A Plain Account

The end of the church year is a great opportunity for some spiritual storytelling, critical reflection, and realigning your church's liturgy and mission with what God is doing. -- It’s the end of the church year for the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene, the district where both Jasons pastor. That means it’s annual report season! In this episode, Jason Buckwalter shares his reflections...

The end of the church year is a great opportunity for some spiritual storytelling, critical reflection, and realigning your church's liturgy and mission with what God is doing. -- In this episode, our co-hosts are here to talk about their own churches as the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene nears it’s end of the year. The end of the church year can be a tedious season of reports, count...

Dr. Desmond Barrett, a church revitalization expert, and the Jasons discuss church revitalization - what it means and how it works spiritually and practically in the church. -- In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, Dr. Desmond Barrett, author of Rising From the Ashes Into Church Renewal , and pastor of Hilltop Church of the Nazarene, joins the Jasons to talk church revitalization. In...

Dr. Desmond Barrett, a church revitalization expert, shares his pastoral journey and work in bringing revitalization to the church. -- In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, Dr. Desmond Barrett, author of Rising From the Ashes Into Church Renewal , and pastor of Hilltop Church of the Nazarene, joins the Jasons to talk church revitalization. What is church revitalization? Dr. Barrett de...

Lent is a season of spiritual growth, lament, and sacrifice leading us toward resurrection. --- Lent is coming up soon and who better to talk about the season of Lent and the spiritual practices of Lent than Sacred & Small and Michaele LaVigne? Michaele is a spiritual director and the Director of the Center for Spiritual Formation at Nazarene Theological Seminary. In this episode, Michaele joi...

Michaele LaVigne, Director of the Center For Spiritual Formation at Nazarene Theological Seminary, joins the podcast to talk spiritual direction and tell her ministry story. --- On this week’s episode of Sacred & Small, Michaele LaVigne joins the Jasons to talk spiritual direction. God never intended for us to walk the path of discipleship and spiritual formation alone. He certainly never inte...

The season of Advent is right around the corner. Danny Quanstrum joins the Jasons to talk Advent, a new devotional, and why repetition is a good thing. -- Advent is just a few weeks away! On this episode of the Sacred & Small Podcast, the Jasons are joined by Danny Quanstrum, who recently accepted a call to pastor Trinity Church of the Nazarene in Florissant, MO. In this episode… Danny talks a...

Pastor Danny Quanstrum joins the podcast again to talk about his family's transition to Trinity Church of the Nazarene and the pastoral transition process. -- Pastoral transitions can be complicated, messy, dangerous for pastors and churches, but also life-giving and fruitful. Friend of the podcast, Pastor Danny Quanstrum, recently accepted the call to pastor Trinity Chruch of the Nazarene in Flor...

Jason Buckwalter shares the story of his new ministry opportunity and we walk about how to integrate "my ministry" with "the church's ministry." -- On this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, our own Jason Buckwalter talks about the new ministry opportunity that he has accepted. In addition to his responsibilities as pastor at Fulton Heartland Church of the Nazarene, Jason will also be the...

Jessica Hill, chief public policy officer for MOCADSV, talks about domestic violence and how the church can engage with DV agencies and victims. -- This week on Sacred & Small, the Jasons were pleased to welcome Jessica Hill onto the podcast. Yes, Jessica is Jason Hill’s wife, but she also has over a decade of work with domestic violence agencies throughout the state of Missouri. Jessica joine...

Karl Vaters, author of "Desizing the Church," discusses the impact of the church growth movement on the church and where we go next. --- In the second of a two-part conversation, Karl Vaters joins the Jasons to talk about his latest book Desizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What’s Next. The church growth movement has had a monumental influence o...

Karl Vaters, author of "Small Church Essentials" and "Desizing," shares the story of his experience with small churches and his ministry toward small church pastors. --- On this week’s Sacred & Small podcast, author and speaker Karl Vaters joins the Jasons to share his small church story. Karl is the author of 5 books, including The Grasshopper Myth , and Small Church Essen...

