Intersect

To learn more about the destruction and rebuilding efforts of Irpin, visit: https://irpinhelp.com

Matt should have started with this question! So, you may want to begin with this episode as you begin the series. In it, Matt: 1) Explores how God's mission and ministry are always growing, 2) Shares some examples of God-sized goals, & 3) Compares God-sized goals to typical church ministry He does this by explaining the historical and modern context of pain and suffering in Ukraine (and by extension, anywhere). At its core, this is a message which invites the church to get out into the world.
https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/the-history-of-the-holodomor/

https://st-sophia.org.ua/en/home/

https://kyivguide.com.ua/park-of-eternal-glory/

https://www.amazon.com/Mr-Jones-James-Norton/dp/B089XVJB9S

This week, Matt visited and interviewed Father Yuriy Kozlovsky, PhD., at Ukrainian (Greek) Catholic University, in Lviv (https://ucu.edu.ua/en/). In this episode, Father Yuriy and Matt talk about the history of the university, its understand of their local martyrs, and how their faith community has always worked to bless the marginalized in their society. Having roots in the 1920's, the seminary which eventually became a university, was pushed underground during the Soviet era, and now continues to educate, inspire, and train the next generation of Ukrainian leaders. All of this takes place on the land which the USSR once held its most western military base, poised to attack key locations in Europe. Father Yuriy celebrates God's victory: a location that was made for war was transformed by God into a institution that works for peace, develops faith, and educates students. In his own words, you will hear how Father Yuriy is motivated by his students and desires to help them be the future leaders of a stronger and healthier Ukraine.

https://youtu.be/0sB5In0CJw0

1. We have our first Leadership Summit on February 11. The conversation will be lead by elder Jennifer Crow! She is amazing. Jennifer and Ben George helped design the conversations. Kudos to them:) The day is open to anyone who has a heart for God's mission in the world, and moving the church forward. Several people from outside our system will be there. To learn more or signup, visit: https://mvpresby.org/leadership-summit/ ; if you can not sign up on line, just send me an email.  

2. Terri Bate is our new Director of Mission Development, her job is to raise funds so that we can call, train, and send local mission partners (missionaries) to work with churches around eastern Ohio. The mission partners will help churches engage and love their communities and emphasize both physical and spiritual care.  To connect with Terri, save her contact information: https://linqapp.com/terri_bate   

3. We firmly believe that every church deserves 3 forms of leaders in this day: a) organizational leaders who can align the work of the church to the mission of God, b) pastoral leaders whose central focus is to equip others, and c) local mission leaders who help congregations love their local communities. One way we do this is through church partnerships. We have one partnership established and are excited that we have 2 others in progress. We are always looking for ways get these forms of leadership in every church, Presbyterian or not.  

4. If you are new to our podcasts, there are a few great podcasts to nourish you and get you up to speed. You can listen through a web browser, or app on your phone.   

The most recent is “Birthing Jesus,” in is a recap of a Christmas sermon I gave at Reedurban Presbyterian Church during Advent: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0SV7lwJc577beJe8aj4UFo?si=jH_4Jn4_TTKY7hTSd9HFdA This message is gentle and encouraging while it calls the church to birth Jesus in the world;   

The second is called “Ministry Pipelines” with Pastor Mike Smith, and is focused on how to reach the masses, serve a subsets, and welcome as many as possible into a Christian community. https://anchor.fm/matt-skolnik/episodes/What-are-your-3-ministry-pipe-lines-e1qcijt/a-a8qoh88 

5. We have changed contact information in the past year, and we are trying to stay in touch better. To save Matt's contact information, follow the link below, and click “save contact,” then “download contact.” Terri's contact information works the same way.  https://linqapp.com/matthew_j_skolnik 

We want to do better at staying in church.  As elders, please sign up for our emails, so you can be up to speed on the exciting things that are going on around the presbytery. Currently, there is a sign up box at the top of our webpage https://mvpresby.org

6.  Finally, we are in a mode of equipping. We have a wonderful training that is designed to help individuals build skills and comfort with praying out loud with and for others. To learn more see: https://mvpresby.org/prayer-lab/ You are welcome to join one of the upcoming Prayer Labs, or work with Matt to schedule one in your area.   

Thanks for everything! Much love, Matt

In this episode Matt and Chip touch base on two recent articles that they published about moving the church beyond an inward focus on Word and Sacrament. Then they wrestle with the 6 goals of the Presbyterian Church, explore how people may turn each inward, and how we can think of each in ways that help us focus on sharing God’s love in the world.

It’s time to rethink Calvin’s definition of “true church," by Matt Skolnik

Word and sacrament as a springboard, by Chip Hardwick

Matt interviews Courtney Brown from Habitat for Humanity. 

