Ministry Without Hating It

When we allow ministry to become task driven, one of the easiest things to lose sight of is the creative expression that is inherent to our Creator. In this episode, we sit down for a fun conversation with minister and FMP Director, Bob Hunt. Bob unpacks for us the importance of creativity within ministry, how it affects everyone involved in the creative process, and how even those leaders who don't feel creative personally, can be--and find a new level of flourishing.

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Creativity Workbook - Bob has graciously offered to send his Creativity Workbook free of charge to any leader interested! All you need to do is send him an email [email protected] along with your name, mailing address and mention the MWH podcast.
• Connect with Bob further at [email protected]

Guest Bio:
Robert (Bob) Hunt has been the director of Foursquare Missions Press for 26 years. He has been involved in ministry for nearly 50 years with stints in the business world.

His ministry experience includes pastoring and youth pastoring in local churches. Founding a missions training school and short term sending (based on a YWAM model) in the local church. Also founding a comprehensive social services ministry involving multiple churches caring for the local impoverished and homeless individuals (and serving within an AIDS hospice).

Bob has an MDiv. from Talbot Theological Seminary (BIOLA). He has authored, co authored and ghost authored numerous books, booklets and pamphlets. He is currently working on a book on spiritual warfare with Dr. Jerry Stott and Dr. Leslie Keegel. He enjoys oil painting and old movies.

He is married to the love of his life, Heidi, an attorney, avid baseball fan and cancer survivor.

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

How do you achieve success in ministry? Become a servant to all. In this episode, Pastor Kimberly Dirmann recounts how God has moved her from a perfectionist people-pleaser focused on outcomes, to recognizing success in simply doing what God says, and not holding on too long. Kimberly also unpacks what cultivating love for people (even difficult ones) looks like practically, and how to avoid being a Saul to the David’s in your ministry.

Guest Bio:
Kimberly Dirmann was born in Colombia, South America, and lived in Colombia until she was 10. She has been married to Jerry for 35 years and they have two grown children, Alexandra and Jonathan, and six grandchildren.

Kimberly and Jerry served as youth pastors at Valley Community Church, El Monte Foursquare, for 8 ½ years (1986-1994).  In December 1994, Jerry was appointed Foursquare National Youth Minister and they traveled extensively with their children throughout the United States ministering at camps, and to youth pastors and leaders.

Kimberly served as the Director of Foursquare Women International from 2000-2005 with the primary focus of resourcing women in ministry leadership. Kimberly also co-hosted a talk show on a Christian radio station during this time.

Kimberly was appointed as the Southwest District Supervisor for the Foursquare denomination and served in this role from May of 2009 until May of 2016.  She, along with her district staff, oversaw 180 churches in Arizona, parts of Southern California, Southern Nevada, and Southern Utah.

Kimberly is the co-founder and co-pastor of The Rock Network, a ministry based in Anaheim, California consisting of multiple campuses and media ministries, and over 100 house churches. She also serves as the Director of “She Leads California”, an organization of Christian women who lead in various spheres of influence.

Resources Highlighted in this Interview:

•  The Awe of God: The Astounding Way a Healthy Fear of God Transforms Your Life by John Bevere
• Connect w/ Kimberly at https://www.therockanaheim.com/about

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

Conflict within relationship is unavoidable, but healthy resolution doesn’t come naturally. In this BONUS! episode, Pastor, Chaplain and Therapist, Robby Booth, returns for an extended conversation on pursuing healthy conflict resolution within the relationships every leader holds, and unpacks learned wisdom in seeing relationships strengthened on the other side of conflict.

Resources Highlighted in this Interview:

• Conflict Resolution: “Engage to Resolve.” (11 Pillars of Healthy Resolve) blogpost by Robert Booth
• Changes That Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud
• Safe People: How to Find Relationships That Are Good for You and Avoid Those That Aren't by Dr. Henry Cloud
• Email Robby at [email protected]

Guest Bio:
Robby Booth alongside his wife, Bonita, presently serves the NCO as the director of CSR West. As minister of Pastoral Care directing CSR West, Robby brings care and restoration to pastors, ministers and missionaries of the Foursquare movement.

In other various roles, Robby has served the Foursquare family on the Cabinet and Executive Council, as well as regional supervisor and assistant general supervisor, Director of Foursquare Chaplaincy and national camps director.

