S9: E1 The Spiritual Formation Movement Needs Correction
Season 9! Back in the saddle. Fitch starts this season by provoking: THE SPIRITUAL FORMATION MOVEMENT IS IN NEED OF A CORRECTION if it is not to devolve into merely a discipleship program for affluent millennial Christians.
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S8:E10 When Power Goes Rogue
Northern Seminary has been an unsettled place the last few weeks but we finally made it back into the studio. In light of recent events Fitch and Moore take on these questions: What happens to institutions, churches, and organizations when power goes off the rails?
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S8:E9 Defending Apologetics: Tim Keller and Evangelism
What is the purpose of apologetics? How does the current cultural milieu inform how we engage in apologetics? Does it even have a place? Fitch and Moore go back and forth about evangelism, apologetics, and the new Tim Keller Center for Apologetics.
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S8: E8 “Light As Air” with Jonny Morrison
We are pleased to introduce our guest, Dr. Jonny Morrison, a graduate of Northern Seminary. Dr. Jonny joins the podcast to talk about his new book, “Light as Air.”
Jonny Morrison is a church planter, pastor, and writer known for his integration of creativity, spirituality, and culture.
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S8: E7 Subversive Apocalyptic
Fitch is tired of people accusing him of a third way that is laissez faire and avoidant. Introducing “subversive apocalyptic.” How does this approach to culture determine how we engage questions around issues like human sexuality and power?
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S8: E6 Communal Narcissism
Note: there is an echo for the first 25 seconds of the podcast!
We are back for 2023 and broadcasting from la la land. On this episode Moore and Fitch talk about what happens when a community turns inward and self-protected–the symptoms of what Fitch calls “communal narcissism.”
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S8:E6 Communal Narcissism
Note: there is an echo for the first 25 seconds of the podcast!
We are back for 2023 and broadcasting from la la land. On this episode Moore and Fitch talk about what happens when a community turns inward and self-protected–the symptoms of what Fitch calls “communal narcissism.”
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S8: E5 Celebrities for Jesus with Katelyn Beaty
Katelyn Beaty joins the podcast to talk about her new book Celebrities for Jesus. In this episode Fitch, Moore and Beaty discuss the history and contemporary state of celebrities in the American evangelical church.
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S8: E4 Evangelicals, Gender, and Power with Lisa Weaver Swartz
Dr. Lisa Weaver Swartz has written a phenomenal ethnography that explores the interplay of gender and power within American evangelicalism. Swartz surveys the gender narratives at two evangelical seminaries–Southern Seminary and Asbury Seminary.
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S8: E2 This Present Moment with Stanley Hauerwas
If you have listened to Theology on Mission you are well aware that there has been no greater influence on our show than Stanley Hauerwas. In this episode Stanley joins us to talk about the current state of the church in America–politics, abortion, friendship, and evangelicalism.
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S8:E1 House Gatherings Will Renew the Church (or not)
Welcome to season eight!
Fitch is convinced house gatherings will renew the church. Moore isn’t as convinced
If you want to learn from our team of excellent scholars like Fitch, Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Jeannine Brown, Lyn Cohick, Drew Hart, check us out at www.seminary.edu
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S7: E16 Church Planting with JR Woodward
Northern Seminary is teaming up with V3 and JR Woodward to offer a Masters in Church Planting! You can read more about our partnership here: www.seminary.edu/programs/v3andmatm/
Learn more about V3 cohorts and sign up here: thev3movement.org/training/
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S7: E15 (Summer Bonus) Gathering, Not Landing
A few months ago Fitch and Moore recorded this episode and forgot about it! In this episode they chat all things church planting and how to gather a people for mission.
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S7: E14: Christ & The Common Life with Luke Bretherton
Luke Bretherton kindly grace the podcast to discuss the relationship between the church and the world, the place of politics in the Christian life, and gives a masterful Hauerwas impersonation.
Luke Bretherton is Robert E.
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S7: E13 Racial Capitalism with Jonathan Tran (Part Two)
Behind the podcast the book Fitch and Mike have talked about the most this year is Jonathan Tran’s “Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism.”
In this episode (part one) Dr.
