Hi! Thanks for joining us around Greatheart’s Table. If you are new, I particularly welcome you. Our goal is to start and sustain conversations that help pastors thrive, but we find that these things have meaning for people in all life situations. So whatever your role in life or in the church, we welcome you.

We were stimulated a few episodes ago to think “small” about ministry. Not to think particularly about “small ministry” but to think about ministry in a way distinct from the impulse that ministry must be big. I called this “Small Church Thinking,” an idea I want to expand on in this episode.

Let me know what you think. As you are able, rate and review the podcast, and recommend it to others. 

Now, what IS Small Church Thinking? 

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Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
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Hello! I’m Randy Greenwald, and welcome to Greatheart’s Table. 

Cue the celebratory music!

This begins year five of Greatheart’s Table. When I began I wasn’t sure I had enough material to last a year, and here we are pressing on with enough ideas in the vault to keep us going for some time to come.

This feels then like a good time for a re-introduction. Many are new listeners and may not know what we are all about here. And those who’ve been with me for a while might benefit from a reminder regarding why I write Greatheart’s Table.

I’m grateful for all of you, for you who read, for you who support this at Patreon, and for you who recommend this to others. 

Thanks for joining us around Greatheart’s Table.

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If you want more biographical detail – it’s kinda dull – that can be found here. 

I work within a denomination that does not ordain women. I write however for all pastors, no matter their denomination or tradition, and no matter their gender. I have tried over these four years to reflect that.

The logo was created by Denise Turner, a gifted designer from Lakeland, Florida. Her work has never failed to capture what I sought.

Chaim Potok, My Name Is Asher Lev, (United States: Vintage, 2003).

When you buy a book using a link on this page, Greatheart’s Table receives a commission. Thank you for supporting this work!

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another “Rainy Day Conversation around Greatheart’s Table.” Unlike the short content that is normal for this space, in these conversations I invite other voices to share their observations and expertise regarding pastoral practice, ministry, or the Christian life in general. 

These have been fun to produce, and they have introduced me to a number of people who care about pastors and ministry, and who want to share their heart with others. This conversation proved to be so rich that we’ll be releasing it in digestible segments over multiple podcasts. I’ll explain this at the end.

If you aren’t already a print subscriber, I encourage you to become one at Substack.

Please encourage others to listen in.

And as always, thanks for joining us around Greatheart’s Table.

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For an explanation of the name and intention of these occasional interviews, read this, or listen to it here or here.

If you can, I would encourage you to order books from Hearts & Minds Books here. You can also ask questions of them here, or by email or phone, at 717-246-3333. You can check out Byron’s Book Notes posts here.

The books below are linked, where possible, to Bookshop.org for ease of reference. If you do order from Bookshop, Greatheart’s Table receives a portion of that sale, for which we are appreciative.

As much as was possible, these are noted here in the order they were mentioned in the conversation. 

Respectable Sins, Jerry Bridges

Waiting Isn’t a Waste, Mark Vroegop

The Pastor’s Bookshelf: Why Reading Matters for Ministry, Austin Carty

Pachinko, Min Jin Lee

The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson

The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley

Summerland, Michael Chabon

Imagining Our Neighbors as Ourselves: How Art Shapes Empathy, Mary W. McCampbell

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

Hello! Welcome to Greatheart’s Table, the podcast for pastors and those who care for them. I’m Randy Greenwald.

Surprisingly, to me, with this episode we wrap up four years of episodes. If you’ve been with us for a short time or for the entire journey, I’m glad you are here. We have no plans to stop, so I hope you stay with us.

With this episode we are continuing to examine pastoral themes suggested by the book of Second Chronicles. Here we want to introduce the idea of “small church thinking,” not that all churches might be small, but that we might regain something of the heart and wisdom of God.

Please rate, review, and recommend this podcast. And respond should you have thoughts. I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for joining us.

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EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

2 Chronicles 1:10

2 Chronicles 1:11, 12

Quote is from Isaac Watts’ hymn “How Sweet and Awful Is the Place” published in 1707.

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Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

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This episode is a reset of one which originally aired in September of 2021. That was a heavy time, and this, a consideration of pastoral playfulness, seemed particularly necessary. That necessity, sadly, remains.

There is so much that can weigh us down, that we forget that God has created us for joy. There is much that tries to extinguish that impulse, to suppress it and obscure it, but now and then, it’s good for us to fan it into flame and just find something that is fun to do and do it, simply for the fun of it. 

It’s worth thinking about. 

If you find Greatheart’s Table a delight and not a chore,, pass it on to others! I’m grateful for you.

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Though it may sound like it, this pastor’s name is not a pseudonym. The Reverend Willard E. Michael was while Barb and I were students at Michigan State University the pastor of East Lansing Trinity Church in East Lansing, Michigan. He is one of the reasons I am today a pastor.

Calvin Seerveld, Rainbows for the Fallen World (Canada: Toronto Tuppence Press, 1980), pp. 52, 53.