Robby and Bonita have served as senior pastors of Faith Chapel Foursquare Church in Glendale, Ariz. for eleven years. Robby and Bonita later moved to Modesto to serve as district supervisors of the former Western District office of Foursquare churches in January 1995.

Robby received a dual major bachelor's degree in Christian ministries/counseling from Hope University and a master's degree in marriage and family counseling from Azusa Pacific University.  Prior to moving to Arizona, he served eleven years on staff at Trinity Christian Center Foursquare Church as the married couples’ pastor.  He is CERT, CISM and DRT certified as well as specialties in dealing with trauma and sexual addictions.  Ordained in 1979, Robby directed two counseling centers in Southern CA before becoming a senior pastor. With over 80,000 hours of counseling, Robby was initially licensed as a MFCC in 1980, later also becoming a trauma specialist.

“An ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God!” is how Robby would say he wants to be known, loving God and loving people.  He is a strong family man with deep love for his wife, Bonita, as well as their three children, Jeremy, Jessica, and Joshua and wonderful grandchildren.

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineering by Brenton Hill
Edited & Produced by Chad Garrison
Episode Artwork Photo by Hassan yahia on Pexels

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

It’s the most important ministry within the church, and yet it’s oftentimes the most overlooked. In this episode we sit down for a conversation with Pastor and NextGen Denominational Leader, Tami Jones, on ministry to the Next Generation (NextGen). Tami unpacks for us trends in NextGen Ministry, best practices for NextGen Leaders, wisdom in leading NextGen Leaders on your team, and of course, how to escape from a blender if you were suddenly a No. 2 pencil. Let's GOOO!

Guest Bio:
Tamara (Tami) Jones resides in the beautiful state of Nebraska with her husband of 30 years, and together they have three children, and a dynamic son-in-law.Tami accepted Christ at the young age of 12 at a camp and received her ministry calling just a few years later. 

For more than 30 years, she has been serving and leading in various capacities in NextGen ministries. Vocationally, she has been in nursing, vocational/educational coaching, and human services while volunteering or teaching in the local church NextGen ministry settings. However, twelve years ago, she was offered a full-time position as a Children's Pastor in a Foursquare Church, eventually serving as a youth pastor, and then finally as the Executive NextGen Pastor overseeing all Nextgen Ministries locally, and at satellite/church plant locations. 

Currently, Tami is serving as NextGen Coordinator of the Foursquare Central District, which serves 17 states. Her role involves bringing connection, collaboration, celebration, and care to kids, youth, and young adult ministry pastors and leaders within those 17 states. Her passion is to help next-generation ministry leaders become holistically healthy, identify their God-given abilities, develop leadership plans, and spread the gospel of Jesus to kids, youth, and their families. She is currently attending Life Pacific University pursuing her Master’s Degree in Strategic Leadership.

Connect Further with Tami at:

• [email protected]
• https://linktr.ee/centraldistrictnextgen

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

Our ministries are an overflow of our relationships. In this episode Pastor, Chaplain and Therapist , Robby Booth, unpacks the wisdom he's gained in his over 80,000 hours of counseling with ministry leaders and couples. We discuss combatting the false beliefs that hurt relationships, healthy ministry/relationship priorities and practical steps we can take individually to be intentional in growing in our relationships.

Click Here For Robby's 10 Steps for Relational Intentionality
Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization by Robert Kegan & Lisa Laskow Lahey
• Changes That Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud
• Safe People: How to Find Relationships That Are Good for You and Avoid Those That Aren't by Dr. Henry Cloud
• Gottman Card Decks App
• The Conquer Series
• Covenant Eyes

Guest Bio:
Robby Booth alongside his wife, Bonita, presently serves the NCO as the director of CSR West. As minister of Pastoral Care directing CSR West, Robby brings care and restoration to pastors, ministers & missionaries of the Foursquare movement.

In other various roles, Robby has served the Foursquare family on the Cabinet and Executive Council, as well as regional supervisor and assistant general supervisor, Director of Foursquare Chaplaincy & national camps director.

Robby and Bonita have served as senior pastors of Faith Chapel Foursquare Church in Glendale, Ariz. for eleven years. Robby and Bonita later moved to Modesto to serve as district supervisors of the former Western District office of Foursquare churches in January 1995. 

