The Antioch Podcast

Today is the first episode in what will be a chapter-by-chapter book study by the Antioch team of Jemar Tisby’s must-read history of the American church The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism. Every episode, the multi-racial Antioch team gathers around a table, turns on the mics, and talk … Continue reading Episode 64: The Color of Compromise &#82...

From time to time, those of us on the Antioch Podcast may share something from our individual professional lives: perhaps a speech, an article, or a story that has relevance to Biblical Anti-Racism. Today, is one of those episodes where this time I am going to share something. This is an article I’ve been writing … Continue reading Episode 63: Eric Nykamp – What Does It Mean to “...

The staff at Madison Church regularly share articles with each other about diversity and the church. These articles shape conversations about how the church is run and how decisions are made. One article that church staff have continued to talk about ran in the May 2016 issue of Christianity Today entitled “Can People of Color … Continue reading Episode 62: An Antioch Encore – “M...

Last episode we introduced Libby Huizenga as a new member of the Antioch Roundtable, and this episode I want to introduce another new member to the table, Susie Dixon. Susie carries title of Director of Reaching In at Madison Church’s Square Campus, a church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and also is a member of Madison … Continue reading Episode 61: Susie Dixon – “What Started Your...

I’ve heard it said that commitment to anti-racism is like a conversion experience. For white people, the conversion often is a lengthy process of re-examining the internalized narratives we have learned from history and society that tell us that we are superior, and a commitment to be taught by – and advocate in partnership with … Continue reading Episode 60: An Antioch Roundtable: &#8...

This encore edition of the Antioch Podcast was originally recorded in 2016, though the introductory essay was updated for this 2019 release. Sam Salguero is a children’s worship leader at a small Spanish-speaking church in the West Michigan area. In this interview, she shares about the multi-ethnic worship culture of her Hispanic congregation, sharing about … Continue reading Episode 59: An...

A few episoes back, episode 51 to be exact, we heard from Adam Edgerly, the pastor of Newsong LA with his sermon Third Culture People delivered at Madison Church’s North Campus. This is a follow up message, shared at Madison Church’s Square Campus, builds on the heels of this precious message, with the title of … Continue reading Episode 58: Adam Edgerly & Viviana Cornejo – “Third...

This Encore episode of the Antioch Podcast goes back to our first years when we were known as the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast. It was during this time that we came to the realization that justice and anti-racist principals are intrinsic aspects of leadership in multiethnic communities, religious or otherwise. In this episode, Dr. John … Continue reading Episode 57: An Antioch Encore &...

This is a long-overdue episode of the Antioch Podcast, in memory of my recently departed friend and Historian of Chinese Christianity, Daniel H. Bays, PhD. Dan was one of the preeminent Asia scholars in the United States, specializing in the Church in China. After he earned his BA in history from Stanford, Bays would go … Continue reading Episode 56: Jan & Dan Bays – “A Life...

Today’s episode Pastor Reggie and I try to answer listener questions that some of you emailed us about the City Within a City series. But before we get to those, we have a couple of announcements to make: First, if you haven’t rated and reviewed us on Facebook and Apple Podcasts, would you take a … Continue reading Episode 55: “A City Within a City” – Listener Questions.

This episode of the Antioch Podcast is a continuation of our discussion of the book “A City Within a City: the Black Freedom Struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan.” This episode, entitled “Where do we go from here?” contrasts the responses of three influential African Americans to the uproar over integration of the Public Schools in … Continue reading Episode 54: “A City Within A City&#82...

With this episode we are returning to the City Within A City series which chronicles the black freedom struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This episode, entitled “A Black Child’s Burden”, tells the story of how busing was implemented and resisted, in the attempt to achieve a racial balance in Grand Rapids Public Schools. Pastor Reggie … Continue reading Episode 53: “A City Within A Cit...

