Shows
Church and MainCongregational Renewal Through Listening with Liz Eide | Episode 210In this episode, Pastor Liz Eide discusses the renewal journey of the Lutheran Church of Peace in Maplewood, Minnesota, emphasizing the transformative power of listening. Since 2018, she has led efforts to deepen relationships through structured listening sessions, intertwining biblical narratives with personal stories to foster community bonds. Pastor Eide shares how this approach clarified the church's vision and core values like "Boundless Joy" and "Radical Hospitality," while promoting a culture of innovation through grace and evaluation. She reflects on the challenges of growth and maintaining community identity, providing valuable insights for leaders looking to rejuvenate congregations through relational engagement.
2024-11-1433 min
At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodThe Connected Community with Cormac RussellToday's episode is a conversation with Cormac Russell, a social explorer, writer, and speaker inviting folks to look at their communities through the lens of asset-based community development. Cormac has written several books on ABCD, and his most recent, co-authored with John McKnight, is titled "The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods". His books, articles, and presentations have been a significant part of my own education on asset-based community development, and I am so grateful he joined me for this conversation. In this episode, we talk about the asset-based community development framework, the p...
2024-09-031h 11At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodStrong Towns with Chuck MarohnToday's episode is a conversation with Chuck Marohn, the founder and President of Strong Towns, a non-profit working to reimagine community development in the United States. Chuck and his team at Strong Towns advocate for development that is adaptable, financially responsible and profitable, and local. They remind us that the current models of development, including the Suburban experiment are modern practices with short-term imaginations, and that thriving communities across history and context develop incrementally through local control, community collaboration, and good financial sense. In this episode, Chuck and I talk about the Suburban Experiment and its limitations...
2024-08-2057 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodOur Unforming with Dr. Cindy LeeToday's episode is a conversation with Dr Cindy Lee, a spiritual director, professor, mystic, and author of Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation. In her book, Dr Lee untangles the limits of a spirituality developed and understood by and through one single cultural lens. The cultural lens of the West has dominated the language and practice of faith, especially in the US - and her book is an effort to identify a more robust spirituality for our times - one the embraces the diversity of cultures, practices, and worldviews. In this episode, we talk about the marks of...
2024-08-0656 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodSettled with Gabrielle ClowdusToday’s episode is a conversation with Gabrielle Clowdus, one of the founders and leaders with Settled, a Minnesota-based organization helping churches to establish permanent supportive tiny home villages for folks experiencing long-term homelessness. Settled’s approach to addressing homelessness includes housing, but more importantly, focuses on building supportive networks with church members and neighbors to support folks coming out of long-term homelessness. Gabrielle and her team work with congregations to create the context and the spiritual depth that prepares them to reimagine their property for tiny home villages and supports them as they live into the real...
2024-05-071h 09At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodThis Common Life with Amar PetermanToday’s episode is a conversation with Amar Peterman, a scholar, writer, and theologian living in Milwaukee and currently working for Interfaith America. Through his newsletter This Common Life, Amar reflects on the Christian call into the public square, and his forthcoming book of the same title, is an effort to name a uniquely Christian conception of the common good. Amar’s experience navigating the predominately white spaces in the Evangelical church as an Indian-American adoptee has given him a healthy skepticism about simplistic definitions of the common good. Left unexamined, the common good can become one more tool of m...
2024-04-091h 08At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodSacred Sites with Jim Bear JacobsToday’s episode is a conversation with Rev Jim Bear Jacobs, the co-director of Racial Justice at the Minnesota Council of Churches, and the founder of Healing Minnesota Stories, an organization that strives to create understanding and healing between Native American and non-Native people. Jim Bear also curated and facilitates a Sacred Sites Tour in the Twin Cities, exploring sites of importance for the Dakota people, the original residents and stewards of the area. Jim Bear is a storyteller at heart, and the Sacred Sites Tour that he leads folks on is a testament to his skill and...
2024-03-261h 06At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodRepair Cafes with Pete MarchettoToday’s episode is a conversation with Pete Marchetto, one of the founders and organizers of the Port Jervis Repair Café in Port Jervis NY. Each month, Pete, his spouse, and the community at St Peter’s Lutheran church open the church to neighbors and community members in need of repairs for household items – vacuums, lamps, chairs, clothing, zippers, and more. Repair coaches help folks to restore their things to working condition, teaching them valuable skills, and building community along the way. The repair café movement was started in Amsterdam by Martine Potsma as a way of resistin...
