The Antioch Podcast

According to recent statistics by CBS News, two zip codes in Houston’s third ward are among the top areas being affected by gentrification in 2018. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/does-gentrification-help-or-hurt-our-major-cities/ This is where we find today’s guest, a missionary from Nigeria to America, Pastor John Eigege. The gentrifying of Houston’s third ward is rapidly changing the neighborhood...

This present moment in America will likely be remembered historically for the many social justice movements springing up in response to the societal ills presently plaguing this nation. Black Lives Matter arose in response to the numerous documented incidents of police violence against people of color. The recent March for Our Lives came about as … Continue reading Episode 38: Pastor Joy Bon...

I joined my multiethnic church in 1990 at the invitation of my high-school art teacher. As an angst- filled teen, she told me that her church was a “good place for hurting people.” As a result, I found a lot of healing, in particular from being mentored by a number of African-American worship leaders whose … Continue reading Episode 37: Retonia Brashier – “A Journey of Awakening....

It is my pleasure to welcome back Rev. Ricardo Tavárez to the Antioch Podcast. Ricardo is an ordained Minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church of North America. He is the pastor of En Vivo Church, a growing multi-ethnic and bilingual (Spanish/English) congregation in the Burton Heights neighborhood of Grand Rapids. He was … Continue reading Episode 36: Rev. Ricardo Tavárez &#821...

It is a great honor today to introduce today’s presenter, Laura Pritchard. Laura is presently the Director of Multicultural Living at Madison Church’s Square Campus. Among her many duties is oversight of the work of the anti-racism team, outreach to the Madison Square neighborhood, and leading worship at Madison Church’s Square Campus. She has mentored … Continue reading Ep...

This latest series of the Antioch podcast is called Worshiping Diversely Together, exploring the themes of multicultural leadership in worship from Sandra Maria Van Opstal’s book “The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World” . For those of you following this series in the book, today’s lecture is based on chapter 7, which talks … Continue reading Episode 34: K...

Welcome to Episode 33 of the Antioch Podcast, a podcast about learning to lead in the multiethnic church. Today we return to our series on Sandra Maria VanOpstal’s book The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World. For those of you who have already purchased a copy of The Next Worship, you may have … Continue reading Episode 33: Rev. Shannon Jammal-Hollemans – “Food...

Welcome to Episode 32 of the Antioch Podcast, a podcast about learning to lead in the multiethnic church. Today’s episode is the second in a series of lectures given at Madison Church’s Square Campus in the spring of 2017 based on the book The Next Worship, by Sandra Maria Van Opstal. This talk, called “Is … Continue reading Episode 32: Pastor James Lee – “Is PB...

Welcome to Episode 31 of the Antioch Podcast! This is the beginning of a six-part series of talks called “Worshiping Diversely Together” inspired by Sandra Maria Van Opstal’s recent book The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World. Van Opstal was our first guest on the podcast, way back in Episode 4. As we’ve … Continue reading Episode 31: Rev. Reggie Smith &#...

Opinions about the rights of LGBTQ people is rapidly changing both in the US and around the world in the past two decades. According to recent data collected by the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life in June 2017 ( http://www.pewforum.org/fact-sheet/changing-attitudes-on-gay-marriage/), “. . . in 2001, Americans opposed same-sex marriage by a margin … Continue reading Epis...

Today’s episode is a recording of a conversation I had with Pastor Brad Knetsch in which he shares his perspective on some of the things he has learned leading a multi-ethnic church as a young, white, male pastor. Pastor Brad serves as the Pastor of Madison Church’s Ford Campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brad loves … Continue reading Episode 29: Pastor Brad Knetsch – “Learning to...

Today on the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast, we are going to explore the story of the African influences on Martin Luther, the Father of the Protestant Reformation. We will talk with Dr. David Daniels III, the Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. For those of you who want … Continue reading Episode 28: Dr. David Daniels III &#82...

On today’s episode, entitled “The Trauma of the Doctrine of Discovery”, we catch up with Christian speaker and Native American activist Mark Charles. In this conversation, Mark shares his thoughts about the intersectionality of his activism and his Christian faith, particularly around creating a common memory when it comes to the how colonization and Christianity … Continue readi...

