Adventures in Revland Podcast

The space between life and death is the space that Shea Collins was called too.  She has had 15 years of experience working with children, youth and their families in the Hospice setting.  She is an ordained Elder within the United Methodist Church and is now working at Hospice of Cabarrus County in North Carolina.  In our conversation, we talk about how to deal with these situations and places of grief.  She gives amazing insights and recommendations to clergy and laypeople alike.

Donna is the pastor of Mount Vernon Place UMC in Washington, DC.  When she arrived in 2005 it was a completely different church than it is now.  It was a dying congregation.  However, through Donna's leadership, a ton of time, and even more prayers, they have turned this congregation around.  Along with Roger Owens, she has now authored a new book about this journey, "A New Day in the City."  It is a powerful testimony to urban church renewal and the work God has done in and through them.

Christine Burkett is a speech-pathologist by trade and a pew sitter by profession.  She teaches guides and coaches young preachers on this art form they have been called by God to do.  She has incredible insights into language, crafting sermons and how to make them stick.  She has taught at Duke Divinity School for over 20 years, helps lead the Institute of Preaching, and is a sought-after speaker for preachers.

Steve Cheyney is the Executive Director of the Cooperative Christian Ministries at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), Central Piedmont Community College and Johnson and Wales. His main focus is as the Campus Minister at UNCC. There, with the help of students, he runs Niners United. We talk about his ministry with the next generation and how college years can be extremely formative.

Carter Ellis is the lead pastor of The Walk [Faithwalk], a reconciling congregation in Gibsonville, NC.  We sit down and talk about what it means to be a reconciling congregation and the implications have on the lives of her members and community she serves in.

Mark has just finished his first year as a DS and we talk about his adventure in this new appointment.  For those who don't know a DS is someone in charge of a District within an Annual Conference.  The DS's main job is to build up, encourage and help congregations and clergy in their district.  They are the ones called in when there is a congregational or clergy crisis and are part of the cabinet, which makes the appointments for the conference. We discuss this and more in our conversation.

Trip Lowery helps Annual Conferences within the United Methodist Church help young people hear their call into ministry.  In our conversation we talk about what that work is like, some of the successes of the millions of dollars in grant money that has gone out with the Young Clergy Initiative, and also another one of his passions, Surfing for Autism.

In this conversation, I talk with the author, illustrator, and creator of the online comic, "The Wesley Bros."  In this weekly comic, Charlie, shares history and heritage of these founders of the United Methodist denomination.  With wit, snark, and cutting commentary, Charlie has captivated the hearts of many people through the faces of John and Charles Wesley.

You can find his comic at www.wesleybros.com and you can find out more about him in the show notes at www.adventuresinrevland.com.

In this second episode of season 2, I have the privilege of sitting down with Robin Fitzgerald, the pastor of Prospect and Mount Pleasant UMC in East Bend, NC. In this honest conversation, Robin opens up about what it was like to be in ministry and to go through a divorce. I greatly appreciate her willingness to share and found a ton of grace, peace, and comfort in her story. I hope it speaks to you as well.

Brad Hopper is one of the pastors at Matthews United Methodist Church in Matthews, NC. One of his ministry concentrations is missions. We talk about some of the mission work he has been involved with from living on a boat to clergy leadership development in Muslim countries.

For more information please visit the show notes at adventuresinrevland.com