Various Thoughts From Dennis Shaw

My guest, Zach Bechtold, Pastor at Bozeman UMC and I talk about the potential role of the "Conference" in the UMC.   The Annual Conference is a component part of the structure of the United Methodist Church.  Mountain Sky Conference is vast in geography:  all of Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and one county in Idaho. I posit, that besides it administrative role, it should also be the key developer of leadership, lay and clergy, in our area. Draft paper I mention in the show is HERE.  Those that have heard me speak at Annual Conference are probably not surprised that I am a believer when it comes in the positive net benefit from the conference.   My conversation with Co-Lay Leader Gayla Jo Slauson is HERE and my conversation with District Superintendent Mark Calhoun is HERE. (I do put a "chapter" mark at about 37 minutes and again at 38:22 to see if I could help you find his thoughts.) Zach has his own, excellent, podcast -- Bearded Theologians.    

This is a quick biography and theological exposition of the German Theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer:  1906 to 1945.  Such a short life with so much good crammed into it.   A movie about his life is coming out in November and the 80th anniversary of his execution by the Nazis will be in April, 2025.  

This Podcast is a little "inside baseball" and focuses on both General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Charlotte this Spring as well as Jurisdictional Conference in Washington State in August.   My guest for this podcast is District Superintendent, Mark Calhoun.  Mark is a thoughtful observer of all things United Methodist.   If you like it, forward it to someone, or more than one!   This is Mark Calhoun's second visit and his first Mindful Leader Podcast is HERE. Mark's' first conversation focused on context and how much that matters in our local church leadership.   Discussion with Lonnie Brooks, Alaska Conference Lay Delegate to General Conference, about Regionalization is HERE.   Conversation with Gayla Jo Slauson, Lay Delegate to General Conference from Mountain Sky Conference, is HERE.   I mention, positively I hope, Jeremy Smith and his blog Hacking Christianity.  The blog I specifically addressed is HERE.    HERE is a Chart I created of Episcopal Elections in the West since 1968.  I think

Kent Ingram spent 41 years in leadership of the United Methodist Church in Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Colorado.  Kent has excelled wherever he has been.  His last fifteen (or so) years in ministry was at Colorado Springs First UMC, a high steeple, downtown church.   Our conversation is wide ranging and is a look at history and how that shapes our present.  In reality, Kent sees a period of leadership uncertainty because we don't know what we are going to look like win the near future, let along the distant.   HERE is a link to a thought Kent wrote for Wesley Theological Seminary in 2012 that is quite good.   HERE is a link on a talk I had last year (this podcast says several months, it was more like nine) with Danish Pastor Tomas Risager that Kent and I briefly discuss in context.  

I am going to change the routine a little bit and start posting on Sunday afternoons.  This Podcast will be published on July 14th (Bastille Day!)   Our topic is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion -- often shortened to the initials DEI. My guest is Cody Nielsen.  Cody's Bio is HERE.  I was made familiar with Cody's work through Hilltop UMC (Sandy, Utah) lay person, Bob Scarborough (and Bob's LinkedIn page is HERE.).  I am mindful that some hear the topic of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and might (I did say some!) push away and not listen.  Please don't!  I strongly encourage a mindful listen here.  Cody does a great job of framing some thoughts on DEI that are ways to be mindful in your leadership.     More information is available on Convergence Strategies HERE.   I do have a few outtakes at the end.  Provided for amusement and/or information.  Will start doing that .... Send me a note if you want -- dennis at (@ sign) mantuan dot (.) org (written that way to thwart bots.  If this spoke to you, share

Leadership on the Line is a classic leadership text.   Originally published in 2002, it was updated in 2017.   Martin Linsky and Ron Heifetz are the authors.  They introduce the framework of Adaptive Leadership.  Leadership is rarely a prescribed recipe that comes down from "on high."  Rather, it depends on context and the local situation.   Excellent book.  Just excellent.   Transcript is HERE.  (May require some Microsoft registrations, sorry.) If you have thoughts send me a note here -- dennis at mantuan dot org (written that way to thwart bots.)

