Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Podcast: Recent Episodes
Don Johnson
In this episode LOM invites camp directors to come together to talk about communicating with children at summer camp when anxieties are expressed about the horrific news from Ukraine about the Russian invasion. The presenter: Rev. Janelle Hooper, Program Director for Ministry with Children, ELCA. For more information you can go to http://elcafaithformation.org A resource mentioned in the podcast was https://theweekjunior.com/.
Jake Sorenson of Sacred Playgrounds joins Don Johnson on this podcast. They talk about the importance of camp in the life of the church and how camp really does raise up committed leaders.
This is an important conversation for a LOM leaders.
Today we welcome on the Podcast Rev. Kimberly Vaughn. Rev Vaughn has been appointed to be the next director of the ELCA Faith Formation Team, part of the Christian Community and Leadership Home Area. Her official title is Sr. Director, Christian Community & Leadership Mission. This is the position that was held by Mark Burkhardt. This is the part of the churchwide structure that we in LOM collaborate with most frequently. Here's some of Kimberly's background - Rev. Vaughn served as a pastor of congregations in Michigan, Ohio and Texas before joining the New Jersey Synod staff in 2016. She is from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a graduate of Cleveland State University (2003, US History) and The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (2008, Master of Divinity, Urban Ministry). In her younger years, she was active in Lutheran Campus Ministry at Cleveland State (OH), Lutheran Outdoor Ministries in Ohio, and youth ministry in ELCA congregations in Ohio. In the New Jersey Synod, Rev. Vaughn accompanied congregations in the call process, provided discipleship, witness, hospitality and multicultural ministry opportunities for congregations, and served as liaison to the synod’s Anti-Racism Team.
Ross Murray is the Senior Director of Education & Training at The GLAAD Media Institute, which provides activist, spokesperson, and media engagement training and education for LGBTQ and allied community members, the media industry and advocacy organizations desiring to deepen their media impact. Ross uses the best practices perfected by GLAAD to train a new generation of advocates in order to accelerate acceptance for LGBTQ people, as well as other marginalized communities.
Ross is also a founder and director of The Naming Project, a faith-based camp for LGBTQ youth and their allies. The Naming Project has also been the subject of much media, including the award-winning film Camp Out, as well as the controversial episode "Pray the Gay Away?" of Our America with Lisa Ling.
Ross is a producer for the "Yass, Jesus!" podcast, a faith and sexuality affirming podcast that believes you don't have to pick between gay and God.
Ross is a consecrated Deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with a specific calling to advocate for LGBTQ people and to bridge the LGBTQ and faith communities.
Ross punished "Made, Known, Loved: Developing LGBTQ-Inclusive Youth Ministry" in April 2021
The podcast is with Kathryn Schaefer, program director, Cross Roads (NJ), and Jena Vander Broek, program director at Luther Crest (MN). These two camps have been collaborating on a project called the Bold Transformational Faith Initiative which was the winner of the 2020 LOM Innovative Program Award.
https://mybtf.org
Today's episode is with Drew Benson, staff psychologist at LeaderWise. Mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Taking care for ourselves and those we work with. Practical ideas and tools that will help you at any time and especially during these days of pandemic.
Resources:
https://leaderwise.org
Sanvello App
An interview with LOM LTE Committee members Dana Isaacson, program director, EWALU (IA), Anthony Briggs, executive director, Cross Roads (NJ), and chairperson Gretchen Bachman, operations director, Voyageurs (MN). all the news about the virtual educational opportunities being planned in lieu of the in-person LTE for November that had to be cancelled because of COVID-19.
Don Johnson talks with Daniel Kirschbaum, director of retreat ministries at Rainbow Trail (CO) and serving as the chairperson of the 2020 LOM Auction.
Today Don Johnson talks with Nicole VanderDoes, program coordinator for Total Inclusion! An introduction of Nicole to the LOM network and an overview of Total Inclusion! in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Don Johnson talks with leaders of four LOM camps discussing the alternatives and virtual experiences they developed in the wake of cancelling summer camp in 2020.
