Every week, we talk to a pastor about their last sermon. We’ll meet their congregations, hear the issues in their community, and see where the light shines in. Do you want to open a window to the human story and the sacred spirit that connects us? Every ordinary sermon, and the process that created it, can be an entry to an exploration of faith, community, trust, and hope. Join us for the conversation!
Made possible by sponsorship from The Pacific Northwest Conference of The United Methodist Church.
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Welcome to the season of Lent! It's a season of reflection, preparation, repentance, and renewal. It's a time set apart to help us reflect on who we are, who God is, where we belong, and what we should do. Rev. Sue Ostrom began Lent by reflecting on who Jesus says he is, and who everyone else wants him to be. We talk about why Jesus does things the hard way, why gimmicks are so tempting, and why evil keeps coming back. Welcome to Lent.
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17 Mar 2025
Wondering What's Next with Katie Klosterman
This season of the podcast finds us in a new era. Governments change and preachers are still called to proclaim the word of God. What is the word we need to hear now? Host Meredith Gudger-Raines shares some honest thoughts about reaching for the gospel in uncertain and frightening times, and talks to Rev. Katie Klosterman about what leads us forward. Pastor Katie is helping her congregation learn to wonder. Opening yourself up to wonder is a way of being hopeful and looking forward. When we look for wonder, it's like we're saying that we know God has something special for us that we haven't discovered yet, that there's more to the story, and that if we keep going in faith, we will find meaning and goodness.
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18 Dec 2024
Wilderness Training with Jenny Williams
If you feel like you're wandering in an unfamiliar and potentially threatening land, you're not alone. In Advent, we tell the story of John the Baptist, who went out to strange and wild places, on purpose, because that's where he sensed the Spirit of God doing a new thing. Rev. Jenny Williams works for the ACLU in West Virginia, and she's helping progressive Christians across the state prepare for ministry in a new wilderness. Instead of just charity work, Jenny says, it's time for people of faith to build new relationships and communities of mutual support. The only way we will make it through the wilderness is together.
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13 Dec 2024
Embodying Hope with Alissa Amestoy
They say experience is the best teacher. Along with a team, Rev. Alissa Amestoy is designing worship to be something not just to listen to, but to experience, a way to help people embody the stories of God's love and hope. This makes perfect sense in the season of Advent, when we tell the story of God literally embodying, well, a human body. God enters human history as a baby, showing that in God's world, hope and grace and love go way beyond what makes sense or what we can understand. We talk with Alissa about sticky feathers, creating sacred spaces, and hope on hope on hope.
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6 Dec 2024
Using Your Life Well with Clay Andrew
In this episode, we use the S-word a lot. < Stewardship > Long time church folks might hear the S-word and think "It's time to raise money to fund the church budget." But Rev. Clay Andrew knows stewardship is actually about something far more important, exciting, hopeful, and empowering. Stewardship is about what we do with who we are. How do we use our time, our energy, our resources, our skills? Asking these questions might be uncomfortable, and might put us at odds with the forces of power in our world, but it also might fill us with God's grace and love, and bring healing to our communities.
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28 Nov 2024
Risky Hospitality with Casey Banks
Hospitality isn't just using the nice table linens and making sure everyone's glasses stay full. Hospitality means putting yourself out there for someone else's benefit, and that comes with risks. Rev. Casey Banks is helping her congregation think through the risks of being a welcoming place and people. What risks are we willing to take so that others will know that they are welcome? Pastor Casey and her church are making space for things like tree funerals, serving breakfast to high schoolers, and cleaning up pumpkin guts.
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19 Nov 2024
Hope Beyond Despair with Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Not all heroes wear capes, and not all preachers use pulpits. Some use newsletters and websites, like Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes. Pastor Steve writes spiritual poetry for his flock, 7,000 people from all around the country and world. On the morning after the US presidential election, Pastor Steve sent out a poem that helped bring many back from the depths of fear and despair. A couple days later, we had a conversation about what keeps Pastor Steve from giving in to despair, what's holding everything together, and what we're called to do in these difficult days. I hope this conversation is a little thing that keeps hope alive in you. And just a note: like many of the best pastors our there, Pastor Steve uses a few fun words, a little bit of choice language. Seems appropriate.
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5 Nov 2024
Don't Be Afraid with Violet Johnicker
It's election day in the United States! And we are afraid. This election has extremely high stakes, and the outcome will have significant impact on our lives. In the midst of times of fear, Jesus asks his disciples not to be afraid, not to let fear control us and take over our call to be people of love. Uh, Jesus? How do we do this? Last Sunday, Rev. Violet Johnicker reminded her congregation that, when his life was on the line, and a tense peace was about to descend into violence, Jesus told his followers, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." We hope this message brings you a bit of peace and calm on a difficult day.
