The Millennial Pastor

This week's guest, Victoria Sibingo, teaches about how music and worship have offered ways to discover and receive intimacy from God. God simply wants to be in a relationship with us as we learn to be present with Christ and with others. Victoria currently resides near Lisbon, Portugal where she is involved with her local church and works as a loan servicing officer in structured finance. She has worked previously with Saddleback Church, Hillsong, and is currently working on a project called Simply Worship. If you’d like to follow Victoria and her music online, you can follow her on Spotify under Victoria Davis, on YouTube under Victoria Davis Music, and on instagram @victoriadavismusic.

For Season 11 of The Millennial Pastor Podcast our guest host is Megan Pittman. This season, we are exploring worship, the arts, and how they impact our interaction with both God and the Church. We are excited to share conversations with all kinds of leaders, artists, pastors, and creatives who share their stories and how art has played an “instrumental” role in their faith expression. 
This week, we have Josh Miller sharing his wisdom about how we all carry the ability for creativity and are called to create and steward those gifts no matter what they are. Josh Miller is a Worship Leader and songwriter at Saddleback Church in southern California where he has served for 9 years. You can find out more about his music and projects by following @saddlebackworship or @joshua_david_m on Instagram. You can also follow the music Saddleback is creating by following them on Spotify, Apple Music, or Amazon Music, including a new album coming out February 2024.

This season our guest host, Megan Pittman, is interviewing artists about their time in and out of the church. Worship music will feature heavily in the discussion, but there is more to worship than simply songs sung on Sunday mornings. Join us as we get to know our new guest host and hear a little bit more about what to expect for her season on the podcast!

We wrap up season 10 with our guest hosts Caleb and Makayla and hear a little bit about where the future of creation care conversations are going.

In this episode, Samuel Mohnkern, a millennial Nazarene native to the North-East U.S., shares his passion for God’s creation and how that unfolds in his current work, Restoration Landcare! This week is a conversation on plants, mulch, and landscape colonization.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restorationlandscapes  Instagram: @restoration_landcare  Support Nazarene's for Creation Care by visiting ⁠⁠https://www.nazarenesforcreationcare.com/⁠

Welcome to season nine of the podcast! This season, an "honest conversation about disability and the Church" will be hosted by Letiah Fraser. Her guest in this episode is Dr. Jeren Rowell! Here is a little more about Jeren:

Jeren Rowell serves as president of Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City. Prior to his election in October 2017, he served as district superintendent of the Kansas City District Church of the Nazarene from 2005 to 2017. Previously he served fourteen years as senior pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Shawnee, Kansas. He also served for twelve years in associate pastor assignments at Nampa, Idaho; Shawnee, Kansas; and Chicago, Illinois. He is a graduate of Northwest Nazarene University (B.A., Philosophy and Religion), and Olivet Nazarene University (M.A. Religion; Ed.D. in Ethical Leadership).

Dr. Rowell is a frequent speaker in churches, workshops, college and seminary classes, retreats and marriage enrichment events. He has been a writer and editor for two periodicals in the Church of the Nazarene: The Communicator and Preacher’s Magazine. He authored What’s A Pastor to Do?: The Good and Difficult Work of Ministry; Thinking, Listening, Being: A Wesleyan Pastoral Theology; These Forty Days: A Lenten Devotional Guide; Preaching Holiness: Pastoral Considerations; Baptism: Proclaiming Your Life in Christ; Shaped by Scripture: Gospel of John; Christian Beliefs Series: Christianity 101; Living a Holy Life; Articles of Faith; and Joy: Choosing Hope in an Age of Uncertainty. He was a contributor to the books, Holiness 101, Dirty Hands - Pure Hearts, Ashes to Fire, Square Peg: Why Wesleyans Aren’t Fundamentalists, Conversations in Holiness, Relational Theology, Pastoral Practices: A Wesleyan Paradigm, Essential Church: A Wesleyan Ecclesiology; Long-Expected Jesus: An Advent Devotional; For God So Loved: A Lenten Devotional; Pastor as Theological Steward; and Sanctifying Theology: At the Intersections of Wesleyan Theology, Dogmatics, and Practice. He has contributed articles for Holiness Today, Herald of Holiness, Grace & Peace, Didache, Family Style, and Table Talk magazines.  

Jeren and Starla have four adult children and seven grandchildren. They reside in Shawnee, Kansas.  

Welcome to season nine of the podcast! This season, an "honest conversation about disability and the Church" will be hosted by Letiah Fraser. Her guest in this episode is Lesley Hansher! Here is a little more about Lesley:

Rev. Lesley Hansher is an ordained elder in the church of the Nazarene. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada she has only lived in the United States since the fall of 2014 when she moved to Kansas City to pursue her Master of Divinity degree (2017) at Nazarene Theological Seminary. Lesley currently serves as the lead pastor Kennewick Church of the Nazarene in Washington State alongside her husband, who is the associate pastor. Lesley has been navigating the waters of being diagnosed with a mental illness since she was 16 years old. She has been on a journey of healing from childhood trauma and has had to learn the difference between being healed and being whole. She speaks openly about her mental health diagnosis and the faithfulness of God even in the hard times. She is a firm believer that the world would be a better place if everyone had 10 required therapy sessions at the turn of every decade. 