Some LOM Camps that did have some traditional overnight summer camps for children in 2020. - How they were able to pull it off, what special arrangements did they have to make, how did it work out for them? Interviewed in this podcast: Brent Seaks, Badlands (ND); Jesse Weiss, Amnicon (WI); Clark Baldwin and Dana Isaacson, Ewalu (IA); Tom Bley and Ben Carlson, Shalom (IA); Dave Jarvis and Cam Redenniter, Rainbow Trail (CO).
In the podcast, Jake shares the findings from research that took place in the summer of 2019 on the impact of travelling day camps that church camps do in partnership with congregations. This is an important podcast for anyone who has ever been involved with or considering doing traveling day camps and for all who are making plans for traveling day camps next summer.
Find more of Jakes work at https://sacredplaygrounds.com/camp2congregation/
This week Executive Director of LOM Don Johnson talks with Kyle Lefler the Associate Director of Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp in Lakeside Montana.
Kyle shares her COVID-19 experience and what Flathead is doing to continue to serve their staff and guests. She shares valuable insights to help guests feel welcome and safe.
In this episode LOM's Executive Director Don Johnson talks with the Development Director of Camp Calumet Knute Orgren.
Knute explains in detail Calumet's one day of giving campaign on June 28th where they were able to receive donations from almost 1,000 people.
You will not want to miss this episode.
In this episode LOM's Executive Director Don Johnson talks with the Development Director of Camp Calumet Knute Orgren.
Knute explains in detail Calumet's one day of giving campaign on June 28th where they were able to receive donations from almost 1,000 people.
You will not want to miss this episode.
Don Johnson talks with Mark Burkhardt who is the Director of Faith Formation for the ELCA. Mark has a vast history in Outdoor Ministry and shares his experience and insight with the LOM Community.
In this episode Don Johnson talks with Hans Wiersma, a professor at Augsburg University.
Hans is a former camp-counselor, youth director, youth pastor, and youth-and-family pastor (and presently an active church member and a supporter of other ministries). His interest is in looking at why there is a decline in participation in the Christian life, including outdoor ministry. He believes that if you can understand where you’ve been and where you are at, religiously/spiritually speaking, you just might have a better sense of where you might be going.
In this episode Don and Hans talk about staff recruitment and education as well as the LOM curriculum and so much more. Please enjoy this episode.
To learn more about LOM and its ministry please visit lomnetwork.org
Joan Garry began her career in 1981 as part of the management team that launched MTV. She followed this successful eight-year tenure with another successful run as an executive at Showtime Networks. Then, in 1997 while either having a midlife crisis or avoiding one, Garry was named the executive director of GLAAD, one of the largest gay rights organizations in the U.S.
She joined GLAAD to find an organization in deep financial crisis (18 staff and yes, $360 in the bank), led it out of the depths to a place of prominence focusing on the power of the media to change hearts and minds. From the accurate coverage of the murder of Matthew Shepard to the successful lobbying of The New York Times to include gay and lesbian couples on its wedding pages, Garry’s strategy was clear: keep GLAAD focused on the media because the road to acceptance begins with visibility and understanding.
After her eight year run at GLAAD, Garry built on this expertise and became a successful political fundraiser, co-chairing the LGBT Finance Committee for the Obama 2008 Presidential campaign. She has been in a leadership position on a large national board and her family makes significant contributions to causes near and dear.
She brings all of this experience to her work as the Principal of Joan Garry Consulting, a boutique firm that helps nonprofits across a wide variety of sectors to untangle strategic knots enabling them to have a clearer path in pursuit of their missions. From executive coaching to strategy engagements to crisis management, Joan works with organizations across a variety of sectors – independent schools, social justice, illness based organizations, LGBT advocacy. She works with large organizations like UNICEF USA and The Union for Reform Judaism to organizations that are anxious to move to the next level.
Her blog for board and staff leaders of nonprofits reaches 100,000 unique leaders monthly from over 150 countries and her podcast Nonprofits Are Messy is frequently the #1 nonprofit / government podcast on iTunes. Lastly, she is the founder of The Nonprofit Leadership Lab, a monthly online membership site for board and staff leaders of small nonprofits who can afford neither coaching nor consulting. Through a vast array of content and a community moderated by experts, Joan is reaching over 2,000 board and staff leaders worldwide.