Robby received a dual major bachelor's degree in Christian ministries/counseling from Hope University and a master's degree in marriage and family counseling from Azusa Pacific University.  Prior to moving to Arizona, he served eleven years on staff at Trinity Christian Center Foursquare Church as the married couples’ pastor.  He is CERT, CISM and DRT certified as well as specialties in dealing with trauma and sexual addictions.  Ordained in 1979, Robby directed two counseling centers in Southern CA before becoming a senior pastor. With over 80,000 hours of counseling, Robby was initially licensed as a MFCC in 1980, later also becoming a trauma specialist. 
“An ordinary guy serving an extraordinary God!” is how Robby would say he wants to be known, loving God and loving people.  He is a strong family man with deep love for his wife, Bonita, as well as their three children, Jeremy, Jessica, and Joshua and wonderful grandchildren.

Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Happy Summer! For this month's episode, we're excited to introduce a new episode format we are adding to the mix titled "Shop Talk", where we'll do just that--talk shop on a variety of ministry specific topics. For our first Shop Talk, we sit down with pastors Billy Holden and Dustin Black for a roundtable discussion on taking the grind out of planning and prepping, best practices in message collaboration, the freedom of the year long message calendar and wisdom earned the hard way from years of writing and delivering sermons.

Guest Bios:
Billy Holden has has served in ministry leadership for 20 years. Billy and his wife Mandy planted Innovation Church in Lafayette, IN in 2010. They have a total of 5 kids, 2 (twins) of which they adopted out of foster care. They have a huge heart for their community and serve local foster families through fostering, hosting foster agencies and through a foster closet ministry!

If you'd like to connect further with Billy, you can visit their church's website at innovationchurch.cc, or via email at: [email protected]

Dustin Black is a Husband, Father to three amazing kids, Barista at a coffee shop, chaplain for local police department, and just started the journey of a wild-land firefighter….oh yeah…and he pastors a church, Grace Foursquare in Rhinelander, WI.

He is a third generation pastor, and always makes the joke, "I was born on a Monday and was at church the next Sunday….except it’s not a joke." He has been in church and in ministry literally his whole life, but has carried the role of pastor for the last 19 years. He writes, "My idea of pastoral ministry has shifted a ton the last eight years, but my desire to help people realize that Jesus loves them just the way they are, has always stayed the same."

Connect Further with Dustin at: 

• [email protected]
• https://www.instagram.com/blackd82/
• https://www.facebook.com/dustin.black.9210

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• 7 Practices for Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Lane Jones

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison
Episode Artwork Photo by Hassan yahia on Pexels

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

Am I a Pastor, or the CEO of a Small Nonprofit? It's a question that this episode's guest, Pastor Dustin Black, has wrestled with in recent years. Join us for this interview as Dustin deconstructs ministry as a vocation verses ministry as what the leader has been created to do, and also how this simple truth has transformed his ministry and created vibrant community within it.

Guest Bio:
Dustin Black is a Husband, Father to three amazing kids, Barista at a coffee shop, chaplain for local police department, and just started the journey of a wild-land firefighter….oh yeah…and he pastors a church, Grace Foursquare in Rhinelander, WI.

He is a third generation pastor, and always makes the joke, "I was born on a Monday and was at church the next Sunday….except it’s not a joke." He has been in church and in ministry literally his whole life, but has carried the role of pastor for the last 19 years. He writes, "My idea of pastoral ministry has shifted a ton the last eight years, but my desire to help people realize that Jesus loves them just the way they are, has always stayed the same."

Connect Further with Dustin at: 

• [email protected]
• https://www.instagram.com/blackd82/
• https://www.facebook.com/dustin.black.9210

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• The Hotshot Wake Up Podcast
• The Place We Find Ourselves Podcast
• The Bema Podcast
• Asking Better Questions of the Bible: A Guide for the Wounded, Wary, and Longing for More by Marty Solomon
• Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools: An Invitation to the Wonder and Mystery of Prayer by Tyler Staton

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

Addiction. As leaders we will either walk with those caught up in it, or find ourselves facing our own. In this episode, we have a raw and real conversation with Bob Vander Meer, a Pastor and Clinician for Pure Desire Ministries. Bob shares about his own journey with sexual addiction with honesty and vulnerability, wisdom to leaders struggling with addiction and the opportunities ministry leaders have to walk with others in the lifelong process of recovery.

