A Plain Account

Jason Buckwalter shares the story of his new ministry opportunity and we walk about how to integrate "my ministry" with "the church's ministry."--On this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, our own Jason Buckwalter talks about the new ministry opportunity that he has accepted. In addition to his responsibilities as pastor at Fulton Heartland Church of the Nazarene, Jason will also be the chaplain of Westminster College. Jason shares this story of how this new ministry came to be, what he’s learned about Westminister, and how he’ll approach his ministry there. We also talk quite a bit about the concept of “my ministry” vs. the “ministry of the church,” and how to better integrate the church and our life together into one cohesive movement of the Kingdom of God.The rundown:Bucky’s new ministry opportunity at WestminsterThe decision-making process of starting a new ministryEthnography at Westminster“Your ministry” vs. “the ministry of the church”Approaching ministry on a college campus

Jessica Hill, chief public policy officer for MOCADSV, talks about domestic violence and how the church can engage with DV agencies and victims.--This week on Sacred & Small, the Jasons were pleased to welcome Jessica Hill onto the podcast. Yes, Jessica is Jason Hill’s wife, but she also has over a decade of work with domestic violence agencies throughout the state of Missouri. Jessica joined the podcast to tell the story of how she got involved in domestic violence advocacy, her leadership of the Safe House of Southeast Missouri, and her new role in public policy with MOCADSV, a statewide coalition of domestic violence service providers.The rundown:Jessica shares her story.Advocacy as a calling (not unlike a call to ministry.)The work of MOCADSV.Domestic violence — the vital informationDomestic violence and the churchWe hope you enjoy this episode! If you or your church are interested in engaging in ministry to victims of domestic violence, or if you think someone in your congregation is experiencing domestic violence, please message us! We would be happy to put you in touch with service providers in your area.

Karl Vaters, author of "Desizing the Church," discusses the impact of the church growth movement on the church and where we go next.---In the second of a two-part conversation, Karl Vaters joins the Jasons to talk about his latest book Desizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What’s Next.The church growth movement has had a monumental influence on the way that pastors and church leaders understand the church, pastoral success, congregational viability, and even the perceived work of the Holy Spirit. Some of it was positive. Much of it was not. In Desizing the Church, Karl Vaters walks through the history and impact of the church growth movement and what it means for small church pastors. This episode should help you better understand how the church growth movement impacts your ministry and your church and discover healthier ways to pursue congregational revitalization that aren’t so dependent upon numbers and statistics.Jason Buckwalter and I, Jason Hill, both highly recommend Desizing the Church for pastors of any size, but particularly for our audience of largely small church pastors and readers! Give it a read! You can pick it up from Amazon or your favorite book seller.

Karl Vaters, author of "Small Church Essentials" and "Desizing," shares the story of his experience with small churches and his ministry toward small church pastors.---On this week’s Sacred & Small podcast, author and speaker Karl Vaters joins the Jasons to share his small church story. Karl is the author of 5 books, including The Grasshopper Myth, and Small Church Essentials. His most recent book, Desizing the Church, addresses the rise of the church growth movement, how it changed the evangelical church’s ecclesiology, and how what comes next.Karl has over four decades of experience ministering in small churches and to small church pastors. In this episode, the first of two with Karl, he shares his call to ministry and his approach to pastoring during the rise of the church growth movement. If you would like to learn more about Karl’s ministry, check out his site - karlvaters.com.Or read his books: The Grasshopper Myth, Small Church Essentials, 100 Days to a Healthier Church, Desizing the Church, and The Church Recovery Guide.

The Sacred and Small Podcast returns with the Jasons as they talk about their summers and how to make the most of the rare quiet seasons in church life.

Missouri District Church of the Nazarene District Superintendent Mike Palmer shares the story of his call and ministry. ---In this week’s episode, Pastor Mike Palmer, District Superintendent of the Missouri District Church of the Nazarene, joins the Jasons to talk about his pastoral journey. Pastor Mike is retiring in the summer of 2025 after 19 years of service in the DS role.In this episode, Pastor Mike and the Jasons talk about Mike’s call to ministry and his experience as an evangelist/revivalist before being elected to the DS position. Revivals and evangelistic gatherings, like the old camp meetings, aren’t as popular as they used to be. We discuss why that is, the important role that experiences play in our greater spiritual life and discipleship, and the ways that churches/districts are filling those gaps today.We are so grateful to have Pastor Mike with us and wish him all the best in his retirement!

Sabbath is a command from God. How do you practice your sabbath rest? Do you incorporate seasons of rest into the life of your church? Let's talk about it!---Sabbath is one of the 10 commandments. But when the week gets busy, it seems like one that pastors — including the two Jasons — too willingly break. In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, the Jasons talk about the concept of sabbath and their personal practices of rest. We then talk about the importance of rest for our congregations, and how we try to work in seasons of rest and recovery for our people.How do you and your congregation practice rest? We would love to hear from you!

Church life seems to build toward this climactic moment at Easter. Anyone else experience a letdown the next week? In both attendance, expectations, and energy? Let's talk about it!---The Easter letdown. The Jasons don’t know who coined the phrase but we have both experienced it.In this episode of the Sacred and Small podcast, the Jasons gather to talk about how their Easter and Holy Week services went, what went well and what didn’t, and what they expect over the next few weeks.Don’t let the Easter letdown get you down! Christ is resurrected. And that’s good news for the church, even when you aren’t having an egg hunt.

