Free Seminary

My special guest for this episode is Mandie Case. He is the founder of Belief Home, a nonprofit established to renovate an orphanage in Ghana and assist the children there to move from surviving to thriving. On this episode of the Free Seminary podcast we discuss an supporting an orphanage, best practices for aiding communities in need, responding to a calling on one's heart, and how atheist and theist can collaborate for the betterment of humanity. You can learn more about Mandie and Belief Home at www.beliefhome.org/

Visit Free Seminary online at www.FreeSeminary.Education 

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Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My special guest for this episode is Rev. Chris Wylie. He is an active advocate for the full inclusion of people living with disabilities. As a person living with cerebral palsy, he is passionate about the radical inclusion of all people no matter the bodies in which they live. Rather than allow his disability to define him Chris took on the persona DJ Pastor Rock and began using his music to support his nonprofit Rolling Nation, which equips vans with handicap ramps. On this episode of the Free Seminary podcast we discuss liberation theology, the invasive nature of the kingdom of God, disabilities, rap, producing new content, and include practical tips you can implement to get your own project started.   You can learn more about Chris and Rolling Nation at https://www.rollingnation.net/ 

Visit Free Seminary online at www.FreeSeminary.Education or check us out on LinkedIn and Facebook (facebook.com/FreeSeminary.Education)

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My special guest for this episode is Heath Hollensbe. He is a brilliant creative artist living in Fircrest, Washington. As a musician, writer, worship leader, and media content creator Heath knows what it takes to engage with artists in the church. Heath has helped produce Grammy award winning albums and personally knows many of your favorite Christian recording artists. On this episode of the Free Seminary podcast we discuss call, the future of the church, why artist are important to faith communities, what is driving them away, and what church leaders can do to bring them back. We include practical tips you can implement to connect with the artists in your community.   You can learn more about Heath and his endeavors at https://www.heathhollensbe.com/ and https://www.themerakiagency.org/ 

Visit Free Seminary online at www.FreeSeminary.Education or check us out on LinkedIn and Facebook (facebook.com/FreeSeminary.Education)

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

Welcome to The Free Seminary Podcast!

The name has changed, this is no longer Vile Methods but we are still going to do something vile. We are giving away free information that will educate, equip, and encourage you to bring your ideas to life.

Vile Methods was part of Dr. Tyler Kaufmann's dissertation project at Portland Seminary of George Fox University where he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree in Future Studies focused on Semiotics, Church and Culture with Dr. Leonard Sweet. As a result of that podcast Tyler began consultation and coaching to help people with the challenges they face in a rapidly evolving society. He witnessed how impactful the concepts and insights he shares are in helping people be who God created them to be, so he decided to expand the podcast. 

Seminary literally means seedbed. A typical seedbed is a nursery where a community of plants is cultivated. Free Seminary is a seedbed community where ideas are freely shared and cultivated to put more love in the world, by bringing your God-given dreams to life. Tyler firmly believes that you have unique gifts to make a unique impact. Free Seminary exist to nurture your gifts and help your impact grow.

This season in addition to interviews with innovative and inspiring leaders, you’ll also benefit from segments and episodes with Practical Tips, Midweek Greek, and Theology 101. All with the goal of encouraging you to get out there and put more love in the world.

Subscribe now Changemaker, so you won’t miss a single episode.

Hosted by Reverend Doctor Tyler Kaufmann

My guest for this episode is Dani Stang. She is a Co-Founder of the Denver branch of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a non-profit that provides beds for low-income children. SHP is a 501c3 charity. In this interview Dani and I discuss the importance of a place to call one's own, addressing basic necessities in poverty, and how care for children can be a preventative measure to keep people out of poverty and homelessness in the future. We also discuss the challenges of running a small non-profit, keeping up with the laundry, and a wonderful place to get margaritas in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. You can learn more about Dani and the work of SHP at https://www.shpbeds.org/chapter/co-denver or by visiting them on Facebook. 

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest again is Pastor Mike Mather. He is a leader in equipping the church to engage in community development. The author of "Having Nothing, Possessing Everything", Mike shares inspirational stories about nudging a faith community to positively impact the neighborhood where they reside. Mike is ordained in the United Methodist Church currently serving as the Senior Pastor at First UMC in Boulder, CO, and a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute housed at DePaul University.

