A Christmas message from Fr. Benjamin Gildas, reflecting on the year 2015, and the words "do not be afraid."

Merry Christmas from Priest Pulse.

Our first in a series of church development episodes looking at the decline of church attendance in North America and the United States, approaches to church growth, and methods for reaching younger generations and developing church mission off campus.

Interviews include Michael Mornard, the Rev. Paul Bresnahan, and Nancy McLaughlin.

Resources from this episode include

Evaluation and Planning Manual: A Disciplined Method for Evaluating Your Congregation and Planning a Future

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/149372150X/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=0TXY4V185F69D3794RW0&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2253014322&pf_rd_i=desktop

Amplified Church

http://www.amplifiedchurch.com/

On this special bulletin, Fr. Benjamin Gildas updates listeners on the status of the podcast and explains the previous show hiatus.

Sermon from the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church on 7/3/15 from the Rt. Rev. Michael Bruce Curry on the Great Commission. Bishop Michael Curry says "go."

Discussion of funding for evangelism in the Episcopal Church i.e. Mission Enterprise Zones and new church plants. Fr. Benjamin Gildas frames the story of the Rev. Megan Anderson, a narrative of risk, adventure, struggle, and reward that ultimate leads to visionary direction in new ministry starts. The Rev. James Hamilton discusses his work as a church planter and mentor. Caitlyn Darnell discusses Diocese of North Carolina campus ministry "A Movable Feast." The 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Chuch continued funding for the Mission Enterprise Zones and church planting, while not funding to the amount requested by those ministries.

Dear friends, this is the unabridged audio from today's afternoon press conference. Today in a landmark moment, the House of Deputies concurred with the House of Bishops to approve marriage for all persons in the Episcopal Church.

Remember nothing is edited, this is the raw audio from the press conference.

Listen in as the General Convention elects and celebrates the Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry of North Carolina as the next Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church and the first African American to hold that position. On Saturday June 27th the House of Bishops elected and the House of Deputees confirmed Bishop Curry to be the 27th PB. He was the first Presiding Bishop ever elected in one ballot. 

This podcast takes you to the floor of the House of Deputees, to the press room, and to the streets of Salt Lake City to hear the enthusiasm and excitement over Bishop Curry's election. Also listen as Presiding Bishop Elect Curry speaks about gun violence, the shooting in Charleston, racism in America, marriage equality, and more.

Here's our wrap up of the first two days of General Convention. In this episode, marriage equality, responses to the ruling from the Supreme of the United States of America, discussion on proposed marriage amendments, Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church, divesting from fossil fuel companies with TEC money, evangelism and digital evangelism, and a special easter egg surprise ending you won't want to miss. Follow all our GC78 coverage on Twitter @priestpulse

An interview with previous YASC'ers. The Young Adult Service Corps 

The Young Adult Service Corps brings young adults into the life of the worldwide Anglican Communion and into the daily work of a local community.  At the same time, it brings the gifts and resources of the church into the lives of young adults as they explore their own faith journeys.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/page/young-adult-service-corps

The Revs. Scott Gunn, Matt Marino, and Keith Voets join Ben and Colin on this pre-Convention episode. We rap our way through the blogosphere and consider important issues coming to the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church such as marriage equality, revisions to the canons and Prayer Book, the election of the next Presiding Bishop, the Task Force for Reimagining the Episcopal Church, and more.

www.7wd.org

www.thegospelside.com

http://theyoungcurmudgeonpriest.blogspot.com/

Do you have the Blue Book Blues? Not a clue what the blue book is? Wondering how the General Convention of the Episcopal Church works? The Priest Pulse media coverage of the 78th General Convention begins with this pre-Convention prep episode featuring Sr. Elizabeth Marguerite, chair of the deputation from the Diocese of Michigan. Be sure to check out Part 2 featuring the Revs. Scott Gunn, Matt Marino, and Keith Voets along with Fr. Ben and Fr. Colin.

In this very special documentary, Fr. Ben follows the story of Anamchara Fellowship, a new monastic order in the Episcopal Church. The Anamchara Fellowship is a religious order in the tradition of celtic spirituality. This documentary brings listeners into the Annual Gathering of this order, listens in on their rituals, hears their music, and gets to know its members.

This is the entire documentary in one file.

Original music in this podcast performed by:

Br. Christopher 

Br. Kevin Colum

Sr. Elizabeth Margarite

Original composition of the Anamchara Fellowship prayer composed by Dr. David Park.

