An Incomplete Field Guide to Ministry

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware reflect on some of the challenges and opportunities facing institutions, professors, and students within theological education today. How do we adjust to the economic and financial realities of current students? Do we imagine theological education as mainly vocational or mostly formational? Please note that this episode was recorded bef

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware finish the series on Overwhelm, centering our inherent gifts and capacities in the face of a lie that we will never be enough or that we are failures for having limits. Our guest today is Dr. Eunyung Lim, Assistant Professor of New Testament at LSTC, and author or the recently published book Entering God's Kingdom (Not) Like a Lit

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware continue the series on Overwhelm, looking at the intersection of systemic evil and isolation. How does our drive towards competition and individualism impact overwhelm. What do we lose when isolation overshadows mutuality? Our guest today is Emily Moentmann, dual degree student at LSTC (MDiv) and The University of Chicago School of Soci

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware continue the series on Overwhelm, looking at intersecting oppressions and marginalizations, and ministry in the midst of different identities. How does our beautiful, expansive diversity as people also connect to divisions and isolation? Our guest today is Vance Blackfox, ELCA Desk Director, American Indian Alaska Native Tribal Nations,

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware continue the series on Overwhelm. Today: Control will not save us. What does fear of losing control encourage us to do? What institutions and practices lure us with false promises of control? What if we imagine God's power as presence instead of control? How does an orientation of control encourage us to treat our bodies and those

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware tackle a series on Overwhelm. How do we anchor ourselves while caring for trauma in the midst of trauma? What strategies do we turn to? And what joys do we turn to in order to nurture ourselves? Whether it's travel, baking and making croutons with the mistakes, or reading Star Wars books and playing video games, we cannot ignore ca

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware are back for another season of an Incomplete Field Guide to Ministry, covering lessons from our summer about rest, holding joy and sorrow, and facing exhaustion. "You can only do as much work as you can do. You're not created to run yourself into the ground for the sake of whatever your work is," Marvin reminds us.Our gue

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware wrap up a season and a semester. They reflect on lessons learned, the value of speaking outside a narrow area of expertise, and the bold exploratory conversations we've shared. This year, we've accompanied Ministerial Leadership 1, taught by Dr. Wagner in the Fall, and Public Church 1, taught by Dr. Wickware in the Spring. The

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware discuss accountability. How can our ministry be accountable, not just to the church that hires the pastor, but to the broader community as well? How do we go beyond inviting a one-off guest speaker? Are we willing to lose some control by bringing more people into leadership? Our guest today is the Reverend Senator Kim Jackson, Vicar of

Our hosts Kimberly Wagner and Marvin Wickware discuss church and society, community organizing, and power. What's so scary about power anyway? Where does it show up in Christian community? And how can preachers approach politics in sermons? (Can sermons even be apolitical?)Mentioned this episode:Rita Nakashima BrockWe'd love to hear from you! Send your questions or feedba