As reported by the Washington Post journalist Jill Suttie.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/08/02/daydream-mind-wander-happiness

The OTR song comes from the 2005 album Drunkard’s Prayer. 

Marilyn McEntyre, Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies, Second Edition (United States: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2021), p.191.

Genesis 1:31

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I mentioned in a previous Third Monday post my intention of now and then spending some time reflecting on the insights into pastoral ministry from the unlikely source of 2 Chronicles. I want to ease into that by considering the spirit and tone of the whole book and particularly the faith of its author. He is, I think, reflective of a class of people that God has used to sustain us all in our Christian walk. We should be aware of and grateful for these faithful men and women.

Thanks for joining us, and thanks for inviting others to listen. Please rate and review this podcast, and if you are able, support what we do at Patreon.

And now, let’s meet the Chronicler.

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EPISODE NOTES

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Malachi 3:16, 17

2 Chronicles 36:15

Robert Robinson

Anna Waring

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Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
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To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

Hello. I’m Randy Greenwald. Welcome to Greatheart’s Table.

Imagine John Lennon as a pastor.

It’s easy, if you try.

Okay, maybe it’s not that easy.

But it’s easy to imagine the song he might have written had he been a pastor:

You may say that I’m a cynic,
but I’m not the only one.

It’s not my desire to turn pastors into cynics, but dealing with people can shape a heart in a cynical direction, and we need to name that so we can fight against it.

Thanks for listening.

As you are able, rate and review this podcast, and support it at Patreon or by subscribing at Substack. 

And to others say, or sing, 

I hope someday you’ll join us

Thanks to all of you for joining us around Greatheart’s Table.

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Yes, I know, churches ‘call’ pastors. But in all practicality the line between ‘hire’ and ‘call’ is a distinction without a difference.

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
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To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

If you’re new, head back to episode 67 to find what’s up here. That episode is titled “Mr. Greatheart and his Metaphorical Table.” In short, our desire is to encourage pastors. But we find that the net that is cast is much broader, and that many others in ministry, as well as those not in ministry, find beneficial content here. We are glad you joined us.

This episode is a reset of one originally aired in December of 2021 as a follow up to the episode about groupie spirit, which we reset here a few weeks ago. Together these explore how we can learn from those with insight while retaining some sense of genuine independence. 

Thanks for listening. Please invite others to join us around Greatheart’s Table!

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“This”Mentee” is indeed a word meaning, not surprisingly, “a person who is advised, trained, or counseled by a mentor.”

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Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

I write to encourage pastors, particularly those weary or beaten down, those needing to be reminded of the value of what they do regardless of the unrelenting expectations of modern church culture. 

As pastors we fill a prophetic role. What to speak, how to speak it, and when, are questions that concern us all. 

It seems, though, we live in an age when calling for something as basic as love for neighbor will get one tossed in a cistern. 

You may not agree with all I say in this episode. I know that. But that is be expected in conversation around a table. So I’m grateful that you listen.

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EPISODE NOTES

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Elizabeth Whitley, Plain Mr. Knox, (London, England: Skeffington & Son, Ltd., 1960), p. 17.

There is much to admire and even emulate about Knox. Being dour, that is “relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy in manner or appearance,” should not be one of them. Many, I fear, confuse being disagreeable with being courageous. That is not what we are after.

Whitley, p. 51.

Whitley, p. 63.

Whitley, p. 64, 65

I urge any who have heard her message criticized but who have not heard her message to take the fifteen minutes necessary to listen to it. Many of the inflammatory responses do not, in my opinion, adequately represent her tone and spirit.

It’s worth noting that there is no reference to Christ’s embodiment of these virtues, nor of the cross. These are grave omissions. But their absence does not negate the validity of her fundamental claims.

So asserts Denny Burk of the “Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood.” As with his previous criticisms of author Aimee Byrd, he seems unwilling to fairly represent Rev. Budde’s comments or to directly engage them, no doubt because she is a woman.

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Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
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Those feelings of doubt and disorientation which we’ve come to know by the name of “imposter syndrome” are not the exclusive experience of one profession or activity. But they’re well known to pastors. Pastors of small or struggling congregations may feel these things with particular intensity, but they plague all at some level. Comparison and discontent blind us to our value, and the value of those around us. 

I think about these things as I run, and especially as I run at the back of the pack.

Please subscribe, rate, and review this podcast to let us know how we are doing. If you find this valuable, please pass it along to others.

Thanks for joining us around Greatheart’s Table.

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The Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon and Half Marathon

The Chickamauga Battlefield

The winner finished with a time of 1:11:15. My time was 2:29:08, more than twice as long as the winner. I was 10th out of 17 in my gender/age group. When the results are what this race calls “age-graded” I came in at #216, whatever that means

Full transparency here: a good friend finished 4th out of 2000, including some Olympic hopefuls, at the 2023 Orlando Half Marathon. We at the back at the pack may share more in common with those in the front than we might imagine.

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
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To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.