In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Zach Lambert. Zach is the Lead Pastor and co-founder of Restore. Born and raised in Austin, he holds a Bachelors of Science in Communication, a Masters of Theology, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Ministry at Duke Divinity School. Zach is also the author of the book, Better Ways to Read the Bible, which is all about transforming the Bible from a weapon that condemns, oppresses, and excludes into a tool that liberates.

In this Episode, Zach shares what led him to plant Restore, how it is “a church for people who have struggled with church,” why he and Restore are becoming a United Methodist Church, how other UMCs can be inspired by Restore’s journey of radical welcome, and practical wisdom for churches considering a major shift (like a merger, re-planting, or denominational affiliation.

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Martha Christian, the Worship Minister at the Melrose Campus of Broadway United Methodist Church in Bowling Green, KY. Martha has been leading worship in various capacities in the local church since she was a young girl, noting it as an early way the church made room for her to lead as a youth. She describes herself as a singer/songwriter with a passion for inspiring others to see worship as a way of life, not just something we “do” on Sunday.

In this episode, Martha shares more about her theology of worship, what she looks for when choosing worship songs, her team process for Advent design and preparation, and what she believes the world needs to hear this Advent and Christmas. Join us for this conversation and check out the show notes below for more tips from Martha to help you in your worship design and leadership!

Resources: • Our UMC Website - https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning (we often start here to see what the Church is doing)

• Worship Together - https://www.worshiptogether.com/(Helpful for finding new songs) • Song Select - https://songselect.ccli.com/ (Helpful for looking for what the Church is singing and finding songs based on themes and for making sure we're reporting song usage to honor the writers and producers of the songs we sing) My Advent Faves:

• Song to sing with everyone with charts - "Prepare Him Room" by Dave Fournier | Rebecca Elliott https://sovereigngracemusic.com/music/songs/prepare-him-room/ • Song to remind me how very much God is with us - "I'll Find a Way" by Jason Gray | Andy Gullahorn - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kISA6hhVh8&t=17s

• Practice to keep away the dark - The Advent Wreath - https://leslieannjones.com/blog/2015/11/18/a-simple-advent-wreath-devotional-for-families-free-printable

• Song to break open Christmastide - "Ring the Bells" by Cindy Morgan | Mark Ford Hammond | Ronnie Freeman | Tony Wood - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgW2rMQYa2w&list=RDBgW2rMQYa2w&start_radio=1 For more about Martha Chrisitan:

• Christmas Album - "All Will Be Well" by Martha Christian - https://open.spotify.com/album/1ikNK9UjlR0JTHjazkecHC • Other info - https://linktr.ee/marthachristian

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Rev. Tami Coleman, the Chief Ministry Officer for the Kentucky Annual Conference. Over her 27 years in ministry, Tami has served in local churches in Georgia and Kentucky, on conference staff with Connectional Ministries, and now serves as the acting Assistant to the Bishop in this new position as our Chief Ministry Officer.

In this episode, Tami shares more about her vision for healthy clergy and churches, the power of telling the story of the gospel today, the importance of sharing good news across our connection, and her hope for the Kentucky Annual Conference.

Listen along and share some good news from your local context in the comments!

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Dr. Amy-Jill Levine, a scholar in New Testament and Jewish Studies known for her groundbreaking work in biblical studies.

Amy-Jill holds the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professorship at Hartford International University and is Professor Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Amy-Jill Levine’s books include The Difficult Words of Jesus, Entering the Passion of Jesus, Signs and Wonders, Short Stories by Jesus, Toward the Kingdom of Heaven, and The Bible With and Without Jesus, among many others. Additionally, she co-edited the influential Jewish Annotated New Testament, establishing her reputation as a leading voice in both academic and religious circles.

AJ is passionate about teaching from her Jewish identity and helping Christian readers better understand Jesus’ Jewish context. In this episode, AJ addresses how Christian leaders can preach and teach the scriptures more faithfully and better lead in our time of great polarization.

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Rev. Eliza Love. Eliza serves as the Director of the The Wesley at EKU and Associate Pastor at Richmond First UMC.

This was a Live Recording at the Kentucky Annual Conference! Thanks to The Creme Coffee House for hosting us and thanks for all those who came out to enjoy the night with us.

In this episode, Eliza talks about ministry with young people, what she’s learned in her first year of full-time ministry, how the local church can be in ministry with young people, and more!

To learn more about The Wesley at EKU, check out https://www.ekuwesley.org/.

