Claim OwnershipChurch is Changing
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We bring you stories of hope and resilience from leaders around the world who are engaging the gospel message in new ways. We interview thought leaders who bring wisdom about the changing cultural landscape and its implications for faith formation. If you are a church leader looking for practical ideas and new ways of approaching church in the 21st century, this podcast is for you.
About the Hosts:
Beth Estock
After serving as a United Methodist pastor in a variety of settings in Georgia and Oregon, and then as Director of New Faith Community Development in the Oregon and Idaho conferences of The United Methodist Church, Beth Estock wanted to help big-hearted leaders have impact without exhaustion. She is a Master Certified Integral Coach™ as well as a meditative yoga instructor. Her contemplative sensibilities and integral approach inform her coaching work with leaders all over North America and the United Kingdom.
She has written two books, Weird Church: Welcome to the 21st Century and Discernment: Spiritual Practices for Building a Life of Faith. You can find out more about her at www.bethestock.com
Paul Nixon
Paul Nixon is Director of Church Multiplication for Discipleship Ministries, an agency of The United Methodist Church. He has served as a Director of Church Development for an annual conference, served as a church planter, and coached scores of innovative leaders across the last quarter century. Paul is the president of Epicenter Group, a coaching organization currently focused on ministry in North America and the United Kingdom. Paul has written eleven books – including a joyful collaboration with Beth Estock in 2016 as they released Weird Church: Welcome to the 21stt Century. His most recent book is Launching a New Worship Community: A Field Guide for the 2020s, co-authored with Craig Gilbert and twelve ministry innovators. You can find out more about him at www.epicentergroup.org.
About the Hosts:
Beth Estock
After serving as a United Methodist pastor in a variety of settings in Georgia and Oregon, and then as Director of New Faith Community Development in the Oregon and Idaho conferences of The United Methodist Church, Beth Estock wanted to help big-hearted leaders have impact without exhaustion. She is a Master Certified Integral Coach™ as well as a meditative yoga instructor. Her contemplative sensibilities and integral approach inform her coaching work with leaders all over North America and the United Kingdom.
She has written two books, Weird Church: Welcome to the 21st Century and Discernment: Spiritual Practices for Building a Life of Faith. You can find out more about her at www.bethestock.com
Paul Nixon
Paul Nixon is Director of Church Multiplication for Discipleship Ministries, an agency of The United Methodist Church. He has served as a Director of Church Development for an annual conference, served as a church planter, and coached scores of innovative leaders across the last quarter century. Paul is the president of Epicenter Group, a coaching organization currently focused on ministry in North America and the United Kingdom. Paul has written eleven books – including a joyful collaboration with Beth Estock in 2016 as they released Weird Church: Welcome to the 21stt Century. His most recent book is Launching a New Worship Community: A Field Guide for the 2020s, co-authored with Craig Gilbert and twelve ministry innovators. You can find out more about him at www.epicentergroup.org.
160 Episodes
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In this episode Paul Nixon interviews Isaiah Park, the newest member of the Path 1 team. In a wide-ranging conversation, they discuss (among many topics) the nature of evangelism in the 21st century, the idea of “attractional church,” and partnering with the Holy Spirit.
Paul and Isaiah are working together to offer the revised Launchpad training this winter for teams starting new ministries and churches.
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews John Jones who leads Shared Plate, a food ministry based in a local church in Southern California. We explore how participants, volunteers, and the host church are experiencing transformation in connection with this ministry.
In this episode, we dive into one of the most powerful intersections of faith and justice today: the movement to repurpose underutilized church land for deeply affordable housing. Our guest, Rev. Julia Nielsen, is a leading voice and practitioner helping congregations navigate the complex—and sacred—work of turning their property into homes for those in need.
Julia walks us through the step-by-step process of developing housing on church land, shares the common roadblocks and myths that hold churches back, and offers practical advice for communities just beginning to explore this path. She also casts a bold, hope-filled vision for the future of this ministry—and why it matters now more than ever.
Whether you’re a church leader, a housing advocate, or simply someone longing to see faith communities respond to the housing crisis with love and imagination, this conversation will inspire and equip you.
In this episode, Beth Estock sits down with renowned church consultant and coach Kay Kotan to talk about the evolving landscape of local church funding. From declining tithes to rising creativity, Kay shares trends she’s seeing across the country and practical ways churches can adapt. They explore topics like revitalization, empowering lay leaders, and the importance of clarity and accountability in shaping a sustainable future. Whether you're a pastor, lay leader, or simply curious about what’s next for the church, this conversation is packed with wisdom and hope.
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews Stacey Piyakhun, Director of Multiplication for Horizon Texas Conference. Their conversation focuses on the ways that church planting is morphing in the 2020s.
What does it take to turn a declining church into a thriving center of love, justice, and belonging? In this episode, host Beth Estock sits down with Rev. Jane Voigts, pastor of United Methodist Church of Palm Springs. Since 2018, Jane has guided her congregation through a remarkable season of renewal – launching life-giving ministries like weekly hot meals, an affordable housing project, and vibrant small groups that deepen connection and spiritual growth.
