Various Thoughts From Dennis Shaw

Our guest is Angela Willingham, Vice President for Development at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D. C.  Angela's LinkedIn page is HERE.  During our discussion Angela mentions Move Management in her approach to fundraising.  Some information on that is HERE.  (Googling 'moves management' is recommended as this is a rich topic.) My goal with Mindful Leader is to discuss for local church consumption and use, both clergy and laity, topics that are seasonal or always timely.  If you think in terms of forests, deciduous (seasonal) and evergreens.  I pray this is an evergreen topic:  always in season.   Mindful Leader is available on iTunes, Spotify and other apps:  I use Overcast but there are many options.   If you have a comment you wish to share with me, send me a note HERE.  

This is again, about the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte this late April/early May.   In our last conversation, we talked about potential changes to the election, tenure, and deployment of bishops.  A link to that Podcast is HERE.   This episode we discuss a different concept that will get a lot of discussion at General Conference:  Regionalization.  My guest is Lonnie Brooks, a lay member of the Alaska Conference.  Lonnie is a keen observer of Methodist polity.  I think you will find him informative and optimistic.   Lonnie is a 1962 Graduate of Georgia Tech and worked as an Electrical Engineer.  He is retired and is a long time member of St. John's UMC in Anchorage, Alaska.   "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity." During the show we mention that as a quote sometimes attributed to John Wesley that he didn't say:  A thought piece on the origin is HERE.    

Gayla Jo Slauson is both a Co-Lay Leader of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church and a Delegate to General Conference meeting in Charlotte, NC in late April/early May, 2024.  Gayla Jo's LinkedIn page is HERE.   My first Podcast where I talk with Gayla Jo Slauson is HERE.   I make the point in the Podcast at least PART of what we are talking about is proposed, it has not yet happened.   If you have thoughts -- send them to me at dennis @ mantuan . org with the spaces there edited out.  (Written that way to confuse the email harvesting bots.).  

This is part 2 of Mindful Leader Episode 19.  Link to part 1 is HERE.  These two podcasts were recorded in one session and were released on January 29th, 2024 and February 5th, 2024.   My original plan in October was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. John and I thus jointly produced a conversation on Israel, Gaza, and what was going on in October.   This podcast is thus the delayed October Podcast. My good friend John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service, a laboratory of leaders

My original plan in October was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. John and I thus jointly produced a conversation on Israel, Gaza, and what was going on in October.   This podcast is thus the delayed October Podcast.  It will be in two parts:  January 29th and February 5th.    My good friend John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service, a laboratory of leadership development.   My LinkedIn page is HERE.  

Our guest today is Pastor France Davis, a mighty force for God, Jesus and the church in Utah.   My introduction to Pastor France Davis of Calvary Baptist Church occurred very early in my time in Utah.  He is the embodiment of encouragement and hospitality.   Our discussion today is intended to help church leaders with thoughts from the perspective of a Black Pastoral Leader on Black History.  (February is Black History Month.)  Pastor Davis' resume is extensive.  I cover some in the podcast and pointed to here in the notes for his degrees.  Pastor Davis has degrees from Laney College (1971), Merritt College (1972), University of California (1972), Westminster College (1977), University of Utah (1978) and Northwest Nazarene (1994).   If this podcast resonates with you in any way, please share it with others.   Send thoughts to dennis @ mantuan . org -- copy that and delete the spaces (done to confound the bots harvesting email addresses).   

Our guest is the Reverend Doctor Tom Barlow, Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church Elder and an Assistant Professor of Methodist Studies at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, CO.  Our subject is Evangelism!   Tom's LinkedIn page is HERE.  Tom has served in the local church as well as at the University.   We talk some about Thomas ("Tom") G. Bandy, and two of his books are Worship Ways and See, Know, and Serve.  An EXCELLENT Ministry Matters article by Bandy is HERE.   Registration for Mountain Sky Conference Churches on MissionInsite (discussed during the podcast) is HERE (about 2/3 of the way down the page).  For non Mountain Sky Churches, I suggest a conservation with someone at your Conference office (if United Methodist) about revitalization and Mission Insite.     If this discussion with Tom speaks to you, please forward it to someone else and let them know about it!  Normal podcast release schedule is 1st, 3rd and 5th Mondays of the Month.   My email is dennis at (@) mantuan dot (.) or

Our guest today is Mark Calhoun, District Superintendent for Wyoming and our topic is context: how important understanding the contextual lay of the landscape is to effective ministry.   I have a world of respect for Mark Calhoun.  Mark is extremely thoughtful and always engages his brain before he speaks.  He epitomizes mindfulness in a leader. An unedited Adobe file of the transcript is HERE.  Note:  Unedited.   Part of Mark's drive towards context emerged from his time at St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City.  The focus there was on understanding the demographics and the community makeup of the local church.  Who is there?  What does it look like?   Mark served in Wichita, Kansas before coming home to the Mountain Sky Conference.  He was four years in Polson, Montana and eight in Lander, Wyoming before taking the Superintendency in Wyoming in 2020.  He has been a gifted connectional leader in those three plus years.  Gifted.   Mark mentions he is a Type 2 on the Enneagram, and that is a helper and de