To learn more about World Council of Churches Ecumenical Institute at Bossey in Switzerland, check out https://www.oikoumene.org/bossey.

n this week’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Bishop David Graves. Bishop Graves serves as the Bishop for the Kentucky, Tennessee-Western Kentucky, and Central Appalachian Missionary Conferences.

It has been seven months since we sat down with Bishop Graves, so we thought it was a good time to check back in and see what he’s been up to!

In this episode, Bishop Graves talks about some of the biggest surprises he’s seen in the last year, his heart behind the discipleship priorities and how they have affected our conference, what he’s most excited about for his first Kentucky Annual Conference next month, how Kentucky can stay rooted and hopeful in this season, and what he would love to see God do among us in Kentucky.

We also put in some new “Holy Roast Speed Questions” as the end, so be sure to check it out!

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Rev. Matt Miofsky. Matt is the Lead Pastor of the Gathering United Methodist Church in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Since Matt founded The Gathering in 2006, it has grown into a thriving multi-site congregation with four locations scattered throughout St. Louis. With over 1500 in worship a weekend, The Gathering was recently named the 3rd fastest growing large United Methodist Churches.

Matt is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where he majored in mathematics then completed his Master’s of Divinity at Emory University in Atlanta.

Matt is passionate about church planting, connecting with new generations, and multi-site ministry. Matt is the co-author of "Eight Virtues of Rapidly Growing Churches" (Abingdon, 2018), “Happy? What It Is and How to Find It” (Abingdon Books, April 2017), “Fail: What to Do When Things Go Wrong” (Abingdon Books, 2017), a contributor to Disciple Fast Track: Into the Word, Into the World (Abingdon, 2017), “Flipping Church: How Successful Church Planters Are Turning Conventional Wisdom Upside-Down” (Discipleship Resources, 2016), and the “Ask: Faith Questions in a Skeptical Age” DVD project (Abingdon, 2015).

In this episode, Matt talks about the story of The Gathering, how a church can be both inclusive and evangelical, how to relate to other UMCs that may differ in certain areas from yours, the tension of preaching toward justice but fear decline, how to reach those who are 18-29, and his hope for the future of the UMC.

In this month’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Mizari Suárez and Rev. John Gallaher. Suárez is the Executive Director of Neighbors Immigration Clinic and Gallaher is the Pastor at Embrace UMC.

Suárez has a community-organizing background with deep connections to the immigrant rights movement on a local and national level. As a previously undocumented immigrant, Mizari knows firsthand the importance of affordable immigration legal services and culturally competent outreach to immigrant communities. Suárez is a facilitator and community organizer/connector. Neighbors, an affiliate of the United Methodist Immigration Law and Justice Network, ****is to provide low-cost legal services to our immigrant neighbors, educate our community on the immigration journey, and advocate for immigrant rights.

In this episode, Suárez and Gallaher reflect upon the story of Neighbors, what services they provide, success stories from their clinic, common misconceptions about the immigration process, current immigration policies that church leaders should be aware of, the role of faith in immigration advocacy, and practical ways that pastors and church leaders can get involved.

To learn more about Neighbors Immigration Clinic, head to their website here.

Check out an article about Neighbors here.

In this week’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Rev. Dr. Perzavia Praylow.

The Reverend Dr. Perzavia Praylow, PhD is an ordained minister of Word and Sacrament ordained in The Presbyterian Church (USA). She is currently the Director of Black Church Studies and Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at Louisville Seminary where she teaches courses in Black Church Studies and Practical Theology. Dr. Praylow is a historian, practical theologian and teacher-scholar called to serve at the intersection of teaching, scholarship, and pastoral leadership.

Her credentials include:

Drew University, BA; The University of Illinois, MA in Education Policy Studies, MA in History, PhD in History; Columbia Theological Seminary, MDIV; Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, STM

In this episode, Dr. Praylow talks about her call to ministry, the intersection of faith and education, key themes of the Black church, how pastors and church leaders can learn from those different than them, how churches can take a tangible step towards justice and reconciliation, and more!

For more information about Louisville Seminary, check out www.LPTS.edu!

In this week’s episode, Rob and Rachel sit down with Rev. Jim Savage. Jim is the Kentucky Conference and Eastern Kentucky Disaster Response Ministry Director.

In this episode, Jim talks about his role in disaster relief efforts, some of the biggest challenges of disaster relief, logistics of helping those in immediate need, how local churches can get involved in relief efforts, and how the connection of the UMC is alive through the Kentucky Conference, UMCOR, UMVIM, and more!

Click here for more information about Kentucky Conference Disaster Response Ministry.

For more information about training opportunities, contact Jim Savage, the conference Disaster Response Coordinator, at [email protected] or 270-993-8908.