Welcome to season nine of the podcast! This season, an "honest conversation about disability and the Church" will be hosted by Letiah Fraser. Her guest in this episode is Rachel Baskerville! Here is a little more about Rachel:

Rachel Baskerville is the Community Resource Specialist for Camden County Developmental Disability Resources, also known as the Senate Bill 40 Board, in Camden County.  She pursued a bachelor’s degree in social work from Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Rachel grew up in the St. Louis area and graduated from high school in Platte City, a city just north of Kansas City.  In 2005, Rachel was selected to be a delegate in the Governor’s Council on Disability’s program, the Missouri Youth Leadership Forum.  This program had a huge impact on her life, and she realized she had a passion for helping and advocating for people with disabilities.  Rachel grew up with a belief in God, however she did not attend church on a regular basis as a child.  It wasn’t until her younger sister chose to get baptized, Rachel got more interested in going to church.  More recently, Rachel has been in a more active role in church due to her significant other growing up in the church and wanting to find a home-based church where they live.  She is bringing more awareness of people with disabilities and disabilities in general to the church she and her significant other attends.  Rachel enjoys time with her family, which consists of her parents, 4 sisters and 2 brothers, and her significant other.

Welcome to season nine of the podcast! This season, an "honest conversation about disability and the Church" will be hosted by Letiah Fraser. Her guest in this episode is Dr. Daniel Aaron Harris! Here is a little more about Daniel:

Dr. Daniel Aaron Harris identifies as a cerebral palsy native Memphan, artist, author, actor and activist. As the director and founder of Fallen Walls for 21 years, he encourages and helps people find their vocation inside their location regardless of their ability. He has written 9 Children’s books in a series called Bobby Blue Books on Amazon, most recently is Go Be You Charlie. Other writings include articles, and a play that helps change the narrative of disability. He very recently completed  a doctorate of ministry focusing on disability and vocation at Western Theological Seminary in April 2023. Daniel is an active member of the theatre and film community in Memphis,, helping shape a new landscape for persons with disabilities.

Welcome to season nine of the podcast! This season, an "honest conversation about disability and the Church" will be hosted by Letiah Fraser. Here is a little more about her:

Rev. Dr. Letiah Fraser was born and raised in NYC and currently lives in Kansas City. She identifies a proud African American woman who lives with Cerebral Palsy. Rev. Dr. Letiah Fraser received her B.S. in Adolescent Education with a concentration in English from Nyack College (now, Alliance University) in NY. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. In addition, She received her Doctor of Ministry from NTS as well in April 2022. Her focus was on disability theology and spiritual formation.  

Rev. Dr. Letiah  is the pastor of The Open KC, an organizer with the KS Poor People’s Campaign, A National Call for Moral Revival, a hospital chaplain at a local trauma hospital and a disability rights advocate. She  is a contributing writer in the devotional, We Cry Justice; Reading the Bible with The Poor People’s Campaign and has been named one of the 10 Christian Women shaping the church in 2022 by Sojourners.

Join Josiah and Jon as they wrap up season 8 of the Millennial Pastor Podcast.

In season eight of the Millennial Pastor Podcast, Jon Wren is our Guest Host! On today's episode, he interviews Nicholas Carpenter on his current ministry assignment. We thank Nic for his vulnerability and willingness to share his journey with us. His story is a gift. 

Podcast Resource List 

Trauma-informed ministry 

• The Back Side of the Cross by Diane Leclerc & Brent Peterson
• The Soul of Shame by Curt Thompson (also on social media) 
• Spirit & Trauma by Shelly Rambo 
• The Best of You by Alison Cook (also on social media) Christianity & Mental Health 
• Christianity and Depression by Tasia Scrutton 
• Darkness is my Only Companion by Kathryn Greene-McCreight Grief/Loss & Faith 
• Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstroff 
• Our Greatest Gift by Henri Nouwen 
• Ministry with the Sick by Church Publishing 

Millennia Book link: 365+ Prayers from the saints of the Church

Josiah sits down with DS Jerry Kester to discuss what it's like to be in denominational leadership. They cover everything from the day to day responsibilities of the job to what all goes into filling open churches, from various leadership styles to what it's like leading Millennial Pastors. Jerry also addresses common misconceptions and/or assumptions some may have about DS's in general. 

In our last regular episode of the year, Josiah takes over as host and has a retrospective conversation with Ryan about his season, and the new direction of the podcast.