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S7: E12 Racial Capitalism with Jonathan Tran
Behind the podcast the book Fitch and Mike have talked about the most this year is Jonathan Tran’s “Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism.”
In this episode (part one) Dr.
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S7: E12 The Rise of the ‘Umms’
Mike published an article in Christian Today detailing an emerging group, the ‘Umms’.
Unlike “Nones” and “Dones,” many church-adjacent Christians want to return to a local body—but they feel stuck. Building off the biblical metaphor of home, Fitch and Moore discuss a new social architecture for the church.
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S7: E11 Children and the Post Christendom Reaction
In Christendom, where the culture largely supports Christian life and values, the church’s role with children is to teach and reinforce doctrine. In post Christendom we will not be able to disciple our children if the adults/parents do not have a vibrant life with God in Christ.
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S7: E10 What is a Jesus Centered Response to the War?
What difference does Jesus, Lord of the world, Ruler of all, make in a world of war and violence? What can Christians do while millions suffer in Ukraine? Here are a few commitments to consider for those of us committed to Christological non-violence.
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S7: E9 Capitalism and Kingdom Economy
Fitch is reading Luke Bretherton’s book “Christ and the Common Life.” This brings us to questions about how the church relates to capitalism, accumulation, and the common life. How should we steward our finances, practice generosity, understand debt, and own property?
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S7 E8: Don’t Censor Us! Spotify, Neil Young, and the Church.
Neil Young removed his music from Spotify because of vaccine misinformation shared by Joe Rogan, the host of the leading podcast show on Spotify. What can we learn from Neil Young about witness and how does power work in relation to truth claims?
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S7: E7 The Rise & Fall Mars Hill: Context. Power. Misogyny.
Here is our “cold take” on the Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Podcast. Fitch and Moore discuss the misogyny and power abuse that was embedded in the practice and leadership of Mark Driscoll and what it means for the church today.
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S7: E6 Social Location Meets Biblical Exegesis
What is so controversial about saying Scripture interpretation is shaped by your social location? Fitch & Moore take up a conversation about the place of social location in doing faithful and contextual biblical study.
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S7: E5 The Leader Who Submits
It is the leader who submits. The word submission has been used and misused by leaders to underwrite abuse and coercion in the church. In this episode Fitch and Moore propose that it is the leader who submits.
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S7: E4 Jesus, the Justice of God
Fitch and Moore explore three ways that Jesus gets de-centered from the work of justice. There is a temptation to make justice separate from the church, so how do we recover the centrality of Jesus for the work of justice?
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S7: E3 The Practice of Conversation
Fitch & Moore discuss how social spaces are an integral component of ecclesiology. In these social spaces there are places for conversation, this is where discipleship and mission occurs. Specifically they focus on the gathering in the house and the movements of conversation that occur in that social space.
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S7: E2 Part 2–Participation & Mission with Michael Gorman
This is the second lecture from the Brady Theology & Mission Lecture with Dr. Michael Gorman.
If you would like a copy of the presentation that follows this presentation email Mike at mdmoore@seminary.edu
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S7: E1 Participation & Mission with Michael Gorman
Welcome to season 7! This episode is the first lecture from the Brady Theology & Mission Lecture with Dr. Michael Gorman.
If you would like a copy of the presentation that follows this presentation email Mike at mdmoore@seminary.edu
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S6:E16 Pastoral Care According to Hauerwas: Fitch & Jones Debate
Beth Felker Jones joins us again to discuss a recent article from Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon on pastoral care. What is the role of pastoral care in the life of ministry and how do we attend to suffering in the church?
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S6: E15 Theology with Beth Felker Jones
Fitch & Moore sit down with Beth Felker Jones, Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary. They discuss the shifts in contemporary theology and the state of theology in the American church.
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S6: E14 Who Will Lead What’s Left of Evangelicalism?
There is a mass exodus out of evangelicalism for those under the age of 40. What will become of those who stay? What kind of leader will emerge after processing and deconstructing the beliefs and practices of evangelicalism?
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S6: E13 What is the Church? Why Does it Exist?
Fitch and Moore sit down to talk about the new book, “What is the Church and Why Does it Exist?”
