Bud Pierce is the pastor of two churches in or near Independence, Virginia, tucked away in the mountains. I've never met Bud, but I am certain that if I ran into him anywhere in the world, I'd recognize him.  Listen in and find out why.

It's time for an introduction.  Rev. Annette Flynn and I are formalizing a relationship to build the Lakelands Institute together.  Annette brings chops to this gig that I'm very excited to share with you.  In this podcast we'll ramble on about the reign of God, the experience of hair standing up on the back of the neck, and why we want to spend our lives supporting clergy.

You might have missed our inaugural episode, so I'm reposting today.  I interview Tom Cox, interim pastor of Hot Metal Bridge, a faith community in downtown Pittsburgh.  Tom describes this amazing ministry and its move toward holding worship services via Zoom.  Creativity and flexibility are the keys.

If I were to guess, I'd say that Rev. Elle Dowd is an expression of the spiritual gift of apostleship.  She was doing online ministry (before it was cool) years ago as a way of reaching out to the disaffected and traumatized.  Her experience makes her the perfect guest for this podcast; I only hope I'm a good interviewer!

REPLAY: Perhaps that's an overstatement, but Dylan Wilson of Bearden United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, shares some of the challenges of doing online ministry with youth and young adults in this time of social distancing.  His creative work with video is bringing people into a place of participation in worship that he finds compelling.  I hope you do also!

Today's morning news delivered a story about athletes and the stresses of the pandemic.  Without races to run and games to play, how do we set goals and stay fit?  The same is true with the spiritual life.  As Advent and Christmas approach, how will this be a season that build communities, connects people, and helps us grow in faith when getting together will be challenging?  I have some ideas.

Some of these interviews are so good they bear repeating; this one definitely falls in that category.  Rev. Dr. Laurence Hesser is the pastor of a mid-sized United Methodist church in rural Tennessee.  His own quest to understand his congregation’s needs led him to quickly learn how to make quality video, and has seen his online numbers surpass his in-person worship numbers as a result.

Relying on a Facebook-only strategy for streaming your worship services is risky.  With all social media, you are not in control; a better way to go is outlined in my latest webinar.  You can find it at https://lakelandsinstitute.com/social-webinar.  I hope to see you there!

Dr. Melissa Hofstetter of Shepherd Heart joins me today for a fascinating discussion of neuroscience, trauma, and pastoral self-care.  As too many pastors live on the verge of burnout (or worse), this is an important discussion that begs close attention.  I hope you'll join us and find it helpful.

In this conversation with Curtis Ramsey-Lucas, he shares he own experiences with leadership in online worship as well as his new book, #InThisTogether: Ministry in Times of Crisis, in which authors come together to offer observations about the triple crises we face today: a pandemic, the unveiling of systemic racism, and an electoral crisis.  Curtis is also the editor of The Christian Citizen.