Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast

Today’s episode is a recording of a conversation I had with Pastor Brad Knetsch in which he shares his perspective on some of the things he has learned leading a multi-ethnic church as a young, white, male pastor. Pastor Brad serves as the Pastor of Madison Church’s Ford Campus in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Brad loves … Continue reading Episode 29: Pastor Brad Knetsch – “Learning to Lead”

Today on the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast, we are going to explore the story of the African influences on Martin Luther, the Father of the Protestant Reformation. We will talk with Dr. David Daniels III, the Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. For those of you who want … Continue reading Episode 28: Dr. David Daniels III – “The African Roots of the Reformation”

On today’s episode, entitled “The Trauma of the Doctrine of Discovery”, we catch up with Christian speaker and Native American activist Mark Charles. In this conversation, Mark shares his thoughts about the intersectionality of his activism and his Christian faith, particularly around creating a common memory when it comes to the how colonization and Christianity … Continue reading Episode 27: Mark Charles – “The Trauma of the Doctrine of Discovery.”

On September 6, 2017, a fascinating study on religion in the United States was released. The study, conducted by PRRI (the Public Religion Research Institute), was entitled America’s Changing Religious Identity. The researchers, Daniel Cox, Ph.D., Robert P. Jones, Ph.D., open the report by saying: The American religious landscape is undergoing a dramatic transformation. White Christians, once … Continue reading Episode 26: The Decline of Caucasian Christianity – Implications for the Multiethnic Church

Exactly one-hundred years ago, on October 6, civil-rights activist, worship leader, and philanthropist Fannie Lou Hamer was born. This episode celebrates the life of Fannie Lou, the “woman who sings the hymns,” whose life and music continue inspiring activists and worshipers alike in the 21st Century. In the second half of the episode, we shine … Continue reading Episode 25: Fannie Lou Hamer’s 100th Birthday & Podcast Spotlight

Pastor Joy Bonnema is the Campus pastor of Madison Church: North Campus – a four-year-old multiethnic church plant on the NE side of Grand Rapids, MI. She has a PhD. in Immunology from Mayo Graduate School. She taught biology at Calvin College for 10 years before transitioning into full-time parish ministry. She was ordained as … Continue reading Episode 24: Joy Bonnema – “Being the Church in Such a Time as This.”

This episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcasts is an interview with my friend, Pastor Reggie Smith. Pastor Reggie is the Director of the Offices of Race Relations and Social Justice for the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He advises churches, and organizations, on cross-cultural and urban ministry. He has written extensively through devotionals, articles, book reviews, … Continue reading Episode 23: “White People, ‘Being Nice’ Isn’t Working.” – An Interview With Rev. Reggie Smith

This is a remix episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast of Jemar Tisby’s presentation “The Fierce Urgency of Now: Christian Complicity with Racism and the Imperative for Immediate Action,” given at 1 Charleston 2017 and orriginally shared on the Pass the Mic Podcast on July 10th, 2017. Jemar Tisby is a former school teacher … Continue reading Episode 22: “The Fierce Urgency of Now” – Jemar Tisby

Eric Nykamp is the Director of Worship Design at Madison Church’s North Campus, the Director of the Antioch Worship Leadership Trainings for all of Madison Church’s campuses, and the producer of this podcast.  He also is worship leader and speaker, giving talks on using visual art as a method of prayer, utilizing drum circles in … Continue reading Episode 21: “Worshiping Whiteness” – Eric Nykamp

Ekemini Uwan is a bold and insightful theologian, and perhaps now is best-known as one of the three co-hosts of the thought-provoking podcast “Truth’s Table”, which is highly recommended listening for every Antioch Podcast fan.  It is a privilege to have been able to remix and share her talk “The Fall: How did we get … Continue reading Episode 20: Ekemini Uwan – “The Fall: How Did We Get Here?”

Darrell Delaney, who asks to go by “Pastor Darrell”, is the Campus Pastor of Madison Church’s Square Campus. He has a deep love of learning, and holds degrees from many of the predominant colleges and seminaries in the Reformed tradition: Kuyper College, Calvin Seminary where he earned his Masters of Theology, and Western Theological Seminary … Continue reading Episode 19: Pastor Darrell Delaney – Race & PTSD

In this episode of the Antioch Worship Leadership Podcast, Eric and Attah are joined by fellow Madison Church staff member, Jermale Eddie, to discuss the article “A Negro’s Guide to Surviving a White Cookout” by Sharhonda Knott Dawson. At first glance, this article may seem farfetched from any discussion about worship or community life in … Continue reading Episode 18: Barbecue

Joella Ranaivoson is the Associate Chaplain of Upper Class Students at Calvin College, her alma mater. She is a native of Madagascar, but was raised in Papua New Guinea, the US, and Kenya. The world, its cultures, and the global church are among her loves. She completed her Master of Divinity at Calvin Seminary (she’s clearly fond … Continue reading Episode 17: Self-Care and Sabbath – an Interview with Chaplain Joella Ranaivoson

They were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and in his own house.” – Matthew 13:57, from the World English Bible To many, Mark Charles speaks with the voice of a modern-day prophet, bringing the unvarnished word of God to the Christian … Continue reading Episode 16: Mark Charles – “The Temptations of Greatness”

Nate Glasper is the highly-talented director of worship at Grace for the Nations Church and the director of the Gospel Choir at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. Nate also writes, records, and performs his own music in addition to attending Calvin Theological Seminary. As a sought-after choir director and worship leader, he was kind … Continue reading Episode 15: Building Bridges Through Worship – The Musical Ministries of Nate Glasper

Rev. Ricardo Tavarez is a comissioned pastor through Madison Church and is currently the church planting pastor of En Vivo Church in the Burton Heights neighborhood of Grand Rapids, MI. In this interview, Rev. Tavarez talks about his many bi-cultural childhood, planting a bilingual multiethnic church, and approaches to bilingual worship which En Vivo Church … Continue reading Episode 14: Approaches to Bilingual Worship at En Vivo Church – an Interview With Rev. Ricardo Tavarez

In this episode, Dr. John Lee returns to join the Antioch team around the table. to discuss the phrase “Institutional Reconciliation”. Our team invented the phrase “Institutional Reconciliation” to describe principals of governance and decision-making which stand in contrast to the often unexamined organizational processes which then keep Institutional Racism intact.  If Socrates was right … Continue reading Episode 13: Institutional Reconciliation

The staff at Madison Church regularly share articles with each other about diversity and the church. These articles shape conversations about how the church is run and how decisions are made. One article that church staff have continued to talk about ran in the May 2016 issue of Christianity Today entitled “Can People of Color … Continue reading Episode 12: Moving the Furniture in the House of God

Sam Salguero is a children’s worship leader at a small Spanish-speaking church in the West Michigan area.  In this interview, she shares about the multi-ethnic worship culture of her Hispanic congregation, sharing about coritos, a genera of Latin worship music, which she describes as her congregation’s musical “sense of home.”  Later, Sam describes how the … Continue reading Episode 11: Children’s Worship, Deportation, and the Spanish-Speaking Church: an Interview with Sam Salguero

Joseph Kuilema and Christina Edmondson are scholars at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Joe is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work, and Christina is the Dean for Intercultural Student Development at Calvin.  In January 2017, Joe and Christina co-wrote an article entitled “Confronting White Privilege” for the Banner Magazine, the … Continue reading Episode 10: Understanding White Privilege with Joseph Kuilema and Christina Edmondson