Stay at Home with Severn Run

We don’t typically dive into politics around here, but the election is coming quickly and we thought it would be irresponsible not to talk about it. That being said, this is less about politics and more about how we as Christ-followers could approach this election season.Show Notes:The book that highly influenced this conversation and is the source of the seven questions is David Platt’s “Before You Vote.” You can find it here.And here is the podcast Allison referred to from Dave Hollis.For some biblical inspiration, check out Romans 13:1-14.

Last week, the Anne Arundel County Board of Education announced that students will start returning to the classroom on November 16th. There have been lots of questions and confusion about the plan and the options you have as parents, so we spoke with Board of Education Member and Severn Runner Julie Hummer to get the full rundown of the plan and the options you have. This is a great episode to listen to before you decide how your student will attend school for the rest of the year!Show Notes:You can find detailed information about the three options your students have on the county’s website.

We’ve got a little update for you as work on some fresh new content in the coming weeks!Show Notes:While you’re waiting for our next episode, join a campfire! You can find them at severnrun.com/campfires.

Let’s just say we hope this one makes you laugh. We are three weeks into this adventure called virtual learning and we felt like it was the perfect time to reflect on the triumphs and hilarious struggles of the season so far. So, grab some tissues. We’re here to cry with you.

A new poll has been released showing that White Americans are engaging at an incredibly low rate with the national conversation on race. We ask why and what we can do to help keep the conversation alive and productive.Show Notes:You can find the article with the poll results here from NPR.And this is the other article we reference from the Washington Post.

School has started and for many of us, that means we are on some level participating in some form of homeschooling. We may not be in charge of all of the learning our kids are doing. But we are far more present and relied upon than we expected. So, how do you make lemonade out of lemons? That was our question for this week’s guest, a homeschool pro who has seen four kids graduate from her house, Bernadette Turner.Show Notes:Bernadette gave us lots of awesome resources if you are interested in homeschooling. If you’re new to the prospect, start here if you live in Anne Arundel County. Or check out the Maryland Association of Christian Home Educators.Curriculum Resources:Rainbow Resource: From Bernadette - “The thing I like about Rainbow is that a lot of the products have been reviewed by staff and you see the comments from parents too.”Christian Book Homeschooling Resources: From Bernadette - “A great resource to find books a tad bit cheaper than Rainbow. They will only list books or products. You have to know what you are looking for.Sonlight: From Bernadette - “This is a great place to start too! Wonderful curriculum, tons of hands-on activities for students and wonderful literature.”Cathy Duffy Reviews: From Bernadette - “Also another great place to start to find information about the various curriculums.”

Well it’s finally here. Many kids in Anne Arundel County are about to head back to school from their homes. So we decided this was the perfect opportunity to offer some encouragement and pray for our students, parents, teachers, and administrators who are walking into something completely new. We hope you not only find ways to support our kids and education system in this season, but pray for everyone involved.Show Notes:We mentioned several YouVersion devotionals that were the inspiration for the scriptures we shared. He are the links:Unexpected Homeschooler7 Things the Bible Says About AnxietyGood News: Encouragement for a World in CrisisYou can sign-up to receive our Kids at Severn Run Take Home Kits here.And don’t forget to find other families you can share the virtual learning experience with through Learning Pods. The interest form for that can be found here.

This fall will be full of challenges for parents, students, and teachers. But for one group of students, the stakes are high. This week we had an eye-opening conversation with Paige Hawkins, an Anne Arundel County School teacher, who works with special needs students. Even if you don’t know of a way to help the families of children with special needs, we hope this conversation encourages you to at least see these families, pray for them, and support them.Show Notes:Paige provided some awesome resources for parents and students. In addition, fill out our Learning Pods questionnaire to find other families who you can interact with and support during virtual learning.Social Stories about COVID, online learning, masks, etc.Resources for parents, educators, and communities.Free pre-made visual schedules!Information for parents who believe their student may have learning difficulties.Community-Based ProgramsAutism Waiver and COVID

There have been so many questions about what virtual learning will look like for our kids this fall. So this week we decided to go straight to one of the folks who has been working behind the scenes for months to help Anne Arundel County come up with a plan. Julie Hummer is a member of the Board of Education for the county and a Severn Runner! She was kind enough to spend part of her day updating us (and trying to put us at ease!) about what the fall semester will look like.Show Notes:Julie offered so many resources in this podcast including her own email! You can reach her directly at jhummer@aacps.org.If you want to see the presentation given at the Board of Education Meeting that contains much of the information we discussed you can download the PDF.All of the county’s fall re-opening information can be found here.You can find a list of meal sites here. And if you’re looking for information about the meal pickup that can be found here.