Guest Bio:
Robert is a clinician at Pure Desire Ministries, pastor, and businessman. Not always in this order. Though all three of these positions take place in different locations, they all work toward the same goal: helping people become who they were created to be and present with those who are right in front of them. He has been a clinician at Pure Desire for 10 years, along with his wife. Prior to this, he and his wife worked as the Latin America representatives for Pure Desire, traveling in Latin America and speaking on the topic of sexual health. He has been a pastor and/or in ministry for more than 20 years and currently is part of a neighborhood church where he and his family live in North East Portland.

While working as a senior pastor in Las Vegas, NV, Robert began to face his own sexual addiction. Not without the loss of ministry and relationship. The journey toward healthier is always continuing and a launching point for much of what he does now.

Robert and his wife, Rebecca, have been married for 13 years and have two children: their son Amadeus and their daughter Carmela. They met in 1998 on a short-term mission trip in Costa Rica; however, they went their separate ways for a few years and made a mess of life. Fortunately, those messes helped them reconnect and pursue health together later on.

Connect further with Bob at [email protected] or visit https://puredesire.org/speakers/

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Pure Desire Ministries
• The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

"What you invest is what you will reap, and what you put up with is what you’ll end up with." In this episode, we have a conversation with Paul & Janice Rice, who have planted and pastored Riverside Community Church for over 20 years! In this interview they unpack the joy of being a bi-vocational pastor (seriously!), the roller coaster that is the church planting experience, and all that goes into leading the same church they started all these years--and loving it more each day!

Guest Bio:
Paul and Janice Rice share a love for pastoring the local church, a passion for worldwide missions, and mentoring the next generation of believers. They church planted Riverside Community Church 20 years ago in Rainier, OR in an old elementary school. Out of that building has sprung up numerous ministries such as a Pregnancy Center, a Thrift Store, a place for AA to meet, and youth summer camps. The goal of Riverside is to equip every believer, no matter their age, to do the ministry God has planned for their life.

As bi-vocational pastors, Paul and Janice and their family, have built homes, remodeled others and owned a Bouncy House business. They work outside the church to fund their “ministry habit.” Their six children have partnered with them in ministry at Riverside, in missions, and now, in their own ministries. Paul designs homes, in the evenings, just for fun. Janice writes books in her spare time because it lets her drink lots of coffee, be alone and read a lot for research. Their kids are their treasure.

Connect Further with Paul & Janice at [email protected] or riversiderainier.com

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Operation Solid Lives

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.

It is one thing to hold a ministry position of leadership, but it's another to believe you're exactly who God should have placed there--especially when it doesn't go the way you thought it would!

In this episode Pastor and Denominational leader, Esperanza Morphis, gives candid insight from her recent, unexpected season of ministry role transition, and how it revealed an unhealthy source of significance within her identity. Esperanza also unpacks how "knowing your lane" with your Creator practically plays out in times of disappointment, self-doubt as well as seasons of fruitfulness and flourishing.

Guest Bio:
Esperanza Morphis, a native of the south suburbs of Chicago, has served as an Associate Pastor of the Chicago Heights Foursquare Church with Senior Pastor Greg Howse. Esperanza is passionate about making disciples, facilitating the holistic development of strong and healthy leaders, and mobilizing them into their respective spheres of influence.

Esperanza, an ordained Foursquare minister, has served on the ICFG board of directors, as a Regional Pastor for the Central East District, and is presently serving as an Associate Supervisor for the Foursquare Central District.  Esperanza also currently serves as the President of City Helps CDC, a not-for-profit organization focusing on mental health, at-risk youth, and senior assistance. Esperanza holds a BA in Theology, with a concentration in Family Counseling from Summit College, and an MDiv from Indiana Wesleyan Seminary. Esperanza's greatest treasures consist of her husband, two adult children, and three grandsons.

Resources Highlighted in this Interview: 

• Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ by Dallas Willard 
• 21 Leadership Issues in the Bible: Life-Changing Lessons from Leaders in Scripture by John Maxwell

Episode Credits:
Audio Engineer & Editing by Brenton Hill
Produced by Chad Garrison

Connect With Ministry w/o Hating It:
Our LinkTree | Support MWH @ Buy Me A Coffee
Thanks for listening! If this podcast is a helpful resource to you, please consider subscribing, leaving a review and sharing it with others.