Our guest is Angela Willingham, Vice President for Development at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C.  Angela's LinkedIn page is HERE.  During our discussion Angela mentions Move Management in her approach to fundraising.  Some information on that is HERE.  (Googling 'moves management' is recommended as this is a rich topic.) My goal with Mindful Leader is to discuss for local church consumption and use, both clergy and laity, topics that are seasonal or always timely.  If you think in terms of forests, deciduous (seasonal) and evergreens.  I pray this is an evergreen topic:  always in season.   Mindful Leader is available on iTunes, Spotify and other apps:  I use Overcast but there are many options.   If you have a comment you wish to share with me, send me a note HERE.  

This is again, about the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte this late April/early May.   In our last conversation, we talked about potential changes to the election, tenure, and deployment of bishops.  A link to that Podcast is HERE.   This episode we discuss a different concept that will get a lot of discussion at General Conference:  Regionalization.  My guest is Lonnie Brooks, a lay member of the Alaska Conference.  Lonnie is a keen observer of Methodist polity.  I think you will find him informative and optimistic.   Lonnie is a 1962 Graduate of Georgia Tech and worked as an Electrical Engineer.  He is retired and is a long time member of St. John's UMC in Anchorage, Alaska.   "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity." During the show we mention that as a quote sometimes attributed to John Wesley that he didn't say:  A thought piece on the origin is HERE.    

Gayla Jo Slauson is both a Co-Lay Leader of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church and a Delegate to General Conference meeting in Charlotte, NC in late April/early May, 2024.  Gayla Jo's LinkedIn page is HERE.   My first Podcast where I talk with Gayla Jo Slauson is HERE.   I make the point in the Podcast at least PART of what we are talking about is proposed, it has not yet happened.   If you have thoughts -- send them to me at dennis @ mantuan . org with the spaces there edited out.  (Written that way to confuse the email harvesting bots.).  

This is part 2 of Mindful Leader Episode 19.  Link to part 1 is HERE.  These two podcasts were recorded in one session and were released on January 29th, 2024 and February 5th, 2024.   My original plan in October was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. John and I thus jointly produced a conversation on Israel, Gaza, and what was going on in October.   This podcast is thus the delayed October Podcast. My good friend John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service, a laboratory of leaders

My original plan in October was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. John and I thus jointly produced a conversation on Israel, Gaza, and what was going on in October.   This podcast is thus the delayed October Podcast.  It will be in two parts:  January 29th and February 5th.    My good friend John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service, a laboratory of leadership development.   My LinkedIn page is HERE.  

Our guest today is Pastor France Davis, a mighty force for God, Jesus and the church in Utah.   My introduction to Pastor France Davis of Calvary Baptist Church occurred very early in my time in Utah.  He is the embodiment of encouragement and hospitality.   Our discussion today is intended to help church leaders with thoughts from the perspective of a Black Pastoral Leader on Black History.  (February is Black History Month.)  Pastor Davis' resume is extensive.  I cover some in the podcast and pointed to here in the notes for his degrees.  Pastor Davis has degrees from Laney College (1971), Merritt College (1972), University of California (1972), Westminster College (1977), University of Utah (1978) and Northwest Nazarene (1994).   If this podcast resonates with you in any way, please share it with others.   Send thoughts to dennis @ mantuan . org -- copy that and delete the spaces (done to confound the bots harvesting email addresses).   

Our guest is the Reverend Doctor Tom Barlow, Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church Elder and an Assistant Professor of Methodist Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO.  Our subject is Evangelism!   Tom's LinkedIn page is HERE.  Tom has served in the local church as well as at the University.   We talk some about Thomas ("Tom") G. Bandy, and two of his books are Worship Ways and See, Know, and Serve.  An EXCELLENT Ministry Matters article by Bandy is HERE.   Registration for Mountain Sky Conference Churches on MissionInsite (discussed during the podcast) is HERE (about 2/3 of the way down the page).  For non Mountain Sky Churches, I suggest a conservation with someone at your Conference office (if United Methodist) about revitalization and Mission Insite.     If this discussion with Tom speaks to you, please forward it to someone else and let them know about it!  Normal podcast release schedule is 1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays of the Month.   My email is dennis at (@) mantuan dot (.) or