2024-03-121h 04At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodAbundant Communities Edmonton with Howard Lawrence and Tammy GreidanusToday’s episode is a conversation with Tammy Greidanus and Howard Lawrence from Keep Neighbouring in Edmonton, formerly called Abundant Communities. Keep Neighbouring is an initiative that builds connections and relationships between neighbors to support healthy communities, bringing folks together for block parties, place-based projects, and community development. For over a decade, the Abundant Communities initiative has focused on connecting neighbors one block at a time, contributing to a greater sense of safety and security, and providing increased opportunity for neighbors to participate in civic life. The very beginning of this work in Edmonton was influenced by As...
2024-02-201h 11At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodFragile Neighborhoods with Dr. Seth KaplanToday’s episode is a conversation with Dr. Seth Kaplan, Professional Lecturer at John Hopkins University, expert on Fragile States, and author of the book “Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time.” Dr Kaplan argues that to address social decline in the US, we must refocus our attention on the neighborhood, on strengthening local institutions, and attending to the health of our local relationships. Dr Kaplan draws on his years of experience working with international organizations and governments, as well as his own rich neighborhood life and faith community, to invite citizens and instit...
2024-02-061h 06At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodActivating the Common Good with Peter BlockPeter Block joins the podcast again, this time with a new book; "Activating the Common Good: Reclaiming Control of Our Collective Wellbeing". Peter invites us to discover and treasure the commons, to embrace relational activism, and to pay attention to a handful of critical fields for activating the common good. Along the way, we talk about eulogies, the challenge of simplicity, leader burnout, and possibility. Be sure to follow Peter Block on Linkedin and at his website Peter Block - Welcome, and buy his new book!Also, be sure to sign up for my Email...
2024-01-1658 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodOverwhelmed by the Nearness of GodIn this episode, I share a bit about what grounds me in this work and my hopes for Season 2 of At the Table: Christian Community for the Common Good. I ask for your feedback, questions, and stories which you can send to me at nick@nicholastangen.com. And I introduce a new segment I'm calling Table Talks where I offer some questions for you to bring to your church's coffee hour or your own dinner table. I'm looking forward to this season of the podcast and all that we might learn together. Thank you for listening! Don't f...
2024-01-0211 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodSeason 1 Finale - At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodIn 2023, I have had 16 different conversations with lay people, clergy, writers, activists, and neighbors all committed to the idea of a place-based and discerning church. A church with the power and the freedom to contribute to the flourishing of their neighborhood, not with services and charity, but with connection, community, and authenticity. These conversations have been catalysts for my own work and imagination, and I pray that they have been for you as well. As we come to the end of Season 1, my hope is that in listening to these episodes you have allowed yourself to imagine a...
2023-12-0513 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodGod's Economy of Generosity with Rev Jose Humphreys IIIToday’s episode is a conversation with Reverend Jose Humphreys III, a pastor, church planter, and consultant helping the church to take place seriously and think differently about the impact of our dollars. He is the author of Seeing Jesus in East Harlem: What Happens When Churches Show Up and Stay Put, and Ecosystems of Jubilee: Economic Ethics for the Neighborhood. Rev Jose and I talk about Metro Hope Covenant Church which he helped plant in Harlem, the beauty of particularity, and an alternative economic posture for churches rooted in place. Rev Jose calls us to a re...
2023-11-2158 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodChurch for Ordinary People with Darryl & Stephanie AnswerToday’s episode is a conversation with Stephanie and Darryl Answer, who are faculty members at the Asset Based Community Development Institute at DePaul University, and founders of New Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri. New Community is a church that takes seriously the call to be the neighbor by highlighting and animating gifts, reimagining how the church thinks about money and power, and tending to their neighborhood’s relational capital. Darryl and Stephanie truly practice what they preach and offer a vision for church rooted in place and profoundly aware of the presence of Jesus among neig...
2023-11-0753 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodEverywhere You Look: A Conversation with Tim SoerensToday’s Episode is a conversation with Tim Soerens, the Co-founding Executive Director of the Parish Collective, an organization that connects people to be the church in the neighborhood. Tim recently wrote a book titled “Everywhere you look: Discovering the Church Right Where You Are”, that casts a vision for a church rooted in place and a faith practiced in the small simple practices of our daily lives together. In this conversation, Tim and I talk about his work with the Parish Collective, why place matters, and why presence will always have more impact than performance. Tim is one...
2023-10-041h 05At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodChurch on the Move: A Conversation with Pastor Travis NorvellToday’s episode is a conversation with Pastor Travis Norvell, known around town and on Twitter as the Pedaling Pastor. Travis serves at Judson Memorial Baptist Church in South Minneapolis and can often be seen riding his bike around the neighborhood, connecting with community members. He’s the author of “Church on the Move: A Practical Guide for Ministry in the Community”, a book that highlights the impact possible when churches leave the car at home and bike, walk, and bus in their neighborhood. He has a vision for what he calls the bikeable parish – a geography of ministry that focus...
