Priest Pulse

Melissa Rau joins us for the fourth part of our coronavirus pandemic miniseries to discuss faith formation. We discuss rethinking faith formation now and beyond the pandemic.  Melissa Rau is Director of Partnerships and New Initiatives for Episcopal Church Foundation. Melissa joined the ECF staff in April 2018. Prior to joining ECF, she served churches as a consultant doing strategic visioning, assessments, facilitation, training, and coaching. She has studied with Princeton Theological Seminary, the General Theological Seminary, and Candler School of Theology. She has written and published curriculum and numerous articles for online and printed publications, and more recently co-authored a book—Ten Solutions for Small Churches. She has extensive ecumenical experience in parishes throughout the country. Melissa is married to the Rev. Mike Rau, Rector at Holy Nativity in Rockledge, PA. They have two daughters and a son. Melissa loves to read and is particularly fond of giraffes and the color orange.

In part three of our coronavirus pandemic miniseries we're joined by Kyle Oliver to discuss incarnational perspectives on online church. Kyle Matthew Oliver is an educational media producer and researcher, a fellow of the Episcopal Church Foundation, and a priest of the Diocese of California. He currently serves as communications and marketing manager and adjunct instructor in Christian education at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. Kyle is a doctoral candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, working on a multimedia dissertation focused on making meaning through making media in faith and faith-adjacent settings. His most recent publication, with Stacy Williams-Duncan and Lisa Kimball, is "Digital Literacies for Ministry: A Qualitative Study of Theological Educators Preparing Students for New Media Engagement," which can be read for free in the journal Ecclesial Practices. Kyle lives in San Francisco with his wife, Kristin Saylor, who serves as director of formation at Grace Cathedral.

Wondering whether to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with your congregation online during the coronavirus pandemic? Dr. Joshua Wise joins us to discuss sacramental theology and an orthodox, Trinitarian, Incarnational perspective on online worship for our congregations.  Joshua Wise is the author of No Avatars Allowed: Theological Reflections on Video Games from Church Publishing. He's also cofounder of the All Ports Open Network where he writes and produces several podcasts including Weeping Cedars, a horror audio drama. Listen now at www.allportsopen.com

Priest Pulse is back with a coronavirus pandemic miniseries looking at pastoral care, communications, sacramental theology, formation, and justice and reconciliation ministry while we're experience church in exile. Part one features the Rev. Dr. Storm Swain author of Trauma and Transformation at Ground Zero: A Pastoral Theology from Fortress Press. Storm discusses pastoral care in times of crisis, the ongoing trauma of the coronavirus pandemic, clergy resiliency, self-care, and more.

After an unexpected hiatus we return with Anna Courie and David Peters, authors of Christ Walk Crushed: a 40-Day Journey Toward Reconciliation available from Church Publishing Inc. In this interview we discuss contrition, healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation, as well as what its like to leave the beautiful state of Hawaii for the mainland. Check out our patreon: www.patreon.com/priestpulse

The Rev. Lorenzo Lebrija joins us to talk about his ministry with TryTank, a joint partnership between the General Theological Seminary and Virginia Theological Seminary. TryTank is a learning lab to experiment in church growth and innovation. In this episode we talk about the boldness to experiment in ministry, and how failure can lead to true success.  https://www.lorenzolebrija.com/about-lorenzo.html https://www.trytank.org/about.html   Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/priestpulse  

On this week’s Priest Pulse, Colin and Fr. Laurence fly solo as they key up two MORE interviews from the FORMA conference in January. While in Indy, Fr. Ben and Colin sat down with Jerusalem Greer, who is currently (but was not yet at the time) staff officer for evangelism on the Presiding Bishop’s staff, to hear about the many projects she has going on around the Church. In our second segment, Fr. Laurence was able to talk with the Rev. Callie Swanlund to hear her thoughts on the recent screening of her awesome How2Charist project and what might be next!   Jerusalem Greer: https://jerusalemgreer.com/ How2Charist: https://how2charist.com/ Priest Pulse Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/priestpulse Priest Pulse: www.priestpulse.com