The Jasons are back to talk about critical reflection and it's role in congregational revitalization. -- Critical reflection. We’ve talked about it regularly on the podcast. What is it? How do we do it? Why is it important? In this episode of the Sacred and Small Podcast, the Jasons dig into the concept of critical reflection and use some of their own summer experiences to consider the subject...

The Sacred and Small Podcast returns with the Jasons as they talk about their summers and how to make the most of the rare quiet seasons in church life.

Missouri DS Mike Palmer joins the podcast to talk about the challenges and opportunities facing the small church from his perspective as a longtime District Superintendent. --- In the final episode of season one of the Sacred & Small podcast, Pastor Mike Palmer, District Superintendent of the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene joins the Jasons to talk all things small church. Pastor Mike...

Missouri District Church of the Nazarene District Superintendent Mike Palmer shares the story of his call and ministry. --- In this week’s episode, Pastor Mike Palmer, District Superintendent of the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene, joins the Jasons to talk about his pastoral journey. Pastor Mike is retiring in the summer of 2025 after 19 years of service in the DS role. In this episode, P...

Sabbath is a command from God. How do you practice your sabbath rest? Do you incorporate seasons of rest into the life of your church? Let's talk about it! --- Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments. But when the week gets busy, it seems like one that pastors — including the two Jasons — too willingly break. In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, the Jasons talk about the concept of...

Church life seems to build toward this climactic moment at Easter. Anyone else experience a letdown the next week? In both attendance, expectations, and energy? Let's talk about it! --- The Easter letdown. The Jasons don’t know who coined the phrase but we have both experienced it. In this episode of the Sacred and Small podcast, the Jasons gather to talk about how their Easter and Holy Week servi...

Sam Sprunger from Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene is back with the Jasons to talk about the essential liturgical and missional elements of Easter. -- Easter is nearly upon us! It’s an important day for pastors of churches of any size. In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, Sam Sprunger has a conversation with the Jasons about all things Easter. What is it? What are the essential...

Sam Sprunger from Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO shares his story and the story of his church. --- A big part of what we want to do here at Sacred & Small is tell small church stories! In this episode, Sam Sprunger, pastor at Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO, joins us to share his path to ministry and the missional ministry of Webster. Webster’s st...

Dr. Tiffany Ross and the talk about Lent and the formative place of means of grace during this season. --- Dr. Tiffany Ross, pastor at Gateway Church of the Nazarene, joined with the Jasons in the second of their two-part interview. In this episode, the Jasons and Tiffany walk through their understanding of Lent, focusing on spiritual practices called, in Wesleyan circles, the means of grace. The...

Dr. Tiffany Ross from Gateway Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO shares her story and the story of her church. --- This week the Jasons were glad to welcome Dr. Tiffany Ross, pastor at Gateway Church of the Nazarene onto the podcast! We follow our ethnographic interviewing strategies to ask her “tell me about…” questions that get to the heart of her call from media production to full-time pas...

The Jasons continue their exploration of the LASTS method - language, actors/actions, space, time, and symbols.---- In this two-part podcast series, the Jasons tackle the LASTS method of participant observation. What is participant observation? It is an immersive ethnographic methodology where you observe a community of people as an active participant within the community. Doing this allows a smal...

Listen to this sneak peak of Earth for Lent! Everyone who orders a copy of Earth for Lent will get an audio version of the book read by none other than the author herself, Brit Bolerjack! Order your copy of Earth for Lent today!

The Jasons introduce the LASTS Method - Language, Actors/Actions, Space, Time, and Symbols - of participant observation and critically reflect on each other's church cultures. ---- In this two-part podcast series, the Jasons tackle the LASTS method of participant observation. What is participant observation? It is an immersive ethnographic methodology where you observe a community of people as...