“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32) The two downcast followers of Jesus said this to one another, after Jesus had drawn near to them on the...
TMC Executive Director Mark Ramsey speak with Robb Webb (Duke Endowment) about their rural church work in North and South Carolina, the importance of prioritizing theological formation ahead of denominational metrics, and why creativity is so critical for ministry today. Episode Transcript....
Ministry leaders of all contexts, traditions, and roles know on some level the experience of trying to produce “fruit” and only finding frustration. I don’t deal well with frustration - just ask my sister about our marathon Monopoly sessions growing up. Frustration, of course, is an...
What happens when an institution vacates a function or a role? Where does that function go? Sometimes it disappears altogether. Sometimes, other institutions pick it up—or a version of it—and carry it forward within their own scope and aims. We received an interesting email this past...
TMC Program Staff Mark Ramsey, Jennifer Watley Maxell, and Amy Valdez Barker speak with the Rev. Dr. Joe Scrivner (Stillman College, Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church) about what Nehemiah and Paul have to say about persistence in the face of challenge; the importance of community in helping...
In a season when ministry can feel like it demands constant creativity, urgency, and reinvention, these recent reflections offer something steadier, and ultimately more sustaining. Together, they point us back to the core of our calling: to trust what is already true, to recognize God at...
More than a decade ago, journalist Catherine Carr started a podcast on an almost absurdly minimalist premise. Traveling the world, Carr would approach people as they went about their everyday lives and ask them, "Where are you going?" The podcast ended in 2025, but you...
TMC Program Staff Adam Borneman, Adam Mixon, and Beth Daniel speak with the Rev. Katie Nakamura Rengers about joy as a divine gift, even in difficult times; God's delight in our one-to-one interactions; and the critical difference between busy-ness and centerness. Katie's blog post. Episode Transcript....
In this conversation, Amy Valdez Barker speaks with Dr. William Watley, renowned AME pastor, preacher, author, and senior advisor to TMC cohorts focusing on preaching, and Rev. Joe Clifford, pastor of Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, and a longtime facilitator with TMC. Together they...