On this episode we're joined by author Greg Millikin of the book "Being Called, Being Gay" from Church Publishing available now, as well as returning guest Sarah Stonesifer. We discuss issues around discernment, vocation, and call to lay and ordained ministry, and engage issues of age, gender, sexual orientation, and more as they relate to discernment in the Episcopal Church. We think all discernment officers around TEC should check this one out!  Check out our patreon: www.patreon.com/priestpulse You can buy Being Called, Being Gay by Greg Millikin, Forward by Mary Glaspool, now from Church Publishing https://www.churchpublishing.org/beingcalledbeinggay  

Colin and Ben discuss the brand new Red Church Door Podcast at www.redchurchdoor.org and share this wonderful content. At the 2019 Forma conference, Colin interviewed author Anna V. Ostenso Moore about her book "Today is a Baptism Day" available now from Church Publishing. Special thanks to the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta's youth ministry podcast with producing this episode. https://www.annavostensomoore.com/ https://www.churchpublishing.org/todayisabaptismday https://www.eycdioatl.org/podcast.html

Ben and Laurence unpack their experience at the Formed to Proclaim 2019 Forma Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. We discuss the conference and then we hear from conference goers of their impressions. Over the next several weeks we'll be releasing our Forma interviews and live episode.

It's tough to find a name for an episode about beer that doesn't offend or violate intellectual property! For the third year in a row we are LIVE at the Diocese of Pennsylvania clergy conference in Cape May, NJ. The Rev. Kirk Berlenbach, Canon for Growth and Support of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, joins the show to discuss beer ministry - do's and don't, what the canons and law allows, safety, policies, and more. We also sample some local south New Jersey craft beer from Cape May Brewery and Ludlam Island Brewery. https://www.capemaybrewery.com/ http://www.ludlamisland.com/  

The Rev. Patricia (Tricia) Lyons is the Evangelism and Community Engagement in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington DC, administrator of the Episcopal Evangelist network on Facebook, and author of Teaching Faith with Harry Potter: A Guidebook for Parents and Educators for Multigenerational Faith Formation. Tricia has also served on the Presiding Bishop’s team that helped construct The Way of Love campaign.

Dr. Jeremy Bonner is an Honorary Fellow in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University and contributor to the book, "Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion: 1980 to the Present". You can read more about Dr. Bonner's work here: https://livingchurch.org/covenant/2018/08/30/facing-more-episcopal-church-decline/

Episode two of season four is here! Ben and Colin are joined by the Rev. Jeremy Smith of Hacking Christianity. Rev. Jeremy Smith is a United Methodist Elder serving as Senior Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington (USA). He blogs about faith, young clergy issues, technology, internet theory, and geeky topics at HackingChristianity.net. Jeremy discusses with us the current state of the United Methodist Church and much more. Check out www.hackingchristianity.net now!

Four years and now four seasons kicks off with Jeremy Tackett, Digital Evangelist for the Episcopal Church. We discuss working for Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, exciting new projects for TEC, and those two scary words "digital" and "evangelism." Bonus interview: Colin asks Ben all about his new Kickstarter for the All Ports Open Network launching October 3.  Here's a preview: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theologian78/1459391558?ref=580706&token=0ccd403a www.allportsopen.com

This week, Jesus has some pretty strong words for the privileged who, because of their tribes, try to keep some in and some out.  Reading: http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp21_RCL.html#gsp1

Mark Nepo writes that sacred moments wait for us like the very pulse of life that waits like a kind mother at the edge of exhaustion. As we seek to ease our anxiety not on early things but on things heavenly, what would it look like if we made God the foundation for our stability? Reading: http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp20_RCL.html#nt1