Key Topics and Tips Discussed

1 minutes - Doing Less to Do More

3 minutes - Listen to the Youth! - Learning from the wisdom of 13 and 14 year old entrepreneurs

6 minutes - Letting Go of our desire to control to make way for God's Way

10 min - PARTY with your neighbors!

12 min - NUDGE EVANGELISM - Celebrating the amazing things our congregants and neighbors are doing

17 min - Uh Oh! We're being investigated by the health department

18 min - How poor are you is the wrong question? So what is the correct one?

20 min - Recognizing the Gift of our neighbors with a Roving Listener 

23 min - Importance of Celebrating what's being done

25 min - Discovering Life by letting go of programs and affirming gifts

30 min - Going Rogue with Nude Ushers and Lottery Tickets?

31 min - The trouble with review forms

35 min - How this Changes the common pastoral practices of preaching, weddings, baptisms, etc

40 min - Where to Learn More - The Learning Tree

44 min - Give power away to make more happen.

47 min - !! Round 2 of Would You Rather !!

Due to a tech glitch the episode was delayed. My apologies.

The Learning Tree https://thelearningtrees.com/

You can learn more about Mike and his work at https://fumcboulder.org/meet-rev-mike-mather-our-new-pastor/

https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/Pages/mike-mather.aspx

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest is Pastor Mike Mather. He is a leader in equipping the church to engage in community development. The author of Having Nothing, Possessing Everything, Mike shares inspirational stories about nudging a faith community to positively impact the neighborhood where they reside. Mike is ordained in the United Methodist Church currently serving as the Senior Pastor at First UMC in Boulder, CO, and a faculty member of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute.

Key Topics and Tips Discussed

5 minutes - Making the Mindset Shift from programming to collaboration

12 minutes - Theology of Abundance - “I realized, all the practices in the church around this are built around scarcity, not around God’s abundance. And so the only things I knew how to do were to try to fill empty spaces, rather than to recognize that those spaces I thought of as empty were actually full of something else.”

13 minutes - Pay Attention to, “How [can] we see God’s abundance, where everybody else sees nothing?”

14 min - We discuss why 'Teach a Man to Fish' is still misplaced, and how it keeps us from the gifts of people in the community.

15 min - What Advantage Does the Church Have? - more discussion on theological framing of God’s abundance

17 min - Acting into new ways of Thinking (including the act of asking questions)

18 min - How poor are you is the wrong question? So what is the correct one? 

19 min - Hire a Connector

25 min - What Questions to Ask - John McKnight - 'The Future of Low Income Neighborhoods and the People that Reside There', 10 page survey

26 min - Discovering Gifts

31 min - Strategic Clever Introductions - introducing the congregation to community residents/citizens/collaborators/partners

We had some static on the line. Apologies for that.

You can learn more about Mike and his work at https://fumcboulder.org/meet-rev-mike-mather-our-new-pastor/

https://resources.depaul.edu/abcd-institute/faculty/Pages/mike-mather.aspx

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest is Adam Barlow-Thompson. He is the Co-Founder of Neighboring Movement in Wichita, Kansas where he lives out a calling on his heart to teach people how to be a good neighbor. Adam is ordained in the Great Plains Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Some Key Topics We Discuss

2 minutes - What is asset based community development?

4 minutes - How to Read Your Community.

7 minutes - How to connect with your neighborhood, then the neighborhood where the church building is

9 minutes - How to let go of and grieve ministries that are dead or on life support.

13 minutes - How to do a funeral for an old ministry.

19 minutes - From being faithful to starting a non-profit.

22 minutes - Who is a neighbor? Exactly how "local" do you need to get?

25 minutes - A lesson from my mother.

27 minutes - Practical steps for being a good neighbor and the mechanics of neighboring.

We had some static on the line. Apologies for that.

You can learn more about Adam and his work at https://neighboringmovement.org/

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

Once again, my guest is Laurel O'Connor. She is the Founder and Owner of Affirm Fundraising, a social entrepreneurship that helps people identify their passion, build teams to support it, and raise capital to fund it.  In part 2 of this series we discuss practical steps for gathering resources to make your visions come to life.  We discuss what gets in people's way, asset mapping (minute 16), community inventories, and establishing a calendar. 

