As we come nearer and nearer to being able to return to life from our in-home exiles, we are embarking on a new series for the “In Layman’s Terms” podcast focused on rebuilding our communities and strengthening our spiritual disciplines.

Using the stories from the Old Testament history books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the goal is to share stories about how people and churches are preparing to re-engage with their congregations, their communities and with God through their own faith practices.

This first episode in the series sets the stage by taking a brief look at Jewish history and the way people in Jerusalem viewed the foundation being set for the new temple after their return from the Babylonian exile.

Have ideas from your church? Or are you doing something to strengthen your spiritual disciplines? Contact Todd Seifert at tseifert@greatplainsumc.org.

Our country is more divided than ever. We have red states and blue states, and even red and blue congregations. Or do we? Aren’t our congregations really just different shades of purple? The Rev. Dr. Leah Schade joins Todd for a discussion about her book, “Preaching in the Purple Zone,” and how a method she has developed heavily involves the input from laity to help a church determine its response to topics pertinent to our times.

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Oliver Green has been heavily involved in the Great Plains Conference since its inception. As we wrap up Black History Month, Oliver shares his story and what it was like to move into adulthood — as an African-American man — during the Civil Rights Movement.

Oliver shares how the movement of the 1960s is similar to the cries for racial justice that we experience today, what attracted him to leaders like Malcom X and Martin Luther King and what can we do today to move forward on the important topic of racial justice.

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It’s been nine months since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, so Todd Seifert, host of the “In Layman’s Terms” podcast, decided to tell some follow-up stories featuring guests who helped explain the impact of police and other kinds of violence upon people of color in the spring of 2020.

The communications team took it a step further by recording this video of the interview discussions with the Rev. Dee Williamston, superintendent of the Salina and Hutchinson districts, and the Rev. Robert Johnson, lead pastor of Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Wichita, the Great Plains Conference’s largest predominantly African-American church.

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Listen to the audio version.

In the second of a two-part series examining how God calls us to service, Todd shares a reflection from Mark 1 that recounts the way Peter, Andrew, James and John responded to Jesus’ call to follow Him.

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In the first of a two-part series examining how God calls us to service, Todd shares a reflection from 1 Samuel that recounts the call of the prophet who would anoint the first two kings of Israel. As you listen to the episode, consider how God may be reaching out to you.

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This compilation of the Christmas story takes the accounts from Matthew, Mark and Luke — framed in the concept of light coming into the world from John — to tell the story of the birth of Jesus.

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Watch the video presentation. (scroll to the bottom of the page)

In this fourth week of Advent, Todd continues to explore the themes of each week’s candle. This week we light the candle of love. See how Jesus showed love to others and, particularly, to all of us through his sacrifice on the cross. 

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We often think of joy as a feeling we have after a fun activity or an emotion to be felt when we’re among loved ones. But Jesus explained that joy is something much deeper than that. It’s a state of being, an enduring trait. Jesus explains how we find joy and how we maintain it, even amid difficult circumstances.

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In this second episode in a special series during Advent, we explore how Jesus gave us the gift of His inner peace and how that has three very real impacts on our lives. May you embrace inner peace as you listen to this episode.

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