2023-09-2059 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodDiscovering Mutual Delight: A Conversation with DeAmon HargesToday’s episode is a conversation with DeAmon Harges, the original roving listener. DeAmon has been about that place-based work for his whole life, and credits his grandparents with instilling the skills and temperament for listening deeply within community. A couple months ago, I interviewed Pastor Mike Mather on the podcast, who worked alongside DeAmon at Broadway Methodist Church in South Bend, Indiana. Pastor Mike told me that DeAmon work as the Roving Listener broadened his and the congregation’s view of the neighbors and the neighborhood, revealing the wild abundance of gifts present in the blocks near the chur...
2023-09-0559 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodThe Art of Public Church: A Conversation with Jeremy MyersToday’s episode is a conversation with my friend Jeremy Myers, the Christiansen Chair of Religion and Vocation at Augsburg University in Minneapolis, MN. Jeremy has been a religion professor for a lot of years and found his way into this work through youth ministry. In this conversation we talk about a framework for Public Church, and the power of learning rooted in individual experience. Jeremy is a thoughtful and passionate leader, and he challenges us in the church to decide if we are about the domestication of an institution or the liberation of the Gospel. I hop...
2023-08-2257 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodDignity and Power through Community Organizing: A Conversation with Catalina Morales BahenaToday’s episode is a conversation with my good friend Catalina Morales Bahena, the Formation and Coaching Manager at Faith in Action a national organizing institution working for racial and economic justice. She is a student, a Dreamer, and a practiced community organizer. We talk about the discipline of community organizing, power and power building, and how dominant culture churches can take part in meaningful community organizing in their own communities. Catalina is a real one, and she speaks powerfully from her own experience and her years of training and organizing in the field. I hope you en...
2023-08-0859 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodEverything is Different: A Conversation with Professor Dirk LangeToday’s episode is a conversation with Professor Dirk Lange. Professor Lange works as the professor of Worship and Confessions at Luther Seminary and as the Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations at the Lutheran World Federation. He also wrote an incredible book titled “Today Everything is Different” discussing his time in Leipzig accompanying underground prayer groups at the heart of the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany. Today we talk about his incredible work with the Lutheran World Federation, the relationship between prayer and our call to be the neighbor, and how a baptismal spirituality calls us outward beyond the wa...
2023-06-1358 min
Faith in the Real WorldFaithful Neighbors | Faith in the Real World | S2E3Faith in the Real World relaunches with a very special guest, Nicholas Tangen. Nick is a writer, coach, and congregational organizer who works as the Director of Faith Practices & Neighboring Practices at the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA.
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2023-06-0944 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodChurches and Indigenous Histories: A Conversation with Kelly Sherman ConroyToday’s episode is a conversation with Kelly Sherman-Conroy, a storyteller, healer, church worker, and the first Native Woman Theologian with a PhD in the ELCA. She is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and has devoted her life to creating space, recognition, and belonging for indigenous Christians in a dominant culture church. Kelly is one of the hardest working people I know, speaking often at churches, seminaries, and colleges. Leading Sacred Site tours in the Twin Cities, and teaching churches about indigenous culture and the work faith communities can do to accompany native neighbors. She wor...
2023-04-2757 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodContemplation and the Common Good: A Conversation with Sam RahbergMy guest today is Sam Rahberg. Sam is a Benedictine, a spiritual director, a writer, and the Director of the Spiritual Direction program at St John’s university and seminary. Sam’s work with leaders in the church around vocation and discernment, and his profound wisdom about the contemplative life, has inspired me for as long as I’ve known him. And I asked him to join me for a conversation about spiritual practice and what the contemplative spiritual tradition can offer Christian communities seeking to live as good and attentive neighbors. In this episode we talk about...
2023-04-111h 02At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodBreaking Bread: A Conversation with Pastor Eric Hoffer & Rachel CarmichealToday's episode is a conversation with Pastor Eric Hoffer & Rachel Carmicheal, who both serve at Salem Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis. Today we talk about food and the practice of building community around shared meals. We talk about Salem’s love of food ministry and the experiences around hosting a weekly community meal for the Camden neighborhood where the church is located. These two lovely people remind me that small simple community building practices can have outsized impacts, and that we ought never to take the power of the dinner table for granted. Perhaps the World Ends He...