Sam Sprunger from Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene is back with the Jasons to talk about the essential liturgical and missional elements of Easter.--Easter is nearly upon us! It’s an important day for pastors of churches of any size. In this episode of the Sacred & Small podcast, Sam Sprunger has a conversation with the Jasons about all things Easter. What is it? What are the essential missional and liturgical elements we include for Easter? How do we approach Holy Week in our churches?Episode Rundown:* What is Easter?* What are the essential elements of Easter?* How are you practicing Easter and Holy Week in your church?

Sam Sprunger from Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO shares his story and the story of his church.---A big part of what we want to do here at Sacred & Small is tell small church stories! In this episode, Sam Sprunger, pastor at Webster Groves Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO, joins us to share his path to ministry and the missional ministry of Webster.Webster’s story is of particular interest to us because our own Jason Buckwalter was a youth pastor there before taking his current senior pastor position at Fulton Heartland. Sam and Jason are able to share the ways that Webster’s culture has changed over the years and how that’s played itself out liturgically and missionally.

Dr. Tiffany Ross and the talk about Lent and the formative place of means of grace during this season.---Dr. Tiffany Ross, pastor at Gateway Church of the Nazarene, joined with the Jasons in the second of their two-part interview. In this episode, the Jasons and Tiffany walk through their understanding of Lent, focusing on spiritual practices called, in Wesleyan circles, the means of grace. The means of grace are transformative in our lives, imparting God’s grace to us, inspiring us to act in faith, and result in grace for ourselves and others. They are the heart of spiritual formation, and the core of what the season of Lent is all about.Episode rundown:What is Lent?Lent and the Means of GraceWhat are the means of grace?How are we practicing the means of grace this season?

Dr. Tiffany Ross from Gateway Church of the Nazarene in St. Louis, MO shares her story and the story of her church.---This week the Jasons were glad to welcome Dr. Tiffany Ross, pastor at Gateway Church of the Nazarene onto the podcast!We follow our ethnographic interviewing strategies to ask her “tell me about…” questions that get to the heart of her call from media production to full-time pastoral ministry. She recently felt called to come to Gateway Naz as their senior pastor, and she shares about that process of transition and what she learned about her people when she arrived.Tiffany will join the podcast for a two-part series that will take us into the season of Lent.Episode rundown:The season of Lent at Sacred and SmallMeet Tiffany RossTiffany’s call to ministryAn ethnographic narrative of Gateway Nazarene

The Jasons continue their exploration of the LASTS method - language, actors/actions, space, time, and symbols.----In this two-part podcast series, the Jasons tackle the LASTS method of participant observation. What is participant observation? It is an immersive ethnographic methodology where you observe a community of people as an active participant within the community. Doing this allows a small church pastor or leader to get a hands-on experience of the culture of a community in action, and helps them better reflect on its embedded theologies and embodied liturgies.In this second of two episodes, Jason Buckwalter observed a selected church worship service from Jason Hill’s church. This service was chosen because it was the first week that Cape Naz was implementing a new system to receive prayer requests.Episode Rundown:Re-introducing the LASTS methodJason B reflects on a special service at Cape Church of the NazareneWe both draw some conclusions about the culture at Cape NazWe consider the LASTS method of participant observation

The Jasons introduce the LASTS Method - Language, Actors/Actions, Space, Time, and Symbols - of participant observation and critically reflect on each other's church cultures.----In this two-part podcast series, the Jasons tackle the LASTS method of participant observation. What is participant observation? It is an immersive ethnographic methodology where you observe a community of people as an active participant with the community. Doing this allows you to get a more hands-on understanding of the culture of a community, like a church, and help you better reflect on it’s embedded theologies and embodied liturgies.Over the next two episodes, the Jasons will watch a selected church worship service from the other’s church, take field notes on what we experience while watching using the LASTS parameters of language, actors/actions, space, time, and symbols, and then reflecting on our experience to try to describe the culture of the church.This is something that any pastor can do in their own context to better understand the values that you express as a church.

Leading people in a church can be an act of mutual submission, discipleship, and pastoral care. Episode Rundown: * A theology of mutual submission. * Leadership in the church. * The volunteer problem in small churches. * Our approach to volunteer management

Church buildings. They're a major investment, a time-suck, and also a place of transformational ministry. Let's talk about facility management! Episode rundown: * Facility maintenance as a percentage of the church’s budget * Current facility issues that we are dealing with * Our approach to facility management * Major renovations & capital campaigns * Dealing with insurance

The Advent and Christmas seasons are over. Tis the season for some reflective criticism on what went well, where the Spirit worked, and what we could change next year. Episode Rundown: * Our Advent themes * Christmas Eve stories * Looking ahead to 2025

Retired Nazarene District Superintendent Kim Smith talks through a lifetime of pastoral lessons learned, both good and bad. --- In our final episode with retired District Superintendent Kim Smith, we talk lessons in pastoral ministry! Kim shares his decades of experience and both positive and negative lessons learned. Episode Rundown: Listening to the Spirit Leading people with relationships instead of pushing them to do what you want Pastoring as an introvert Developing leaders and starting new ministries Inspiring cultural change

Rev. Kim Smith retired as the District Superintendent of Iowa District of the Church of the Nazarene. He's now returning to the pastorate in a small church restart. He shares his story & his approach to intentional missional relationships. --- We’re pleased to have Rev. Kim Smith join with the Jasons for the next two episodes of the Sacred and Small podcast. Kim was a retired District Superintendent in the Church of the Nazarene who has now returned to pastoring, to help a church that was on the verge of closing recover it’s missional vitality. Kim brings decades of pastoral experience and a heart for intentional missional relationships to the conversation. We discuss Kim’s story, missional relationships, and the distinction and necessity of both “attractional” and “missional” outreach in a small church.

Jason & Jason continue their two part series on liminality in the church by talking about the liminal relationship between a church and the community.