Jesus Collective Podcast

Betty Pries is a professional church consultant, conflict mediator, and author of "The Space Between Us: Conversations about Transforming Conflict." Betty's talk will invite you to examine if peacemaking is core to your understanding of the gospel and the difference it makes in living it out. Is the Jesus you preach and teach the same Jesus who came to love and die for his enemies? Betty will challenge you to have a fuller picture of Jesus and practically equip you to live the implications in the here and now.

Colin McCartney is a pastor at Connect City Church and a seasoned leader who has spent years working for shalom in the urban heart of Toronto, Canada. In this talk from our UNITE ‘22 conference, Colin defines what a gospel centred on Jesus means and looks like in a distracted, violent, and politicized world. This talk will inspire you to make everything about Jesus. Colin challenges us to ensure that the living and knowable Jesus isn't being displaced by a politically co-opted or religiously codified Jesus at the centre of the Gospel.

Join podcast host Paul Walker as we reboot the Jesus Collective Podcast! Paul interviews the Core Leadership Team of Jesus Collective — Laura Hanna, Adam Dyer, and Jon Hand — about the honest challenges and exciting opportunities for Jesus Collective in the coming year. Learn how Jesus Collective is leaning into the challenges of the last 6 months and how our new leadership structures empower innovation and amplify the diverse voices and gifts of our Partners. Plus, we explore the unique opportunities for a Jesus-centred movement in polarization and cultural upheaval.

Why are so many church leaders falling into sin around money, sex, and power? Why isn't it enough to learn about Jesus in order to know him? Why is an existential encounter with Jesus necessary in order to become like him? Author Michael Frost joins us to talk about the latest edition of his book ReJesus: Remaking The Church In Our Founder's Image, all about what happens when we pattern ourselves and our churches around Jesus. Together we explore the aspects of Jesus' missional life, death, and resurrection that get lost in the business of church, why the church in the west has become so domesticated by secular culture, new models and changes that are necessary for the church to engage secular people over the next 10 years, plus models and examples of Jesus-centred churches that are living out the radical mission of Jesus in their contexts today. Michael Frost is a veteran missional practitioner, theologian, author, and equipper. He's the founding Director of the Tinsley Institute, a mission study centre located at Morling College in Sydney, Australia.

Join us for another episode of our Practitioners Series where we learn how Jesus-centred churches are seeking to be on mission with Jesus. More and more in North America and Europe, the Church and Christianity are seen as irrelevant, insular, and offering little to make life better for secular communities. The message of Jesus is always good news, but churches can struggle making that good news relevant in their communities. The Tabernacle Christian Church (The Tab) in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada is quietly being good news to their city. We chat with Lead Pastor Frank Allen and Community Life Pastor Heidi Schaaf from the Tab about how the postures and practices they embody help them be good news for their secular community. We explore how they're giving their building to their community, how they're supporting drug-afflicted communities, at-risk youth, and Indigenous communities, stories of people becoming new Christians or rediscovering Jesus during COVID, and lots more.

We met with Heather Thomas and Jonny Morrison for part two of a conversation about co- leadership. Inspired to apply a more Jesus-centred approach, Missio Dei Church in Salt Lake City, UT is innovating new forms of mutuality and shared organizational leadership. This bonus episode explores more of the reasons why co-leadership was important for the health and vitality of their church and the practical implications of this leadership model. Other themes include the power of mutuality, the inadequacy of the leader, and the resistance that comes with change. The podcast ends with a powerful conversation about what must die and what must be born in the hearts, minds, and egos of leaders who are committed to leading like Jesus.

How does the way of Jesus challenge secular assumptions about power distribution and organizational leadership? Is there a way to lead a church or organization that's more aligned with a Jesus-centred approach? We're launching a new Practitioners series on the podcast that features Jesus Collective churches and how they're seeking to make Jesus even more central to their mission and practice. Missio Dei Church has been on a two-year journey of transitioning their leadership structure to a shared power, co-led model. Here are some questions we'll be exploring together: How has Jesus-centricity inspired an in-depth evaluation of leadership practices? How did co-leadership emerge from experiencing, diagnosing, and pressing back on coercive power structures in Missio's recent transformations? How has a centred-set paradigm been a tool for navigating difficult changes? Join us as we learn from Co-Lead Pastors Heather Thomas and Jonny Morrison of Missio Dei Church, located in Salt Lake City, UT.

