My Church Experience

Very, extra special guest, Crissy Huisjen, Jeff's wife, joins the podcast to talk about growing up in the Lutheran Church, catechism, college ministry, and raising a family in the church while being married to someone in vocational ministry. There's certainly ups and downs and pros and cons that come with faith, but when you're walking through life and faith with someone tied to the ch...

This week special guest Tyler Sugden joins the podcast to talk about his experience as a teen in the church. Following that he addresses the transition from high school into college, into married life, and then into parenthood. He also digs into the intersection of science and faith and the way that's played out in his life and career. The way faith plays out in our lives changes and shifts as...

Special guest, Rob Acker joins Jeff on the the podcast to talk about a life in ministry. From finding rhythms to leading well, and loving the Lord while loving people even when they're hard to love, Rob shares his experiences over a number of decades in the church. There's something to be said for faithfulness and for the depth of experience that one can bring to bear after serving faithfu...

Julia Eigenbrood jumps in as the guest on this episode of the podcast to talk through finding a new faith community after a move. Coming from somewhere where she and her family were deeply rooted to trying to put down roots was a challenge. Even more challenging when the new community didn't and doesn't align fully with everything they'd hoped. At the end of the day, trying to do faith...

One of Jeff's longest and best friends, Aaron Mora steps onto the podcast to talk through his faith growing up and his path into pastoral ministry. Pastoral ministry can be a great joy, but also a great challenge as we seek to love God well personally and publicly while also loving the Church and the church. Navigating through the challenges of faith can be hard enough, but doing so in leaders...

Lizzie VanDorin joins the podcast to talk about what growing up in the church and private, Christian school was like for her. Talking through the ups and downs of navigating personal faith while being so closely connected to organized religion with all of its pros and cons. More than that, how do you navigate belonging to a place where you feel like the people you love might not be welcome? And, a...

Special guest, Reese Wickes, joins the podcast and walks through his faith and experience. Growing up in the church and being very involved then feeling like he was in a place of closet agnosticism before finally coming back. Community has been a huge part of it for him, and still is. But, how do you reconcile when that community frustrates you and lets you down? We all know people are messy and t...

Special guest Rachel Judge joins the podcast and talks through her experience growing up in the church and then finally navigating through making faith her own. From feeling faith was obligatory to now feeling like it's one of the most important parts of her life, Rachel's thoughts and feelings on faith have changed over her life. Sometimes faith can be hard, especially if we grow feeling...

Juliana Nelson joins the podcast to talk about her experience coming to faith and then considering a career in ministry. From an amazing encounter with Christ, to some frustration, and even some hurt, Juls talks through her faith story and where she's at now. Church can be hard, especially the path to vocational ministry. From experiencing deep joy and excitement on one side to unmet expectati...

Special guest Joshua Vicenti joins the podcast to talk through his experience coming to Christ and the Church later in life. From experiencing the life change of the Gospel to growing in a church and experiencing some frustration he walks through his experiences and the ways he seeks to follow after the Lord. The path to Christ, the Church, and finding a church isn't a cookie cutter, one size...

This week Eddie and Sara Gurrola step in as the special guests on the podcast to talk through their individual experiences and stories as well as what it looked like to find a church and a care system together as a married couple. Let's be honest, processing through your individual church experience and story can be challenging. But when you're married bringing together two different exper...

Jeff's brother, Dan Huisjen joins the podcast to talk through his experience and how it impacted his life. Sharing an experience that was very similar to Jeff's and yet landing in a very different place stresses the reality that everyone experiences and processes things differently. Growing up life and faith were very closely knit for Dan, but now what does life after removing faith look like and...

Dave Fleis joins the podcast as a guest to talk about his experiences with faith and the church. From growing up and processing the loss of a parent, it's clear the church's response to him and his mother was lacking. Now, as a parent himself, how has Dave tackled being engaged in faith and the church for his growing family?

What does it look like to create a safe space to have conversations about life, faith, and church? Join host Jeff Huisjen and guest, Taylor Idema (host of The Glory to Glory Podcast), as they discuss why a podcast is a great vehicle for these conversations and what My Church Experience hopes to accomplish and to cover.

Special guest Taylor Idema comes back onto the podcast to talk through her life, faith, and experiences with the church. From growing up in the church, to volunteering, to coming on staff as an intern, Taylor has seen the church from many different angles and brings an interesting perspective as she asks the question "What does it look like to love the church even when it lets us down?"

Special guest Taylor Idema joins the podcast one more time, this time stepping in as the pseudo host as regular host Jeff Huisjen shares some of his own experiences. Growing up in the church, walking away from faith, and now working in vocational ministry, Jeff unpacks some of the joys of ministry as well as some of the frustrations and hardships that come with trying to love the church from withi...