A More Perfect Fellowship: Faith, Democracy and Difficult Conversations

Dakota Wesleyan has initiated a speaker's series between Amy Novak and notable DWU graduates. First on this list is this conversation with Leon Washington. Leon is the Dean of Enrollment Management at Villanova University. He's a gentle and strong leader whose life of wisdom and kindness make him a stellar example for others to follow. You'll enjoy this conversation.

Lynn Hart knew George and Eleanor McGovern when he was quite young and tells his story here. Lynn was also involved with the legislation in South Dakota that put MLK day and Native American Day on the South Dakota holiday calendar. Here is a link to another interview with Lynn. https://soundcloud.com/randy-taylor-announcer/wwc-lynn-hart-101314

Arthur and I met only several weeks ago. I've enjoyed our emails and conversations. He's an impressive scholar whose written a collection of books and articles - mostly on Christian Origins and Early Christian Thought. Arthur knew George and Eleanor for many years and shares his appreciation for their humility, hospitality and humanity. If you want to learn more about his work, go to http://arthur...

John Solberg shares his memories of George and Eleanor McGovern.

In 1918, the South Dakota legislature passed a bill granting women the right to vote. This extraordinary achievement did not occur after a few mild asks. Women had been campaigning vigorously for 100 years for this right and their movement simply would not take rejection without coming back again. Time after time the South Dakota legislature denied women this right. Ruth Page Jones, of the South D...

Cici Schneider graduated from DWU in 2018 with degrees in Psychology and Non-Profit Administration. She now works at the Global Child Nutrition Foundation in Seattle Washington which began while still a student at DWU. CiCi exemplifies the continuing impact of George and Eleanor McGovern who sought to alleviate food insecurity in the developing world and the role played by school lunch progra...

I'm re-publishing a conversation I had a few months ago with David Hollis about the Bible and Climate Change. Many folks who take the Bible seriously doubt the reality of climate change and see it as a pseudo-science driven by a confirmation bias aimed at the expansion of big government. David and I are both Christian leaders of the United Methodist variety and very concerned about the future heal...

During this pandemic and racial unrest, we've almost forgotten about what is perhaps an even more threatening challenge - that of climate change. In this episode, I had a conversation with Drs. Paula Mazzer and Kayla Miller, about their experiences as scientists and their understanding of the science of climate change. In the Outro, I discussed the fact that in November of 2022, we'll be celebrati...

Mark Lempke, Author of "My Brother's Keeper: George McGovern and Progressive Christianity" joins me today to discuss the influence of the social gospel on George McGovern and how this message might resonate today. Mark is a historian of post-war religion and politics. He specializes in progressive Christianity and the Christian left that developed in the 1960's and 70's. He completed his Ph. D. fr...

We all watched the video in absolute horror. How could this police officer, charged to guard and protect, so casually murder an unarmed and handcuffed person? How could others have stood by and watched without ever intervening? We are in a time when, as a nation, we're having a serious and much overdue conversation about how we can police ourselves better. It isn't just about rogue cops, its about...

We are all tired of talking about the pandemic! We've heard stories from every angle imaginable. Yet this episode covers an aspect that is going unreported in the American press, even though it is impacting millions of people around the world. The pandemic, tragic as it is for those in the west, is more tragic by far in the developing world. Don Messer, founder and CEO of the Center for Health and...

I've wanted to interview Don for some time. He's a perfect guest for this podcast and what an interesting life! He was president of Dakota Wesleyan University (1971-1981) and Iliff School of Theology (1981-2000). Don went on to found and direct the Center for Health and Hope which advocates and promotes health (particularly HIV and AIDS) and clean water. He and his wife Bonnie were good friends wi...

This podcast examines a recent experience I had advocating for South Dakota HB 1212 which would have added clergy to the list of mandatory reporters of suspected cases of child neglect and abuse. 45 states already mandate that clergy report suspected cases. Reporting suspected abuse does not mean that anyone gets in trouble. It just means that a qualified professional checks in on the child's welf...

In this episode, I've interviewed Ryan Chase and Anna Schwader about their leadership role in planning/transforming our Great Wesleyan Give Back day. So every year we do a major all-campus service day which is organized by the McGovern Center. This year, with the pandemic, we all expected it to dissipate along with everything else. But it didn't. Ryan, Anna, the Alumni Office, and others organized...