On September 6, 2017, a fascinating study on religion in the United States was released. The study, conducted by PRRI (the Public Religion Research Institute), was entitled America’s Changing Religious Identity. The researchers, Daniel Cox, Ph. D., Robert P. Jones, Ph. D., open the report by saying: The American religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. White Christians, once &#...

Exactly one-hundred years ago, on October 6, civil-rights activist, worship leader, and philanthropist Fannie Lou Hamer was born. This episode celebrates the life of Fannie Lou, the “woman who sings the hymns,” whose life and music continue inspiring activists and worshipers alike in the 21st Century. In the second half of the episode, we shine … Continue reading Episode 25: Fann...

Pastor Joy Bonnema is the Campus pastor of Madison Church: North Campus – a four-year-old multiethnic church plant on the NE side of Grand Rapids, MI. She has a PhD. in Immunology from Mayo Graduate School. She taught biology at Calvin College for 10 years before transitioning into full-time parish ministry. She was ordained as … Continue reading Episode 24: Joy Bonnema – “Being...

This episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcasts is an interview with my friend, Pastor Reggie Smith. Pastor Reggie is the Director of the Offices of Race Relations and Social Justice for the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He advises churches, and organizations, on cross-cultural and urban ministry. He has written extensively through devotionals, articles, book reviews, …...

This is a remix episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast of Jemar Tisby’s presentation “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Christian Complicity with Racism and the Imperative for Immediate Action,” given at 1 Charleston 2017 and orriginally shared on the Pass the Mic Podcast on July 10th, 2017. Jemar Tisby is a former school teacher … Continue reading Episode 22: “Th...

Eric Nykamp is the Director of Worship Design at Madison Church’s North Campus, the Director of the Antioch Worship Leadership Trainings for all of Madison Church’s campuses, and the producer of this podcast.  He also is worship leader and speaker, giving talks on using visual art as a method of prayer, utilizing drum circles in … Continue reading Episode 21: “Worshiping Wh...

Ekemini Uwan is a bold and insightful theologian, and perhaps now is best-known as one of the three co-hosts of the thought-provoking podcast “Truth’s Table”, which is highly recommended listening for every Antioch Podcast fan.  It is a privilege to have been able to remix and share her talk “The Fall: How did we get … Continue reading Episode 20: Ekemini Uwan – “The Fall: How Di...

Darrell Delaney, who asks to go by “Pastor Darrell”, is the Campus Pastor of Madison Church’s Square Campus. He has a deep love of learning, and holds degrees from many of the predominant colleges and seminaries in the Reformed tradition: Kuyper College, Calvin Seminary where he earned his Masters of Theology, and Western Theological Seminary … Continue reading Episode 19: Pastor...

In this episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast, Eric and Attah are joined by fellow Madison Church staff member, Jermale Eddie, to discuss the article “A Negro’s Guide to Surviving a White Cookout” by Sharhonda Knott Dawson. At first glance, this article may seem farfetched from any discussion about worship or community life in … Continue reading Episode 18: Barbecue

Joella Ranaivoson is the Associate Chaplain of Upper Class Students at Calvin College, her alma mater. She is a native of Madagascar, but was raised in Papua New Guinea, the US, and Kenya. The world, its cultures, and the global church are among her loves. She completed her Master of Divinity at Calvin Seminary (she’s clearly fond … Continue reading Episode 17: Self-Care and Sabbath –...

They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.” – Matthew 13:57, from the World English Bible To many, Mark Charles speaks with the voice of a modern-day prophet, bringing the unvarnished word of God to the Christian … Continue reading Episode 16: Mark Charles – “The Temptation...

Nate Glasper is the highly-talented director of worship at Grace for the Nations Church and the director of the Gospel Choir at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Nate also writes, records, and performs his own music in addition to attending Calvin Theological Seminary. As a sought-after choir director and worship leader, he was kind … Continue reading Episode 15: Building Bridges Through W...