Jane shares how she has cultivated a culture of hope and engagement in the heart of the desert through a comedic lens. This conversation is full of practical wisdom and deep encouragement for anyone longing to reimagine what the church can be.
The episode ends with a heartfelt blessing for all who are walking the path of transformation in their own faith communities hopefully with a caftan.
This week on Church is Changing, we talk with Amber Baker – a pastor, spiritual director, and Dinner Church pioneer in Morgantown, West Virginia. Amber has started five dinner churches around Morgantown, each unique but all are LGBTQIA+-affirming communities of seekers. This collective includes firefighters, people in recovery, strippers, and folks carrying church hurt – all around the simple power of shared meals and Jesus’ stories. She’s reimagining faith in bold and hopeful ways. Don’t miss this conversation about courage, creativity, passion and what church can become.
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews Rodrigo Cruz, executive assistant to the bishop in the Georgia Episcopal Area. Our topic is ministry with immigrants in America in a time of deportation without due process. This is a powerful conversation.
What if the unraveling we see in the institutional church isn’t a problem to fix — but a sacred invitation to a new way of being? In this deeply honest and hopeful episode, host Beth Estock is joined by three extraordinary women — Elaine Heath, Angie Wolle, and Rebecca Przybylski — for a soulful conversation about the shifting landscape of Christian leadership and the emergence of the Divine Feminine in this time of disintegration, grief, and profound transformation.
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews Joe Graves, pastor and planter of Cityview Church in Columbus, Ohio about the new face of urban church planting and the adventure of merger with a host church in its last stage of life.
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews the church development directors of Baltimore Washington and Western North Carolina Conferences of the UMC: Bill Brown and Rob Hutchinson. The topic: the changing signs of church vitality in the 2020s and what should we now measure?
In this episode, Paul Nixon interviews Anne Borsage of South Georgia about how the Spirit is moving in Methodism in the Deep South, after half the churches in the area disaffiliated. The surprise in her answer is a wave of new house churches!
In a time of deep division, the unraveling of our national institutions, and the undeniable uncertainty within our congregations, how do we, as Christian leaders, stay rooted in the way of Jesus – and hold fast to our prophetic witness?
Today, we’re honored to be joined by Rev. Donna Claycomb Sokol – a wise, courageous, and deeply spiritual pastoral leader serving at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church in the heart of Washington, D.C. From the shadow of the Capitol, she brings us stories of hope, challenge, and what it means to lead with both conviction and grace in a city where faith and public life constantly collide.
To learn more about Donna and her ministry, visit mvpumc.org.
In this episode of Church is Changing, Paul Nixon explores the ways that AI is rapidly changing the way we go about ministry. He interviews Pastor Tom Arthur of Sycamore Creek UMC in Lansing, Michigan, along with Tom's friend and tech resource David Smith. This is one of Paul's favorite conversations. So amazing are the potential applications for helping us with our work, from preaching to ministry design.
Are you feeling stuck? Are the things that used to work no longer working? Are you questioning the future of the church as we know it? Then this conversation is for you!
Listen in on this conversation from Portland, Oregon – a post-Christendom area of the United States that is a harbinger for the rest of the country in terms of the changing landscape of the church.
Erin Martin left her role as a DS in the Portland Metro area to serve a local church during Covid lockdown. She shares how immersing in the grief of a dying institution led her to new life for herself and her local congregation.
You can find out more about Fremont UMC at fremontumc.org
In our conversation Erin refers to 2 books:
• Jesus, Jubilee, and the Politics of God’s Reign by Christian T. Collins
• Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
In this episode of Church is Changing, Paul Nixon interviews the Rev. Katie Philips of The Vine UMC in northern Virginia. The Vine is host of a monthly gathering called Improv Church, using improv comedy as a vehicle for celebrating Gospel. Beyond this particular program of the Vine, the larger focus of this conversation is about Ministry as improv – or what Katie calls improv theology. For more about the topics explored, check out Katie's website improvtheology.com.
What is possible with twelve elderly people in an old church building? Listen to this conversation with Wayne Grewcock, who led this group of bright-eyed people to reimagine sacred community online. Listen to Shoreline’s origin story and the impact this ministry is having as it ripples out on multiple platforms.
Click here to learn more about Shoreline Methodist Community: https://www.facebook.com/shorelinemethodistcommunity
Dan Pezet is district superintendent in Charlotte, North Carolina, with urban, suburban, and rural churches. Paul Nixon considers this district a microcosm of American Methodism east of the Rockies. In this episode, Paul poses many of the same questions to Dan that he and Beth Estock explored in the year end episode of 2024. This is a conversation about emerging trends in American congregational life.
In this final episode of 2024, Church is Changing hosts Paul Nixon and Beth Estock reflect on trends and issues of parish ministry that marked the year now ending.
In this episode, host Paul Nixon interviews two young German United Methodists, Samuel Lacher and Moritz Mosebach. Samuel and Moritz reflect on shifts happening in German Methodism that are leading to more success in engaging young adults. The key is a re-emphasis on encounter – an idea as old as the Gospels and prominent in evangelism theory across the ages.
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