Fr. Ben and Intern Lizzie discuss the exciting new Indiegogo fundraising campaign and all the incredible perk packages you can get through backing.

Our Campaign:

http://bit.ly/1BEPjDG

Two atheists join us on this episode to discuss their perspectives and experiences as Millenial generation "nones" - the religiously unnafiliated. Colin and Ben discuss the Pew Religious Landscape Study, decline in Christianity, and what - if any - good news we have for those who don't believe.

Also featured in this episode is music from Abandon Kansas and Awaking Mercury.

http://badchristian-2.myshopify.com/collections/abandon-kansas

Priest Pulse and the Farsighted Podcast team up with Awaking Mercury to discuss music, art, and pop-culture from a faith perspective. Recorded live at the Awaking Mercury studio in Birdsboro, PA, this episode features live music from Luke Eccles. This is part 1 of a two part episode, the second half being found on the Farsighted podcast. The Farsighted can be found at the links below.

http://farsightedblog.com/

http://www.awakingmercury.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thefarsighted

Twitter:

@TheFarsighted

@thepaintedman

@awakingmercury

Ben and Colin interview Lutheran pastor Keith Anderson about his new book The Digital Cathedral: Networked Ministry in a Wireless World. Pastor Keith is co-author of Click2Save: the Digital Ministry Bible with Elizabeth Drescher, and editor of the Narthex. We discuss the impact of social media and the internet on congregational life, ministry, evangelism, pastoral care, and spirituality.

www.pastorkeithanderson.net

https://medium.com/the-narthex

Special thanks to audio tech Jenny Hack for recording and editing this episode.

A short Good Friday message of encouragement from Fr. Ben on this most sacred day.

In the final Keeping Lent episode, Pastor Tim Ness of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Clifton Heights leads us to pray through Martin Luther's Small Catechism, that is praying the 10 Commandments, the Apostle's Creed, and the Lord's Prayer. We also celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation by praying the Angelus.

Fr. Ben brings on two surprise guests to make some very big announcements.

This week the parishioners of St. Mark Lutheran Church and Incarnation Holy Sacrament Episcopal Church practice embodied prayer and you can practice along with us. Join Fr. Ben and special guest Sister Elizabeth Anderson on this episode.

The Keeping Lent series continues with an episode on Centering Prayer. Lutheran Pastor Tem Ness leads us in an exercise of Centering Prayer. Also, Fr. Ben rants about St. Barbara's loss in Lent Madness.

Music by Awaking Mercury www.awakingmercury.com

This episode of the Keeping Lent series continues to look at different forms of prayer following last week's episode on Lectio Divina. In this episode Fr. Ben leads us through the Examen prayer. We invite you to use this podcast to pray through the Examen prayer on your own.

www.ignatianspirituality.com

This episode features an entire retreat led by Sister Barbara Jean Brown of Anamchara Fellowship. Sr. BJ has 40 years of experience leading retreats and quiet days. She is a founding member of Anamchara Fellowship, a new monastic order in the Episcopal Church with an ecumenical mission. This retreat is titled "Who Gives a Hoot about Paul's Journeys" and offers a spiritual reflection on the journeys of St. Paul in the book of Acts. The retreat is broken into three parts, so make sure to listen through to the end.

www.anamcharafellowship.org

This is the second episode in the Keeping Lent series. In this episode, Pastor Tim Ness of St. Mark's Lutheran Church Clifton Heights, PA leads us through the practice of Lectio Divina, an ancient prayer practice originating from the Benedictine tradition.

We at Priest Pulse encourage you to use this episode to learn about Lectio Divina and to devote some time to meditation. This contains a guided meditation time with periods of silence. After the meditation, Fr. Ben answers what Lent means to him.

Music in this episode comes thanks to Awaking Mercury.

www.awakingmercury.com

On this special episode of Priest Pulse, Benjamin Gildas interviews the Rev. Scott Gunn of Lent Madness and Forward Movement. Ben also discusses the ministry Ashes to Go. This episode invites us all into a season of holy Lent. Resources from this episode:

www.lentmadness.org

www.ashestogo.org

www.forwardmovement.org

www.sevenwholedays.org

Priest Pulse welcomes back the Rev. Colin Chapman to discuss the subject of relevancy in a changing world. Colin imagines an analogy between Research in Motion's new Blackberry phone and TEC's approach to relevancy. 

Resources from this episode:

The Rite Place Liturgy: https://www.churchpublishing.org/products/index.cfm?fuseaction=productDetail&productID=10042

Vital Practices: http://www.ecfvp.org/

Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action: http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en