When exactly did we ever all just get along? Colin explores last Sunday's Gospel where we are met with one of the earliest divisions in the church.  Gospel Reading: http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/Pentecost/BProp19_RCL.html#gsp1

We are trying something different here at Priest Pulse. I (Colin) have been recording the audio from my sermon for years and I'm finding it less effective as a tool to share the gospel. Sermons on Sunday are visual mediums and the audio is not capturing the entire presentation. What I want to try is to take the content from the Sunday Sermon, and on Monday Morning sit down and record it as a podcast. It's an experiment. I think it's going to take some time to find my sea legs as I perfect my inner-Ira Glass but I still yearn for your feedback. Let us know what you think!

This week, we welcome back the Rev. Kyle Oliver (Creative Commons Prayer) to talk about what he's been up to since his last time on Priest Pulse, his Doctoral work at Columbia, and even more exciting - his recent Holy Eucharist Illuminated Cards project. Ben, Colin, and Kyle talk about new trends in the church and the continuing rise in what they see as an increased passion for EVANGELISM! You can read more about Kyle at kyleoliver.net and at https://www.creativecommonsprayer.com/. You can puchase a copy of his Holy Eucharist Illuminated cards here: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/holy-eucharist-illuminated

No #GC79 Pigeon, no Episcobaby, no lightning scar, but we do have some amazing interviews and a wrap up from our correspondent Laurence Wainwright-Maks from the floor of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The incredible executive director of Forma Bill Campbell (finally!) joins us as well as Charles Graves and Bishop Silvestre Romero of the Diocese of Guatemala. Thanks to all of you for following along our second ever GC coverage. You all are the best and we love you. Thanks to Father Laurence for his amazing reporting.

The Rev. Callie Swanlund joins us to discuss her fabulous project now on Kickstarter: How2Charist, a Digital Instructed Eucharist. Bread+wine: blessed. God: present. What's the meaning behind our words+rituals? How2charist illuminates the liturgy's beauty+spirit. You can back this project now in the link below. Listen to Callie tell her story of how this project came to be and how you can get involved. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/callieswanlund/how2charist-digital-instructed-eucharist-episcopal

Yes, the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church is still going on. Yes, we've lost track of how many days it has been. Yes, we are still extremely thrilled by these wonderful conversations. On this episode, Bishop Daniel Gutierrez of the Diocese of Pennsylvania and Mary Parmer of Invite Welcome Connect both return to Priest Pulse with their updates on #GC79. Also we are extremely excited to have Mary Kate Rejouis, the worship coordinator for General Convention, join us to help us geek out on the logistics of how such massive worship comes together.

Topics include: Prayer Book Revision (Resolution A068), Bishops Against Gun Violence, Hutto Detention Facility visit, #Metoo, worship at General Convention, diversity and inclusiveness in leadership, creation care and agrarian mission, Episcopal Relief and Development, youth ministry, the Young Adult Festival, Union of Black Episcopalians, and much more. Guests include: Bishop Barbara Harris, Brian Sellers-Petersen, Ashley Simpson, Wallace Benton, Horne Skov, Payne MacMillan, DJ Waters, Morgan Morgan, Imani Jackson, and Canon Shawn Wamsley.

Fr. Laurence Wainwright-Maks continues to interview from the floor of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas. In this episode: Jason Evans, Sarah Stonesifer, and discussions of #MeToo, #Churchtoo, worship at GC, evangelism, church planting, and much more.

Fr. Laurence Wainwright-Maks continues reporting from the floor of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Austin, TX. He discusses the #metoo liturgy and the opening press event with Bishop Michael Curry and President of the House of Deputies Gay Clark Jennings. Laurence continues to collect perspectives from the floor including: Drew and Radha, two middlers from Seminary of the Southwest, Micah Jackson, President of Bexley Seabury Seminary, Jamie Nelson, admissions officer from Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP), and Sarah Knoll Sweeney from Seminary of the Southwest.

