New Way

The Rev. Karen Rohrer is a theologian and Director of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Church Planting Initiative where she teaches and mentors fortunate cohorts on how to be wise, thoughtful, and relevant leaders. In this conversation, Karen and host Sara Hayden give a shout out to all the pastors who had to scramble this year once COVID hit, and how the pace has not stopped since March, alm...

The Rev. Karen Rohrer is a theologian and Director of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary’s Church Planting Initiative where she teaches and mentors fortunate cohorts on how to be wise, thoughtful, and relevant leaders. In part one, the strange freedom realized when someone puts ashes on your forehead and reminds you of your own mortality. What does it mean to be mortal? What does it mean to give...

The Rev. Carlton D. Johnson is an elder of the First Afrikan Presbyterian Church (Lithonia, Georgia), and heads up the Vital Congregations initiative of the Presbyterian Mission Agency . A native of Atlanta, throughout his life he has maintained an intimate concern for the disenfranchised among the people of God; especially young African-American males. He has not only worked diligently in the out...

The Rev. Carlton D. Johnson is an elder of the First Afrikan Presbyterian Church (Lithonia, Georgia), and heads up the Vital Congregations initiative of the Presbyterian Mission Agency . A native of Atlanta, throughout his life he has maintained an intimate concern for the disenfranchised among the people of God; especially young African-American males. He has not only worked diligently in the out...

The Rev. Ray Bowden celebrates his 96th Christmas this year. In this episode, reflections on life; human solidarity; and a special Christmas reading.

Host Sara Hayden is joined by a very special guest, her own first-born son, Samuel, who is seven years old this Christmas. Sam’s three-year old brother Ben, who makes a brief appearance. In this episode, what Christmas means this year; the prayers of a child’s heart; plus a few favorite holiday books make an appearance; and some ideas about how you might decorate in a pinch this year, even if you...

The Rev. Chris Romine is the pastor of The Common Ground Church in New York City. In part two, what it means for God and humans to be interdependent; own limitations and vulnerability, particularly this season; and Chris’ appreciation for horror movies, and what that has to do with the gospel.

The Rev. Chris Romine is the pastor of The Common Ground Church in New York City. In part one, how this year has been especially vindicating for Enneagram 8’s; the good - and bad - of how the TV show The West Wing ties up everything neatly at the end of each episode, and juxtaposing that with Advent scripture texts; also, meditations on Franz Kafka.

The Rev. Becca Blake is the co-founder of Beacon Church in the Kensington/Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia as well as a pastor at Pine Street Presbyterian Church . On this episode, God showing up as a baby in a stable, Mary's so-called birth plan being disrupted; an introduction to the discipline of imagining ourselves in that first Christmas Story, and the practice of linking that story...

Rabbi Elizabeth Bonney-Cohen is co-convener of a new congregation known as Base BSTN. A convert to Judaism, she serves as the Assistant Rabbi and Director of Innovation at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA. Elizabeth was ordained from Hebrew College and completed her Master of Divinity degree as Yale Divinity School ’s William Sloane Coffin, Jr., scholar. In part two, a child's fa...

Rabbi Elizabeth Bonney-Cohen is co-convener of a new congregation known as Base BSTN. A convert to Judaism, she serves as the Assistant Rabbi and Director of Innovation at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, MA. Elizabeth was ordained from Hebrew College and completed her Master of Divinity degree as Yale Divinity School ’s William Sloane Coffin, Jr., scholar. In part one, spiritual longin...

The Rev. Miriam Mauritzen is pastor of  Serious JuJu  in Kalispell, Montana. Serious JuJu is a New Worshiping Community of young people - mostly skateboarders - many who live life on the edge of support and trauma.  This episode is part of three special episodes of New Way produced for the Montreat Rethinking Evangelism .

DeAmon Harges  has one of the best titles in the church or academy: Roving Listener. He is on the faculty of the  Asset Based Community Development Institute , and is one of the most influential people in the city of Indianapolis, where he neighbors, works, and lives. This episode is part of three special episodes of New Way produced for the Montreat Rethinking Evangelism .