This podcast is brought to you in partnership with Seminary Now, a new streaming video platform with short courses from leading professors and authors like David Fitch, Scot McKnight, Brenda Salter McNeil, Greg Boyd, Tish Harrison Warren, Esau McCaulley, and many more.
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S6 E12:Top 5 Issues for Church Leaders Post-COVID
Fitch & Moore unpack the 5 top issues for church leaders to navigate as we come out of COVID.
1) People’s broken relationship-spaces for relational connection
2) People’s deconstructing their faith–spaces for deconstruction
3) People’s anger/rage at various coercions/abuse–spaces for lament
4) People’s fatigue from drudgery–spaces for celebration of God’s power and hope for a future
5) People’s grief over losses of friends, family, security–spaces for grieving and comfort
As opposed to ramping up services…focus on developing social spaces!
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S6: E11 A Theology of Race & Place with Andrew Draper
Fitch and Moore sit down with Andrew Draper to discuss his superb work “A Theology of Race and Place: Liberation and Reconciliation in the Works of Jennings and Carter.”
Dr. Andrew Draper is a pastor in Muncie, Indiana and has written extensively on black theology, ethics, and the church.
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S6: E10 Church Planting. Money. Mutuality. Mission.
Here is the audio from our recent webinar. We hope to be back in the studio soon!
Check out our Master’s in Theology & Mission with classes taught by Dave Fitch, Greg Boyd, Nijay Gupta, Beth Jones and Lynn Cohick.
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S6: E9 Who Will Be My Witness? A Conversation with Drew Hart
Fitch and Moore sit down with Dr. Drew Hart, professor at Messiah University, to discuss his new book, Who Will Be My Witness?
Drew G. I. Hart is a professor in theology, an author, and an activist with ten years of pastoral experience.
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S6:E8 Discerning Through Disagreements
How does a local church discern through disagreements? How do we decided what “issues” are essential?
Here are the steps proposed in this episode, following the apostles work in Acts 15
1) The apostles and elders (leaders) met to consider the question (v6)
2) They observed what the Holy Spirit was doing (v8-9, 12)
3) A whole community listened and discerned (v12) They wokred with the leaders (v22).
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S6: E7 Increase Density. Decrease Numbers.
What would it look like for us to focus our ministry on increasing density, rather than increasing numbers? Listen to find out!
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S6: E6 Church Planting Webinar with Hugh Halter
This bonus episode is the audio from our webinar with Hugh Halter on church planting. Our conversation kicks off the introduction of the Church Planting Institute at Northern Seminary. Check us out at www.churchpi.com
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S6: E5 What to do with the 74 Million?
How do we respond to a post-Trump presidency? Fitch suggests a few different approaches drawing on authors who write about post-Nazi Germany and Ta Nehisi Coates.
To be clear, we aren’t accusing those who voted for Trump of being Nazi’s!
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S6: E4 Advent for “the Rest of Us”
“To pursue liturgy for our own depths of formation and ignore the cultural engagement of those outside the faith is a luxury of Christendom.” –Dave Fitch
In this episode we discuss the “post-evangelical” turn towards liturgy and the great joy of celebrating Advent.
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S6 E3: Third Way Politics
Just in time! On the eve of the election Fitch and Moore describe a ‘Third Way’ approach to theology of church and culture. Some suggest a ‘Third Way’ approach is merely a position of privilege that too easily compromises and disengages.
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S6: E2 Critical Theory & Tim Keller: Part 2
In this episode, Fitch and Moore explore critical theory and what it offers the church for seeing our “frames.” The conversation follows Fitch’s response to Tim Keller’s article on biblical justice and covers an expanse of topics: race, sexuality, ideology, identity politics, and more (links to articles below).
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S6: E1 Foundations: Tim Keller & Justice: Part 1
Dave wrote an article at Christianity Today that responded to Tim Keller’s recent piece on justice. In this podcast, Fitch and Moore explore how “justice” is up for grabs post-Christendom. They agree with Keller’s assessment of the culture, but diverge when it comes to the issue of foundations and posture.