This podcast was released on December 4, 2023. A transcript using Office 365 is HERE.  I have not edited it very much.  A piece of software has transcribed it.  Obvious glitches.  Feedback most welcome.   *** Our guest today is Annie Arnoldy, Superintendent for Vitality and Connectional Ministry at the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church.   I have known Annie since her student days at Colorado State University when we collaborated a little on Youth Ministry.  In addition to her studies at CSU, Annie holds a Master in Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and a Masters Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Denver University.  Annie is a Mountain Sky Conference Elder and she entered ministry from Hope UMC in Greenwood Village, CO.   Her local church experience includes Grand Junction First UMC and Highlands Ranch Saint Andrews UMC.   I consider this part 2 of what I expect to be a continuing conversation on the direction of the Mountain Sky Conference in the area of Leadership De

Welcome to Episode 14 of Mindful Leader!  This is our second visit with Bearded Theologian and Pastor at Bozeman (Montana) UMC-- Zach Bechtold!  The first conversation we had was July 23rd and can be found as a podcast HERE. (Please share on social media or via email or text message the link if this podcast spoke to you!) Zach is part of a wave of younger clergy leading a number of our pillar churches.  Zach's LinkedIn page is HERE. Zach partners with Matt Skinner (of Castle Rock (CO) UMC ) on their joint blog and podcast -- The Bearded Theologians -- HERE.   Zach and I start our conversation drawing from remarks Bishop Karen Oliveto of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church made during a clergy retreat in September.  Further, she, Matt and Zach also discussed it on a United Methodist "Podcastathon" in early October.  A link to that conversation is HERE.   Finding joy in leadership has been an important personal core value and I wanted to expand on that discussion with Zach.  What we do as

(The word “here” that is underlined is a link to something somewhere else on the web related in some way to our topic.) Kristi Kinnison is the Executive Director of the Methodists Helping Methodists Foundation which supports churches in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.  Her LinkedIn page is HERE.   Our conversation today is less grounded in her vocation as a financial executive in the not for profit world, but rather her views on why she is a follower of John Wesley.  Wesley's theology is firmly grounded in the threefold fullness of Grace (Bishop Carder exposits a little here) and it captures Kristi's heart.  I think this is of value in helping others to be able to articulate their own reasons for being followers of John Wesley.   We also mention (again if you have heard all of the Mindful Leader Podcasts, the late) David Foster Wallace and his superb talk -- "This is Water" (here, and note, DFW language can be a little coarse).   My normal release schedule is 1st and 3rd Mondays.  I will release "Specia

Explore with us a little of the history and context of Israel, Gaza and Hamas.   My original plan was to use a Fifth Monday to have my friend John Plant interview me.  John has been a faithful listener to my early Podcast work.  The events of October 7th altered that plan. This episode "counts" as my October 30th planned release.   John Plant is a retired US Army Colonel.  He is a graduate of the University of Toledo with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Public Administration.  Further, he has a PhD from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.  He lives in North Carolina and is a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.  His LinkedIn account is HERE.  We talk weekly.  Between the two of us, John and I have over 50 years of military service.   Our conversation on Israel, Gaza and Hamas is primarily contextual.  It clearly assumes certain knowledge by the listener, i.e., the 1948 War of Independence.  But overall, our purpose is to attempt to distill what is some history, define som

Our Podcast is with Danish UM Pastor, Thomas Risager.   Thomas is the Pastor at Odense UMC in Denmark.  He also doubles as the District Superintendent for all UM Churches in Denmark.   Thomas has a Doctor of Ministry from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2012.   Thomas is living what I suspect is similar to what we as North Americans might be living in 30 or 50 years time.   Any thoughts -- dennis at mantuan dot org -- written that way to confound the bots out there.  

This episode explores John Wesley and our perceptions of him.  Wesley was the founder of Methodism and we have a perception of him as a man of action.  Our guest, Ted Campbell, noted student of Wesley at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, offers a more nuanced view that speaks to us in our 21st Century busyness.   The Methodist Review article mentioned in the Podcast is HERE.  (You will need to register to see article.  The site is free). The Susan Cain book on Quiet and Introverts is HERE (and I used ubiquitous Amazon, you can always get somewhere else.)     A quick summary of Dr. Campbell's credentials (from the Methodist Review article) are:   "Ted A Campbell is the Albert C. Outler Professor of Wesley Studies at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. A United Methodist elder in the Texas Annual Conference, Campbell has authored many works in Methodist history and ecumenical studies. His book, Encoding Methodism: Telling and Retelling Narrative

Our guest for this podcast is the Reverend Ken Brown who is currently at Denver Trinity United Methodist Church.  Our discussion centers on Diversity Equity and Inclusivity.  I expect to talk to Ken again on a future day again.   Ken has been in Colorado for right at 20 years.  Before he was appointed to Trinity, he was at Broomfield (Colorado) United Methodist.  Ken's LinkedIn page is HERE. During the discussion I mention two articles I had read on Ken during his time at Trinity.  Both are quite helpful to understanding Ken.  The two articles are are: The Westword article --HERE. The 5280 -- HERE. My email is dennis at mantuan dot org (written that way to discourage the search bots) if you need any help getting this Podcast properly registered on your Podcast Application.   This episode was recorded on September 7, 2023 and was published on September 18, 2023.  

