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 min