Joan teaches at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania where she teaches Nonprofit Communications Strategy and Media and Social Change to undergraduate seniors
Her book, Joan Garry’s Guide To Nonprofit Leadership (John Wiley and Sons) was published in early 2017.
Lastly, in the spirit of using her voice for change, Joan was the first female singing member of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus.
Joan lives in NJ with her wife of 34 years. Joan and Eileen were plaintiffs in a 1993 landmark NJ court case granting a lesbian couple a second parent adoption. Their three grown children all legally have two mothers (whether they like it or not).
Don Johnson talks with Keith Johnson who is also known as “The Board Coach” for LOM executives and boards who want to strengthen their partnership and improve their effectiveness. Keith will support and train boards and executives by putting the pieces together through offering three services: 1) Board governance workshops; 2) Off-site governance audits; 3) Consultation and support. Keith has 44 years of experience in Lutheran camps and a congregation. Check out Keith’s website at www.theboardcoach.org.
Don Johnson talks with Keith Johnson who is also known as “The Board Coach” for LOM executives and boards who want to strengthen their partnership and improve their effectiveness. Keith will support and train boards and executives by putting the pieces together through offering three services: 1) Board governance workshops; 2) Off-site governance audits; 3) Consultation and support. Keith has 44 years of experience in Lutheran camps and a congregation. Check out Keith’s website at www.theboardcoach.org.
In this podcast Don Johnson, Executive Director of the LOM Network has a conversation with Jeff Barrow, who is currently serving as interim executive director of Sugar Creek (WI). He is also a former parish pastor, former bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod, and back in the day, executive director of Koinonia.
This podcast is a must listen for all Executive Directors and an important listen for anyone who works for an LOM Organization.
Thank you for listening to the podcast and you can find out more about LOM from our website http://lomnetwork.org
Don Johnson, Executive Director of LOM had an opportunity to catch up with Molly Beck Dean the Director of the ELCA Youth Gathering.
Don Johnson Executive Director of Lutheran Outdoor Ministries talks with Pastor Yehiel Curry.
Yehiel Curry received his B.A. in Psychology from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL in 1995. Immediately after college he provided mental health counseling and case management to youth and adults with a concentration on the impact of drugs, violence and poverty on communities.
His dedication to his church and obedience to the will of God led him to serve as lay Mission Developer /Pastor of Shekinah Chapel Lutheran Church in Riverdale, IL in 2007. Pastor Curry was ordained on April 26, 2009 after successful completion of the Theological Education for Emerging Ministries (TEEM), an alternative ordination program of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), where ministry and education happen simultaneously. Pastor Curry enrolled in the Masters of Divinity program in 2009 at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He is scheduled to graduate June 2013.
Pastor Curry serves as a board member and Camp Director for Safe In My Brothers Arms (S.I.M.B.A) Camp in New Era, Michigan for African American boys ages 8-17. Pastor Curry serves as the founder and advisor of Riverdale Organized for Change (ROC), a community organization that recently secured a 7.9 million dollar loan from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to replace Riverdale’s antiquated sewer system.
Pastor Yehiel Curry is married to Lashonda Curry, his wife of 17 years. They have 3 daughters, Shemiah, Ashirah, and Shekinah.
Don Johnson sits down with Chandler Carriker the Associate Director for Constituent Engagement for Lutheran World Relief. They talk about the relationship between Lutheran World Relief and Lutheran Outdoor Ministries.
Andrea Scofield, Executive Director of Camp Lutherwood Oregon, builds and creates opportunities for staff, guests, volunteers, and donors to interact with the ministry of Camp Lutherwood. Her leadership has created a sustainable program and organization that continues to provide an outdoor experience to all guests. Andrea’s vision for Lutherwood is to expand the capacity and potential of Lutherwood and deepen the relationship with churches and the community.
This is the first podcast for the Lutheran Outdoor Ministry. In this episode your host Don Johnson interviews Jake Sorenson about recent research in Outdoor minsitry and what camps can do to use that research in their camps.