Our guest today is Annie Arnoldy, Superintendent for Vitality and Connectional Ministry at the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church.   I have known Annie since her student days at Colorado State University when we collaborated a little on Youth Ministry.  In addition to her studies at CSU, Annie holds a Master in Divinity from the Iliff School of Theology and a Masters Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Denver University.  Annie is a Mountain Sky Conference Elder and she entered ministry from Hope UMC in Greenwood Village, CO.   Her local church experience includes Grand Junction First UMC and Highlands Ranch Saint Andrews UMC.   I consider this part 1 of what I expect to be a continuing conversation on the direction of the Mountain Sky Conference in the area of Leadership Development.   If you are having trouble getting Mindful Leader into your podcast app, send me a note at dennis at mantuan dot org (spelled that way to confound the bots.)   This podcast was released on Septembe

The topic is urgency and anxiety. Our guest is the Reverend Doctor Sarah Calvert, Northern Virginia District Superintendent for the Virginia Conference.  Sarah and I were colleagues in the Wesley Theological Seminary Doctor of Ministry Program where both of us also got our Master of Divinity.  She also holds degrees from Mary Washington in Virginia and George Mason (Scalia School of Law).   Sarah's LinkedIn is HERE and HERE is a bio used at Northern Virginia welcoming.   Some links from the Podcast follow:   Linsky and Heifetz:  Leadership on the Line.  Excellent book.  We discussed it briefly.  Very briefly.  Will probably come back to it another day. Paragraph 2553 of our UM Book of Discipline is HERE. This was passed in order in 2019 in order to provide an avenue for churches unhappy with the current wording in our polity the means to leave the UMC.  Ironically, the intended user in 2019 is not using the provision, rather, it is by and large the forces that developed the policy.     Enneagram is HERE.  Oth

This podcast will be released on August 7th, 2023. Our guest is Wybra Price.   Wybra has completed his first year as Pastor at Broadmoor UMC in Shreveport, Louisiana. Wybra is an Elder in the Louisiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.  His Master of Divinity is from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and his Doctor of Ministry is from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC   Wybra LinkedIn page is HERE and is part of where I got my introduction. Our theme was talking about what was going on in other elements of our connection. Wybra had by virtue of his role on the Louisiana Conference Cabinet a particular perspective to disaffiliation in the UMC.  Paragraph 2553 of our UM Book of Discipline is HERE. This was passed in order in 2019 in order to provide an avenue for churches unhappy with the current wording in our polity the means to leave the UMC.  Ironically, the intended user in 2019 is not using the provision, rather, it is by and large the forces that d

The change in tone and direction of today from earlier podcasts is intentional.  I hope to be moving more to church leadership in a mindful manner on these excursions and use colleagues both in the Mountain Sky Conference and other conferences to talk an idea (or two or three or six) of leadership.  Our guest is Zach Bechtold.  Zach has completed his first year as Pastor at Bozeman UMC in Bozeman, Montana and is part of a wave of younger clergy leading a number of our pillar churches.  Zach's LinkedIn page is HERE and is part of where I got my introduction. Our theme was making new from old.   Zach sees the church year, i.e., Ash Wednesday, All Saints, Easter, as important elements to help him discern how to make new from the old.  He also sees connecting with where he has been planted while retaining the connection with remote colleagues as important.   Zach and (new) fellow Mountain Sky pastor Matthew Franks (Castle Rock UMC, Castle Rock, Colorado) have their own Podcast.  It is Bearded Theologians and thei

Our conversation today is with the three Co-Leaders of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church.  They are:  Nancy Flint, Gayla Jo Slauson and Barry Welliver.   The signal was not always strong.  I apologize.  Edited some.   ** Here are some thoughts on listening I humbly offer -- HERE.  I do see what I am doing with the podcast and my blog as related and to some extent in conversation.   ** This podcast is still maturing.  It is in effect a re-branding of an earlier podcast I used to share my sermons.  It has been re-purposed.  Once you scroll earlier than Episode Zero you are into old territory.   I really expect my next podcast to either be a conversation with you about the first five (a monologue if you will) or a chat with leaders about Annual Conference.  Or a little bit of both.  TBD.