On the December 2024 episode of the Northwest Yearly Meeting Podcast, Austin and Jacob give a quick episode on the topic of the advent season and the idea of hope. With all the hustle and bustle around the holiday season it is our prayer that you can find some time to quiet and slow down and reflect on what it means to be patiently waiting for Jesus. What would it look like for you to wait on Him?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We'll be back in 2025 with new episodes and new guests!

On the November 2024 episode of the NWYM Podcast, co-hosts Austin and Jacob talk with Pastor Lisa Garon (Sherwood Friends) about church multiplication. Lisa was a guest on the show all the way back on our 2nd episode and she joins us again today to talk about a new podcast she has started called Church Planting Conversations with EFCP where Lisa and her podcast co-host Brian talk about church planting strategies and stories from across the country. Lisa is also the director of communication at Evangelical Friends Church Planting and she spends some time talking about the upcoming Friends Multiplication Conference.

Learn more about Northwest Yearly Meeting here: https://nwfriends.org/

You can watch video episodes of this podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/@nwymmedia1007

On the Oct. 2024 episode of the Northwest Yearly Meeting Podcast co-hosts Austin and Jacob chat with Grant (Camp Tilikum and Clerk of the YAYA Board) about Dungeons & Dragons (and other table top role playing games). Austin has noticed a rise in popularity with D&D, even amongst Christians, so he wanted to talk to someone who plays them. Society doesn't seem to be in a panic over these types of games anymore. Should we still be concerned with them or was the fear overhyped? Grant gives us his perspective on the games and his thoughts on what good they can provide.

Austin and Jacob also give a quick plug for the Friends Multiplication Conference happening in November. Learn more by clicking here: https://friendsmultiply.org

More reading here: The Gospel According to Dungeons and Dragons

For the September 2024 episode co-hosts Austin and Jacob decided to delve into the topic of politics and civil discourse. While on the campus of George Fox University for NWYM Annual Sessions, they got to hear a brief report of GFU's Civility Project which has aims to "[h]elp people recognize disagreements, and the political cultures we use to resolve them, as crucial parts of God’s loving providence" and to "[o]ffer resources to support those working to build civility and heal political cultures".

Jacob thought this was just the kind of work that needed to be highlighted as we approach election season, so we reached out to Ron Mock who is the director of the project to have some conversations about how we can have civil discourse with those we may not agree with. Ron is the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Peace Studies and he was also a clerk of Newberg Friends during a tumultuous church split, so he knows a thing or two about walking through hard situations with grace.

If you'd like to learn more about George For University's Civility Project you can click here: https://sites.google.com/georgefox.edu/gfcivilityproject/home

The August 2024 episode is a bit shorter, but still full of lots of great stuff! Our guest today is Jesse Penna who is the Youth Superintendent of Mid-America Yearly Meeting. Jesse is the last youth superintendent amongst Evangelical Friends, but in a move contrary to being the last one his position was just increased from part-time to full time! Jesse talks a bit about some youth ministry trends and then we discuss the first ever NATIONAL Friends Youth Workers Conference. You can learn more about this event and register by clicking this link: https://efcmaym.org/uncategorized/national-friends-youth-workers-retreat/

It is the July 2024 episode and co-hosts Austin and Jacob get together to discuss this article from Christianity Today about the loosening of Evangelical standards. It seems that many things that Christians used to abstain from (alcohol, tattoos, violent movies, etc.) are now common place amongst Christians. Is this good? Bad? We look a bit at what the article says and talk a bit about it from our personal experiences.

Northwest Yearly Meeting's Annual Sessions are taking place this month (July 2024) at George Fox University. If you are in the general area of Washington, Oregon, or Idaho we'd love to see you there. Register for the event here: https://registration.nwfriends.org

The Christianity Today article we reference in this episode can be found here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/may-web-only/loosening-of-american-evangelicalism-norms-taboos-liturgy.html

The NWYM Faith and Practice Queries we reference can be found here: https://nwfriends.org/faith-and-practice/

For the June 2024 episode we are celebrating George Fox's 400th birthday! George Fox was born in July of 1624 and was a founder of the Religious Society of Friends. Our guest this episode is Dr. Jim LeShana, the current Superintendent of Northwest Yearly Meeting and a history buff of the Friends Church. Jim joins co-hosts Austin and Jacob as they discuss the life of George Fox, what the early Friends movement was like in 1624, and how we can learn from him today in 2024. If you are a history nerd this episode is sure to be a good one for you!

The May 2024 episode of the NWYM Podcast is here and we have a very special guest! Richard Ramsey is the writer and co-director of the new movie "Unsung Hero" which is in theaters now! Austin and Jacob get to talk with Richard a bit about this movie (don't worry, no spoilers) and then talk about Christian films at large and how the tide may be turning for them for the better. Don't worry, this podcast isn't turning in to a movie podcast but we couldn't pass up this opportunity to talk to Richard with the movie coming out right now.

About "Unsung Hero": When David Smallbone's successful music company collapses, he moves his family from Australia to the United States in search of a brighter future. With nothing more than their six children, their suitcases, and their love of music, David (for KING + COUNTRY's Joel Smallbone) and his pregnant wife Helen (Daisy Betts) set out to rebuild their lives from the ground up. Based on a remarkable true story, a mum's faith stands against all odds; and inspires her husband and children to hold onto theirs.

On the April 2024 episode, Austin & Jacob do a little deep dive and discussion into the new movie Dune Part 2. WARNING! There ARE spoilers to the movie in this episode! Austin posits that this movie has a lot of parallels to the story of Jesus (and many differences) and that it might be a good way to open conversations about Christ with people since it is such a huge cultural movie right now. There is also some brief post-Easter chat at the beginning. We hope everyone had a happy Easter yesterday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ!

This is the March 2024 episode and it is the first one this year where co-hosts Austin & Jacob are both on the same episode! This is a big episode with TWO special guests. Courtney Sechrist and Leo Wilson both attend and work for Battle Creek Friends Church in Michigan and they are also 2/3rds of the team that hosts the After Church Apologetics podcast. On their podcast, they aim to take hard questions that people have about faith and Christianity and give a succinct answer to them so that you are better prepared next time you have those conversations with loved ones. What is the weirdest questions Pastor Leo has gotten about the Bible? Is it possible to give a "right" answer in the wrong way? Find out the answers to all these things and more on this episode of the NWYM Podcast!

Find out information about Twin Rocks Friends Camp and their summer programs by visiting their website here.