Welcome to the season of Lent! It's a season of reflection, preparation, repentance, and renewal. It's a time set apart to help us reflect on who we are, who God is, where we belong, and what we should do. Rev. Sue Ostrom began Lent by reflecting on who Jesus says he is, and who everyone else wants him to be. We talk about why Jesus does things the hard way, why gimmicks are so tempting, and why evil keeps coming back. Welcome to Lent.

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This season of the podcast finds us in a new era. Governments change and preachers are still called to proclaim the word of God. What is the word we need to hear now? Host Meredith Gudger-Raines shares some honest thoughts about reaching for the gospel in uncertain and frightening times, and talks to Rev. Katie Klosterman about what leads us forward. Pastor Katie is helping her congregation learn to wonder. Opening yourself up to wonder is a way of being hopeful and looking forward. When we look for wonder, it's like we're saying that we know God has something special for us that we haven't discovered yet, that there's more to the story, and that if we keep going in faith, we will find meaning and goodness.

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If you feel like you're wandering in an unfamiliar and potentially threatening land, you're not alone. In Advent, we tell the story of John the Baptist, who went out to strange and wild places, on purpose, because that's where he sensed the Spirit of God doing a new thing. Rev. Jenny Williams works for the ACLU in West Virginia, and she's helping progressive Christians across the state prepare for ministry in a new wilderness. Instead of just charity work, Jenny says, it's time for people of faith to build new relationships and communities of mutual support. The only way we will make it through the wilderness is together.

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They say experience is the best teacher. Along with a team, Rev. Alissa Amestoy is designing worship to be something not just to listen to, but to experience, a way to help people embody the stories of God's love and hope. This makes perfect sense in the season of Advent, when we tell the story of God literally embodying, well, a human body. God enters human history as a baby, showing that in God's world, hope and grace and love go way beyond what makes sense or what we can understand. We talk with Alissa about sticky feathers, creating sacred spaces, and hope on hope on hope.

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In this episode, we use the S-word a lot. < Stewardship > Long time church folks might hear the S-word and think "It's time to raise money to fund the church budget." But Rev. Clay Andrew knows stewardship is actually about something far more important, exciting, hopeful, and empowering. Stewardship is about what we do with who we are. How do we use our time, our energy, our resources, our skills? Asking these questions might be uncomfortable, and might put us at odds with the forces of power in our world, but it also might fill us with God's grace and love, and bring healing to our communities.

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Hospitality isn't just using the nice table linens and making sure everyone's glasses stay full. Hospitality means putting yourself out there for someone else's benefit, and that comes with risks. Rev. Casey Banks is helping her congregation think through the risks of being a welcoming place and people. What risks are we willing to take so that others will know that they are welcome? Pastor Casey and her church are making space for things like tree funerals, serving breakfast to high schoolers, and cleaning up pumpkin guts.

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Not all heroes wear capes, and not all preachers use pulpits. Some use newsletters and websites, like Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes. Pastor Steve writes spiritual poetry for his flock, 7,000 people from all around the country and world. On the morning after the US presidential election, Pastor Steve sent out a poem that helped bring many back from the depths of fear and despair. A couple days later, we had a conversation about what keeps Pastor Steve from giving in to despair, what's holding everything together, and what we're called to do in these difficult days. I hope this conversation is a little thing that keeps hope alive in you. And just a note: like many of the best pastors our there, Pastor Steve uses a few fun words, a little bit of choice language. Seems appropriate.

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It's election day in the United States! And we are afraid. This election has extremely high stakes, and the outcome will have significant impact on our lives. In the midst of times of fear, Jesus asks his disciples not to be afraid, not to let fear control us and take over our call to be people of love. Uh, Jesus? How do we do this? Last Sunday, Rev. Violet Johnicker reminded her congregation that, when his life was on the line, and a tense peace was about to descend into violence, Jesus told his followers, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." We hope this message brings you a bit of peace and calm on a difficult day.

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Rev. Wilma Reyes is doing a lot of new things: living in a new part of the country, pastoring three churches of different denominations, and helping people see new ways to build community. It might be human nature to divide people into insiders and outsiders, but the barrier-breaking love of Jesus asks us to choose a different way. Some leaders in our social and political landscape would like to limit whose voices are heard. Pastor Wilma, empowered by Jesus, is building a community where all voices are lifted up and heard.

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In times of turmoil and uncertainty, we look for role models to show us the way. Rev. Molly Fraser is using Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a guide for her congregation, helping them reflect more deeply on what it means to pick up their cross. It may sound counterintuitive, but sacrifice can be the path to joy. What kind of sacrifices are we being called to make---and what sacrifices are we not prepared to make? Along the way, we talk about changing worship practices, being pastors and moms, and the power of sharing a good story.

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