The Rev. Libby Tedder Hugus is pastor and organizer of  The Table , a New Worshiping Community in Casper, Wyoming. She is also a wife, mama, coach, and the co-author of the book  Marks of the Missional Church . This episode is part of three special episodes of New Way produced for the Montreat Rethinking Evangelism .

Ashley Nora is a self-taught, incredibly talented painter, muralist, and mother. She recently joined seventeen other Indianapolis-based Black artists to create the Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue in downtown Indianapolis. In part two, the public defacing of the Indianapolis Black Lives Matter mural; the artists’ decision-making process around whether or not to cover up the vandalism; an...

Ashley Nora is a self-taught, incredibly talented painter, muralist, and mother. She recently joined seventeen other Indianapolis-based Black artists to create the Black Lives Matter mural on Indiana Avenue in downtown Indianapolis. In part one, the gift faith from Ashley’s grandmother Nora; white privilege; going high when others go low; and how the same stuff that happens in the world is right s...

The Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz is a writer, thought leader, educator, and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) . She is also the Assistant Dean of Admission, Vocation, and Stewardship at Vanderbilt Divinity School . In part two, all about worship and justice; imagining more honesty and transparency in the church; worshippers’ complaints when another language dares to emerge in the...

The Rev. Laura Mariko Cheifetz is a writer, thought leader, educator, and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) . She is also the Assistant Dean of Admission, Vocation, and Stewardship at Vanderbilt Divinity School . In part one, the difference between race and racial identity, and why that's important; why people of faith should deal with inconvenience and hard things for the...

Kosha Tucker is a Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Georgia’s Smart Justice Campaign , an initiative to end mass incarceration and reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining the ACLU, Kosha worked for six years as an Attorney at the Dekalb County Public Defender’s Office in Georgia, where she represented children and adults charged with misdemeanor and felony offenses...

Kosha Tucker is a Staff Attorney with the ACLU of Georgia’s Smart Justice Campaign , an initiative to end mass incarceration and reduce racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Prior to joining the ACLU, Kosha worked for six years as an Attorney at the Dekalb County Public Defender’s Office in Georgia, where she represented children and adults charged with misdemeanor and felony offenses...

Zeena Regis is a Decatur, Georgia, based hospice chaplain and grief recovery specialist. Zeena is an expert at holding space at the end of life, one of the most sacred aspects of spiritual care and most life-giving and transformative ways of pastoring somebody. In this conversation, being a Black woman in chaplaincy; racial inequality in the healthcare system; and what allyship looks like.

The Rev. Jake Medcalf is no stranger to new ways of being church. Even in this pandemic, the ministry he is a part of continues to adapt and find new ways to support and join neighbors in building meaningful connections that, in some cases, quite literally have saved lives. He is a founder of Urban Life Ministries of San Diego , and a coach within our 1001 New Worshiping Communities Movement . In...

The Rev. Jake Medcalf is no stranger to new ways of being church. Even in this pandemic, the ministry he is a part of continues to adapt and find new ways to support and join neighbors in building meaningful connections that, in some cases, quite literally have saved lives. He is a founder of Urban Life Ministries of San Diego , and a coach within our 1001 New Worshiping Communities Movement . In...

The Rev. Gad Mpoyo was born and raised in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He is the Pastor and founder of Shalom International Ministry in Clarkston, Georgia, perhaps the most ethnically diverse city in the United States. He also serves as Southeast Associate for New Worshiping Communities . In this conversation, growing up in the Congo; how political changes there forced him to stay at home for...

The Rev. Emily Scott has pastored not one, but two new churches: St. Lydia’s Dinner Church in Brooklyn, and now The Church of Dreams and Visions in Baltimore. A Lutheran (ELCA) pastor, Emily believes that Christian practice holds out rich possibilities that call us to reach out across boundaries in love, to learn through discomfort, and to build relationships that bring God’s realm close. On this...