 4.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org!
To subscribe to the new podcast and other resources for 9.95 annually go to https://centerforpropheticimagination.org
From time to time I will offer a "cross-over" podcast that lists in both A Church Dismantled as well as Imagination Restor(i)ed. I do this as a way of acknowledging all of my listeners--both subscribed and unsubscribed--but also to let those of you who are unsubscribed to the new podcast and the Center for the Study and Practice of Prophetic Imagination aware of some of what you will find there. You can check out the new Center and subscribe for 9.95 annually at https://centerforpropheticimagination.org.To subscribe to the new podcast and other resources for 9.95 annually go to https://centerforpropheticimagination.org
To subscribe to all future episodes for 9.95 annually go to https://centerforpropheticimagination.orgTo subscribe to the new podcast and other resources for 9.95 annually go to https://centerforpropheticimagination.org
Many folks assume that after 50 years at Sojourners, they know what Jim Wallis will say. In this excerpt and the full version that is part of the podcast "Imagination Restor(i)ed," you will hear Jim fully identify as an Evangelical, call this a Bonhoeffer moment for a new Confessing Church, and note that we must go "neither left nor right but deeper." For the subscription to this and one full year of podcasts like this subscribe for 9.95 at https://poynt.godaddy.com/checkout/415bf8c0-3554-4af3-a592-a5934c760734/ImaginationRestoried.
Ethan Shearer has been a popular guest on this show and I have asked him to step in for me for a few weeks. Here is his first episode!
Friends, based on your feedback which I have appreciated so much I am going to take the following steps. I will continue to share these monologue blog posts for free and perioidically bundle them in both Kindle and paper back form. The most recent of these entitled "What in God's Name is Happening to the Church" is twenty-five essays from this Spring. I am going to keep the Ebook price at 1.99 and just self-published the collection in paperback for 5.99 with free prime shipping through Amazon. You can order the Kindle or paperback at this tab. I am currently working on two more for this series. Order Kindle or PaperbackSecond, I will be producing a "subscription-only" series entitled "Dismantling and Restoring: 1517-2025." This series will consist of bi-weekly interviews with a theologian or historian who will address what some have called the last major dismantling that resulted in the Protestand Reformation. I am beginning with 1517 because of Luther's 95 theses and ending with 2025 when the believer's church, and particularly Anabaptists celebrate their 500th anniversary. I have become particularly interested in this period through my study of German pietism related to Walter's biography and this research has put me in touch with many scholars, pastors, and theologians in the Lutheran and Calvinist tradition. And of course, as an Anabaptist I am excited about the upcoming celebration. The focus of this series will be on the European origins but will also expand to see how these movements have impacted other parts of the world. I have been invited to a small conference of German and American pastors and scholars in July to present a paper entitled Walter Brueggemann: From the Prussian Union to Prophetic Imagination." Subscribers to this series will receive a recorded copy of that presentation as well as other related "extras" including several live roundtable gatherings throughout the year. The series will run from August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023 and may be renewed after that. All recordings of interviews will be distrubuted on Tuesday mornings bi-weekly. Subscribers will also receive free admission to al webinars of "A Church Dismantled." All of these events will be produced as YouTube and podcast recordings for subscribers only. Cost for the year is 150.00 and those who have subscribed to the five webinars this Fall will be automatically included without further cost. The link to subscribe by July 15 is below. Thank you friends for your encouragement and support and great ideas!To register for 1517-2025 Series
In this interview, retired Professor of History from Goshen College, describes his new role as Director of the Anabaptist Bible Project of Menno Media. John describes the value of this project, how it is uniquely Anabaptist, how Anabaptist congregations can have a voice in this project, and how to support the project. This is an exciting initiative and John and I will check in several times over the next three years to catch up on how things are going!
I have recently created a new podcast sponsored by Mennonite Health Services, Stewardship Advisors, Landis Communities, and Garden Spot Village. The initial sessions are on storytelling as we age, and the importance of doing so. I've worked with students for thirty years on this kind of activity, and am now in the throes of telling Walter Brueggeman's marvelous, mysterious, and divine life story.You may access the podcast at https://www.buzzsprout.com/1923064 which currently has three episodes. Over time you will begin hearing the voices of others more than mine--older folks writing and telling their stories, undergrads from Etown College relaying the stories of elderly but dearly loved grandparents, caregivers, physicians, and gerontologists. I also offer a six-week (12 hours total) workshop on storytelling that you can enroll for 100.00 at this link. The workshop will begin toward the end of July and run through December. The sessions will be audio and video recorded so if you can't attend any or all you can still purchase the recordings. The link for registering is here https://poynt.godaddy.com/checkout/415bf8c0-3554-4af3-a592-a5934c760734/agingstories,