Join our correspondent Laurence Wainwright-Maks as he reports from the floor of #GC79, the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Interviews include Bishop Brian Seage of the Diocese of Mississippi, representatives of Bexley Seabury seminary, Aimee Bostwick, President of the Board of Forma, other representatives of Forma, and more! Laurence Wrainwright-Maks is our 'man-about-convention,' and you'll hear him popping all over the convention floor gathering insights and perspectives. If you're at #gc79 keep an eye out for him. If you're not, we hope you enjoy listening in as he brings an inside look into this year's GC.

It's that glorious, triennial time: General Convention! #GC79 has kicked off and in this episode Ben and Colin interview Scott Gunn of Forward Movement about all of the Convention hype. We unpack the big issues, and what makes convention great. Let Scott Gunn help you understand some of the ins-and-outs of the General Convention. https://www.episcopalchurch.org/inside-general-convention www.sevenwholedays.org http://www.generalconvention.org/  

Anna Fitch Courie returns to talk about her amazing new book the Adventures of Cancer Girl and God, available now from Church Publishing. Topics include: living with cancer or illness, grace and healing, finding faith in difficult circumstances, evangelism and sharing our stories of faith, Michael Curry and the Jesus Movement, Lent Madness, and so much more.  https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Cancer-Girl-God-Journey/dp/1640650105 https://www.amazon.com/Books-Anna-Fitch-Courie/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAnna%20Fitch%20Courie

Fr. Benjamin Gildas sits down for a roundtable discussion with the full time faculty of the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church to discuss challenges and opportunities facing current and new leadership in this denomination. www.gts.edu Desmond Tutu Travel Seminar with the Rev. Dr. Michael Battle: www.gts.edu www.michaelbattle.com  

Fr. Benjamin Gildas joins the faculty of the General Theological Seminary for a round-table discussion of many challenging issues facing the Episcopal Church in the 21st century: the future of seminary education, recapturing mission, incarnational ministry, and much more. This episode is dedicated to Mother Mitties DeChamplain for all the blessings she bestowed upon us and many generations of GTS grads. www.gts.edu

The Rev Connor Gwin is the Canon for Social Engagement and Christian Formation in the Diocese of Southwest Virginia and writes at mbird.com   Link to article: http://www.mbird.com/2018/03/closer-than-you-think-the-trouble-with-deconstruction/  

It's the final showdown of Lent Madness 2018 and a bunch of our friends from LM and Forward Movement are on the show for the inside scoop. Which saint will wear the Golden Halo?  www.lentmadness.org

This week on Priest Pule we welcome guest co-host Emily McFarlan Miller, National Religion reporter for Religion News Service (RNS) to talk about church news stories that might not be making national headlines but are still worth talking about. @emmillerwrites on Twitter

In this special episode, the Hive Cast - official podcast of the Hive Apiary - takes over our show to bring you an amazing episode featuring educator Kim Cavill. The Hive Cast is hosted by the Rev. Hillary Raining and Ken Raining, and in this episode they discuss talking with your kids about sex, sex positive parenting, the effect of pornography on teens, sexting, and much more.    Check out the Hive Apiary and subscribe to the Hive Cast on iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hive-cast/id1355088190?mt=2 http://www.thehiveapiary.com/

The hosts of the new podcast Hometown by Episcopal Migration Ministries join us. Allison Duvall and Kendall Martin talk about refugee resettlement and migration ministry, the current political climate toward immigration, changing hearts and minds through shared stories, crossing divides through conversation, and working for Bishop Michael Curry. Listen to Hometown now where all podcasts are found and do not forget to subscribe, rate, and review: https://episcopalmigrationministries.org/hometown/ Join Allison Duvall and Kendall Martin of Episcopal Migration Ministries, the refugee resettlement ministry of the Episcopal Church, for an introduction to HomeTown, a podcast featuring voices from across the US, the Episcopal Church, and the New American community.

