On this episode of Love Feasts and Food Fights I visit with Dr. Dwight Zscheile, the VP for Innovation at Luther Seminary and Professor of Congregational Mission and Leadership. Dr. Zscheile and his wife, the Rev. Blair Pogue, have written a book called “Embracing the Mixed Ecology: Inherited and New Forms of Christian Community Flourishing Together.” This book is set to come out in June of this year.

You’ll hear about the importance of small experimentation in developing new faith community, as well as possible baby steps existing congregations can take into behaving their way into a new way of thinking.

Be sure to check out Faith+Lead, a site full of resources available for anyone.

Also mentioned in the episode: Fresh Expressions, the Pivot podcast, and work by Dr. Michael Moynagh.

Pull up a chair - there’s always room at the table.

This was such a fun conversation with Matt Mikalatos and Kathy Khang, co-authors of “Loving Disagreement: Fighting for Community through the Fruit of the Spirit.” During the conversation you may notice a faint buzzer in the background. This episode was recorded at the local public library, which shares space with the high school library, and the buzzer rang a couple of times as classes switched.

Both Kathy and Matt have their own solo projects. You can find Kathy on all the socials @mskathykhang, except her blog: http://www.kathykhang.com. Matt has his own Substack called Imaginary Friends: mattmikalatos.substack.com. You’ll also want to stay tuned for his new graphic novel, “God With Us: Bible Stories on the Road to Emmaus,” coming out April 1st, 2025.

This week I got to speak with the amazing Sally Kohn about her 2018 book, The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity. Sally has three TED talks under her belt and is quite humble about being a former talking head on both CNN and Fox. In this episode Sally shares what led her to write the book, the role of human connection in breaking down walls of hate, as well as her hopes for young people. We also speak a bit about her and Erick Erickson’s On Being episode with Krista Tippett, Relationship Across Rupture, which was recorded in Missoula, MT (I got to be there—it was fantastic and is part of what inspired me to be part of this work of bringing more healing in the world).

Hello all. This week’s podcast post is a short sermon from November 2021. We were still in the midst of a lot of Covid-related stuff then (still are, I suppose), so you will hear some references about that. It’s not a prefect sermon—much of it is seems more like prologue to the actual message of the sermon. But, I send it out into the world anyway, imperfect as it is.

The occasion of the sermon was for what my tradition calls Christ the King/Reign of Christ Sunday (always the last Sunday before Advent begins). Diana Butler Bass has noted here on her Substack, The Cottage, that the Pope who proclaimed this feast day in 1925 “to reassert the primacy of Jesus’ lordship over the rise of nationalism and authoritarianism in European politics,” also later “came to an agreement with the Nazis, the Reichskonkordat — essentially opening the political door to Hitler.”

So, the day has a very complicated history - and maybe it’s a day we should be rid of in light of all that is going on in our country, with the rise of nationalism and authoritarianism. On the other hand, part of me wants to reclaim it for that very reason. I do recognize the problematic nature of the day, and yet… I am so tired of the Religious Right making such awful claims about what it means to be a Christian, like the current president-elect is akin to a Savior!?! That feels like heresy and blasphemy!

I do believe God is dreaming something new and better—and I so want the eyes to see it and ears to hear it. I am curious what you all think about the day, the sermon, etc. Feel free to leave comments - including whether an occasional sermon is even something you’re interested in. Thank you!

“Building a better world one conversation at a time” is the motto of Living Room Conversations. Check out this amazing organization and learn how you, too, can be part of this movement: livingroomconversations.org. You’ll learn about the six conversation agreements—such as being purposeful and to the point, showing respect and suspending judgment, as well as being curious and listening to understand. This organization provides tons of free resources and printables to help anyone guide or participate in conversations that help to facilitate true exchange, both talking and listening! Here is one of the newest conversation guides: Listening. For more information, contact Annie Caplan here: [email protected]. During the conversation I mention the book “How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen” by David Books. Here’s a link to more information about the book.

Elmarie and I met at a Presbytery gathering in Cut Bank, MT in June of 2024. This conversation was held the first week of August, before things really ramped up with the war in Lebanon.

The Rev. Dr. Elmarie Parker has been serving in the Middle East since 2013. Find out more about her work here: Elmarie Parker. The link to the full “We Choose Abundant Life” document mentioned in the conversation is provided for you here.

I am so excited for you to meet my friend, Patti Bartlett. We start off by learning a bit about Patti’s initial teaching journey and then talk about the importance of human connection and messy food. You’ll hear some local history, how messy food can chill out a school board negotiation, how fostering connection can sometimes happen over shared simple practices, and about a cool group of fly-fishing gal pals. Bring a snack (the messier the better) and pull up a chair.

We’ve all got crazy-making things in our lives: the news, family, jobs, politics, religion, board meetings…etc. You are invited to gather around a liminal table of grace. The table is rich in symbol and mystery in my religious tradition (mixed Christian). While I’ll draw on my own religious tradition, conversations will feature folks from other traditions as well. We’re going to have beautiful and difficult conversations about what keeps us up at night, what gives us joy and hope, memorable shared meals and more. Guests come from all over the country. Authors, teachers, organizers, and other leaders will inspire us with practical tools for reaching across divides. Pull up a chair. There’s always room at the table.