Author: Ryan Dunn

103: Let’s get into Lent

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What is the season of Lent, where did it come from and why is it important? Do you know the most popular things to give up during Lent? You might be surprised by how some people practice this special season.

Compass co-hosts Ryan and Michelle share their Lenten experiences and some ideas about how we all can encounter deeper connection and spiritual meaning during this special time of year.

In this episode:
(00:00) What is Lent?
(03:08) A theatrical history of Lent
(10:05) Lent traditions from around the world
(17:49) Top things people give up for Lent, according to Twitter
(20:40) Personal practices for Lent
(28:58) Lenten blessing

Meet Bishop Delores Williamston

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Bishop Delores (Dee) Williamston, the first Black woman elected as bishop in The UMC’s South Central Jurisdiction, is a grandmother who discovered her call to ministry at a skating rink while supervising a group of 50 kids from her local church.

More info and a full transcript of the conversation are available on our episode page.

Share your thoughts with us: gysis@umcom.org

Connect with The United Methodist Church at UMC.org.

Why does our church need an online pastor? with Jay Kranda

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Maybe your congregation isn’t all that digital. How does online ministry help them grow? Jay Kranda shares his story of becoming an online pastor and growing the digital ministry of Saddleback Church.

Jay Kranda is the Online Community Pastor at Saddleback Church, overseeing an online community of online groups and homes groups around the globe. Graduate of Biola University and Talbot School of Theology. Jay loves the NBA and cold coffee.

(00:00) Introduction
(04:00) Getting started as a digital minister
(09:10) Learning to be an online pastor
(13:25) Online ministry evolution
(20:32) Multi-state ministry
(25:36) Relationships in digital space
(31:22) Why do we need an online pastor?
(38:15) What kind of training do digital ministers need?

Recommended books for digital ministry success

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Has there been a book or two that has informed your practice of digital ministry?  In this session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish, we share nine recommended books for digital and online ministry.

Let’s get reading with these books to add to your digital ministry toolkit.

(00:00) Introduction

(01:52) The Tangible Kingdom by Hugh Halter and Matt Smay

(03:35) God Can’t by Thomas Oord

(04:45) Master Content Strategy by Pamela Wilsom

(06:06) The Art of Community by Charles Vogl

(07:32) Contagious by Jonah Berger

(08:16) How to Handle a Crowd by Anika Gupta

(09:35) Another Way by Stephen Lewis, Matthew Wesley Williams and Dori Grinenko Baker

(11:03) Viral by Leonard Sweet

(12:52) The Startup Community Way by Brad Feld and Ian Hathaway

See the notes and other recommended reads, PLUS more episodes: www.resourceumc.org/digital-parish

 

 

 

 

102: Blessing our messy everyday lives with Jessica Richie

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Jessica Richie shares the story and practices behind “The Lives We Actually Have”, written with Kate Bowler.

“The Lives We Actually Have” (Releasing February 14, 2023) is a collection of blessings for the struggles of our shared humanity, from the New York Times bestselling authors of “Good Enough”. A blessing for a painful day? A blessing for when things don’t make sense? These feel like strange times to consider blessing. But, as Jessica points out, perhaps those are the instances when we’re drawing closest to God.

This episode contains special blessings from both Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie.

(00:00) Introduction

(00:56) Blessing our doubt from Kate Bowler

(03:11) Introducing Jessica Richie

(04:20) Developing a deeper language for talking “God”

(08:14) Why a book for blessings?

(09:54) Favorite blessings

(12:10) Blessings are a form of placement

(15:35) Compulsive blessing

(18:33) A blessing for stretching your heart

The curious path to better listening with Luke Edwards

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United Methodist pastor Luke Edwards discusses how to develop listening as a spiritual discipline, a practice that when rooted in curiosity and love can transform our communities, our churches and our faith.

More info and a full transcript are available on our episode page.

