Growing Together : Recent Episodes
Growing Young Cohort
The typical church in the United States is growing older and growing smaller. Research indicates that as many as half of the people growing up in Christian churches today will end up walking away from their religious affiliation. The Growing Together Podcast is all about honest and hopeful conversation with leaders who are challenging the narrative and creating thriving Seventh-day Adventist Churches for all generations. The current state of the church today is not the end of the story, and you can be part of the change. Listen, learn, be inspired, and share with your network. We are stronger together.
In the Season 2 finale, Benjamin Lundquist and Kaleb Eisele return to discuss the elephant in the room - how to handle the mistakes and failures of young leaders in our communities. Some of the greatest examples of how to handle mistakes take them back to Jesus' relationships with his disciples. In the words of Benjamin, sometimes the most meaningful thing you can say is, "You may have failed, but you are not a failure."
Trusting our leaders has less and less to do with what they say - and far more to do with how we see them live. Benjamin Lundquist and Kaleb Eisele return to talk about how to develop healthy habits and how to lead effectively both on and off the stage. Leading yourself well isn't just about "not doing bad things" - sometimes it's about learning to carve out enough time to rest and taking care of your own health.
Connecting across social and cultural barriers has proven to be one of the greatest obstacles for the Christian church today. In this episode, Dr. Heather Thompson Day takes us back to the Bible - back to the stories of Jesus - to explore how best to navigate those relationships.
In September of 2020, a rash of wildfires tore through the Pacific Northwest. In this episode, Benjamin Lundquist and Kaleb Eisele return to talk about neighboring in disaster and times of need. How can we show up when our community needs us most - and what happens when we do?
Connecting with young people already in your church is important - but how can we connect effectively beyond our church walls? One tip from Alina van Rensberg - "Get in your car. Drive around the neighborhood and see who's there. See what people are up to and what's important to them. Get to know those people and put yourself in places where you're actually finding out what the needs of the neighborhood are." As it turns out, sometimes our ideas of the best way to neighbor aren't always the best at all!
"While we need to meet people where they are, it's better to do it with them than for them." How do we create meaningful relationship-building social events in a rapidly changing world? Are the methods we used in the past sufficient for today? Martin and Alina van Rensberg return to give insights on what seems to work... and what doesn't.
What happens when you give young people a voice of their own? For Pastor Terrance Taylor, it mean allowing them to offer criticism. In one especially poignant interaction, Pastor Taylor's daughter told him, "This church isn't ready for me to invite my friends." This episode focuses on the wrestling process - and offers insight into how to navigate some of the hardest intergenerational conversations that may come your way.
Pastor Terrance Taylor returns to share how his church began implementing the Growing Young principles locally - and how simple, intentional efforts began to result in lasting change. In pastor Taylor's words, "People are drawn by relationships - they need to be loved and to know people."
Taylor's church started simply - by sitting down and listing out every young person they could think of that was connected to their church, learning their names together, and then inviting young people themselves to join in the planning process. As the list grew and more names continued to be brought forward, the church began to plan around the talents and interests represented by those they were already connected to.
"If they wanted to come back, what kind of church would they want to come back to?" Pastor Terrance Taylor was challenged to reshape his church culture in a time where he himself was disconnecting with the church he was pastoring. Today, their church is a safe place where even teens are coming to on their own. Pastor Taylor shares the steps his church took to change their culture, and a surprising twist on the story of the Prodigal Son.
The internet is a place of its own. In a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters, the internet is also a place where many communities begin. In some cases, it's a lifeline for people to connect to each other. Dr. Heather Thompson Day returns to explore how to build healthy, inviting community online.
Ben and Kaleb return to discuss the role of authenticity in community building and leadership. But what's the difference between being authentic and oversharing? How do we walk the line of honesty and transparency in a way that builds real connection? With the explosion of social media and the internet lens, deep community is needed more than ever.
Kaleb Eisele was brought back to church after leaving for several years - but not through a great program. It was through warm community. Programs have a beginning and an end, but community is all about the long term. Ben Lundquist and Kaleb Eisele join the conversation to discuss how to move from a program-oriented mentality to a community-oriented mentality.
What people often see in Christians is that we deeply defend ourselves - but does the world see us defending others with the same conviction? Dr. Heather Thompson Day returns to discuss some of the widening gaps between young people and Christianity, especially when it comes to how we treat others.
Alina & Martin van Rensburg return to continue the conversation on Jesus' life and real-world applications in our current lives. Alina asks, "What are the guiding principles behind the things Jesus did?"
As life coaches and public speakers, Martin and Alina van Rensburg are a constant presence in the lives of young people around South Queensland, Australia. Living like Jesus is something all generations of Christians try to do, but how does the perception of "living like Jesus" differ amongst young Christians? Martin and Alina share their thoughts - maybe it looks like less head work and more heart work.
