Stories Along the Journey

Gloria Hughes and Lory Beth Huffman had a conversation with author, activist, and speaker, Shane Claiborne about how he passionately lives out the gospel message of love. His advocacy has led him to spend time with Mother Teresa in Calcutta and founded The Simple Way in Philadelphia. Shane heads up Red Letter Christians which is a movement of folks who are committed to living "as if Jesus meant the things he said." His passion to end the death penalty and help stop gun violence is providing a platform for the healing of the families who have lost a loved one to gun violence.

Shane's latest book: Beating Guns: Hope for People who are weary of violence can be found on Amazon or other book sellers. Shane's website is shane claiborne

Follow Shane on Instagram: Shane.Claiborne

Lory Beth Huffman and Gloria Hughes had a conversation with Rev. Dr. Elizabeth Coppedge-Henley about the challenges of being a Prophetic Voice in this day and time – especially from the pulpit. Elizabeth shares how she has built trust with her congregation, allowing her to tackle hard issues facing the world right now.

Gloria Hughes, Lory Beth Huffman sat down with Ted Henry to discuss how his life's journey has equipped and prepared him for ministry. Ted serves as the pastor of Banner Elk UMC, as well as the chaplain of Lees McRae College and the campus minister of the Wesley Foundation at the college.

During our conversation, Ted made reference to John Pavlovich's book: If God is Love, Don't Be a Jerk: Finding a Faith that Makes Us Better Humans and Gloria quoted Henri Nouwen from his book, The Wounded Healer. Ted spoke about the impact of his experience of Cursillo and Walk to Emmaus. If you would like to know more, follow the links to learn more about opportunities to participate.

Thank you for joining us for this conversation.

Gloria Hughes sat down with Laura Byrch, Pastor of Community Engagement & Pastor of Blackburn's Chapel in Todd NC. Laura shares with us the people in her life that influenced her awareness of other and how that has transformed her life and ministry. Laura's spirit is contagious and fun. We hope you enjoy her story and ponder who those persons are in your own life.

Gloria Hughes, Appalachian District Vitality Associate sat down with Anita Sain, pastor of Jefferson UMC along with Ashley Church and Sophia Kiser to hear their story of how their entire congregation got caught up in the movement of the Holy Spirit to host a prom for Ashe County High School, in the midst of Covid-19. Their story is exciting, inspirational, and filled with holy outcomes! We hope this conversation blesses you as much as it blessed us.

Lory Beth Huffman, Appalachian District Superintendent, Gloria Hughes, Appalachian District Vitality Associate sit down with Rev. Joseph Kesserling who is appointed at Nathan's Creek United Methodist Church and is from India. He is able to see Kingdom opportunites all around him and apply what he learned in India to his pastoral leadership of Nathan's Creek and with the community of Crumpler.

Gloria Hughes sat down with Ben Gatton, one of the pastors at Sparta United Methodist Church and Hope Fellowship, along with Elizabeth Barricklow, a member of Hope Fellowship, to discuss their faith journeys and what drives their passion to connect to the community, especially those who have been disconnected with the church.

Lory Beth, Gloria, and Katie share their most memorable Advent and Christmas memories and how they have played an important role in shaping their lives and faith.

#storiesalongthejourney

A special thank you to Chris Hughes for Music (I Will Follow Jesus), and Kyle Sigmon for voiceover and teaching us podcast editing skills!

Email address [email protected]

Website: appalachiandistrict.org