Grey Pages

👣 Episode Overview What does it take to move from inspiration to action? In this episode, the Brave Cities crew is joined by digital strategist and pathway architect Jason Bowman, alongside longtime co-laborer Joel Repic from Aliquippa, PA. Together, they tackle the growing desire among church leaders and creatives to reimagine church, mission, and community life—and the sobering reality that ver...

In this episode, Jon, Hugh, and Taylor sit down with their longtime friend David Gobout from St. Louis to unpack the gritty, raw, and faithful journey of community-rooted ministry. David shares his evolution from entering a marginalized neighborhood with the classic church planting mindset to uncovering that what the neighborhood actually needed was something much different — presence, patience, l...

In this episode, the crew tackles a pressing question in the life of any ecosystem-building movement: How do we cultivate a pipeline of uniquely gifted, missionally brave, and spiritually aligned leaders—aka “unicorns”—to step into under-resourced communities? From college campuses to early retiree circles, from missional internships to accidental recruiting, the conversation wrestles with the ten...

In this episode, the team dives deep into one of the more nuanced and often overlooked ideas in the book—anonymity. What does it mean to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”? Why did Jesus warn against broadcasting our good works—and how does this relate to the current culture of self-promotion, brand-building, and nonprofit storytelling? We explore the tension between being...

On the very first day of 2025, we sat down with our longtime friend and Brave Cities team member, Joel Repic, who live and works in Aliquippa, PA. Joel shares stories and reflections from life alongside the Community of Celebration , a Benedictine-inspired order that’s been living, praying, and practicing radical discipleship together since the 1980s. We explore the core values that shape intentio...

🎙️ Episode Summary In this episode, we sit down with Jesse Cruikshank—neuroscientist, author, missional strategist, and former roller derby player (yes, really!)—to dive deep into the brain science of discipleship . We unpack how our understanding of spiritual formation has been shaped more by the Enlightenment than by Scripture, and how the way we teach and learn often inoculates us against trans...

In this episode, we reflect on a recent gathering of denominational leaders where we shared our vision for Brave Cities and the idea of a Kingdom ecosystem . We discuss the challenges of church planting models that focus primarily on gathering people rather than transforming communities, and we wrestle with what it truly means to live out the kingdom of God. Key Themes & Topics: Reflections on...

In this episode the team is talking through challenges and opportunities that they might anticipate as they prepare for a trip to speak with a large group of denominational leadership about brave cities

We all wanted this convo to last forever! We are sure you will feel similarly.

After years without any formal gathering, Hugh and Jon spend a little time talking through it as the Alton community is beginning to think about setting this table.

This weeks episode is a fun one! The crew is reflecting on questions around patrons and apostolic funding. We would love to hear your take-aways from the episode

We have Lindsey back to dig into the concept and value of hard work in kingdom life.

We are often asked about the way a Brave Cities style life impacts our families. In this episode we are joined by Taylor's wife Lindsey to finally dig into it.

This is an episode the Hugh and Taylor did with Exponential's Church Next Podcast during a series of the Future of Multiplication. We really enjoyed the conversation and are excited to share the episode with you here.

We finally got some time set aside to sit down with Brian Sanders to discuss some of his recent work and thinking about collaboration and unity in the Body of Christ.

In this episode Hugh and Taylor let listeners in on some very challenging questions that their community has been wrestling with recently. It's a really great look into challenges builders face, impossible decisions that communities must make, and the risk implied in each step of faith.

Here is a link to the scene referenced in this episode

In this episode the team shares and reflects on a TED talk by Dan Barber that might be the ideal parable for the vision of Brave Cities.

We're back!!! Welcome to Season Two of Grey Pages! In this episode we were joined by Lance Ford to wrestle with the question of what the spirit of God might be saying to the Church today. We had a great time reflecting on and exploring the question together and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

We just recorded this as part of season 2 but decided to go ahead and release it right away since it is fresh on everyone's minds. We plan to start releasing season 2 episode at the beginning of November!

Hugh & Taylor had the opportunity to share at the 2024 Microchurches Conference and we wanted to share the session with you here! enjoy

We have come to the end of season one! In this episode we reflect a bit on the journey of both recording these convos as well as writing the manuscript for the Brave Cities book. We share some plans we have about further developing these conversations over the break. While we may share some little clips and bonus episodes over the summer, we will also be on a bit of a break from the current rhythm...

In this episode Taylor and Hugh dig into the story and work of ReWire with JD Ward. ReWire is an incredible missionary order that is working with practitioners that are establishing kingdom outposts in strategic places throughout the word. They are helping these missional leaders learn rhythms and disciplines that will help them stay in a contemplative posture as they engage in the work. ReWire ha...

This conversation with Dezi and Neil was recorded in person while together in Kansas City for a gathering of microchurch networks. We stole away into a side room and had an incredible conversation about so many things, among which were topics like the prophetic and apostolic combo, the principles we work to embody, and the reframing of personal well-being for the missionary.

This episode is a very candid conversation with Alan Hirsch. Be warned, it navigates some sad waters at times. We dig into many topics that are so often avoided like death, failure, famine, and the future. Alans insights and encouragements were so good for each of us to hear and we hope you find this conversation as valuable as we did.