Pivot

#73: Unity in the Church When it Feels Impossible

Discover ancient practices to find unity in Christ. Watch the latest Pivot podcast for guidance on uniting amidst differences.

Not sure how to experience unity in Christ when there is so much division? Watch this pivot podcast interview and learn how to experience unity in the church even when it feels impossible.

Experiencing deep disagreements, differences, or divides in your church? There are ancient spiritual practices church leaders and pastors can engage in to help their churches experience more unity in Christ today. In John 17, Jesus prays for unity; unity in the church matters to God. Watch this Pivot podcast interview to learn how to focus on following Jesus together in the midst of differences and division in your church.

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Faithful Innovation

Featuring

Jon Anderson

Jon Anderson

Pastor Jon Anderson serves as Director of Rural Ministry at Luther Seminary. He recently completed eighteen years of service as bishop in the Southwestern Minnesota Synod of the ELCA.

David Anglada Headshot

David Anglada

Pastor A. David Anglada (he/his) serves as the Senior Director for Leadership within The Christian Community and Leadership, home area-ELCA.

David has been an ordained Pastor of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for 27 years. David has served numerous parishes throughout New York City. He has also served as Assistant to Bishop / Director for Evangelical Outreach in the Metropolitan New York Synod, the Florida-Bahamas Synod, and Program Director for Multicultural Leadership, ELCA, Chicago, Ill.

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.

  • 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).