It’s August, which means depending on where you live, school has either started or is about to. And for many parents in our local county, it means trying to figure out how to handle an entire semester of virtual learning. This week, we talk with The Church at Severn Run Connect Leader Amber Sanders about an initiative to connect parents and students this fall called Learning Pods.Show Notes:If you’re interested in Learning Pods and being matched with another family or group of families, fill out this questionnaire.And be sure to join our Parents at Severn Run Facebook Group to get support and ideas throughout the school year!

With the spike in COVID cases nationally, we decided to dig deeper into the devastating impact the virus is having on our black brothers and sisters. Contributor Raymaze Barnes joins us with some eye-opening data that shows how and why there is such a large disparity in cases along racial lines. We also hope it encourages you to pray and care well for the communities most impacted by the coronavirus.Show Notes:The Atlantic along with the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research has an extensive database showing the racial disparity in COVID19 cases and deaths.And the Washington Post did an extensive story on the impact of COVID19 on the black community.Like we said in the episode, food scarcity is another major impact of this virus. The Church at Severn Run holds a food distribution every Thursday from 4-7 PM. You can find more details at severnrun.com/covid19help.

It’s the moment we knew was coming but weren’t looking forward to. It’s Bonni’s last episode of the podcast (for now) as she prepares to go on maternity leave. So today, we welcome our new co-host Allison Fournier. Allison is the Kids Ministry Leader at The Church at Severn Run and, for the next few weeks and months, will help us help you navigate the virtual learning reality parents are about to enter this fall.Show Notes:If you’re a parent make sure to join our Parents at Severn Run Facebook page to see more resources and discussion about virtual learning and all things raising kids.And make sure you follow The Church at Severn Run on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram to see everything going on in our community.

We’re live! That’s right, we are a little spontaneous this week and decided to do a live episode recording on Facebook. So it may sound slightly different. But we had a point in doing it this way. We want some feedback from you this week. It could be questions, concerns, advice all surrounding the topic of a new school year. Our local county just announced this week that the first semester will be all virtual, which means some big changes for lots of families. So check the show notes for how you can interact with this episode!Show Notes:This episode is all about getting feedback from you! With many schools near us and around the country deciding to do virtual learning for at least part of the year, we want to know how you’re feeling. Head on over to our Facebook Live video to add a comment, a question, a concern, or a suggestion about how we as parents can work together to get through this school year!

Every month, we’ve committed to focusing on racism in America in an effort to learn, listen, and ultimately take action towards equality. In this episode, our Contributor Raymaze Barnes returns with some eye-opening data about the racial divide in schools, not just on a national level, but right here in our backyard. We hope it inspires you to seek ways to love our students in new and tangible ways.Show Notes: Much of our discussion was based on this very informative document from the White HouseInitiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans.You can find the specific numbers we were referencing for Anne Arundel County here.And you can read more about several of the topics we talked about in these articles and resources:Fewer AP classes, suspended more often: Black students still face racism in suburbsHow Systemic Racism Infiltrates EducationSystemic racism has led to education disparitiesSystemic Racism Explained (video)A Teenager Didn’t Do Her Online Schoolwork. So a Judge Sent Her to Juvenile Detention.And this is the PDF you can download to use as a template for a letter you can give to school administrators or teachers to encourage them to be conscious of bias.

Ok, here’s the deal. This podcast may very well be a case study in what stress sounds like. It’s been a bit of a stressful time in the lives of both Bonni and John, so we decided to dive right into a “The Struggle Is Real” segment. But we do like to end on a high note, so we also throw in “Some Things We Love.” It’s a bit of a roller coaster this week, but we hope you enjoy the ride.Show Notes:We talk about our favorite cold treats and John totally gets the name of his cold dessert wrong. It’s not Happy Jacks, it’s Cool Jacks. You can find out if your store carries them here. And really the name doesn’t matter. They’re delicious.John’s Book Suggestions:The Stranger in the Woods by Michael FinkelEducated: A Memoir by Tara WestoverDo yourself a favor and watch “Just Mercy.” It’s an incredibly well done movie that will open your eyes to the injustices of our criminal justice system. It is a timely story for our national conversation. You can find the movie here or the book here.

