In recent times there has been some tension between the media and Christian faith. In this episode we talk to an award-winning journalist about how their faith intersects with their work in journalism, and explore together what the church can learn from those who are working in the media.

How can science and faith co-exist? How can science inform our faith? With the concerning implications of climate change for now and future generations, and if care for the planet is something humans are responsible for, where is the church in those efforts? We speak with Brook about his journey of expansion and his passion for working to reduce the impacts of Climate Change.

In this episode, we speak to Halee and Rui, an entrepreneurial couple who are seeking to serve their community through sustainable business, alongside learning from people who are often not heard from in church that offer different and new insights into who God is.

In this episode we talk to Sarah about what it’s like to join a church without having grown up in one and the inevitable questions that come up in that process. Can we say, we’ll try to be like Jesus, instead of promising we definitely will be? What about how the church has contributed to the shame that some adolescents feel, and what can we do about it?

In light of the release of the Pathfinding report on the ARISE church, and Jaimee’s own reflections on its implications for the wider church, we unpack with Jaimee what it might look like if we were to take the 92 recommendations seriously. We’re invited to turn the spotlight on ourselves and consider our part to play as we wrestle with what the church is and who we are aspiring to be in Aotearoa today.

Are we just downloading information into people, or is it about journeying together to be formed in Christlikeness? In this episode Caleb reflects on his experience from his time pastoring and in his present role lecturing on the function of discipleship and how both church and theological institutions can either help or hinder that process. How too does the monocultural structure of the Western church contribute to a more ideological rather than character formation focus?

As someone who loves Jesus and is following the Spirit’s call to a different way of living, Nicole wonders if church as we know it is really it? Is church really what we get from the radical life of Jesus? She helps us imagine what could be and invites us to step into the unknown future ahead of us, without being weighed down by the pressures of the past.

In this first episode of The Changes Ahead Podcast, your hosts, Cathy and Steven chat together about why this podcast exists, and reflect on their hopes for what Changes Ahead there are for the church.

It is no secret that the church in the West is in decline and there seems to have been unending talk about the church needing to change. Despite this, the number of sustainable alternatives or even smaller changes to what most would be familiar with as church is tragically low. This podcast is capturing thoughts of people who can see the Changes Ahead of us. Together we’ll be challenged, provoked even, by the views of people who are thinking about how the church might thrive going forward. So we invite you to join co-hosts Cathy Marston and Steven Goulstone as we imagine the Changes Ahead. This minute-long introduction sets the scene for what is to come.