Dr. Heather Thompson Day, a professor of Communication at Colorado Christian University, joins us to discuss trends and differences between Millennials and the next generation of young people coming up behind them in the church today - Generation Z. One of those growing trends? The non-negotiable desire for hands on participation. As Dr. Day shares, "It's not about doing things excellent, it's about doing them together."
What's the difference between empathy and sympathy? Although the difference may not seem important, learning it can be life changing, especially when it comes to building meaningful relationships with young people. As Justin Yang shares, empathy isn't always efficient. It takes a lot of trial and error. But the end results of empathetic connections ultimately lead to a incredible paradigm shift.
"In one of my first interviews with my new church, there was actually an elder that met me during potluck and pinned me to the wall and threatened me not to come. He said if you come, I will make your life miserable. That was my first introduction to the church that invited me to be their senior pastor." Justin Yang returns to tell his own story of navigating the fear of loss in a new church as a young pastor.
Passing over the keys can be incredibly difficult, especially if your experiences in the past haven't been great. Depending on the culture you were raised in, sometimes there are additional expectations that leadership needs to be earned as well. Pastor Justin Yang, Young Adult Director at the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, joins us again discuss what can happen when seasoned leaders overcome these fears and attitudes.
In passing down responsibilities and leadership to young leaders, a major pitfall can be doing so in a way that's patronizing. Pastor Juan Rodriguez and host Justin Khoe talk about how to work together in meaningful ways, as well as some other potential issues in keychain leadership.
Keychain leadership is a process of transitioning young people into leadership roles. In this episode, pastor Juan Rodriguez shares how to go about passing on responsibilities, leadership, and decision-making power to rising leaders, and how to know when to let go.
Jake Mulder, Director of Strategic initiatives at Fuller Youth Institute and coauthor of the book, "Growing Young," shares the six areas of church culture that matter most if we're going to disciple young people well. While the problems and obstacles may be complex, the solutions may be simpler than they seem.
What is mentorship all about? When you find yourself in the position of a mentor, what are some healthy ways to handle your influence? Justin Yang, Young Adult Director at the Texas Conference of Seventh-day Adventists suggests an alternate model for mentorship: an attitude of listening more than you speak.
In our last episode, we jokingly spoke about how uncomfortable it can be to initiate relationships with younger people, and the fine line we walk in order to engage them appropriately. In this episode, Dr. A Allan Martin suggests several healthy points of contact that can open up opportunities to grow relationships, invite them into leadership, and increase their interest in church-based activities.
Suggestion number one? Start with food.
Instead of asking, "Why are young people leaving?" in this episode, host Justin Khoe asks, "Why are young people staying?"
Dr. A Allan Martin joins us again to challenge some of the myths surrounding what young people tend to want in a church community, and to refocus the conversation on the greatest uniting principle in those that stay: authentic relationships.
What happens when you try new things and they fall through? How can you keep on keeping on when your ideas are shut down? Pastor Juan Rodriguez discusses top strategies for diplomatically approaching change and new ideas in the local church setting.
Feedback is crucial to the growth process. One effective way to facilitate constructive, meaningful criticism is by hosting a listening project. Great listening projects turn top-down structure on its head, and allow voices that are often ignored to take the forefront. Our guest this week is Juan Rodriguez, a youth and young adult director who has worked with the Florida Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for over 22 years. In this episode, Juan shares helpful starting points for launching a listening project right where you are.
Distractions and burnout can create serious challenges to a sustainable culture of growth. Dr. A Allan Martin returns to lay out out the process of creating a marathon mindset- a steady pace for changing directions and staying the course, and how to keep the fire alive after the initial push of inspiration in your church.
Theories are helpful, but when it comes to actually doing to work of cultural growth, who can you count on? Who can take the concepts and strategies and put them to work? In this episode, Dr. A Allan Martin, a pastor at Younger Generation Church in Arlington, Texas, joins us to share some best practices for creating a reliable team and keeping them engaged.
Tomorrow's church starts with today's plans, and today's plans require intentionality. But what questions should we be starting with? What goals need to be set beyond, 'making things better?' In this episode, Jake Mulder shares top tips from churches that are successfully growing younger, as well as how to begin casting a vision for your church's future.
We're wired to avoid certain spaces, especially when it comes to confronting pain. When it comes to navigating pain as a collective body- a church- it's important that we learn how to do it anyway. Confronting our pain allows us to acknowledge our reality, make an assessment, and create space for meaningful changes.
In this episode, Jake Mulder debunks some common myths and misconceptions about young people and what they're looking for in church communities, and how to begin diagnosing the reality your church occupies today.
The typical church in the United States is growing older and growing smaller. Research indicates that as many as half of the people growing up in church today will end up walking away from their religious affiliation. For those of us that are still here, that news can be hard to hear.
Jake Mulder, coauthor of the book "Growing Young" is one of an expanding movement of people working to educate faith communities on how to rebuild relationships with their young people. In this first episode, Jake shares some of the basic foundational insights he's gained as to where some of the disconnection is coming from- and what to do about it.