Various Thoughts From Dennis Shaw

Our guest for this podcast is the Reverend Ken Brown who is currently at Denver Trinity United Methodist Church.  Our discussion centers on Diversity Equity and Inclusivity.  I expect to talk to Ken again on a future day again.   Ken has been in Colorado for right at 20 years.  Before he was appointed to Trinity, he was at Broomfield (Colorado) United Methodist.  Ken's LinkedIn page is HERE. During the discussion I mention two articles I had read on Ken during his time at Trinity.  Both are quite helpful to understanding Ken.  The two articles are are: The Westword article --HERE. The 5280 -- HERE. My email is dennis at mantuan dot org (written that way to discourage the search bots) if you need any help getting this Podcast properly registered on your Podcast Application.   This episode was recorded on September 7, 2023 and was published on September 18, 2023.  

Our guest today is Annie Arnoldy, Superintendent for Vitality and Connectional Ministry at the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church.   I have known Annie since her student days at Colorado State University when we collaborated a little on Youth Ministry.  In addition to her studies at CSU, Annie holds a Master in Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and a Masters Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Denver University.  Annie is a Mountain Sky Conference Elder and she entered ministry from Hope UMC in Greenwood Village, CO.   Her local church experience includes Grand Junction First UMC and Highlands Ranch Saint Andrews UMC.   I consider this part 1 of what I expect to be a continuing conversation on the direction of the Mountain Sky Conference in the area of Leadership Development.   If you are having trouble getting Mindful Leader into your podcast app, send me a note at dennis at mantuan dot org (spelled that way to confound the bots.)   This podcast was released on Septembe

The topic is urgency and anxiety. Our guest is the Reverend Doctor Sarah Calvert, Northern Virginia District Superintendent for the Virginia Conference.  Sarah and I were colleagues in the Wesley Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry Program where both of us also got our Master of Divinity.  She also holds degrees from Mary Washington in Virginia and George Mason (Scalia School of Law).   Sarah's LinkedIn is HERE and HERE is a bio used at Northern Virginia welcoming.   Some links from the Podcast follow:   Linsky and Heifetz:  Leadership on the Line.  Excellent book.  We discussed it briefly.  Very briefly.  Will probably come back to it another day. Paragraph 2553 of our UM Book of Discipline is HERE. This was passed in order in 2019 in order to provide an avenue for churches unhappy with the current wording in our polity the means to leave the UMC.  Ironically, the intended user in 2019 is not using the provision, rather, it is by and large the forces that developed the policy.     Enneagram is HERE.  Oth

This podcast will be released on August 7th, 2023. Our guest is Wybra Price.   Wybra has completed his first year as Pastor at Broadmoor UMC in Shreveport, Louisiana. Wybra is an Elder in the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.  His Master of Divinity is from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and his Doctor of Ministry is from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC   Wybra LinkedIn page is HERE and is part of where I got my introduction. Our theme was talking about what was going on in other elements of our connection. Wybra had by virtue of his role on the Louisiana Conference Cabinet a particular perspective to disaffiliation in the UMC.  Paragraph 2553 of our UM Book of Discipline is HERE. This was passed in order in 2019 in order to provide an avenue for churches unhappy with the current wording in our polity the means to leave the UMC.  Ironically, the intended user in 2019 is not using the provision, rather, it is by and large the forces that d

The change in tone and direction of today from earlier podcasts is intentional.  I hope to be moving more to church leadership in a mindful manner on these excursions and use colleagues both in the Mountain Sky Conference and other conferences to talk an idea (or two or three or six) of leadership.  Our guest is Zach Bechtold.  Zach has completed his first year as Pastor at Bozeman UMC in Bozeman, Montana and is part of a wave of younger clergy leading a number of our pillar churches.  Zach's LinkedIn page is HERE and is part of where I got my introduction. Our theme was making new from old.   Zach sees the church year, i.e., Ash Wednesday, All Saints, Easter, as important elements to help him discern how to make new from the old.  He also sees connecting with where he has been planted while retaining the connection with remote colleagues as important.   Zach and (new) fellow Mountain Sky pastor Matthew Franks (Castle Rock UMC, Castle Rock, Colorado) have their own Podcast.  It is Bearded Theologians and thei