In this week’s episode, Ryan Rodeman reflects on the pivotal moments when God intervened in his life and called him to ministry at Grace Church.

Eric Miller, Executive Director of Ministry at Momentum Ministry Partners shares how God developed his heart for ministry.

“I think that every single person that I talk to is uniquely gifted and wired and it’s super cool. Instead of trying to get them to fit the thing that I want, we can go way further faster if we just lean into that.” – Sunni Gressock

This week on the Led First Lead Second podcast, Pastor Joe sits down with Sunni Gressock. Sunni is the Director of Groups & Missional Strategies at the Bath Campus of Grace Church, a mother of four with one on the way, and has a huge heart to reach the lost. Listen in as Joe and Sunni discuss her journey to where she is in ministry today and how she leads and trains the leaders around her to live on mission and prioritize evangelism as they themselves lead others.

If you want to hear a deeper dive into Sunni’s story of how God has moved in her life and how she got to where she is today, check out her episode on our Grace Unscripted podcast! You can find Sunni’s episode along with dozens of other stories from the people here at Grace Church here https://open.spotify.com/show/2lLnFzhmcQsz1zZdTeQbga?si=fcb6d882550043e3.

“I’ve concluded, I have exactly enough strength as I need to do the things that God has called me to do, but I don’t have enough strength to do the things that He’s called me to do plus the things that I think I should do.” – Dr. Juli Slattery

This week on the Led First Lead Second podcast, Pastor Joe sits down with Dr. Juli Slattery. Dr. Juli is a clinical psychologist, author, and speaker. She leads a ministry called Authentic Intimacy, which helps Christians navigate all sexual issues through content and discipleship. Listen in as she shares how God has molded her and how she leans on God’s direction on both her life and ministry as she has to lead others.

This week on the Led First Lead Second podcast, Pastor Joe sits down with Mark Steller. Mark is currently the Director of Sports Integration at Grace Church and before that spent over 15 years leading sales teams across the State of Ohio. Come listen in as Joe and Mark discuss a bit of Mark’s past year, his testimony, and how God has been shaping and directing Mark as he himself leads others.

On this week’s episode of the Led First Lead Second podcast, Pastor Joe gets to sit down with Ron Kent. Ron is first and foremost a husband and father of two, but he is also the Executive Director of Akron Youth Mentorship, a K-12 boys and girls mentorship and discipleship organization, and has recently stepped into a leadership role in an organization called Youth Success Summit. Ron has a huge passion for pouring into and developing people whether that be the kids that take part in the organizations he is leading in or other leaders who are also focusing on pouring into those kids. Listen in to the conversation as Joe and Ron discuss all sorts of topics like healthy rhythms and managing time, leading and developing leaders, and so much more!

On this week’s episode of the Led First Lead Second podcast, we get to hear from Pastor Deante Lavender, or as he is lovingly known, Pastor Lav. He is the Pastor at Remedy Church in Akron, Ohio. Today Pastor Joe and Pastor Lav dive into how sometimes our default is not always what God is asking us for, and helping people understand their worth, value, and the life God is calling them to.

On this week’s episode of the Led First Lead Second podcast, we get to hear from a long-time member of the Grace Church family, Bob Martinez. Listen in as Bob shares how he went from not believing in Jesus to Jesus getting a hold of his heart, how others then poured into and led him well, and how he now continues to faithfully follow and lean on Jesus as he leads and walks with others.

On this week’s special episode of the Led First Lead Second podcast, we get to listen in on an episode of the Grace Unscripted Podcast with Ben Falkenberg. Ben and his wife Tonya are full-time missionaries with our partner organization in Mazatlan Mexico, Shoulder to Shoulder. We get to hear about their faith journey and how God moved in their lives through a year of language training in Costa Rica and as they prepared to move into full-time missions.

On this week’s episode of the Led First Lead Second podcast, we get to hear from an extraordinary leader, Pastor & Coach Kemp Boyd. Kemp is the Executive Director of an organization based in Akron named Love Akron and he is also the head football coach at Kenmore-Garfield Highschool. Kemp brings his unique perspective and wisdom into a variety of conversations on this episode, including how we should invest in and lead others while ultimately doing everything we do, as unto the Lord.