Where We Belong

Attend the Whitworth Ministry Summit with Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil on June 24-27. Register at whitworth.edu/summit.

Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is recognized internationally as one of the foremost leaders of reconciliation and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today. She is also a pastor and professor of reciliation studies at Seattle Pacific University.

In this episode she chats with Lauren about her early story in the church, advice for pastors, the importance of getting proximate, and what drew her to the book of Nehemiah (the subject of her latest book).

Lauren talks with Heather VanDeventer, the Dean of St. John's Cathedral here in Spokane, about Heather's experience in the Resilient Church Project. Share shares a bit about what it was like to participate, some of the ways their church benefitted, and how the church is using their grant funds to become more resilient.

The OCE is currently recruiting a new cohort of churches to join our team for two years of intentional learning and discernment. Churches from anywhere in the U.S. are invited to apply. The application opens on Sept. 1 and is due Nov. 22. Fill out an interest form at www.whitworth.edu/resilient. Lauren would love to talk with you!

Join Lauren as she offers some final thoughts on the conversations we've had throughout season 2. The episode ends with an invitation to a spiritual practice known as breath prayer.

Learn more about our work in the Office of Church Engagement at www.whitworth.edu/oce

This week we are chatting with two Whitworth students from our Summer Fellowship Program. Willow and Sabine are two thoughtful and faithful students who are working out for themselves what it means to belong to the Church and to the body of Christ as young adults. In this episode, they chat with Lauren all about their backgrounds with the church, how moving away from home has changed their perspective, and what true belonging means to them.

Sabine is currently serving as a Resilient Fellow - a special fellowship placement that serves a church in our Resilient Church Program. She is working on completing in-depth ethnographic research within a congregation to help the church explore its own identity and mission. We are currently recruiting a new cohort of churches. Find out more about the Resilient Church Program here >>>

Matt Yim is a Jesuit priest and serves as the parochial vicar at St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in Sacramento. In this episode he shares what it means to belong as a Roman Catholic, how he came to own his faith and belonging as a Catholic, How Ignatian Spirituality shapes his understanding of the Church, and why an individual relationship with Jesus trumps belonging to the institution of the Church.

Elle Grover Fricks is the pastor of Refuge Church in Pullman, Wa. In this episode she talks about leading a church meant for those who are healing from church hurt, how she thinks about creating belonging in her context, the importance of co-creating spaces of worship and community, how cultivating her own spiritual health helps her hold the stories of those in her community well.

If you want to hear more from Elle, you can check out two podcasts that she co-hosts - the Bema Discipleship podcast and the Text in Us podcast.

Learn more about our work in the Whitworth Office of Church Engagement at www.whitworth.edu/oce

Professor of Sociology Jennifer McKinney talks to us about her research into Mars Hill Church and what scandals in the Church might teach us.

You can find Dr. McKinney's recent book "Making Christianity Manly Again: Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, and American Evangelicalism" here >>>

Learn more about our work in the Whitworth Office of Church Engagement here >>>

Joelle Czirr is a senior lecturer in the Whitworth Psychology Department. She joins us to talk about all the important ways that our faith practice should engage our bodies, why online church might not be our best option, how important being seen is to being know, and how much our bodies know before it registers with our brain.

Lauren sits down with local ministry leader and Whitworth alum Hannah Rae Tjelle to explore the unique experience of belonging to a church as the pastor's kid. Hannah shares about the difficulty of bearing the weight of your parents' ministry, how PKs can feel held to a higher standard of Christ likeness, the power of people knowing your name, and what has drawn her back to serve in the church herself.

Whitworth Professor of Sociology Stacy George joins us to talk about her research surrounding the tricky dynamics that singles and couples have to navigate in Christian faith communities. She shares her own experience of being single in the church, some ideas for how churches can better extend belonging to singles, and some thoughts on how shifting the conversation around singleness and dating can create a greater sense of belonging for everyone.

Episode Resources:

Read more about Stacy's research in her book Ring by Spring: Dating and Relationship Cultures at Christian Colleges here >>>

Learn more about our work in the Office of Church Engagement on our website www.whitworth.edu/oce