Amity Podcast with Jono & Lauren

*Please take care while listening* We share the story of our miscarriage and the intense season of grief, loss and loneliness that followed. We share how different church cultures and practices around supporting believers in times of loss can be hurtful or helpful, and a lot of what NOT to do/say to someone dealing with infant loss or miscarriage.

We're back discussing this foundational Anglican document and surprisingly (or not), it's very protestant. We wrangle in real time with some of the wording and the implications of the articles concerning sin. and we get a bit salty with the current state of NZ Anglicanism. At the end of the episode, Jono confirms he is indeed an Anglican, and Lauren confirms she is indeed a Protestant. Joi...

We discuss the details of the evening the vicarage, our home, burned down in March 2025. This is a heavy episode, yet the story felt necessary to share. Even through the darkest times, there were moments of absurdity and odd humour, random things remembered, and sweet moments of blessing.

We briefly unpack the first 8 of the 39 Articles. Our discussion centers around the importance of the Trinity, of the Creeds, and of what makes Anglicanism Christian.

What are the 39 Articles? Does anyone hold to them today? Are they even 'Christian'? Join us as we take a brief look, over a few upcoming episodes, at these articles which are the basis of belief for the Anglican Church.

Jono gives us a brief book review on the classic Lewis book he'd never read before (and endures a good ribbing from Lauren). And then we ramble on the topic of "Christian" art including music, movies and books. As always, we bring a level of humour and personal experience while exploring theological understones. *We apologise for the abrupt end to this episode, there was an issue at...

We're just scratching the surface on a really big topic here! But if you'd like to hear the short answer of why Jono is now serving in an Anglican church, join in and listen to this episode. If you'd like to hear more about our transition into a new denomination and a new town, let us know! If you have any Qs on this topic, please reach out and ask! We'd love to know what sorts of episodes you'd b...

We're diving right into the pod after a loooooong (unintended) break. And while this isn't an update episode, we do want to share what's kept us going... in our faith that is, not this podcast.

In this episode we talk through the question of whether Christianity is a religion or a relationship. Folks will more often lean to the relationship side and describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" or having a relationship with Jesus but no need of the religion. We chat through these view points and look at portions of James 1, Acts 11, and more.  We discuss this famous spok...

We're back! Or at least, we're trying to be! We've missed podcasting, but in this season of our lives, it takes very intentional time and planning to make it happen. We want to be here, but we can't promise a specific schedule right now. If you're still here, we thank you so much for listening.

On today's episode we discuss one of the books Jono has read in recent months. Henri J. M. Nouwen's "The Wounded Healer" may seem like an odd choice, but Jono talks through how this short book was helpful as a pastor and is a recommended read for others pursuing ministry.

We never meant to take a 9 month break from recording, but here we are, back again! We talk a bit about what we've done and experienced over the last 9 months and a little about the future of this podcast. Mini series/seasons are in the works! But the bulk of our conversation is walking through the timeline of the Covid pandemic in NZ, what our ministry response has been and how it's affected our...

Sometimes we don't have a topic at hand in order to do a deep dive, but we're always reading, thinking and talking. So this is the first episode in an irregular series where we just open our front door as it were, and allow you a glimpse into our conversations.  We talk about reading fiction, preparing to study and preach sermons, and more! We then spend quite a lot of time discussing the top...

We're back! Or at least we hope we're back. And we're talking through the topic of knowing God's will. This is a topic Jono has preached on several times but we find it's a frequent question on people's minds. We hope this episode can encourage you as you walk in the grace and freedom God has blessed you with.  We recommend checking out the Kaisis podcast' especially their episodes on Common...

While the word "lament" is a common one and widely used in even secular contexts, we think it's a discipline that's not practiced as much within the church as we need it to be. Lament is biblical, helpful and even necessary for our journey through the trials of this world. We hope you are encouraged as we talk through Psalm 13 and the issue of how we bring our distress and complaints to the Lord.&...

We began this episode planning to get to our topic, but we ended up just talking. So 7 minutes in we decided to just go for it! Here's a taste of what we talk about. We do share some big news for our family, Jono goes on a bit of a rant and we discuss the book "The Great Sex Rescue" by Sheila Gregoire.  Listen to the interview Theology Gals did with Sheila Gregoire here http://theologygals.co...

Pre-marital counseling has become quite the norm for churched couples seeking to get married. But is it truly essential? Is it actually helpful? We discuss why pre-marital maybe a good idea and how we walk through it with couples, a bit of our own experience with pre-marital, and why relationship, mentoring and even counseling AFTER the wedding is really the most helpful. While there's no perfect...

This episode is part sermon look back and part topical because we've been meaning to do an episode on the subject of SINGING. Specifically, corporate singing. Our foundational passage is Colossians 3:15-16 as we talk though the whys, whats, and weirdness of singing.  Watch the sermon here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAZyWmZYnF0&t=2378s  

Guess who's baaaack?! It's us! Here we are, trying to get back in the podcastinng groove after a busy few weeks. We catch you up on bits of our lives, and then jump into a conversation on leisure, hobbies and the importance of rest amd relaxation. We reference a Crossway article from Shona Murray which can be found here https://www.crossway.org/articles/5-myths-about-leisure/ and also recommend di...

Aaaand we're back! A short break from the podcast due to travel turned into a longer break, but here we are getting back in the groove. We're looking back to 2 sermons ago; Jono's second-to-last sermon in the Gospel Culture series, on the image of God. We both find this topic so mind-blowing and exciting (as you can see from the length of this episode!). We hope this episode gets you thinking, stu...

Let's talk about church discipline.... whew. Really the heart of what we're discussing is restoration, and it fits right in with the rest of the Gospel Culture series Jono has been preaching through. We're not doing a big deep dive in this episode, so we suggest listening to the actual sermon for more in-depth study on the topic, and on the passage (Matthew 18).  Listen to Sunday sermons on h...

Recently some of our church homegroups had a discussion night to talk through the "Four-Fold State of Man" so we thought we'd record an episode on the same topic. We're using Puritan Thomas Boston's (1676-1732) language, and Boston was expounding upon Augustine (354-430). We don't mention any other specific resources, but if you'd like to read Boston's full work , you can find it on Monergism http...

How do we view the Christian life? How do we view our time here between the cross and Jesus' return?  We begin our episode by quickly defining our terms, because "over-realized eschatology" is a mouthful. We then dive in to the ramifications this mindset has for how we view corporate worship, how we live the Christian life and especially how we struggle, and even suffer.  We are immensely thankful...

It's time for another sermon look back! We continue talking through the Gospel Culture series, this time we're touching on Christian liberty. It can be a dicey topic in many circles, and we're not here to give you all the answers. As you listen to/watch the sermon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2sPEiu4mmI and listen to this episode, our aim is that you can study Paul's words in Romans 13 and 14...

In this 2nd part covering Lauren's testimony of growing in faith and doctrine, we try not to get too bogged down in details like the first episode. So consider this a super condensed version of the last 10+ years. We tried to focus on the hope and joy Reformed doctrine has brought as our understanding of the Gospel, grace, the church, and God's character have both expanded and deepened. The Lord h...