Today’s episode of the Antioch Podcast is titled EMPIRE AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD: A Power Analysis of the Temple and the Contemporary Church, comparing the center and margins of power from the past to the present. Using a power analysis is a useful way to learn who serves and is served by systems and … Continue reading Episode 52: Empire and the Kingdom of God – “A Power Analysis o...

This episode of the Antioch Podcast features Pastor Adam Edgerly, and his message “Third Culture Calling” which he gave at Madison Church’s North Campus earlier this month. Adam Edgerly is an interculturalist and the CEO of Culture Consultants, working to help senior executives achieve peak performance through executive coaching and leadership training. He also has … Contin...

On this episode of the Antioch Podcast, we will be exploring the rise of black youth protest in Chapter 4 of A City Within A City. For those of you just joining us, we have been looking at the black freedom struggle in Grand Rapids, Michigan from the first Great Migration to the present. Grand … Continue reading Episode 50: “A City Within A City” – The Mustache Saga

This episode of the Antioch Podcast is a deep dive into how the process of redlining affected people living in Grand Rapids. Redlining, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, refers to the “red lines” drawn by the Home Owner’s Loan Corporation on Residential Security Maps indicating the desirability of neighborhoods. These … Continue reading Episode 49: “A City Within A Cit...

This episode is an interlude between the chapters of the City Within a City series. We will return to Chapter 3 in the next episode of the Antioch Podcast. Chapter 3 tells the story of how redlining affected people in Grand Rapids, Michigan. So before we tell this story, we will hear the stories of … Continue reading Episode 48: Jackson Beelen & Natalie Wierenga – “The City...

This episode we will go in-depth into chapter 2 of the book City Within a City by Dr. Todd E. Robinson, entitled Citizen’s Action: Managerial Racism and Reform Politics. This chapter covers the decades of the 1940’s and 50’s when the Republican Party, city government, and local business mixed their influences in managing the city … Continue reading Episode 47: “A City Within A City&#82...

Racism is not, and never has been, a monolithic abstraction. It has roots, stories, and histories. Racism has a geographical signature because places shape the way racism is expressed and experienced. These signatures look different from place to place, in spite of some similar generalities. For example, racism in rural communities looked different from racism … Continue reading Episode 46:...

The Antioch Podcast was initially conceived as a podcast of recorded conversations among friends and leaders at Madison Church – the multi-site church who hosts our podcast – about learning to lead in multiethnic churches. We started making these recordings in the autumn of 2016 with a team of three leaders, completely unaware of what … Continue reading Episode 45: An Antioch Rou...

The indigenous nations that originally populated North America now make up approximately 2% of the US population (1) and 4% of the Canadian Population (2) . Two-thirds of aboriginal Canadians remain with the Christian church despite the fraught history (3). 10% of Native-Americans in the United States call themselves Christians (4). The story of how … Continue reading Episode 44: Indigenous...

This is the second episode on our two-episode mini-series on Racial Identity Development. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to the first episode yet, go back and listen to Episode 42. Every leader who is serious about addressing racism in the church must start with understanding his/her own racial identity. This goes deeper … Continue reading Episode 43: Stacia Hoeksema & Jevo...

Every leader who is serious about addressing racism in the church must start with understanding his/her own racial identity. This goes deeper than just knowing what racial categories they identify with, it is about knowing how those racial labels have affected our people groups and ourselves. The power of racism affects us all, whether we … Continue reading Episode 42:Stacia Hoeksema &...

I’m getting ready to leave to go on vacation. Probably some of you will also be planning some kind of trip over the summer where you won’t be at your home church. If you are fortunate enough, you might want to visit another church to see how they worship as a part of your trip. … Continue reading Episode 41: Eric Nykamp – “Vacation, Community and the Church.”

My wife and I consider ourselves to be fortunate in life because we have been well-loved by numerous people who deeply impacted our lives. Most of us long for this kind of transformative connection with people. We are fortunate when we find people whom we can relate to, people we can be unapologetically ourselves with … Continue reading Episode 40: We Talk Different – “Transforma...