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5 Nov 2024
Reforming our Communities with Wilma Reyes
Rev. Wilma Reyes is doing a lot of new things: living in a new part of the country, pastoring three churches of different denominations, and helping people see new ways to build community. It might be human nature to divide people into insiders and outsiders, but the barrier-breaking love of Jesus asks us to choose a different way. Some leaders in our social and political landscape would like to limit whose voices are heard. Pastor Wilma, empowered by Jesus, is building a community where all voices are lifted up and heard.
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2 Nov 2024
Bonhoeffer's Joy with Molly Fraser
In times of turmoil and uncertainty, we look for role models to show us the way. Rev. Molly Fraser is using Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a guide for her congregation, helping them reflect more deeply on what it means to pick up their cross. It may sound counterintuitive, but sacrifice can be the path to joy. What kind of sacrifices are we being called to make---and what sacrifices are we not prepared to make? Along the way, we talk about changing worship practices, being pastors and moms, and the power of sharing a good story.
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23 Oct 2024
Stories of Aspiration with Steve Horswill-Johnston
You know that feeling when you go back to your elementary school and the place seems to have shrunk? This week, Rev. Steve Horswill-Johnston returns to his first pastoral appointment out of seminary. In the 30 years since he served as Associate Pastor at Church of the Good Shepherd, he has become a guru of communications for United Methodists. He crafted the Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors campaign, served as a consultant at Dreamworks Studios, won multiple Emmys for his work as a filmmaker, and is now the COO for Claremont School of Theology. Rev. HoJo reflects on aspirations that lead to action, sea changes that leave us feeling uncertain, and how the act of planting seeds in others' lives binds us together.
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15 Oct 2024
No Pretending with Jessie Connor
By Rev. Jessie Connor's own admission, the topic of her last sermon makes her cringe. "Piety" is not a positive word for her, bringing up images of people who pretend to be better than others. And yet, being pious is a core United Methodist value. Pastor Jessie helps us see that piety really just means "living together in loving community," something we all want. So how do we live together in love? It's not about showy-offy behaviors; it's about personal reflection and quiet growth, bumping along together, and buoying each other through life. Join our conversation, where Pastor Jessie shows us that loving community involves pitching old couches, releasing control over the mic, and learning to roller skate.
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9 Oct 2024
Finding More with Austin Adkinson
This week I talk with Rev. Austin Adkinson from Light of the Hill United Methodist Church in Puyallup, Washington. Jesus tells his followers that if your hand or foot is causing you to sin, cut it off. What? This is not a recommendation for hasty amputations, but instead an encouragement to go beyond your first reaction to things, to be more thoughtful, deliberate, and wise about your attitudes and actions. In our world of hot takes and comment section take downs, it would be great if we could move past our worst thoughts so that our best thoughts are what guide us.
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1 Oct 2024
Amplifying the Migrant Story with Jen Stuart
Rev. Jen Stuart spent a week in an Immigration Immersion program on the US/Mexico border in Arizona. Now that she's home with her congregation in Bend, Oregon, she's lifting up the stories of the people she met. Jen reminds us that almost every story in our Scripture is about human migration. God has to constantly remind people to welcome the stranger among them. How do the stories of immigrants shape our policies and our faith?
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24 Sept 2024
Rebuilding without Fear with Debbie Sperry
This Fall, Rev. Debbie Sperry is helping her congregants craft their personal creed. Pastor Debbie reflects on her own process of analyzing her practices and beliefs, deconstructing what no longer works, and putting the pieces together again to find a deep and authentic faith. The process of taking apart and letting go can be intimidating and scary. How can we commit ourselves to an uncertain future without fear?
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24 Sept 2024
Having a Good Bad Day with Meredith Dodd
I caught Rev. Meredith Dodd on an off Sunday! She thought her sermon missed the mark. Her full week squeezed out preparation time, she was approaching an important anniversary, and she was sharing some personal stories. As she reflected, though, it sounded like her "bad" sermon contributed to a good day in community. What makes a sermon not just good or bad, but effective? Welcome to the conversation.
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24 Sept 2024
Finding Balance with Cody Natland
Welcome to the inaugural episode! I talk with Rev. Cody Natland about a sermon he preached the day after a major news event. He reflects on when and why to change a message at the last minute, how to use power appropriately, and why nerves are a sign that you're on the right track. We're all faced with times when we have to choose between competing demands. What helps us make that decision?
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