Project Pastor Podcast

Matt Hyam started Southhampton Vineyard Church at the age of 23, and led it for 29 years. Matt has a passion for learning and teaching theology, because he believes it should be simple, and that the task of theology is to dig through the dirt to recover that simplistic faith. He's influenced by Anabaptist and Orthodox theology and has a particular interest in exploring Patristic teachings. Matt posts most days with thoughts and theological reflections under the name Matt musing... He runs occasional online seminars to address theological issues that affect Christians and also post snippets of teaching regularly on social media. Matt has written three books - "I Still Have More Questions Than Answers" (2002), "Life Before Death" (2018) and "There Must be More to This" (2021).

What if we got real? Really real, first with God and ourselves, then with others. What would change? How would we change? How would our churches change?  How would the world around us change. In  It's what we're discussing in a new series on Project Pastor. In this first episode we talk with Todd Morrison, pastor, author husband , dad and recovering addict. Let's get real and see how we all change!  

John is a follower of Jesus, husband to Andrea, and father to four great kids. He holds degrees in Bible, Education, and Counseling, is a certified speaker, trainer and coach with the John Maxwell Team, and serves as the Lead Pastor of Core Creek Community Church in Langhorne, PA.   John is an adjunct professor at Cairn University, where he teaches courses on church planting, theology, and counseling.  He also serves as the Director of the National Mission Board which is a ministry that is focused on church planting and church health. John hosts three podcasts, "The Chapter-A-Day Audio Bible," “Daily Devotions with Pastor John,” and "Dwell on These Things." At present, his shows have been downloaded over 5.5 million times by listeners throughout the world. All three podcasts can be freely accessed via your favorite podcast app or by clicking here.

A cross over interview brought to you by This Undivided Life.Andrew Arndt is the Lead Pastor of New Life East (one of seven congregations of New Life Church in Colorado Springs), where he also hosts the Essential Church podcast, a weekly conversation designed to strengthen the thinking of church and ministry leaders. Prior to joining New Life’s team, he served as Lead Pastor of Bloom Church: a neo-monastic, charismatic, liturgical, justice-driven network of house churches in Denver. He received his MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and has written for Missio Alliance, Patheos, The Other Journal, and Mere Orthodoxy. He lives in the Springs with his wife Mandi and their four kids.

Dr. Dee Stokes is a spiritual advisor, speaker, coach, author, and educator who focuses on ministry, purposeful leadership, and education in an effort to "Build Influential People Who Change the World and Live Out the Gospel Practically." Dr. Stokes has spent over 25 years in higher education as a basketball coach and professor.  After 18 years as a coach, her dreams and desires turned to full time ministry. Although not roaming the sidelines, she still has a passion for athletes, coaches, and the game she loves: Basketball. Her passion allows her to impact coaches and stay involved in the game.

We talk about Matthews new book, Hope Always. It is the first practical, biblically-based, scientifically-grounded book that takes a holistic view of suicide. It explores why God is unequivocally for life, and what forces tempt us to choose death. Through the stories of patients and timeless truths of Scripture, it equips us to ask questions, seek help, and advocate for life.

Doug Bursch co-pastors Evergreen Foursquare Church with his good friend pastor Dan Behrens.  Along with pastoring, Doug is an evangelist and writer. He is the author of Posting Peace: Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It and The Community of God: A Theology of the Church From a Reluctant Pastor. He also occasionally teaches theology classes. Doug hosted a daily radio show entitled “Live from Seattle with Doug Bursch” on 820 AM KGNW from 2010-2015. He currently hosts The Fairly Spiritual Show Podcast.

Daniel Grothe is married to Lisa Carol, and moved to Colorado Springs as a newly married couple in July of 2005. He has spent all of those years working at New Life Church where he serves as an associate senior pastor. He’s the author of Chasing Wisdom: The Lifelong Pursuit of Living Well  He’s married to Lisa and has three children—Lillian, Wilson, and Wakley. They are the delights of their lives. He’s received his undergraduate degree in theology from Oral Roberts University and completed a Masters in Theology through Fuller Theological Seminary. He loves writing, and has spent a lot of his life playing drums for wonderful singer/songwriters like GUNGOR, The Brilliance, Darrell Evans, and Michael Rossback. 

Is it possible to live a crazy happy life? Yes. Join Troy as he interviews Daniel Fusco, husband, father of three, pastor and author of multiple books including Crazy Happy: Nine Surprising Ways to Live the Truly Beautiful Life. We talk food, Jazz, beauty, gratitude, joy and the keys to living a whole and integrated life. A life of joy and true happiness. 