Masks, vaccine passports, political ideologies — we're all experiencing the polarization happening in our culture right now within our families, churches, organizations, and workplaces. Every few hundred years, there's a cultural moment that emerges where the church has the opportunity to live and share the Jesus-centred life in a fresh way. We believe that moment is now and that this polarity can actually be an opportunity. How can followers of Jesus lean into these polarizing times with humility and confidence? How can we make peace, model unity, and show secular culture the transformational impact that happens when we put Jesus at the centre? Join us for a visionary and practical conversation with Dr. Samuel Sarpiya. Samuel is a Jesus Collective Partner and Executive Director at the Center for Non-Violence and Conflict Transformation in Rockford, IL, and he's an expert in transforming conflict and polarization.

What makes a church Jesus-centred? Aren't all Christian churches centred on Jesus? Join our conversation with Pastor Jeff Lockyer as we explore "anchor causes" and what it means to develop leaders, empower women, and create discipleship pathways all with Jesus at the centre. Jeff pastors at Southridge Community Church in St. Catharines, Ontario, a community that's been seeking to put and keep Jesus at the centre for over 20 years.

In the west, the Church cannot afford to be sheltered in privilege and ignore the challenges, victories, and kingdom creativity happening in Jesus-centred communities in the developing world. Putting Jesus at the centre means we must learn from our global and often marginalized brothers and sisters in how they're putting Jesus at the centre and the ways they're advancing kingdom creativity. Join us for a fascinating, challenging, and awakening conversation with César Garcia, the General Secretary of Mennonite World Conference (MWC). MWC is a global movement linked to the Radical Reformation, including Anabaptist and Anabapt-ish traditions, with a mission to connect churches around the world for community, learning, and resourcing. César is author of What Is God's Kingdom and What Does Citizenship Look Like? (Jesus Way: Small Books of Radical Faith) by Herold Press.

Jesus followers are meant to be like time travelers from the future, living the life of tomorrow today – on Earth as in Heaven. Join Meghan Good, Jesus Collective Partner and Teaching Pastor at Mennonite Trinity Church, as we explore what it means to be future people living a life of radical love and hope. (This was part of a three-week teaching series called On Earth As In Heaven produced in partnership with The Meeting House Church.)

Jesus repeatedly told his followers what the Kingdom of Heaven was like, and yet we sometimes feel confused about what it is exactly. Join Leanne Friesen, Lead Pastor at Hamilton Mountain Baptist Church, as we explore three key aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven embodied by Jesus: radical forgiveness, radical welcome, and radical peace. (This was part of a three-week teaching series called On Earth As In Heaven produced in partnership with The Meeting House Church.)

God's Kingdom was designed to be radically inclusive and diverse – on earth as it is in Heaven. Join Hank Johnson, Jesus Collective Partner and Senior Pastor at Harrisburg BIC Church, as we explore what it means to be inclusive, diverse Kingdom people living out the Jesus-centred life today. (This was part of a three-week teaching series called On Earth As In Heaven produced in partnership with The Meeting House Church.)

Secularism as an ideology is influencing Christian thought and practice in the church more and more in the Western world. What does a Jesus-centred, counter-cultural way look like in a secular age? Where does the Gospel invite us to affirm secular culture and where does the Gospel invite us to become wary of the assumptions embedded in secular culture and the progressive or conservative versions of it? Join church planter & professor Brian Ross as we explore how to stay deeply rooted in Jesus as we lead and disciple in currents of Secularism.

Professor and church planter Brian Ross equips us in how to preach and teach to those who are secular and unconvinced of the relevance and power of Jesus' story. Brian shares ten helpful insights into how increasing our understanding of culture and Jesus can impact how we translate the Gospel in our cultural moment.

Failure, burnout, and withdrawal have become the norm for Christian leaders, but it's not meant to be this way. Join our conversation with Robynn Bliss, spiritual director & author, and Aaron White, author & National Director of 24/7 Prayer. Together, we discuss how Jesus-centred leadership provides sustainable insights & rhythms for a completely different story.

Join pastors Rici Skei & Paul Eddy as we explore the radical implications of living our lives and forming our theology with Jesus at the centre. Rici & Paul unpack assumptions of secular and religious cultures and work through five aspects of Jesus-centred living that just might get Jesus and his followers killed today.

What's the "Third Way" all about? Join our conversation with Mark Baker, PhD, as he walks us through attitudes, theology, and discipleship practices that self-described Third Way churches are living out. Together, we learn practical strategies for forming disciples and navigating polarization around the most divisive issues of our day.