Sometimes we forget that our kids are living in the same world that we live in. We try to protect them, but they are incredibly perceptive and are feeling some of the same feelings we have right now in a world of crisis. Today, we turn over the reins of the podcast to Severn Run’s Kids Ministry Leader Allison Fournier and Nicole Hauser, a Severn Runner and Therapeutic Assistant at Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Autism and Related Disorders. They talk about anxiety, separation, and returning to activities like childcare as parts of society begin to reopen.Show Notes:You can see the video version of this interview and find more resources for parents on our Parents at Severn Run Facebook Page.You can see the services that the Kennedy Krieger Institute offers at kennedykrieger.org.If you’re planning on trying to join us in person at The Church at Severn Run, make sure you check out our Regathering Plans here.

We can be carrying a lot of weight mentally right now. Let’s walk through a simple prayer practice based on Philippians 4:4-8 that will help you lay down your anxieties and experience the deep peace of God.Philippians 4:4-8Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon.Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

We said we wanted this podcast to be real talk. And this is very real. The Coronavirus is not just making people sick physically. Whether it’s the virus itself or the stay-at-home orders, schooling from home or working from home (or both), the season we are living in has had an incredible impact on our mental health. In this episode, we have an honest conversation with the Clinical Director of Centrepointe Counseling, Matt Raeder, about the trauma we are experiencing and how to care for yourself well.Show notes:NOTE: The content here should not be taken as clinical advice. The content here is for informational purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your mental healthcare professional for any clinical questions.If you are looking for a mental health professional, Matt is the Clinical Director of Centrepointe Counseling. You can find more information and set up an appointment here.We also refer people to Christian Counseling Associates and Safe Harbor Christian Counseling.Article referenced: The COVID19 Crisis is a Trauma Pandemic in the MakingMore articles about the mental health impact of COVID19:Could you get PTSD from your pandemic experience? The long-term mental health effects of coronavirusResurfaced Trauma In Isolation: COVID-19's Impact On SurvivorsPsychological Trauma Is the Next Crisis for Coronavirus Health Workers

Racism in America is once again at the forefront of our national conversation. And today we are stepping right in the middle of it and committing to keep the conversation going. This episode will be the first of a new monthly series on this podcast dedicated to having encouraging, empathetic, and real conversations on race. We are so excited to announce that we will have a new contributor to the podcast for these special episodes, Raymaze Barnes. Raymaze, as we think you’ll discover, is passionate about creating an open dialogue.

A lot of churches are talking about “reopening” right now. We prefer the term “regathering” since we believe the Church has never closed its doors. There are also plenty of opinions and ideas on how to regather, so we thought we would spend some time with Severn Run’s Lead Pastor, Drew Shofner, talking about the theology behind gathering in the first place. Plus, we give you an idea of what regathering may look like, even though we don’t have all of the details yet.Show Notes:NOTE: This podcast was recorded before the tragic events of the past week in Minnesota and the subsequent demonstrations around our country. We are planning another podcast that will address our own processing of these events as well as ways we can work as a community to end the sin of racism.Addiction and Grace by Gerald May has been a significant source of inspiration for our “It’s Time” series. You can purchase the book here.You can find podcast versions of our messages at The Church at Severn Run Message Podcast. You can also watch our weekly live stream or see video versions of our services on Facebook, YouTube, or our website.Scripture:And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:24-25

We just finished two weeks focused on prayer during our “It’s Time” series at The Church at Severn Run. So we decided to reflect on our prayer lives during this season. It’s an honest take on where we are right now and it led us to what we hope is a prayer pep talk for all of us!Show notes:Much of this episode is a reflection on two messages from the “It’s Time” series at The Church at Severn Run. You can find week one on Wilderness Prayer here and week two on Believing Prayer here. We’d also love for you to join us live every Sunday on Facebook, YouTube, or our website.You can also find our messages in podcast form on Apple Podcasts.Scripture referenced in this episode:“When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. -Matthew 6:7“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. -Matthew 7:7Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. 7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. -Psalm 37:4-7And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[a] in harmony with God’s own will. -Romans 8:26-27

Today is a special day on the Stay at Home Podcast. We get to talk with our friend and co-worker Gwen Hubbard. Gwen is compassionate, strong, and incredibly wise. And today, we asked her to share some of that wisdom with you as she celebrates 20 years of service at Severn Run.Show notes:Gwen is awesome! (No really, that’s the main point of the show notes.)And also, join us for worship! You can catch our live stream at 9:30 AM on Facebook, YouTube or our website. Plus, find more all week long to give you encouragement.