Share your thoughts with us: gysis@umcom.org

Jesus and questions about the UMC: Rethink Church audiomagazine January 2023

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This is the January 2023 edition of the Rethink Church audiomagazine presented on the Compass podcast.

In this edition, we present the latest stories from the Rethink Church website.

Throughout January 2023, our content focused on Jesus and also questions about the United Methodist Church. We’ll hear:

(00:00) Introduction

(00:44) “Anxiety and one of Jesus’ toughest lessons” by Madison Myers 

(05:52) “The thing I wish Jesus didn’t say” by Joseph Yoo

(11:50) “The Surprising depth of Pentiment” by Nathan Webb

and

(16:45) “Are United Methodists really that different?” by Ryan Dunn 

 

Doing digital ministry when resources are scarce

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What kind of tech demands are there for digital ministry? How should you staff for it?

Let’s face it. Many of us hear those questions and assume we can’t start in online ministry because resources are a bit too scarce. In this session, we’re chatting with Shane Russo about some resource-saving tips and practices to put into our digital ministry toolkit.

Shane Russo is the curator/creator of the Stained Glass Rebel blog… stainedglassrebel.com. He’s a local pastor of the United Methodist Church, a dad, a husband… and fellow digital ministry pioneer…

Let’s get to talking!

(00:00) Introduction

(08:00) Tools for repurposing content

(10:17) Saving time with AI and ChatGPT

(18:56) Using Canva in digital ministry

(21:57) Go with being cozy

(26:08) Utilizing older tech

(33:58) The mission of digital ministry

(37:54) Engaging the congregation in digital mission

What Amazon, eCommerce and AI can teach the church

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What does the church have to learn from Amazon? E-commerce might have a bit more to do with digital ministry than we might have previously assumed. So in this session of Pastoring in the Digital Parish we’re talking with Jason Caston about what our churches can learn from Amazon, how we can utilize AI tech like Alexa, and some of the ideas and technologies we might consider putting in our digital ministry toolkits as we prepare for the future of the church in the digital age.

Jason Caston is a digital marketing specialist for Amazon. He has over 19 years of experience in web and content development. He’s made the rounds as a speaker and presenter. And Jason is a person of faith, who has written several books about ministry in digital spaces, including “The iChurch Method” and most recently “Digital Connections”.

(00:00) Welcome
(01:56) What the church can learn from Amazon
(06:32) The church and Alexa/Smart Speakers
(08:10) What is an Alexa skill?
(09:52) Ministry consistency across platforms
(12:38) What are metrics to use in digital ministry?
(16:42) Creating a user experience for digital ministry
(22:12) What needs to be on your church’s website
(26:02) Where the church still needs to act in digital ministry
(33:19) Where to contact Jason Caston

101: Rewire your brain for powerful spiritual connections with Caroline Oakes

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Caroline Oakes shares how contemplative prayer and meditation rewire our thinking and open us up for Divine connection. In this episode, you’ll hear how Jesus practiced “the pause”–or took time away for centering and contemplation. You’ll also hear some of the ways that our own contemplative practices can change our thought processes and awaken a heightened awareness for God’s movement in our day-to-day lives.

Caroline Oakes is the author of Practice the Pause: Jesus’ Contemplative Practice, New Brain Science, and What It Means to Be Fully Human. She is a writer/spiritual director/publicist who is fascinated with the shifts in mind and spirit that slowing down and noticing can bring. Caroline has been published by The OnBeing Project (OnBeing.org), the Huffington Post,  the Bucks County Herald, Outlook by the Bay, and other online and print publications.

Connect with the Compass podcast at www.umc.org/compass

(00:00) Introduction
(01:45) Caroline’s start in contemplative practice
(09:20) Jesus’ practice of contemplative prayer
(14:54) Building new neurological connections
(19:28) Contemplative neuroscience
(26:40) What is “metanoia” and why is it important?
(30:45) Recommended contemplative practices
(38:35) Connect with Caroline Oakes