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S5: E21 Top Five Fundy Backlashes (As Seen in Progressive Evangelicals)
Fitch and Moore look at the fundamentalism of evangelicalism in North America and how it has led to a backlash in progressive evangelicalism. They explore the backlashes to purity culture, penal substitutionary atonement, the inerrancy of Scripture, making a decision for Christ, and more.
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S5: E20 White Man Speaking
This podcast starts pretty meta: two white men speaking about white men speaking.
How should white men position themselves in leading the church? While white supremacy and misogyny poison the church how should white men respond?
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S5: E19 The Parsing of “Racism”
Greg Armstrong joins again to examine the evolution and ideology of the word “racist.” The word “racist” has changed from meaning prejudice to including the unconscious systems of white supremacy. Now, drawing from the work of John McWhorter’s, we see the third wave that equates the word “racist” equated with subjective feelings.
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S5: E18 A Theology of Protest
How do we make sense of the protests and riots that have erupted after the murder of George Floyd?
Greg Armstrong, Director of Admissions at Northern and pastor of Renew Church (Lombard, IL) joins Mike and Dave as they discuss the church’s response to and participation in public demonstrations.
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S5 E17: What Difference Does The Gospel Make?
Over the last month, a little theological scuffle has emerged regarding what is the gospel. Reformed pastor, Greg Gilbert, criticized Scot Mcknight and Matthew Bates formulations of a “kingship gospel.” You can see the articles and conversation below in the links.
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S5 E16: Video Killed the Embodied Church
Is video killing the church? This week we invite Geoff Holsclaw on the podcast to discuss church growth in the era of video church. Should we be concerned about falling into attractional modes of worship with the increase of online Sunday worship?
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S5: E15 Suffering During the Pandemic
“I’m more apt to catch a bullet than the coronavirus” That is a sentiment Mike has heard repeatedly in his church. What can we learn from populations in America that have lived under constant threats of “coronaviruses” and imminent death?
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S5: E14 Faithful Presence During The Pandemic
These are unprecedented times and an uncertain future for the global church. How is the church to respond with restrictions on gatherings, mass anxiety, and an uncertain future.
Fitch and Moore draw from their distinct contexts and discuss this somber moment.
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S5: E13 Depression. The Challenge of Ministry.
Studies suggest that around 70-80% of pastors experience depression. For many in the ministry, mental illness is inevitable. The question isn’t, “Will I become depressed?” The question is, “Who will I journey through depression with?”
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S5: E12 Are you lonely? Angry? Lost?
When you gather around the table as the church how should we talk and listen to each other? Fitch proposes three questions to ask around any table fellowship:
Are you lonely?
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S5: E11 To Volunteer or Not
We are back for 2020! Fitch and Moore discuss volunteerism and how it encourages and discourages mission for the church. How does volunteering in the community actually hinder the work of the church?
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S5: E10 Non-Violent Atonement with J. Denny Weaver
Mike’s college professor, J. Denny Weaver joins the show to talk about his work on atonement and the crucifixion. Almost 20 years ago Weaver’s book, The Nonviolent Atonement, was published and contributed significantly to Anabaptist interpretations of atonement.
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S5: E9 Divine Violence & The Warrior God: Greg Boyd and Claude Mariottini
Buckle up friends, we have a special episode for you this week.
Two Northern professors, Greg Boyd and Claude Mariottini debate how to interpret the violence in the Old Testament. Fitch guides the conversation through a few Old Testament passages as Boyd and Mariottini discuss how to make sense of violent portrayals of God in the Old Testament in light of Jesus’ crucifixion.
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S5: E8 Universal Salvation: w/Geoff Hosclaw
This week we welcome back the co-founder of Theology on Mission, Geoff Holsclaw! Geoff recently wrote a response to David Bentley Hart’s book on universal salvation. After bantering for a good five minutes Fitch, Moore, and Holsclaw talk about the challenges and hopes of Christian universalism.
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S5: E7 The Shape of Liturgy
Evangelicals have discovered liturgy and non-denominational kids are becoming sacramental adults! What are we to make of this liturgical turn? Fitch and Mike look at the trends of evangelicals on the “Canterbury Trail,” and offer some considerations for those who have discovered a new love for liturgy.
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