Slowing down to listen, learn, and engage together is a critical step on the road to justice and racial reconciliation. We want to unite around Jesus and seek what it means to walk humbly, act justly, advocate for change, and love well as his followers. Listen in as thoughtful leaders of colour within the Jesus Collective community share this important conversation about white privilege, systemic racism, and reconciliation, with Jesus at the centre. Pastors Shawna Boren (St. Paul, MN) and Hank Johnson (Harrisburg, PA) provide perspective from American communities deeply impacted by the recent chain of events, and Denley McIntosh (Oakville, ON) adds insights from a Canadian context.

At our recent UNITE | ONLINE event, we created space to imagine what the landscape might be like after the Pandemic, what the church will be known for, and how we can be evolving, preparing, and innovating as we follow Jesus into the significant opportunities that lie ahead. Listen in as Jon Hand hosts this timely and engaging conversation with pastors Mandy Smith and Jeremy Duncan.

Pastor and church planter Rici Skei shares how her church has learned to serve the marginalized in their community during this crisis and inspires us with ways all of us can apply a hands-on approach to engaging the marginalized in our own context. She also shares her unique insights on our vulnerabilities as leaders in this time, and offers ways we can pastor ourselves while caring for and leading others. Interested in learning more about Rici and her work? Check out riciskeiministries.com/home.

We were able to engage with pastors from churches in some of the hardest hit areas, and heard from others who are working to mobilize their churches to do what love requires of us in this time. We have an amazing opportunity to redeem the impact and relevancy of the church in our post-Christian culture, and we'll do that best in unity and collaboration with one another! You can also check out the resources mentioned in this discussion by going to jesuscollective.com/covid-19resources.

New to Jesus Collective? Listen to the first 10 minutes to learn more about who we are. Keep listening to hear the interactive conversation featuring two churches that are taking different approaches to welcoming and including the LGBTQ+ community in the life of the church. We’ll learn together through conversation with Jeremy Duncan of Commons Church in Calgary, AB, and Jeremy Jernigan of Abundant Life Church in Portland, OR. These two churches are both seeking to keep Jesus central to everything they do, yet land in two different places in how they love and disciple LGBTQ+ persons. Do you wrestle with how to navigate this important and delicate reality in this cultural moment? With the guidance of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, communal discernment, and the centrality of Jesus, we can find our way forward together.

Join Jesus Collective as we explore how to make disciples in our post-Christian culture. We will be learning from Ken Shigematsu, pastor of Tenth Church in Vancouver. Ken is author of Survival Guide for the Soul: How to Flourish Spiritually in a World that Pressures Us to Achieve. Ken has a long track record of connecting the person of Jesus with our deepest human needs / brokenness through spiritual practices and training in transformation.

We just love Jesus-y people like MaryKate Morse. MaryKate has a proven track-record of teaching Christian leaders how to skillfully lead in the way of Jesus while practicing the way of Jesus deeper into their own inner lives. We all can be guilty of having a great Jesus-centred theology, yet, that same theology may not impact how we lead staff, structure our organizations, and influence the leadership cultures we create in our churches. Pull up a chair and let’s chat with MaryKate about how a Jesus-centred approach makes a difference in how we lead church as mission, a body of believers, and an organization.

Flashy terminology or a meaningful distinction? Hear how placing Jesus at the centre of everything sets the trajectory for our faith, our life, and the future of Jesus Collective.

Maggie John and Bruxy Cavey share why The Meeting House Church wants to partner with other Jesus Centred churches and leaders to birth a new relational network.

Greg Boyd shares why now is the time to unite a Kingdom movement.

Efrem Smith joins the conversation as we talk about how our movement can become racially diverse, and how to move towards multi-ethnic diversity within our churches.

How do we move beyond studying and talking about discipleship, to helping church communities actually practice a truly Jesus-centred Life? Danielle unpacks her passion for this question and introduces us to Infinitum.

How can we make sense of these passages? Walk through some of the creepiest Old Testament violence passages to see them with fresh eyes.

How can we disagree with each other in a hostile world? Putting Jesus at the centre gives us resources and imagination to disagree with others in ways that build unity in our diversity.

Matt Miles, Jon Hand, Karmyn Bokma, and Bruxy Cavey expand on what Jesus Collective is and what it seeks to accomplish in addition to providing details on moving forward in the pilot phase.

Political polarization in U.S. church communities has never been greater, and the whole world is watching with uncertainty at what will unfold in the wake of the November 2020 election. In this live podcast, we converse with two pastors leading churches in North Carolina and Arizona, both highly polarized swing states. We discuss practical ways to talk about politics and explore strategies and experiential ways to keep Jesus at the centre of discipleship and mission.