Pivot

#42: Rural Fresh Expressions with Kerri Meyer

Terri Elton and Dwight Zscheile welcome Rev. Kerri Meyer.

Looking for new ways to connect with your community and integrate farming, faith, and environmental stewardship into your church?

Our latest guest on the Pivot Podcast, Kerri Meyer, shares how her community is engaging in innovative ministry on a farm that is both theologically grounded and practically impactful.

One of the examples Kerri shares is a unique gathering called “Pie and Prayer.” Every Wednesday night out in the barnyard as the sun sets, followed by evening prayer in the silo, is how her community gathers and fellowships.

But Pie and Prayer is more than just a weekly gathering; it’s an expression of hospitality and community engagement that has been life-giving for many people, including locals who attend on Wednesday nights and travelers who make a stop on their road trips for Saturday morning gathering.

Tune in to the full episode of the Pivot Podcast to discover how Kerri and her ministry are forging a new path to sustainable community and spiritual growth through relationships with the land and neighbors.

Show Notes:

Here are the names of our other two leaders:
The Rev. Christian Muellerleile – Food, Faith + Farm Manager
Dr. Jen Blecha – Educator & Scholar, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems

Website address: www.goodcourage.farm

Shift Ministry Models
Faith FormationRural Ministry

Featuring

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Kerri Meyer

The Rev. Kerri Meyer, the Executive Director of Good Courage Farm, is an ordained priest in The Episcopal Church. Before making the leap to a fruit farm in rural Minnesota, Kerri served as Associate Rector of St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco. Kerri's role on the farm is both visionary and practical. As both farmer and priest, she engages daily with the agricultural and spiritual life of the farm, leading worship services and faith formation programs. Though she's a Master Gardner, she especially loves tending the animals who make their home on the farm, whether livestock or wildlife.

Meet Your Hosts

  • Dwight Zscheile

    Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary. His latest book is Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress Press, 2023).

  • Terri Elton

    Terri Martinson Elton began teaching at Luther Seminary as an adjunct instructor in 2004 before becoming the director of the Center for Children, Youth and Family Ministry in 2008. In addition to her continued work with the Center, Elton accepted the position of associate professor of Children, Youth and Family Ministry in 2010 and associate professor of Leadership in 2014.

    Prior to her call to Luther Seminary, Elton served as an associate to the bishop in the Saint Paul Area Synod where her responsibilities included working with congregations, leadership development, First Call theological education and youth and family ministry.

    Before her work in the synod, she served at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minn. for 16 years. While at Prince of Peace she worked in various roles within children, youth and family ministries, as well as served as the director of Changing Church Forum, an outreach ministry of Prince of Peace. She also authored To Know, To Live, To Grow, a confirmation curriculum, and co-authored What Really Matters, a book for congregational leaders, with the Rev. Mike Foss.

    Elton holds a B.A. degree in communications from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. (1986). She earned both her M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2007) degrees in Congregational Mission and Leadership from Luther Seminary.

    Elton’s research and teaching interests include: congregational leadership, leading in the midst of change and conflict, helping ministry leaders craft a missional ecclesiology with an eye toward the First Third of Life, awakening a vibrant theology of baptism and vocation and reimagining faith and mission practices for children, youth, young adults and their families.

    Elton is a member of the Academy of Religious Leadership, the Association of Youth Ministry Educators, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network and the American Society of Missiology and is on the board for Real Resources. Elton spends much of her time working with congregations and congregational leaders and seeks out opportunities for enhancing ministry with those in the First Third of Life within the ELCA.