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Pivot Podcast

About Pivot Podcast

Over the past few years, church leaders have been forced to respond to several global crises in the blink of an eye. In a moment with little information and lots of uncertainty, churches reinvented nearly every aspect of church.

Season 5 of the Pivot podcast explores the changing landscape of the church. Our co-hosts will dig into difficult questions that faith leaders are asking now, and provide an understanding of the deeper cultural shifts that account for the unraveling of inherited models of church.  What are the four key pivots that today's church must make? New episodes post weekly on Thursdays.

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Podcast Season Sort

#151: Learning to Ask God Questions First

October 23, 2025

Scott and Timothy share how the Nebraska Synod of the ELCA is helping churches move from fixing institutional decline to discerning God's movement in their neighborhoods.

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#150: Between Sunday Sermons and Monday Struggles: Integrating Faith and Work

October 16, 2025

Dr. Michael Binder—a Luther Seminary professor and co-owner of a five-generation HVAC business—shares what he's learned from living in both worlds.

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#149: Understanding Gen Z and Gen Alpha: A Sacred Listening Approach to Youth Ministry

October 9, 2025

Dr. Josh Packard explains why institutional trust has shifted to relational trust, and what that means for how churches engage younger people.

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#148: Cruciform Leadership: Why Church Leaders Need the Cross More Than Success

October 2, 2025

Drawing from her journey from corporate consultant to ministry executive, Nicole Massie Martin reveals how most leadership models ignore the very heart of Christian faith and why pastors are burning out trying to lead like the world instead of following Jesus.

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#147: Why You Were Never Meant to Lead Alone

September 25, 2025

Discover a life-giving model of shared leadership that prevents burnout and multiplies ministry impact with Dr. Eun Strawser.

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#146: The Advantages of Small Church Ministry

September 18, 2025

Brandon O'Brien reveals the unique advantages of smaller congregations in today's culture.

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#145: Developing a Future-Focused Church, Part II: Building Transformation Through Collaborative Teams

September 11, 2025

We continue our conversation with Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Ray Chang from Fuller Seminary about creating sustainable church transformation.

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#144: Developing a Future-Focused Church, Part I

September 4, 2025

Discover the three research-backed checkpoints that distinguish future-focused churches.

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#143: Authentic Christian Leadership: Why Character Beats Charisma Every Time

August 28, 2025

Jason Jensen of InterVarsity shares how his engineering mindset failed in cross-cultural ministry—and how it reshaped his view of spiritual authority.

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#142: Making Disciples: Why Catechesis Matters More Than Ever

August 21, 2025

Dr. Alex Fogleman, author of "Making Disciples: Catechesis in History, Theology, and Practice," explores how the early church's approach to catechesis can revolutionize modern discipleship formation.

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#141: Beyond the Tithe: How Churches Can Help People Navigate Faith and Money Faithfully

August 14, 2025

Grace Pomroy shares insights about how congregations can move beyond traditional stewardship campaigns to engage people's entire financial lives.

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#140: Church Leadership Today: Cultivating Encounters with the Living God

August 7, 2025

Hosts Terri Elton, Dwight Zscheile, and Alicia Granholm tackle some key church leadership challenges facing pastors and ministry leaders today.

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Meet Your Hosts

  • Faith+Lead Headshot of The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile, VP of Innovation, Luther Seminary.

    The Rev. Dr. Dwight Zscheile is 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), editor of Cultivating Sent Communities: Missional Spiritual Formation (Eerdmans, 2012), and co-editor (with Ed Olsworth-Peter) of The Starter's Way: Leading New Contextual Christian Communities (Church Publishing, 2025).

    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.

  • The Rev. Dr. 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.

  • Faith+Lead Headshot of Dr. Alicia Granholm, Senior Director of Faith+Lead.

    Alicia Granholm is senior director of Faith+Lead and a leadership and church consultant based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She helps pastors and leaders engage culture to make a lasting impact. For nearly two decades, she has trained, equipped, and empowered followers of Jesus to engage their local communities by contextualizing the Gospel and its application. Alicia compassionately crosses cultural boundaries having lived, studied, traveled, and served in 25 countries on six continents. Alicia has a Doctor of Strategic Leadership, Global Consulting (Regent University), MDiv (Bethel Seminary), and MA in Teaching (University of St. Thomas).