Podcasts about venn foundation

We take a break from our series this week to welcome guest speaker Donald Goodhall from Venn Foundation, who joins us to discuss the importance of scripture.

We continue our series, exploring the ancient practice of silence and solitude, with Luke Fenwick from Venn Foundation leading us into this holy habit.

Donald Goodhall from Venn Foundation explores our next I Am statement of Jesus, 'I am the door and the good shepherd'. Our hope with this series is that we will not only see Jesus with fresh eyes but also grow our connection with him in new and meaningful ways.

What hath Pentecost to do with Wall Street? Or, for that matter, what do the drudgery and stress of balancing checkbooks, checking spreadsheets, and making financial decisions, in your parish, diocese, or at home, have to do with the Holy Spirit's creative, enlivening presence? As Christians we often do have an idea of how our personal finances are or at least should be guided by prudence, simplicity, justice. Dave Ramsey. Got it. But how do our economic lives as human beings, even on a national or international level, relate to the revelation of Jesus Christ, or to the life and vocation God has given to the Church? Is it even possible to have such a vision, or to do anything about it? We've got a conversation today with guests who bring two different and very unique perspectives to the table, to help us get a theological vision for God's purpose for our common life together and how economics and the Christian life might intersect. Our first guest is Dr. Daniela Augustine. Daniela is currently Reader in World Christianity and Pentecostal Studies at the University of Birmingham UK, with a previous background in economics. Her focus is in ethics and public theology and engaging Eastern Orthodox theology in conversation with Pentecostal theology, especially in liturgy, theosis, and the event of Pentecost as a paradigm for social transformation. Her latest book is The Spirit and the Common Good: Shared Flourishing in the Image of God. Our second guest is The Rev. Dr. Nathan McLellan. Nathan worked as an economist in the New Zealand Treasury for over six years before a hunger for theological education led him to a Ph.D. in Christian ethics. He is currently CEO and Teaching Fellow at Venn Foundation, an education institution helping Christians explore the depths and riches of the Christian tradition for the good of their homes, workplaces, churches, and communities in New Zealand. He is passionate about helping others deepen their integration of faith and life, especially in the areas of economics, business, and leadership. The conversation is moderated by Dr. Dallas Gingles. Dallas is the Site Director of the Houston-Galveston Extension Program of Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, where he teaches courses in moral theology, systematic theology, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and bioethics. His current work includes a co-edited volume on the future of Christian realism. Donate to the Living Church Go to Rome with the Living Church! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/living-church/support

Welcome to Venn Presents, a series of conversations exploring the depth and richness of the Christian tradition, between your host Sam Bloore and members of the Venn team and wider Venn community. The topics will be wide-ranging: from exploring Christian faith and doctrine, to engagement with wider culture, including family, business, the arts, education, music, and sport. For more on Venn Foundation's work and resources, go to www.venn.org.nz.

A Moemoeā is a dream or vision. The Christian story in Aotearoa is tied to the dreams and visions of those who brought the good news of Jesus to this land empowering Maori to flourish in mission and minsitry. This vision from the past feeds on-going Moari-led forms of traditional and new ministry today. The Ven Dr. Lyndon Drake is of Ngāti Kurī descent from Kaikoura (Ngā Tahu), and is married to Miriam with three children. He serves as Atirikona/Archdeacon o Tāmaki Makaurau and Pirihi Whakahaere/Priest-in-charge o te Takiwā o Manukau within te Pīhopatanga o Te Tai Tokerau (the Auckland and Northland area of the Maori Anglican church). Until 2010 Lyndon was a Vice President at Barclays Capital, trading government bonds and interest-rate derivates. Since then he has served as a pastor, in theological education, and in regional and international Christian leadership. Lyndon has degrees in science and commerce (Auckland), a PhD in computer science (York), two degrees in theology (Oxford), and a number of peer-reviewed academic publications in science and theology. He sits in a number of boards, including chair of Te Hui Amorangi ki Te Tai Tokerau Trust Board, Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust Board, and Venn Foundation. For more about Festival One head to our website: https://www.festival.one/