The resources we discuss can be found at vilemethods.com

You can learn more about Laurel and her work at https://www.affirmfundraising.com/

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest for this episode is Laurel O'Connor. She is the Founder and Owner of Affirm Fundraising, a social entrepreneurship that helps people identify their passion, build teams to support it, and raise capital to fund it.  In this 2 part series we discuss how groups can benefit their neighborhoods by finding their heart reason (passion) and gather resources to make their visions/dreams come to life.  We also discuss getting out of your own way, dealing with failure, and getting off the horse that can no longer go. You can learn more about Laurel and her work at https://www.affirmfundraising.com/

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest for this episode is Cole Chandler. He is the Co-Founder and CEO of Colorado Village Collaborative (CVC), a non-profit that provides shelter to the unhoused via Tiny Homes.  CVC is a 501c3 charity in Denver, CO focused on helping people transition to stable housing.  In this interview I ask Cole how he got into this work and logistics for making this happen. We also discuss building authentic community across socio-economic boundaries and how Denver's Safe Outdoor Space (government approved Tent Village for the unhoused) came to be. You can learn more about Cole and his work by following him on Twitter and visiting CVC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/covillageco

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest today is the owner and founder of Wagon Coffee Roasters, Tami Canaday. We were connected when her husband, Ryan and I did a fundraiser together to collect thermals for unhoused folks. Tami roasts delicious coffee and employees women in recovery.

We discuss authentic community, making space for spiritual refugees, starting a business for women in recovery, and Denver's best cup of joe. You can learn more about Tami and her work at https://www.wagoncoffeeroasters.com/.

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

My guest for this episode is Logan Robertson. He is connector, mover, and shaker in Denver working to get things done on behalf of our unhoused friends in the metro-area.  On this show Logan and I get real about what it is like to build relationships, especially in uncomfortable situations. At minute 40 we also get into discussing Denver's Safe Outdoor Space, a city approved tent village for the unhoused.

Logan's main gigs are working with Network Coffee House and freelancing with the local Interfaith Alliance. In this show we also discuss Rev. Ryan Taylor's new book "Awkward Spirituality: The Divinity of Ordinary Life" which can be found on Amazon.  You can learn more about Logan and his work at http://www.disembodiedbeard.com/. And more about Network at https://networkcoffeehouse.org/ 

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods 

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter. 

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great royalty free music.

My guest for this episode is Haley Andreadas Vermeer. She is the Community Engagement and Volunteer Coordinator at Dry Bones Denver, a non-profit that provides supportive community among houseless and street connected youth and young adults.  Dry Bones is a 501c3 non-profit.  In this interview I ask Haley what led her to get involved in this work, the challenges of the ministry, and the rewards. We also discuss the trouble with charity workers and social service workers not being able to live where they serve, as well as how that challenge might be addressed. In addition we talk about what it is like to build community with those experiencing homelessness and poverty, and whether a T-Rex or Velociraptor would make a better pet. You can learn more about Haley and her work at https://drybonesdenver.org/.

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great royalty free music.

My guest for this debut episode is Jennifer Kloeppel. She is the Founder and CEO of Showers for All, a non-profit that provides showers and clothes washing to the unhoused.  Showers for All is part of the 501c3 charity, Dignity Project in Denver, CO.  In this interview I ask Jennifer what led her to get involved in this work and 'how do you start a shower truck?' We also discuss work-life balance, ministry with those experiencing homelessness, overcoming shame, and the best ice-cream joint in Denver. You can learn more about Jennifer and her work at https://www.showersforall.org/. 

Visit Vile Methods online at vilemethods.com, on social media @vilemethods or @vilemethodist, and check us out at Facebook.com/VileMethods

Subscribe Now so you won't miss a single nugget of wisdom, fantastic tale, or moment of laughter.

Intro and Outro Music are by royalty free artist Joakim Karud, subscribe and patron him on Patreon to get access to great music.

How do we bridge the divides in society? How do we bring neighbors together to better our communities? What creative methods are being used to make a difference in our world?  The Vile Methods podcast is a weekly interview show where we hear from amazing people leaving church buildings to be the church in the world.  Subscribe so you don't miss a single inspirational moment, nugget of wisdom, or heart warming tale.