Faith Forward Podcast

Amy Yu sits down to share about her experience in leading intergenerational ministry at Scarborough Chinese Baptist Church in Toronto. Through her research, she has learned about the dynamics of engaging in all-age ministry at a church with multiple languages and cultural dynamics.

The Faith Forward podcast returns with a conversation with Glenys Nellist. Glenys is an author of many pictures books, including 'Twas the Morning of Easter, God's Perfect Peace, and the I Wonder story Bible. You can learn more about her work at www.glenysnellist.com.

Faith Forward podcast host Dave Csinos recently met Natasha Crozier at a conference where she presented about how children's literature can be an avenue for fostering wonder and curiosity. In this episode, they talk about how families, faith leaders, and faith communities can rediscover the imaginative power of children's books.

Ivy Beckwith and Dave Csinos celebrate the ten-year anniversary of their book, Children's Ministry in the Way of Jesus. They talk about their visions for the book, how children's spiritual formation has changed in the past decade, and their hopes for the future.

This episode is sponsored by Atlantic School of Theology. In this episode, the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III joins Dave Csinos to talk about his new book "Dancing in the Darkness." Dr. Moss shares about how hope can help to heal the spiritual crisis in which we find ourselves and how parents can become the primary storytellers in their families.

This episode is sponsored by Atlantic School of Theology. Godly Play has become a well-known and well-loved approach to nurturing faith in children in many different contexts. But how did it begin? What does it aim to accomplish? And where might it be going next? Dave Csinos sits down with Godly Play founder Jerome Berryman to talk about all these things and more! As you listen to Jerome share from his heart, you'll lose sense of time and become caught up in his sense of joy and wonder.

This episode is sponsored by Atlantic School of Theology. How can adults join children in making theological meaning? In this episode, Dr Tanya Marie Eustace Campen shares about her recent book Holy Work with Children: Making Meaning Together. She explains how children's ministry is rehearsal for the reign of God and how ministry leaders can encourage wonder, bravery, and exploration in faith formation with children.

This episode is sponsored by Atlantic School of Theology. Dr Eser Kim discusses her recent research into identify formation and empowerment of young people in congregations. She explains why youth remain marginalized in churches, why racialized and immigrant young people experience a double marginalization, and what faith communities can do about it.

Claire Brown and Anita Peebles sit down with Dave Csinos to talk about how families and churches can nurture the theological imaginations of young people. They tell the story behind their new book New Directions for Holy Questions and unpack all sorts of ways that families and faith communities can engage the ideas within it for the sake of forming progressive theological curiosity among young people. Learn more at https://www.churchpublishing.org/newdirectionsforholyquestions

Holly Allen shares about her new book Forming Resilient Children and how nurturing spirituality in children and youth can help promote resilience in the face of grief and trauma. There aren't any steps to follow to form resilience in young people. But there are ordinary practices that parents and pastoral leaders can do that make a world of difference. For more information, see https://www.ivpress.com/forming-resilient-children

Elizabeth Corrie shares about how youth ministry can be a space where practices of nonviolence and peacebuilding thrive. Drawing from her recent book Youth Ministry as Peace Education, Beth explains how adults and young people alike need to overcome violent stereotypes of adolescents and how the church can transform itself into a place where teens are empowered to change the world.

Lacy Finn Borgo joins Dave Csinos to describe holy listening with children, a process for engaging in spiritual direction with young people. Based on her book Spiritual Conversations with Children, Lacy unpacks key ideas undergirding "holy listening sessions" and explores how adults can engage with practices of deep listening with young people. Whether you're a parent, grandparent, pastor, teacher, or volunteer leader, you'll be empowered to have spiritual conversations with the children in your lives.

In this episode, Dave Csinos talks with Annie Lockhart-Gilroy, an expert in youth ministry and religious education and author of Nurturing the Sanctified Imagination of Urban Youth. Believing that there is tremendous value doing new things with youth, she shares from her research into emancipatory faith formation practices with adolescents. You'll learn how young people from all contexts can become freed from adult expectations and assumptions and how their imaginations can transform the church and the world.

This episode features the first part of a panel discusison hosted by Atlantic School of Theology. Dave Csinos interviews Mary Nichol, Steven Argue, and Traci Smith about how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped and re-shaped how ministry happens with children, youth, and families.

This episode features the first part of a panel discusison hosted by Atlantic School of Theology. Dave Csinos interviews Mary Nichol, Steven Argue, and Traci Smith about how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped and re-shaped how ministry happens with children, youth, and families.

Montague Williams takes listeners into a deep exploration of race and racism within congregational youth ministry. He challenges readers to tackle the anti-virtue of post-racialism and to see how colour-blindness amounts to nothing short of theological malpractice. Listeners will be encouraged to consider the ways that young people in their contexts offer invitations to talk seriously about the realities of race and racism in the church and the world, if only we have eyes to see these invitations.

