Join Center for Congregations staffers Kara Faris, Dr. Terrance Bridges, Dr. JC Campbell and Matt Burke as they discuss the changes in congregations over the last six years. A lot has happened since the Covid-19 pandemic and the conversation ranges over what congregations used to be focused on and how that focus has shifted.

Rosario and Callie Picardo join JC and Matt to talk about their new book Healthy Money. Their fascinating hypothesis is that our thoughts and attitudes towards finances are driven by deep aspects of our personhood and if we make those aspects healthy it can aid us in viewing and using finances in a healthy way.

Resources

Healthy Money: A 30-Day Journey toward Spiritual, Emotional and Financial Freedom (book)

Kitchen Table Giving: Reimagining How Congregations Connect with their Donors by William G. Enright (book)

When Digital Ministry Is Not Plug-and-Play, Season 4 Episode 8 of the Center for Congregations Podcast (podcast)

Rev. Ethan Linder, Discipleship Pastor from College Wesleyan Church in Marion Indiana, joins JC and Matt to talk about discipleship and the process they've developed. Ethan shares the beginnings of the project and what they're learning.

Resources

College Wesleyan Shepherding Curriculum

Facing Decline, Finding Hope: New Possibilities for Faithful Churches (book)

The Master Plan of Evangelism (book)

Lifelong Faith Associates (organization)

Ethan's Instragram Handle @iamethanl

Rev. Dr. Que English, Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships at the U.S. Department and Health and Human Services, joins Shellie and Matt to talk about her work. She shares how congregations can be successful in helping their communities through a mission focus, education and local networking relationships.

Resources

Flourish by Martin Seligman (book)

Center for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships (organization)

Propaganda joins JC and Matt to talk about how to make complex topics easier for your audience to understand. Propaganda is a rapper, spoken word artist, author, speaker and podcaster. And he knows a ton about coffee.

Resources

Terraform: Building a Better World (book)

Terraform: The Sky (EP on Spotify)

Terraform: The Soil (EP on Spotify)

Terraform: The People (EP on Spotify)

Terraform: The Possibility (EP on Spotify)

Hood Politics with Prop (Podcast)

Center for Congregations staffers Rev. Shellie Riggs Jordan, Dr. JC Campbell, Dr. Terrance Bridges, Matt Burke and John James gather to talk about what they're hearing and learning from Congregations around the state of Indiana.

Dr. Christina Davis and Rev. Dr. Tim Shapiro join Dr. Bridges and Matt to talk about their new book The Formative Power of Your Congregation. We discuss the framework of the process of formation in congregations, specific stories from the work and research and how your congregation can be a place of formation. Dr. Davis is the Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Marriage and Family Therapy at Christian Theological Seminary and Rev. Shapiro is the President of the Center for Congregations.

Resources

The Formative Power of Your Congregation (book)

Dr. Christina Davis (website)

Dr. Christina Davis (at CTS)

The Congregational Resource Guide (website)

Melanie Preston joins JC and Matt to share her understanding of how congregations can be healthy organizations. The conversation includes how to define organizational health, the importance of paying attention to burnout, why it's important to develop boundaries and how manipulation can harm a congregation. Matt and JC talk about their experiences working with congregations and the idea of organizational health and share some resources on the topic.

Resources

This House We Build: Lessons for Healthy Synagogues and the People Who Dwell There (book)

5LQ Episode 324: The Advantage Book Breakdown (podcast)

The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (book)

Matter of Focus Counseling (Melanie's company)

Dr. Carlos Perkins, Associate Director of Engagement for the Lake Institute on Faith Faith and Giving joins Dr. Terrance Bridges and Matt Burke to discuss generosity. The conversation contains helpful definitions of generosity, reframing faith and giving and some practical tips.

Resources

https://lakeinstitute.org/

https://events.iu.edu/philanthropy/

https://lakeinstitute.org/resources/faithful-generosity-story-shelf/

https://henrinouwen.org/read/a-spirituality-of-fundraising/

https://litpress.org/Products/3766/Imagining-Abundance

https://thecrg.org/resources/Rambam_s_Ladder_A_Meditation_on_Generosity_and_Why_It_is_Necessary_to_Give

https://thecrg.org/resources/Local_Church_Planned_Giving_Manual

Dr. William Cooke, MD. was practicing in a small rural community when a health crisis broke out. He joins Abby and Matt to talk about how various community stakeholders, including congregations, stepped up to aid those in need.

Resources

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (organization)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (visual aid)

Canary in the Coal Mine: A Forgotten Rural Community, a Hidden Epidemic, and a Lone Doctor Battling for the Life, Health, and Soul of the People (book)

Canary in the Coal Mine Facebook Group

Indiana Community Foundations (website)

National Community Foundation Locator (website)