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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

#139: Reimagining Church Spaces: How to Transform Underutilized Buildings into Community Hubs

July 31, 2025

Tim and Tabitha share the inspiring story of transforming a unused church basement from 1985 into the thriving Center for Belonging.

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#138: Maintaining Christian Identity in a Post-Christian Society: What Early Believers Can Teach Us About Cultural Engagement

July 24, 2025

Dr. Stephen Presley reveals how early Christians maintained their identity in pagan culture and their "third way" for today.

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#137: Religious Decision Making: Dr. Angela Gorrell’s Guide to Faithful Discernment When You Don’t Know What to Do

July 17, 2025

Dr. Angela Williams-Gorrell shares her framework for religious decision making when facing difficult choices.

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#136: Fresh Expressions: From VBS Burnout to Vibrant Community Ministry (Part 2)

July 10, 2025

Shannon Kiser reveals how fresh expressions transformed her church from event-driven ministry to authentic neighborhood relationships.

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#135: Fresh Expressions: From VBS Burnout to Vibrant Community Ministry (Part 1)

July 3, 2025

Dwight Zscheile and Shannon Kiser explore how churches can grow vibrant fresh expressions to reach changing neighborhoods.

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#134: Has Religion Become Obsolete? with Christian Smith (Part 2)

June 26, 2025

Has religion become obsolete in American culture? In this second part of our conversation with sociologist Dr. Christian Smith, we explore his groundbreaking research on why traditional religion has lost its cultural relevance for post-Boomer generations.

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#133: Has Religion Become Obsolete? A Conversation with Christian Smith (Part 1)

June 18, 2025

Dr. Christian Smith explores why religion feels outdated in modern culture, citing shifts in family, institutions, and technology as key causes.

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#132: Reframing Evangelism: Following Jesus into Sorrow with Andy Root (Part 2)

June 12, 2025

In part two of our conversation with Andy Root, we explore a radically different approach to sharing faith that moves beyond happiness-hunting strategies to embrace God's presence in brokenness.

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#131: Reframing Evangelism: Following Jesus into Sorrow with Andy Root (Part 1)

June 5, 2025

Dr. Andy Root shows us how to evangelize through what he calls "a theology of consolation" - being present with people in their sadness and brokenness, because that's where Jesus shows up.

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#130: Being Church During Community Crisis

May 29, 2025

With Pastor Marcos Canales and Nina Lau Branson, discover how being church in a community crisis goes far beyond emergency preparedness.

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#129: One Church, Multiple Models: How the Mixed Ecology Approach Transforms Ministry

May 22, 2025

In this insightful episode of the Pivot Podcast, we talk with Dwight Zscheile about the concept of "one church multiple models" through what he calls a "mixed ecology" approach.

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

May 15, 2025

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

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Meet Your Hosts

  • Dwight Zscheile

    The Rev. Dr. 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.

  • Terri Elton

    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.

  • Dr. Alicia Granholm

    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).