Two Pastors, One Vision, and a Merger That Changed Everything

Two Pastors, One Vision, and a Merger That Changed Everything

In November 2020, amid a pandemic and national racial reckoning, two congregations in Des Moines made a bold decision to merge. Hope Des Moines, a primarily white Lutheran church, and Elim Christian Fellowship, a historically Black church, became Hope+Elim. This wasn't about saving declining attendance or finding quick institutional fixes. It was about two pastors who had built a friendship over years of sharing pulpits and dreaming together, and who believed God was calling them to witness to church unity in their city.

Pastor Brian Brown joins the conversation to share what building church unity actually looks like in real time. From blending worship styles to tackling hard conversations about race with grace, from hosting community meals to creating ministry partnerships that serve their neighborhood, Hope+Elim is learning that proximity doesn't equal community. Real church unity requires vulnerability, resilience, and the willingness to create something new together. If you're wondering where to start in building bridges across racial and cultural divides, Brian's wisdom offers both practical guidance and hope for the journey.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(191)

A Solo Reflection on Prayer, Longing, and an Australian Movie from the 90s

A Solo Reflection on Prayer, Longing, and an Australian Movie from the 90s

This week's episode breaks from the usual format. Pivot producer Joey Goodall steps in for a solo reflection on what prayer practices are actually for, and what happens when we lose sight of that. He ...

3 Sep 7min

Leadership for a Diverse Church

Leadership for a Diverse Church

Eastminster Church has been in Pittsburgh's East Liberty neighborhood since 1856, and for most of that history it worshiped and looked like a fairly typical Presbyterian congregation. Aaron Teter, the...

27 Aug 43min

What Sunday Morning Teaches People About Monday

What Sunday Morning Teaches People About Monday

Katie Roelofs has spent years thinking about the space between Sunday morning and the rest of the week. A pastor in the Reformed Church in America and managing director of the Worship for Workers Proj...

20 Aug 28min

Ministry That Doesn't Rush Toward Results

Ministry That Doesn't Rush Toward Results

For twenty years, Johnny Sertin has practiced a kind of place-based ministry built on staying put. He and four other families started the Earlsfield Friary in southwest London, committing to live with...

13 Aug 39min

Augustine Was a Pastor First

Augustine Was a Pastor First

For most of his afterlife in the Christian imagination, Augustine has been a theologian first, a philosopher second, and everything else a distant third. What tends to get lost is that he spent nearly...

6 Aug 33min

A Different Kind of Strength

A Different Kind of Strength

Second Corinthians is one of the strangest letters in the New Testament: a leader defending himself, a community in open doubt, and in the middle of it, some of Paul's clearest writing on power in wea...

29 Jul 43min

The People in Your Church Don't Belong to You

The People in Your Church Don't Belong to You

"The church as we know it is calibrated for a world that no longer exists." That's how Dr. Scott Cormode opens his book, and it's the starting point for this conversation about Christian leadership wi...

23 Jul 37min

The Church With No Budget, No Staff, and No Sunday Service

The Church With No Budget, No Staff, and No Sunday Service

Ten years ago, JR and Amy Rozko planted a two-hundred-year-old congregation in Canton, Ohio, only to discover that what their city needed wasn't another program but a rule of life: a shared rhythm of ...

16 Jul 36min

Populært innen Fakta

fastlegen
dine-penger-pengeradet
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
treningspodden
rss-strid-de-norske-borgerkrigene
jakt-og-fiskepodden
foreldreradet
rss-orjasater
hverdagspsyken
sinnsyn
tomprat-med-gunnar-tjomlid
rss-kunsten-a-leve
mikkels-paskenotter
rss-var-forste-kaffe
lederskap-nhhs-podkast-om-ledelse
gravid-uke-for-uke
fryktlos
rss-impressions-2
kvallm
branncast