The Big Opportunity
Podcast with Leigh Spruill
Episode 7 - How to Develop Faith at Home
July 29, 2021
Being cut off by the pandemic has created a huge opportunity for families to form ancient spiritual habits at home that have sustained Christians for centuries. Online worship has allowed churches to fill a spiritual hunger, especially in people who are unwilling for whatever reason to walk through their doors. We also have an opportunity to equip parents and grandparents to catechize their children and work with them to develop their faith in the home. The church can seize this chance to help families to incorporate faith formation as part of the rhythm of family life. Bishop Jenny Andison was consecrated as a suffragan Bishop in 206 and served as area bishop for metropolitan Toronto, Ontario. She was recently installed as the rector of St. Paul’s Bloor Street in Toronto, which is the largest Anglican congregation in Canada. She is married and the mother of three.
Episode 5 - How To Be a Redemptive Presence
July 1, 2021 • Scotty Smith
Join Leigh Spruill as he welcomes Scotty Smith, founder of Christ Community Church in Franklin, Tennessee to answer the question, 'What is the 'Big Opportunity' facing the Church in today's world'? Leigh and Scotty discuss how the Church and people within it can be a redemptive presence in the world today as we strive to be the best neighbors to people in every sphere of our lives.
Episode 6 - How to Create Authentic Community
July 15, 2021 • Steve Cockram
As a result of COVID, people’s need for authentic, meaningful community and relational opportunities has reached the ‘pain killer’ level. There is a huge opportunity for churches to be relevant by meeting this need, not just in the sanctuary on Sunday, but also in the smaller groups that often meet in people’s homes. This authentic community forces a level of vulnerability, openness, and transparency that’s not always comfortable. Authentic, dynamic community and hospitality are an outcome of work of the Holy Spirit. Steve Cockram is dedicated to empowering the leader in everyone. He is an international speaker, author, and consultant to top-level executives and leaders around the world. He is a subject matter expert on personality and wiring, organizational leadership, emotional intelligence, and interpersonal communication. Steve is the co-founder of GiANT Worldwide, a global leadership consultancy. He is also co-author of the books 5 Gears https://www.amazon.com/gears-present-productive-there-enough/dp/8126560029 and 5 Voices (5 Voices [Hardcover]: Steve Cockram: 9788126563388: http://amazon.com: Books)
Episode 4 - How to Share Your Faith
June 24, 2021 • Dr. Holly Ordway
Join Leigh Spruill as he welcomes Holly Ordway, Cardinal Francis George Fellow of Faith and Culture for the Word on Fire Institute and Visiting Professor of Apologetics at Houston Baptist University, to answer the question, 'What is the 'Big Opportunity' facing the Church in today's world'? Leigh and Winn discuss how making the story of Christianity relatable can open doors to belief. Stepping back and fully exploring the meaning of the words we use to describe our faith can lead to new ways to tell the story of Christianity. People must first find the story personally meaningful before they can decide if it is true. Imaginative literature opened the door to faith for Holly. She sees a big opportunity to share our faith by openly living a life of personal holiness. Holly Ordway’s newest book is “Tolkien’s Modern Reading, Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages”. (Tolkien's Modern Reading: Middle-earth Beyond the Middle Ages: Holly Ordway: 9781943243723: http://amazon.com: Books”) She is also the author of "Apologetics and the Christian Imagination” (Apologetics and the Christian Imagination: An Integrated Approach to Defending the Faith (Living Faith): Holly Ordway: 9781945125386: http://amazon.com: Books) and “Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms” (Not God's Type: Ordway, Holly: 9781586179991: http://amazon.com: Books)
Episode 3 - How to Love Your Neighbor
June 10, 2021 • Winn Collier
Join Leigh Spruill as he welcomes Winn Collier, director of the Eugene Peterson Center, to answer the question, 'What is the 'Big Opportunity' facing the Church in today's world'? Leigh and Winn discuss how returning to the most basic idea of loving our neighbors is a powerful way to live out our faith in the world. Simple neighborliness is a lost Christian art form. Somehow, we have lost the ability to see how God inhabits the everyday moments in our lives. Loving our neighbors means doing things we intuitively know to do. When our interior life is being continually formed by Christ, we are transformed and become entirely different actors in the world. We love our neighbors differently, treat our checkbooks differently, and use our power differently.
Episode 2 - How the Church Can Move Forward After COVID-19
May 18, 2021 • Doug Paul
Join Leigh Spruill as he welcomes Doug Paul, Managing Partner and Innovation Strategist of Catapult, an organization that helps leaders build successful ministries that scale, to answer the question, 'What is the 'Big Opportunity' facing the Church in today's world'? Leigh and Mr. Paul talk about the importance of Kingdom Innovation as the Church moves forward from a year under COVID-19. In the last year, things around us either felt like they screeched to a halt or accelerated things that were already happening. Recent surveys show the average church has lost a third of its attendees in the last 15 months. We've all expressed the desire to get 'back to normal,' but Doug challenges our assumption that 'backward' is where normal should be. In Doug’s view, ‘The Big Opportunity’ for churches is to take the time to ask what God is trying to do right now. Once we take the time to ask what is 'trying to happen' now, we can then discern where to move next and where we can innovate as we move forward. Doug Paul is the author of the bestselling book “Ready or Not: Kingdom Innovation for a Brave New World”.
Episode 1 - How Young People Connect to Religion
May 19, 2021 • Dr. Josh Packard
Join Leigh Spruill as he welcomes Dr. Josh Packard, Executive Director of the Springtide Research Insititute, to answer the question, 'What is the Big Opportunity facing the church in today's world'? Leigh and Dr. Packard talk about the importance of relationships in young people's lives and how the types of relationships they have help them connect with religion. Dr. Packard shares how old systems of church programming won't be effective in meeting a growing emphasis on communities and relationships. He sees a big opportunity for anyone who can innovatively create a new post-programming model of engagement for churches, focused on community and relationships.
Coming Soon!
April 29, 2021 • The Rev. Dr. R. Leigh Spruill
For the Church, our times are not a temporary interruption but a permanent disruption. In this new video podcast, Leigh Spruill will talk with other faith leaders about how the Church can thrive in a new world. Join us for these bi-weekly conversations - beginning May 13.