The “In Layman’s Terms” podcast concludes its series on re-emerging from our in-home exiles with a look at how we can reshape our communities to more closely resemble the Kingdom of God. A key part of that effort likely is justice ministries.

Host Todd Seifert, conference communications director, interviews the Rev. Sarah Marsh, the new coordinator for mercy and justice ministries. They talk about the difference between mercy ministries and justice ministries, and they discuss the partnership the conference has with two organizations that are building grassroots community organizing efforts across Kansas and Nebraska.

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In this special video episode of “In Layman’s Terms,” host Todd Seifert talks with Dr. Socorro de Anda and Rev. Larry Moffet about the Lydia Patterson Institute. LPI is a ministry of education and discipleship for kids along the border of El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico.

The episode also celebrates Dr. de Anda’s 37 years at LPI and the legacy of excellence and hope for brighter futures that she leaves behind.

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• You can learn more about LPI by going to its website: 
  https://lpi-elpaso.org/.

The re-engagement series continues with an interview with the Rev. Stephanie Ahlschwede, lead pastor at St. Paul United Methodist Church in the Benson neighborhood of north Omaha. She and Todd talk about the things St. Paul tried as a means of staying connected to its community and parishioners and how some of those efforts are now so ingrained into the church that they will remain long after the pandemic is over.

In this episode, Stephanie references several videos you may want to check out for yourselves:

• Pianoside Church.
• The online children’s Christmas pageant.
• Provide a devotion or sermon by phone.

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We continue our look at re-engaging our faith by examining how we read the Bible. In this episode, Rev. Jeff Goetzinger from the Hutchinson area and Todd talk about their different strategies for reading through the Bible in 365 days.

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Continuing with the theme of re-engaging our faith and communities after the pandemic, Calvary United Methodist Church in Wichita serves as an example of how preparation and flexibility can keep people connected to each other and, most importantly, to God.

Rev. Michael Marion and Rev. Ashely Prescott Barlow Thompson sit down with Todd to talk about how the pandemic forced them to make decisions and how the congregation is adapting even 13 months after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

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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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