Between Two Pews

Indian Hill Church
  • 5.0 (2)
  • RELIGION

This summer, Rev. Dr. Stephen Caine, along with Technology and Communications Coordinator Sarah Dorger, will be launching a new limited series for you to enjoy: “Between Two Pews”! In lieu of the standard Sunday worship videos, Stephen and Sarah will be releasing nine online recordings where they, along with guest speakers of all different religious backgrounds, reflect on the gospel reading for that week. Humor, introspection, big questions, and creative insights abound as Stephen and Sarah pick their guests’ brains about the best and most interesting lessons that we can get from the gospel to our lives today.

Episodes

  1. 08/12/2022

    Being Followers of Christ: August 14th, 2022

    Welcome to the final episode of this season of Between Two Pews! Today, Sarah and Stephen are joined by Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr., a cornerstone in Cincinnati civil rights activism. They tackle a divisive passage from Luke 12: Jesus as a cause of division, not unity, and the kinds of challenges that are associated with being one of his followers. If you like what we've done with Between Two Pews, check out our social media! Subscribe to us on YouTube, follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and maybe even come visit us sometime. We'd love to have you drop in and see what we're all about at Indian Hill Episcopal Presbyterian Church. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/indianhillchurch Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/indianhillchurch/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSW98rz2wJPBTeYKZ1JqXPA THE TEXT: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain,’ and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?" ABOUT REV. DAMON LYNCH II: Rev. Damon Lynch, Jr. is the former pastor of the New Jerusalem Baptist Church, a position he held for nearly 52 years from 1970-2022. He is now Pastor Emeritus of New Jerusalem. He received his Bachelor of Science from the Cincinnati Christian University in 1970 and an MBA from the Graduate Theological Foundation at Notre Dame in 1991, where he was voted class orator. Rev. Lynch is also the recipient of an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Temple Bible College, an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the college of Mt. St. Joseph and the Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. Among many awards and honors, he has received are the Great Living Cincinnatian from the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce, the Wright Overstreet Award from the NAACP, the Unite Way’s Joseph A. Hall award, the Lion Award for Community Service from the Urban League, People of Courage Award from Channel 9 and the Cincinnati Herald, and he was the first recipient of the Humanitarian Award from UC Health and College of Medicine. Rev. Lynch was inducted into the Ohio Civil Rights Hall of Fame in the Capitol Building in Columbus in 2012. Among the highlights of his long career is the organization and planning of the first Martin Luther King Jr. March in Cincinnati along with the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Virginia Coffey, and the organizing and planning for the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. He states that another pivotal point was the planning and implementing of the Billy Graham Crusade held in the Great American Ball Park. Rev. Lynch and his wife Barbara are the proud parents of Rev. Damon Lynch, III and Dr. Cristal M. Lynch, MD. They have 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, who are the joy of their lives and hope for the future.

    1h 17m

  2. 08/05/2022

    Watchful Slaves: August 7th, 2022

    Apologies for the fuzzy mic sound-- the settings on our microphone were messed up and we didn't catch it until later! We appreciate your patience. :) Welcome back to Between Two Pews! This is our penultimate episode for this season; next week, we finish off our first season with guest Rev. Damon Lynch II. Today, Stephen and Sarah-- sans a guest due to busy schedules!-- talk about metaphors and parables, mixed connotations with masters and slaves, and why Vacation Bible School being so corny is what makes it so fun. If you like what we're doing with Between Two Pews, consider subscribing to us on YouTube or dropping a review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Sharing with your friends is also neat! THE TEXT: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night or near dawn and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

    30 min

  3. 07/21/2022

    Learning How to Pray: July 24th, 2022

    Welcome back to Between Two Pews, where we're learning how to pray with Pastor Jeff Wilder! Jesus instructs us in today's passage (Luke 11:1-13), "Ask, and it will be given to you." But how do we reconcile that when we don't get what we feel we need from God? If you like what we're doing with Between Two Pews, consider subscribing to us on YouTube or dropping a review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Sharing with your friends is also neat! THE TEXT: He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” So he said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, may your name be revered as holy. May your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. And do not bring us to the time of trial.” And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything out of friendship, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” ABOUT PASTOR JEFF WILDER: Jeff Wilder is a Commissioned Minister of the Christian Church in Ohio. Born and raised in Middletown, Jeff Wilder has a true heart for the young people of this city. He has just recently began his formal education at Phillips Theological Seminary, but has had the unique opportunity to study under some of the area's great ministers and theologians. Jeff has been an active volunteer with The Boy Scouts of America for 13 years. He has been recognized as Scoutmaster of the Year, Cub Master of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year, as well as being a Vigil Honoree in the Order of the Arrow (BSA Honor Society). In 2018, Jeff was recognized by Kingswell Ministries as Man of the Year for his work with the youth in Middletown and Mason of the year for Jefferson lodge Middletown free and accepted Masons. He has previously served as an outreach minister, an elder, and a youth program coordinator. Jeff’s family has absorbed his love for serving: his wife, Kelly, works as a home healthcare giver for adults with disabilities, and youngest son, Kobi, is an Eagle Scout whose Eagle project was an anti bulling campaign. They currently live in Middletown. He is also the proud father of seven, of whom son Glenn South is a missionary to turkey, daughter Courtney is a preschool teacher, and daughter Carly is a student of Cincinnati State for hospitality and business management. He is an even prouder grandfather of four. His favorite verse is, “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). In ministry, as in life, Jeff has lived and ministered from the precept that God gives us: “It is okay to give the wrong person a break, but not break the wrong person.”

