All Episodes
Displaying 61 - 90 of 175 in total
The Church Transforming with Alex Ruth
I first met our guest today out of the blue on Facebook about four years ago. I was looking for some leadership coaching for the congregation I serve and he offered t...
Episode 115: The Once and Future United Methodist Church with Drew McIntyre and Ben Gosden
Today, we will talk about what’s going on United Methodist Church, how it got to this point that's it's splitting in two and what is the future of the church. I’m tal...
Episode 114: The Digital Church with Jim Keat
In the wake of the 2020 COVID pandemic, churches were forced into the digital frontier whether they liked it or not. But now what? In this episode, I talk to Rev. Ji...
Episode 113: The Rise of Deacons with Nina Joygaard
In Methodist, Episcopal and Lutheran traditions the deacon is a specific ministry in the church. Their ministry is different than pastors, focused more on acts of ser...
Episode 112: Sabbath-Keeping for Congregations with Kara Root
So the church where I serve is starting an experiment. For the next year, we will be taking sabbath. We won’t be doing some the regular things we used to do and we ar...
Episode 111: Part Time Clergy Is Plenty with Jeffrey MacDonald
Mainline Protestant churches and denominational bodies don’t know how to handle part-time clergy. The standard has been clergy working full time. But has that always...
Episode 110: The Church After COVID with Sean Chow
We all know what happened in March of 2020. COVID began to shut society down. We canceled the event and in fact we didn’t meet in person for 14 months. When we star...
Episode 109: Social Entrepreneurship and Bi-vocational Ministry with Loren RichmondJr.
As churches become unable to fund full-time ministry mainline denominations are starting to notice and have begun offering ideas in how to pastors can find outside wor...
Episode 108: The Chaplaincy Is Not Your Backup Plan with Jeremy Wilhelmi
One of my biggest regrets is not accepting a call to become the college chaplain at a Lutheran college in the Midwest. The college in Illinois was really interested i...
Episode 107: On the Mainline
In this episode (which feels like a really, really long trailer), Dennis talks about why this podcast exists and who gave him the inspiration for this podcast.Where Di...
Episode 106: The Antifragile Church with Drew McIntryre
In this episode, Drew joins us again to talk about what it means to be an antifragile congregation in challenging times, especially in his own denomination, the United...
Episode 105: The Future of the Disciples of Christ with Geoff Mitchell
We bring back Geoff Mitchell pastor of Lindenwood Christian Church in Memphis to talk about the future of his denomination, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)....
Episode 104: A Ukrainian Psalm with Fyodor Raychynets
Ukrainian pastor and theologian Fyodor Raychynets talks about living out your faith in God in the midst of the current war with Russia. Show notes:Interview with Fyod...
Episode 103: What Really Happened to Sears (and Kmart) with Mark Cohen
Former Sears Canada CEO Mark Cohen talks about the downfall of Sears and Kmart from his vantage point inside the company.Show Notes:Who Killed Sears and Kmart Series b...
Episode 102: Happy Pride!
Dennis shares the audio of a vespers video he made for his congregation about the theological and spiritual significance of LGBTQ pride and the imperative to share the...
Episode 101: January 6 and Christian Nationalism with Jack Jenkins
As the public hearings of the January 6th Committee continue we talk to Jack Jenkins a reporter for Religion News Service about the connections between Christian Natio...
Episode 100: Best Kept Secret
Dennis marks the 100th episode of the podcast by announcing the final name change and opining on the vitality of the Disciples of Christ, the denomination that has bee...
Episode 99: Letters to a New Pastor with Ben Gosden
"They didn't teach that in seminary." That's the phrase you will hear a pastor say sometimes as they encounter an unexpected situation. But the education of a minist...
Episode 98: How to Grow Your Church with Tracy Barnowe
Back in February, I was blessed to have the Rev. Tracey Barnowe on the podcast. Tracey is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and she has made it her ...
Episode 97: Liberalism and the Church with David Watson
Today, we are going to talk about liberalism. That doesn’t mean we are talking about the Democratic party. No, instead we are talking about what has been called “cla...
Episode 96: Narratives-Bad Stewardship Killed Sears and KMart
An experiment: Dennis reads from a recent essay on business and stewardship.Consider supporting EnRoute. Your donations help me continue to produce good content on re...
Episode 95: After Uvalde
In this special solo episode, Dennis briefly reflects on the horrific school shootings in Uvalde, TX and what it says about American society. Get full access to Church...
Episode 94: Andrew Donaldson on the SBC Leadership Report
Andrew Donaldson returns to talk about the Southern Baptist Convention Leadership Report on Sexual Abuse and what it means for the SBC, survivors and the wider evangel...
Episode 93: Ryan Panzer on the Digital Reformation
Like it or not, technology, including social media is here with us to stay. The question is how do we use it, especially faith communities? How does online worship h...
Episode 92: Being United Methodist In a Time of Schism
On May 1, a new denomination launched. The Global Methodist Church started, splitting off from the United Methodist Church. The split was the result of years if not ...
Episode 91: Abortion: What Does the Lord Require with Frederick Schmidt
In 1973 the Supreme Court voted 7-2 in favor of abortion rights nationwide. This began a nearly 50-year battle on the issue of abortion rights. Last week, a someone le...
Episode 90: The "Opposite Problem" in Mainline Protestantism with Frederick Schmidt
The General Convention of the Episcopal Church will consider an important proposal this summer. The measure proposed by the Diocese of Northern California would repeal...
Episode 89: Is There Hope for Liberal Christianity with Geoff Mitchell (Rewind)
This interview originally aired in July 2021.In the 1950s, Mainline Protestants were the largest group of Protestants in the United States. Since then, the churches h...
Episode 88: A Gay Dude Talks About Abortion
In this unplanned solo episode, Dennis talks about the recent leak of a draft of an opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, the Supreme Court case that could over...
Episode 87: What Is Pietism with Christopher Gehrz
What comes to mind when I use the word piety or pious? I’m guessing you are thinking of a person who is outwardly religious and believes they are better than anyone e...