Youthprise pivoted their service model during the pandemic. No one could have predicted what happened next. Not every family has equal access to afterschool and summer programs. These programs often carry a price that is too great for impoverished families. A few years ago, the state of Minnesota came up with a great idea – provide tax credits so low-income families can take part. But there is a catch. The families must first front the cost and wait for the credit to appear on their taxes many months later. Youthprise and Venn Foundation teamed up to launch Minnesota Afterschool Advance. They help low-income families pay for afterschool and summer programming. They do so by using an innovative financing model. They help families use a state tax credit that can cover 75% of the cost of these activities. Marcus Pope of Youthprise explains. “For systemic reasons, this tax credit is underutilized. Only about 4% of the potential funding is claimed each year. If every eligible family in Minnesota used the full amount, it would be about $275 million. In the first 18 months, those same systemic barriers constrained the program’s growth. But, after months of work, the plan was finally showing signs of traction. According to Matt Norris of Youthprise, “As we entered 2020, we saw a summit of statewide partners as a critical inflection point. That would springboard us into our biggest summer and fall by far.” That is until all activities ground to a halt because of COVID-19. “The order to self-isolate came just days before the summit,” Matt explains. The prospect of afterschool programs being shuttered weighed heavily on Marcus and Matt. “It was frustrating," Matt says. We were of thwarted by something completely out of our control. This happened just as the program was starting to build real momentum. It was intense. But we focused on the opportunities to advance our mission and build momentum.” The Minnesota Afterschool Advance program focused on access to afterschool programs. The same tax credit can also be used for up to $200 of computer hardware per family per year. Marcus adds, “The entire state prepared to shift to distance learning over just two weeks. We saw an opportunity to help low-income families prepare for the transition. We scoured the internet and found Chromebooks for under $200. We quickly threw together a flyer and started sharing it with our network.” Marcus remembers the moment well. “I can tell you almost to the minute when the first school district sent the flyer out to every one of their families. In the blink of an eye, the applications started pouring in, and my phone and inbox lit up. In the next 48 hours, our program received more applications than it did in all 2019!” More schools started sharing the flyer district-wide. Local influencers posted about it on their social media. The next week became a mad scramble to marshal the product, dollars, and people to deliver for families. “The deluge hasn’t stopped since,” Matt says. “At one point, demand became so overwhelming we had to shut down our application and start a waiting list while we shored up our supply of devices. We tried to refine a process that was strained by the unprecedented volume. We’re now working through a waiting list of over 150 families with more added every single day.” In just one week, with one pivot, they responded to an immediate need. Youthprise shifted from a program grieving a loss to one meeting the demand for its services.  Learn More About Youthprise: Youthprise: https://youthprise.org Minnesota Afterschool Advance: https://mnafterschool.org Venn Foundation: https://www.vennfoundation.org

Wholeness of being. Right relationship with God, creation, and oneself. For an athlete, shalom is an extraordinary promise. To be healthy in both body and mind, perform to the best of your ability, and be at peace with people and place is the dream. Yet every athlete has experienced hardship, battle and pain. So can shalom in a competitive world be more than a dream? A competitive athlete, Olivia Burne has represented New Zealand at the World Cross Country Champs and has won senior National titles in the Half-Marathon, 10km Road Race, 5000m, and 3000m. Passionate, driven and with a huge heart for people, Olivia is the Communications and Marketing Manager for Venn Foundation, a non-for-profit offering vocational training visioned to see people living well-examined and integrated lives, led by community and virtue.

Andrew Shamy kicks off our new series with a look into the early years of the church – which weren’t easy. And yet, in the face of impossible circumstances, Acts tells us a story of joy, hope and courage. To understand how and what we can learn from those early believers, we’ll explore the critical importance of the Ascension together. Andrew is an old friend of many of us and serves as Curriculum Director and Senior Teaching Fellow at the Venn Foundation, where he is committed to helping people live out their faith creatively and authentically in a complex world. Andrew and his wife Rachel live in Auckland and are the parents of three young children.

The Venn Foundation uses Program-Related Investments in surprising new ways. This week, we’re kicking off a two-part mini-series how to fund a business that does social good. We did something like this in April 2016. Next week, Cathy Clark is going to be here to talk about CASE Smart Impact Capital, an online resource to help social entrepreneurs figure out how to find the right capital at the right time. This week, we’re talking to Jeff Ochs of the Venn Foundation. Jeff is an experienced entrepreneur and investor. He invented and commercialized an educational party game that was licensed by Hasbro. He started a successful nonprofit, Breakthrough Twin Cities. And he was the Executive Director of an angel investing network. In each of these instances, Jeff saw the difficulty of getting the right investments to the right startups at the right time. Jeff explains that today there are two types of capital: Charitable donations, which support causes we care about with no expectation whatsoever for financial return. For-profit investments, which are designed to make as much money as possible for investors on a risk-adjusted basis. “In this current capital system, it is obvious why there is no investment capital available that is willing to accept ‘below-market’ financial terms,” Jeff explains. To meet this challenge, Jeff partnered with Rob Scarlett and Jeanne Voight to launch the Venn Foundation. Jeff says, “At the highest level, Venn Foundation has a method for using charitable donations, which today we just give away, to make investments. This allows us to create the below-market investment capital that we badly need. Charitable investments have all the same tax advantages of donations, are anchored against -100% financial returns of donations, and allow the precious charitable donation to be recycled over and over again. Venn Foundation is where charity and investing meet.” Venn is creating a marketplace for charitable investing. They are removing the obstacles that donors face in making charitable investments directly. By opening a special donor-advised fund called a Venn Account, any individual or organization can recommend that their charitable dollars be used by Venn to make Program-Related Investments, or PRIs. Venn can syndicate any PRI among any number of Venn Accounts. Financial returns from these PRIs go back to participating funds for the donors to redeploy into new PRIs or to grant out as desired. Venn recently made a program-related investment to Binary Bridge. BinaryBridge creates software that helps humanitarians do their work effectively and efficiently. You may recall our conversation with BinaryBridge founder Lori Most. Who should seek program-related investing? Jeff suggests that business and nonprofit leaders ask themselves, “Is that I’m doing helping advance a charitable cause as defined by the IRS? And if the answer is yes, or maybe yes, the program-related investment tool is something that could apply to you and your goals.” Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Jeff Ochs “If that kind of capital existed, what could we do?” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation “It’s where charity and investing meet.” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation “Today, there is not a market for charitable investing.” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation “If capital behaved differently, what would be possible?” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation “Capital is the lifeblood of our economy.” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation “If we can change the nature of capital, we can change the way our economy works.” Jeff Ochs, Venn Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Venn Foundation: https://www.vennfoundation.org BackpackEMR:https://www.backpackemr.com Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book