Courtney brings knowledge, passion, and love for God’s people. She is all about building homes and communities, not just houses. And she wants as many people as possible to be involved. For Courtney, Habitat for Humanity is not just about swinging hammers. Anyone can get involved. 

All of this points to the reality that from Courtney's perspective, Habitat for Humanity is all about building God’s Kingdom, and this Kingdom is a community.

And, in fact, the need for community the does not end when people settle into their homes.

Courtney shares in this interview, that as we live in a post Christian world and people do not go to church as much as they use to, people get use to be surrounded by Christian community durning builds, but when the build is over, they still desire Christian community that has moved on to the next home.

Does anyone see an opportunity??!?!?! 

To find out how you and your church can help build Christian community, write: matt@intersectpodcast.org

www.intersectpodcast.org

In this episode, Matt interviews Mike Smith, pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church. Mike's church is growing in faith and numbers for many reasons. One of them is that Mike teaches his community to love the masses and individuals. But their church is also growing because Mike is intentionally about reaching out into their local community.

As part of this conversation, Matt asks Mike about his experience in the insurance business and how some of the skills he developed there are helpful in ministry. Together, Mike and Matt explore what it is like to provide easy stepping stones for people to slowly become vital members of the Body of Christ, the church. Matt calls these series of pathways Ministry Funnels or Ministry Pipe Lines. Mike, from the insurance world, calls them leads.

For help developing 3 Ministry Pipelines or Ministry Funnels, write Matt at matt@intersectpodcast.org.

To help train, commission, and send the next generation of Christian leaders, give at www.intersectpodcast.org.

Linda Leon is the Director or Spiritual Formation at Malone University, and has been in college ministry for 30 years! Don't worry Linda! You are eternally 25:)

Linda is a strong pastor who loves her students. Impressively, Linda starts her ministry plan from scratch every 5 years with yearly detailed evaluations. When was the last time you wrote a ministry plan for your church or ministry from scratch?!?!?! Maybe never...

Just as importantly, do you have a ministry funnel or pipeline that lets people outside of your church get to know you? Then do you have a plan to serve them, love them, and welcome them into a Christian community? Can you create a ministry pipeline for college age students? Of course you can!

To learn more from Linda, or to develop a series of ministry pipelines with Matt, write: matt@intersectpodcast.org

This sermon is only an introduction to each of these 5 specific ministries. In future editions, Matt will discuss each of these 5 ministry activities with others. If you would like Matt to come to your church, or a group of churches to teach about how you can more fully live into these ministries, write: matt@intersectpodcast.org

If you want to help train, commission, and send the three key types of leaders who help these ministries unfolded, please give at www.intersectpodcast.org.

In this edition, Matt interviews Pastor Tom Roepke. Tom lives and serves in Richland and Ashland counties in Ohio. Together, Tom and Matt unfold the nature of ministering with men who are incarcerated, and how the church often does not know how to speak and work with men. There is also a brief discussion about what it means to develop a ministry flow that reaches the crowds and helps people funnel themselves into being a vibrant part of a congregation.

To help fund the training, commissioning, and sending of the next generation of Christian leaders, please visit www.intersectpodcast.org. 

To contact Matt, write: matt@intersectpodcast.org

https://www.thehotline.org/

To help Lisa grow a ministry, donate at www.intersectpodcast.org

For statistics: https://www.socialsolutions.com/blog/domestic-violence-statistics/

In this episode, Matt interviews Bert Smith. Together they talk about how Bert shares his dog Allie in a local school. Allie is trained to sit and be a healthy presence to two students at a time as they read to her.  We also learn that Bert shares Allie's love with senior citizens who are home bound.

Bert and Allie got involved in this ministry by the invitation of two 6th grade girls and through www.petpartners.org.

In addition, after the interview Matt speaks to three groups of people at the end of the podcast. Here, Matt encourages individuals to find their unique way to share Christ's love in the world. Matt also invites people who are already sharing Jesus' love in the world to try be trained and commissioned by MVP to be mission partners who help local congregations strategically build relationships in their communities. Finally, Matt invites people to help fund these mission partners.

To give, please visit, www.intersectpodcast.org.

If you want to connect to Matt, you can write: matt@intersectpodcast.org 

Matt interviews Rev. Dr. Juliann Joy, pastor of Central Presbyterian, in Massillon, OH. The interview not only celebrates her new ministry, it also begins to explore Jules’ field of study, which provides a pathway of conversations between sciences and theologies. We also celebrate how Dr. Joy sees ministry unfolding in her new city. She references “Redeeming Fear” by Jason C. Whitehead.  In addition, if you want to learn more about the basics of “Flipping Your Lid” see Dan Siegel, the guru. 

To support the in-place training and commissioning of the next generation of church leaders, please visit: www.intersectpodcast.org