Pivot

#128: Biblical Improvisation: How Jazz Music Transforms Preaching in a Post-Christian Society

Discover biblical improvisation with Dr. Mark Glanville—where jazz meets Old Testament insight to craft sermons that resonate in today’s post-Christian world.

Biblical improvisation offers a compelling framework for preaching in today’s complex cultural landscape. In this thought-provoking episode of the Pivot Podcast, Dr. Mark Glanville, Director of the Center for Missional Leadership and professional jazz pianist, shares how preachers can be like jazz musicians—deeply rooted in tradition while creating something fresh and contextual with each sermon.

Drawing from his new book “Preaching in a New Key,” Mark explores how the post-Christian shift impacts biblical proclamation and offers practical strategies for preachers navigating this transition. Discover how to move from positional authority to invitational posture, cultivate genuine curiosity with scripture, and form communities that reflect Christ’s love in their neighborhoods.

Resources Mentioned:

Shift Ministry Models
Faithful InnovationFaith & Contemporary IssuesMinistry LeadershipMission & Evangelism

Featuring

Mark Glanville headshot

Mark Glanville

Dr. Mark Glanville serves as the Director of the Centre for Missional Leadership at St. Andrews Hall, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. He is an Old Testament scholar who has written five books, including Improvising Church: Scripture as the Source of Harmony, Rhythm, and Soul, and his latest work Preaching in a New Key: Crafting Expository Sermons in Post-Christian Communities. Mark's vocational goal is to research, teach, write, speak, and play music to nourish Christian leaders to creatively reimagine what the church can be and do in post-Christian societies, with the Bible in our hands. Adding another dimension to his work, Mark is also a professional jazz pianist, active on the Vancouver jazz scene. He hosts the podcast Blue Note Theology from his grand piano, bringing together his passions for theology and music.

Meet Your Hosts

  • 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.

  • Dr. Dwight Zscheile

    Dwight Zscheile is vice president of innovation and professor of congregational mission and leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

    He is the author of Embracing the Mixed Ecology (with Blair Pogue, Seabury Books, 2025), Leading Faithful Innovation: Following God into a Hopeful Future (with Michael Binder and Tessa Pinkstaff, Fortress 2023), Participating in God’s Mission: A Theological Missiology for the U.S. (with Craig Van Gelder, Eerdmans 2018), The Agile Church: Spirit-Led Innovation in an Uncertain Age (Morehouse Publishing, 2014), People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity (Morehouse Publishing, 2012) and The Missional Church in Perspective: Mapping Trends and Shaping the Conversation (with Craig Van Gelder, Baker Academic 2011) and editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012).

    A graduate of Stanford University (BA), Yale University (MDiv) and Luther Seminary (PhD, Congregational Mission and Leadership), Dwight previously served congregations in Minnesota, Virginia and Connecticut. Dwight’s experience growing up in a secular home in California has shaped his commitment to helping the church cultivate Christian community with neighbors in today’s changing world.