Our guest today is Mark Calhoun, District Superintendent for Wyoming and our topic is context: how important understanding the contextual lay of the landscape is to effective ministry.   I have a world of respect for Mark Calhoun.  Mark is extremely thoughtful and always engages his brain before he speaks.  He epitomizes mindfulness in a leader. An unedited Adobe file of the transcript is HERE.  Note:  Unedited.   Part of Mark's drive towards context emerged from his time at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City.  The focus there was on understanding the demographics and the community makeup of the local church.  Who is there?  What does it look like?   Mark served in Wichita, Kansas before coming home to the Mountain Sky Conference.  He was four years in Polson, Montana and eight in Lander, Wyoming before taking the Superintendency in Wyoming in 2020.  He has been a gifted connectional leader in those three plus years.  Gifted.   Mark mentions he is a Type 2 on the Enneagram, and that is a helper and de

This podcast was released on December 4, 2023. A transcript using Office 365 is HERE.  I have not edited it very much.  A piece of software has transcribed it.  Obvious glitches.  Feedback most welcome.   *** 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 2 of what I expect to be a continuing conversation on the direction of the Mountain Sky Conference in the area of Leadership De

Welcome to Episode 14 of Mindful Leader!  This is our second visit with Bearded Theologian and Pastor at Bozeman (Montana) UMC-- Zach Bechtold!  The first conversation we had was July 23rd and can be found as a podcast HERE. (Please share on social media or via email or text message the link if this podcast spoke to you!) Zach is part of a wave of younger clergy leading a number of our pillar churches.  Zach's LinkedIn page is HERE. Zach partners with Matt Skinner (of Castle Rock (CO) UMC ) on their joint blog and podcast -- The Bearded Theologians -- HERE.   Zach and I start our conversation drawing from remarks Bishop Karen Oliveto of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church made during a clergy retreat in September.  Further, she, Matt and Zach also discussed it on a United Methodist "Podcastathon" in early October.  A link to that conversation is HERE.   Finding joy in leadership has been an important personal core value and I wanted to expand on that discussion with Zach.  What we do as

(The word “here” that is underlined is a link to something somewhere else on the web related in some way to our topic.) Kristi Kinnison is the Executive Director of the Methodists Helping Methodists Foundation which supports churches in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.  Her LinkedIn page is HERE.   Our conversation today is less grounded in her vocation as a financial executive in the not for profit world, but rather her views on why she is a follower of John Wesley.  Wesley's theology is firmly grounded in the threefold fullness of Grace (Bishop Carder exposits a little here) and it captures Kristi's heart.  I think this is of value in helping others to be able to articulate their own reasons for being followers of John Wesley.   We also mention (again if you have heard all of the Mindful Leader Podcasts, the late) David Foster Wallace and his superb talk -- "This is Water" (here, and note, DFW language can be a little coarse).   My normal release schedule is 1st and 3rd Mondays.  I will release "Specia

Explore with us a little of the history and context of Israel, Gaza and Hamas.   My original plan was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. This episode "counts" as my October 30th planned release.   John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service.   Our conversation on Israel, Gaza and Hamas is primarily contextual.  It clearly assumes certain knowledge by the listener, i.e., the 1948 War of Independence.  But overall, our purpose is to attempt to distill what is some history, define som

Our Podcast is with Danish UM Pastor, Thomas Risager.   Thomas is the Pastor at Odense UMC in Denmark.  He also doubles as the District Superintendent for all UM Churches in Denmark.   Thomas has a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2012.   Thomas is living what I suspect is similar to what we as North Americans might be living in 30 or 50 years time.   Any thoughts -- dennis at mantuan dot org -- written that way to confound the bots out there.  

This episode explores John Wesley and our perceptions of him.  Wesley was the founder of Methodism and we have a perception of him as a man of action.  Our guest, Ted Campbell, noted student of Wesley at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, offers a more nuanced view that speaks to us in our 21st Century busyness.   The Methodist Review article mentioned in the Podcast is HERE.  (You will need to register to see article.  The site is free). The Susan Cain book on Quiet and Introverts is HERE (and I used ubiquitous Amazon, you can always get somewhere else.)     A quick summary of Dr. Campbell's credentials (from the Methodist Review article) are:   "Ted A Campbell is the Albert C. Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. A United Methodist elder in the Texas Annual Conference, Campbell has authored many works in Methodist history and ecumenical studies. His book, Encoding Methodism: Telling and Retelling Narrative