The Rev. Alex Dyer is Priest in Church of St. Thomas Parish in Washington DC and co-author of two recent resolutions in in the Diocese of Washington, both around the topic of gender. These resolutions proved controversial enough to find Fr. Dyer as a guest on the Tucker Carlson show on Fox News.

After a bit of a winter wedding break we return with our Ash Wednesday special episode! On this episode the Rev. Emily Mellott joins us to evangelize Ashes to Go, a popular movement in the Episcopal Church and beyond to bring the message and rituals of Ash Wednesday out of the doors of the Church and into the streets. We discuss the ins and outs, as well as the controversy, of Ashes to Go, and the significance and wonder of the season of Lent. We also raise the question: will we have a Lent Madness episode this year? Will the Lent Madness Supreme Executive Committee return our phone calls? Will we stop asking these ridiculous questions? Only time will tell. https://ashestogo.org/  

Bonus holiday episode! We come at you once again LIVE from the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania clergy conference in Cape May, New Jersey! Byron Borger, owner of Hearts and Minds Bookstore in Dallastown, Pennsylvania, joins us. Suggested talking points: why books matter, Amazon is evil, shop local, John Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes, the reformation, using tech wisely with children and youth, and more. https://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/  

We believe the Church is alive and we're keeping our finger on the pulse by coming to you LIVE from the Virginia Theological Seminary 1823 Pub and Cafe. Joining us is the Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Dean and President of VTS. In the interview we discuss the future of the Episcopal Church, myth of church decline, shaping new leadership for the 21st century, President Donald Trump's announcement of moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, his background with the Plymouth Brethren, and more. Sarah Stonesifer, Digital Missioner at the Center for Ministry and Teaching, joins them for a roundtable on the unique 21st century challenges facing Episcopal Church leadership.  What would a Priest Pulse live episode be without games? We play Seminary Trivia, Punching Heretics, and last but not least, its the great return of Marry Martyr Monastery.  Episode produced by Sarah Stonesifer and Fr. Benjamin Gildas. Huge thanks to Virginia Theological Seminary, Dean Markham, the 1823 Pub and Cafe, and Rick Bauer. Lectionary Levity http://a.co/fWo3jKd https://www.vts.edu/page/Center-for-the-Ministry-of-Teaching

Put your whole self into the newest episode feat. Hillary Raining and Scott Stoner. Hillary Raining is author of Joy in Confession: Reclaiming the Sacrament of Reconciliation from Forward Movement. We discuss finding healing and peace, as well as forgiveness and reconciliation. We also discuss the #metoo moment and forgiveness in the context of sexual assault. Scott Stoner is Executive Director of Living Compass, a wellness ministry dedicated to making congregation centers of whole-self wellness.  https://www.forwardmovement.org/Products/2455/joy-in-confession.aspx https://www.livingcompass.org

Our first live audience episode of season three features the Rev. Dr. Dawn Davis who hails from the Great White North to talk to us Americans about raising lay spiritual leaders. We're grateful to the Discipleship Matters conference for allowing us to record this special live episode from the conference at St. Thomas, in Whitemarsh, PA. Dawn joins us to discuss her program from Forward Movement and Renewal Records called Revive, which is equipping lay leaders to be spiritual leaders. Dawn also is subjected to a game of American geography trivia, and we make a few Canada jokes. Enjoy! http://renewalworks.org/revive/

Happy Thanksgiving! This special Thanksgiving b-side fits nicely in the trend of this season, as we pop in on Fr. Ben's car ride to Connecticut with his mother! Colin, Ben, and Ruth discuss practicing faith at home especially with children, bedtime prayer rituals, how to create sticky faith, tips for teaching faith at home in your congregation, and more. We hear stories of Ben and Colin's childhood, and the faith that formed them into the priests they are today. We hope you enjoy this family centered Thanksgiving special b-side episode from the road. We hope each of you has a wonderful holiday!