We are just five episodes in and it’s already time again for another “The Struggle is Real” segment. We talk about online shopping, haircuts at home, and the struggle that two employees of a church have with online church. It’s real talk folks.Show notes:The book the worship team is reading that John mentioned: How to Worship a King by Zach NeeseThe article that inspired Bonni’s husband Marc to plan some things to look forward to: The Overlooked Key to Maintaining You Sanity During QuarantineAnd don’t forget, you can watch The Church at Severn Run Online every Sunday at 9:30 AM. You can find us on Facebook, YouTube, or our website.

We’ve talked a lot about how the Coronavirus is impacting us, our neighborhoods, and the Severn Run community. But today, we look at how this crisis is impacting areas that were already in crisis: the low-income communities all around us. Pastor Brian Zimmerman, of the Transformation Center just outside of Baltimore, joined us to help us understand the need and how we might be able to help.Show notes:You can check out the work of the Transformation Center and all of their different ministries at TransformationCenter.tc. And you can support the work of the Transformation Center at TransformationGiving.com.Pastor Brian and his team are super active on social media as well, so give them a follow on their Facebook page and Instagram.

This week is all about hope. Hope in the hard. Hope in the mundane. Hope in a world that is severely lacking it. Bonni and John share some of the things that are bringing hope to them in the COVI-19 season including new habits and hobbies, intentional ways to inject hopefulness, and scripture. Resources Mentioned in this Episode: The Modhymns Playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX3ZaylsK87YU?si=1honU1vRQdylq0rqjPsfhg That Sounds Fun Podcast with Annie F. Downs: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/that-sounds-fun-with-annie-f-downs/id944925529 Scripture: Hebrews 11:1 Lamentations 3 (really the whole chapter) Philippians 4:11-13

It's time to grow! That's the heart of this week's episode. Bonni and John share some pivotal growth moments in their own lives, how they got there, and some of the people and resources that helped them navigate the growth. We hope it's an encouraging episode that motivates you to seek growth even while we're all staying home.Bonni's Resources: Clout by Jenni Catron: https://www.amazon.com/Clout-Discover-Unleash-God-Given-Influence-ebook/dp/B00DNBE61W/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3OLO0SQF0VNMG&dchild=1&keywords=clout+by+jenni+catron&qid=1587417968&sprefix=clout+jen%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-1 4 Dimensions of Extraordinary Leadership by Jenni Catron: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Dimensions-Extraordinary-Leadership-Strength-ebook/dp/B00XPV60OG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2AEAGHJYO1KOG&dchild=1&keywords=the+4+dimensions+of+extraordinary+leadership&qid=1587418006&sprefix=4+dimensions+of+extr%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1 Free Gospel-Based Enneagram Test and Resources: https://www.yourenneagramcoach.com/ Paid Enneagram Test: https://www.wepss.com/buy.asp John's Resources: The Universal Christ by Richard Rohr: https://www.amazon.com/Universal-Christ-Forgotten-Reality-Everything/dp/0281078629/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1A3POGPM5JZ42&dchild=1&keywords=the+universal+christ+by+richard+rohr+paperback&qid=1587513262&sprefix=the+universal+ch%2Caps%2C147&sr=8-1 Invitation to Solitude and Silence: https://www.amazon.com/Invitation-Solitude-Silence-Experiencing-Transforming/dp/0830835458 The Road Back to You by Ian Cron: https://www.amazon.com/Road-Back-You-Enneagram-Self-Discovery/dp/B01M0TPG72/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UC8J8DM5752R&dchild=1&keywords=the+road+back+to+you&qid=1587513444&s=books&sprefix=the+road+b%2Cstripbooks%2C149&sr=1-1 And don’t forget to support the creator of the music for Stay at Home, Josh Sharo! Like his Facebook Page here and find his music on Spotify here!

Welcome to the debut episode of Stay at Home with Severn Run! Our hope each week is to provide encouragement, empathy, and real talk that expresses that we are all on the same page: Staying at Home. This week we introduce our first segment: The Struggle is Real. We know this is a hard time for everyone, so we share some ways that we've struggled this week, plus how God is working through those struggles.We also talk about Rule of Life, a concept introduced to us by Pastor John Marc Comer and Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR. You can find resources to create your own Rule of Life at practicingtheway.org.And you can find out more about The Church at Severn Run at severnrun.com!