Troy interviews Brad Gray the senior pastor of Stonington Baptist Church in Paxinos, Pennsylvania, where he lives and serves with his wife Natalie, daughter Lydia, and son Braxton. He is currently pursuing an M.Div. from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He blogs regularly at Grace Upon Grace and hosts a podcast, Ministry Minded.  

What if the church, specifically the Western American church fuly embraced its role? What would society look like? How would it change? We discuss this and more with Pastor Jesse Bradley at Grace Community Church in the Seattle area. He's a former professional soccer goalkeeper (played in Zimbabwe Africa, Aberdeen Scotland, and Minnesota), radio host, author, and speaker. A graduate of Dartmouth College, his curiosity about faith and Jesus began there. In an Introduction to World Religions course, he began to read the Bible for the first time. Jesse graduated with a Master's Degree in Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Jesse really enjoys authentic conversations with people of all ages and cultures. After surviving several close calls with death, Jesse is truly grateful for every new day and opportunities to encourage people in their journey and faith. Adoption and God's greater work of unity in the Sound and the nation are close to his heart. Jesse and his wife Laurie have four children and a fun dog

John Lynch is a speaker, author, and former pastor. After 27 years as the teaching pastor at Open Door Fellowship in Phoenix, Arizona, John joined Trueface in 1997 and began speaking nationally and both authoring and coauthoring many resources such as The Cure and TrueFaced, and his own story in On My Worst Day. As an outlet for his love of writing and performing, John co-founded and was both a playwright and actor for Sharkey Productions, a theater troupe focused on Gospel-anchored theater productions for those still seeking Jesus. John and his wife Stacey have three grown children and a growing troupe of grandchildren.

Tony Miltenberger is the lead pastor of Restoration Church Centerville, a thriving United Methodist congregation in Ohio. He is also the host of The Reclamation Podcast, a show that “helps busy people reclaim good practices of faith and life,” and the co-author of “UnBreakable: Forging a Marriage of Contentment and Delight,” one wife 3 kids. which is based on his own marital struggles, and his experiences spearheading workshops for soldiers returning from deployment away from their families.  

Scott and Troy discuss pastoral isolation. They talk about the why's and how's of becoming isolated and some ways to embrace our own humanity which can lead to healing. By embracing our weaknesses we come to rely on Christ as well as community. We take a quote from Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobels book The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb We also reference the interview Troy did with Jamin and Kyle it's episode number 85

Lo Alaman is a spoken word poet, writer, preacher, and  He is the Director of Community Life at The Harvest Church in The Woodlands, Texas, but his passion and gift is bringing words to life His most recent creative work is We Sang a Dirge on the subject of lament, and he shares with us the inspiration behind this project, and more on the intersection of art and holiness.

David Zach is the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band Remedy Drive as well as an advocate in the fight against human trafficking.  The band has recorded two concept albums to shine a light on slavery and to celebrate the modern day abolition.  The band's community and fan base has contributed around $350,000 in donations and in-kind donations to the counter trafficking organization The Exodus Road.   We talk about losing our lives in order to really live. How we're all creative, and how we can use our creative ways to love ourselves and others well. 

Rich Villodas is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship, a large multiracial church with more than seventy-five countries represented in Elmhurst, Queens. Rich holds a Master of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary. He enjoys reading widely, preaching and writing on contemplative spirituality, justice-related matters, and the art of preaching. He's been married to Rosie since 2006 and they have two beautiful children, Karis and Nathan. His first book, The Deeply Formed Life, is now available wherever books are sold.

Adam Weber lives in Sioux Falls (that’s in South Dakota). He’s the founder and one of the pastors at a multi-site church called Embrace. He quips that he  still can’t believe he’s a pastor. He’s written two books Talking With God and most recently have Love Has A Name. He’s married to his beautiful wife Becky and has 4 kids: Hudson, Wilson, Grayson, and Anderson. He likes typewriters, drives a 1936 Chevy, cheers for the Cincinnati Bengals, has a collection of animals including, seven chickens, two dogs, & three fish, but what he really wants is a sheep.

Scott and Troy discuss how covid has changed the way we approach ministry. Some of it's challenges, with not meeting in person to our often reliance, maybe even addiction to the building we met in.  What Now, What Next Video link.

Through writing, speaking and leading, Thom has served the faith community for 40 years. He’s the founder of Group Publishing and Lifetree Café. He’s the author of many books, including “Why Nobody Wants to Go to Church Anymore.” Thom also directed the documentary film “When God Left The Building.” And he’s the founding director of Group Serves, which organizes volunteer mission experiences to help disadvantaged families throughout the world.