In this episode, sociologist and former children's pastor Henry Zonio explores his PhD dissertation research into how children's ministry curricula teach about race and gender in implicit and explicit ways. You'll learn about how you can ensure that the messages your church is conveying to its young people are consistent with God's love of diversity and God's desire for justice.

Catherine Maresca shares wisdom from her decades of teaching Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and helps listeners learn how to invite children to discover the Bible for themselves. She shares from her new book "Violence and Nonviolence in Scripture: Helping Children Understand Challenging Stories."

This crossover episode with the Work Experience Podcast (workxpc.com) features a conversation with Bradon French of the Uniting Church of Australia. Dave and Bradon talk about what it means to be progressive, why intergenerational ministry matters, and what it means to intergenerate our preaching practices.

In the wake of George Floyd's murder, Melvin Bray shares about how God calls us to do better. Tackling difficult but necessary topics, like what lives are worth protesting and the supremacist logic built into the church, Melvin doesn't mince word. Hear Melvin as he opens his heart and expands our minds for how the church - and the world - can become better by re-imagining our stories.

At the 2017 Faith Forward gathering, Jennifer McLaughlin decided to start a revolution through her church's VBS. Now it's a flourishing program where children, teen volunteers, and adult leaders meet to unpack and dismantle racism in their lives and their communities. Jennifer tells us how this change happened and gives advice for how others can start their own anti-racist VBS.

What can families do to nurture faith in the midst of quarantine? Traci Smith offers helpful advice and practical ideas for integrating spiritual practices and prayer into the everyday lives of families.

In this episode, Brian McLaren and Dave Csinos reflect on the conversation they shared ten years ago that launched the Faith Forward movement. What’s changed since then? What challenges persist? How can ministry with children and youth be a catalyst for new kinds of Christianity? Brian shares his hopes and concerns for the future of Christianity and how it is by doubting the versions of Christianity they have inherited that young people pave new roads for us all.

Cindy Wang Brandt joins Dave Csinos to share about how healthy spirituality can be fostered in families healing from religious trauma. An unfundamentalist parenting advocate and author of Parenting Forward, Cindy offers insights about the importance of seeing children and youth as whole human beings worthy of dignity and just how radical this perspective is in contemporary churches and the world at large.

Dave Csinos is joined by Daneen Akers to discuss how learning about unconventional faith leaders can catalyze a spirit of faith-filled activism among children and youth. Daneen shares about how a dearth of resources for progressive families spurred her toward creating “Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints,” an illustrated children's storybook about people of diverse faiths who rocked the religious boat on behalf of love and justice.

Activist-theologian Robyn Henderson-Espinoza joins Dave Csinos to talk about how leaders in ministry with children and youth can create runways for lives of imagination, activism, and good theology. They speak about how the faith of Robyn's childhood provided a foundation for curiosity and justice and how the ideas in their new book, Activist Theology, matter to faith formation with young people.

In this episode Dave Csinos speaks with Mary Hawes and Murray Wilkinson about their work to pioneer a revolution in ministry with children and youth across the United Kingdom. After being part of Faith Forward they returned to Britain on a mission to start a similar movement across the pond, one that focuses on nurturing and releasing instead of capturing and conquering.

In this inaugural episode of the Faith Forward Podcast, Dave Csinos sits down with renowned youth ministry and culture expert Daniel White Hodge. Dan shares candidly about the challenges we're up against in ministry with youth and children and charts paths toward practices of justice with young people.

Amy Butler's closing presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

The second half of Mark and Lisa Scandrette's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

The first half of Mark and Lisa Scandrette's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

Daniel White Hodge's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

Leslie Neugent's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

Marcia Bunge's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

Almeda Wright's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago.

Brian McLaren's presentation from Faith Forward 2015, April 20-23 in Chicago. Brian shares what he's learned from his experiences as a parent and grandparent, and how Faith Forward can chart a new path in ministry with children and youth.

In this podcast episode, Dave Csinos interviews Lilly Lewin about the power of sacred space in the spiritual lives of young people. Lilly shares about the benefits, dreams, and struggles she encountered on her quest to help children and youth encounter God in meaning way. You'll gain valuable insight and practical tips for how you can use sacred space to form faith in the young people in your family and church.

Brian McLaren's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Bonnie Miller-McLemore's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Ivy Beckwith and Dave Csinos' presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Anne Streaty Wimberly's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Phyllis Tickle's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Mark Yaconelli's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Archbishop Paul-André Durocher's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Melvin Bray's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Rabbi Sandy Sasso's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.

Andrew Root's presentation from the 2014 Faith Forward gathering, May 19-22 in Nashville, TN.