2023-03-281h 06At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodThe Call to Be the Neighbor: A Conversation with Kristina Fruge and Geoffrey GillKristina Fruge and Geoffrey Gill work at the Riverside Innovation Hub, a learning community project housed by Augsburg University. Their work invites congregations to step into their role as public churches and to be the neighbor in their communities. I work closely with these two incredible leaders and the Riverside Innovation Hub team. In this episode, we talk about their experience in Christian community, their work with the Riverside Innovation hub, and the small simple invitations to be the neighbor. We reflect on practices, the move from anxiety to curiosity, and the need to address the very...
2023-03-141h 11At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodWalking in Humility: A Conversation with Felecia BooneFelecia Boone is a Senior Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant with Hennepin County and the Vice President of the Minneapolis Area Synod of the ELCA. She brings her many years of experience and expertise as a DEI consultant to her work in the church, most recently leading an effort to develop a Racial Equity tool for examining Synod finances. Nick and Felecia talk about growing up in the Lutheran Church, the practice of DEI in our congregations and neighborhoods, and her congregation's experience amid the uprising following the murder of George Floyd. Check it out!M...
2023-02-2849 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodLooking for Gifts: A conversation with Pastor Michael MatherPastor Michael Mather is the author of "Having Nothing, Possessing Everything: Finding abundant communities in unexpected places," which tells the story of his congregation in Indianapolis discovering the power of asset-based community development. Pastor Mather and Nick discuss the power of amplifying community gifts, learning to hit the pause button, and funding people instead of projects. Pastor Mather's book is an excellent resource for congregation's looking to connect authentically with their neighbors. So, be sure to check it out! Music by SergeQuadrado from Pixabay
2023-02-1450 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodWelcome and Belonging: Christian Community in the NeighborhoodIn today's episode, Nick talks with some friends and church leaders about the nature of Christian community and what it contributes to neighborhoods and the common good. Nick is joined by three incredible guests. Emilie Bouvier is the Director of Organizing at the Minneapolis Area Synod, ELCAFelecia Boone is a Senior Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consultant with Hennepin County and the Vice President of the Minneapolis Area SynodPastor Eric Hoffer serves at Salem Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis, and is a leader in the Webber-Camden neighborhood. We talk about why Christian community matters, the impact of community or...
2023-01-2439 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodA Conversation on Community with Peter BlockThis episode is a conversation with writer, consultant, and citizen, Peter Block. Peter has written a number of books related to community building, citizenship, and a vision of the common good including titles like “The Answer to How is Yes” and “Community: The Structure of Belonging”. Peter and Nick talk about the nature of community, the limits of problem solving, and the creative power present in the work of community building for the common good. You can learn more and keep up with Peter Block and his work at www.peterblock.com. Keep an eye out for ne...
2023-01-1040 minAt the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodIntroduction to At the Table: Christian Community for the Common GoodEpisode one! Your host, Nicholas Tangen, introduces himself and the podcast and outlines his hopes for the conversations to come. Be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with friends and colleagues. Thank you, Joel Lurvey for the beautiful intro music!
2022-12-1513 min
NexusMI5 outs Christine Lee as ‘Spy’ - big donations to Barry Gardiner - dodgy!In a rare move, MI5 - British Military Intelligence - issued an alert to Members of Parliament, warning them about a woman, Christine Lee, who is believed to have been working as an agent for the Chinese state and trying to influence British politicians.
This week Nexus speaks with Anthony Glees, a Professor in Security and Intelligence Studies who says the British public are not taking the China threat seriously enough, Philip Ingram, a Former Colonel in British Military Intelligence who thinks Barry Gardiner was a likely gateway to valuable information, Nicholas Eftimiades, a Former CIA Special Agent who has...
2022-01-2726 min
The PipelineCHINA AND RUSSIA TO HOLD VIRTUAL SUMMIT WEDNESDAYChina and Russia virtual summit 12-15-21. What to expect? Discussions no doubt about Ukraine border as well as Taiwan, and failing diplomatic relations. Also, new Chinese digital currency and cyber warfare. Author Peter Navarro, historian Amy Knight, General Jack Keane, economists Nicholas Chaillan and Einar Tangen weigh in.
2021-12-1409 min
Unlikely Conversations from the Collegeville InstituteConsider the Birds: A Conversation on Community Organizing with Nicholas TangenCommunity organizing is often hard and contentious work. How can people stay committed when the world is chaotic?
In this episode, writer and congregational organizer Nicholas Tangen describes how observing the natural world is connected to his work for justice within the ELCA church. Nicholas has relied on birdwatching as a spiritual practice during the pandemic and in the aftermath of George Floyd's killing in his city of Minneapolis. He also speaks about how Benedictine spirituality has been important in his work for justice.
2021-01-1328 min