Priest Pulse is coming to a seminary near you....if you live near Virginia Theological Seminary! Join us on December 7th at 7pm at the 1823 Cafe for a free, live recording of Priest Pulse with games, swag giveaways, and our special guest the Very Rev. Ian Markham, Dean and President of VTS! 

There always seems to be debris ahead on the road of ministry, but this time we take it literally as Colin phones in driving to make a pastoral visit in Maine. In this exciting episode Heidi Kim, staff officer for the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Michael Curry, joins us to discuss the Becoming Beloved Community racial reconciliation initiative from the General Convention and Presiding Bishop's staff. Bishop Robert Hirschfeld of the Diocese of New Hampshire joins us again to discuss his new book Without Shame or Fear: from Adam to Christ from Church Publishing.   

Happy Halloween! Happy Reformation Anniversary! Happy 3rd anniversary of Priest Pulse! Happy season 3! We kick off our third season with two fantastic guests. First the Rev. Paul Fromberg, rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Fransisco, joins us to discuss his book The Art of Transformation: Three Things Churches Do That Change Everything. Mary Parmer, Director of Invite, Welcome, Connect, joins us to discuss evangelism, the theology of church growth and development, her exploration in the Episcopal Church, and so much more. Both of these great interviews discuss ideas for increasing discipleship and evangelism in your congregation, so you won't want to miss either of them. We invite and encourage you to give us a review on iTunes, and we hope you enjoy the start of the third season. Spread the word: we're back! http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/person/paul-fromberg https://www.churchpublishing.org/artoftransformation http://www.invitewelcomeconnect.com/ http://www.maryparmer.com/

Check out our season three teaser at the front of this re-release. One of our most popular episodes of all time, Anna Fitch Courie, author of Christ Walk and Christ Walk Kids, joins Fr. Ben at a Philadelphia coffee shop to talk about her faith journey. Season 3 available soon....watch your feed!

In July 2015, Fr. Benjamin Gildas traveled to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. During that time, he compiled and edited these stories of experiment and risk in evangelism, mission, and new ministry. We are between seasons at Priest Pulse, and we thought we'd share with you some "classic" Priest Pulse episodes to celebrate our upcoming three year anniversary and just in case you missed some of these older episodes. Please take a moment to consider supporting the ministry of Priest Pulse by becoming a monthly or one-time patron. You can find more at www.patreon.com and searching for Priest Pulse.

Once again, Ben is at the Walt Disney World Resort to no one's surprise, and Colin is hosting without him!  We're extremely excited about this great episode because we had the pleasure of two fantastic interviews. The illustrious and incredible Carter Heyward - feminist theologian, priest, and one of the Philadelphia 11 - joins us to talk about her life, ministry, and new book from Church Publishing "She Flies On: A White Christian Southern Debutante Wakes Up."  Also joining the show once again is Bishop Robert Hirschfeld, this time to discuss the River of Life: Connecticut River Pilgrimage. http://kairosearth.org/river/ https://www.churchpublishing.org/sheflieson  

Ben wanted to title this episode "Jesus and Ribs" but cooler heads prevailed. You'll have to wait till the end of the episode to find out why. In addition to selling ribs in this episode, Broderick Greer and Megan Castellan join the Roundtable to discuss evangelism, reconciliation, white supremacy, white nationalism, the alt-right, gun violence, gun control laws, and our BuzzFeed overlords. We play a game inspired by DC's new hit movie Wonder Woman. Check out the newest in the Church's Teaching for a Changing World series https://www.churchpublishing.org/followingthewayofjesus http://www.broderickgreer.com/ https://redshoesfunnyshirt.com/

Hey everybody! We messed up big time and this episode we prepared for early in the Easter season is going up now. Becca Stevens of Thistle Farms joins us again to play a game of two truths and a lie with Colin Chapman and we didn't want you to miss it. Please check it out and look forward to our wonderful upcoming episodes. Thanks for listening, and donate to Thistle Farms! https://thistlefarms.org/