    48 min

  4. 07/11/2022

    Sibling Rivalry: June 17th, 2022

    Welcome back to Between Two Pews with Stephen Caine! Much like on Trinity Sunday, Stephen has some bones to pick with this passage (Luke 10:38-42). We bring in historian and scholar Dr. Marita von Weissenberg to chat with us about the famed sisters Martha and Mary whom Jesus often took shelter with on his journeys. Frustration with Jesus playing favorites abounds, but we also get to hear several delightful stories that our medieval ancestors told about Jesus-- the veracity of which is...dubious, but hey, the stories are REALLY entertaining. THE TEXT: Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at Jesus’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her, then, to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things, but few things are needed—indeed only one. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” ABOUT DR. MARITA (Miti) VON WEISSENBERG: Marita, or Miti, von Weissenberg is Associate Professor of history at Xavier University, where she teaches about the European Middle Ages, marriage, and how to use the amazing library resources to their fullest potential! She thinks her flagship courses are the one using St. Francis of Assisi as a window to the 12th and 13th centuries, or a seminar that examines saints and sanctity from their origins to the Internet, but everyone else seems to think her flagship course is Vikings, exclamation mark ("Vikings!"). Her scholarship focuses on late medieval biographies of married saints, which she studies in order to understand how men's gender identities were impacted by their own or their wives' piety. In general she is very interested in intersections of piety, gender, social roles, and good stories. She reads non-fiction about US society, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and whatever her book club decides on. She is currently reading 'The Golem and The Jinni' by Helene Wecker; 'Matrix' by Lauren Groff; and 'Gods of the Blood' by Mattias Gardell. She knits to stay sane.

    1h 7m

  5. 07/07/2022

    The "Good" Samaritan: July 10th, 2022

    Welcome back to Between Two Pews! Buckle in-- this episode is a doozy. Today, we cover what is perhaps the best-known parable that Jesus told: the parable of the Good Samaritan. (Our guest, Rabbi Abie Ingber, points out that there are probably more hospital signs labeled with "Samaritan" than there are actual Samaritans living in the world today!) All kinds of morals and lessons have been derived from this parable: "Take care of your neighbors." "Be selfless to those who have been harmed without expectation for anything in return." "If 'church people' like the priest and the Levite won't work for justice and mercy, God will find someone who will." "Don't judge people by who you think they are; judge them by how they reveal themselves to be." Put those on the back burner, because we're digging into what the historical context of what this parable means, and it's sure to subvert your expectations as much as it did ours! THE TEXT: An expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” But wanting to vindicate himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and took off, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came upon him, and when he saw him he was moved with compassion. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, treating them with oil and wine. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and when I come back I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” ABOUT RABBI ABIE INGBER: Rabbi Abie was Executive Director of the Hillel Center at the University of Cincinnati for three decades. In 2008, he established the Center for Interfaith Community Engagement at Xavier University, retiring in 2018. He was Visiting Associate Professor of Theology at Xavier. Rabbi Abie has advocated his entire life on behalf of social justice. As a teenager, he talked his way into John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s bedroom during their 1969 “Love In.” In 2009, he traveled to Darfur to share a message of hope, which his parents, who survived the Holocaust, instilled in him. In 2010, he traveled to Uganda and Kenya, and then to Ethiopia. In the fall of 2012, he logged 24,734 miles as the keynote lecturer for the Cameroon Muslim Student Union and the Museum of Dialogue in Poland. Rabbi Abie co-created the 2005 award-winning exhibit, “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People,” which toured 18 cities and closed at the Vatican in 2015. In 2022 Cincinnati Opera produced his Cabaret of Hope: Warsaw 1941. In his role as an educator, NPR commentator, and as an accomplished lecturer and raconteur, Rabbi Abie charts a course for meaningfulness in life. Rabbi Abie is the son of two Holocaust Survivors. His parents met in a Displaced Persons Camp after the war. He has raised his four daughters to emulate their grandparents’ values of love, compassion, and justice.

    1h 6m

  6. 07/03/2022

    The Buddy System: July 3rd, 2022

    We're back with another episode of Between Two Pews! Joe Snavely joins us once again. We cover Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, and Sarah affectionately identifies that Jesus, like Scouts BSA, advocates using the Buddy System when going out into the wide, wide world. (She thinks Martha, sister of Lazarus, would definitely be an Eagle scout in this hypothetical situation that no one asked about.) THE TEXT: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way; I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on that person, but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” THE GUEST: Joe Snavely is currently in his sixth year as Lay Chaplain at Bethany School (Episcopal) in Glendale, OH. Before coming to Bethany, he spent eleven years as the Director of Christian Formation at Christ Church Glendale where he oversaw education and formation activities for parishioners from Kindergarten through Adult. He grew up Roman Catholic in Cincinnati, became an Episcopalian in his early twenties, and received much of his own religious and spiritual education/formation from some amazing Jesuits at Regis University in Denver, CO. He currently lives with his wife Gina, a bunch of kids, and almost as many pets in Covington, KY.

    33 min

  7. 06/25/2022

    The Cost of Discipleship: June 26th, 2022

    Welcome to another episode of Between Two Pews! Today, we are discussing the gospel reading for June 26th: Luke 9:51-62. Stephen is in Germany, so Sarah is our mission control for today's conversation with Chaplain Joe Snavely! You can find the episodes of Between Two Pews here on YouTube, or you can find them... on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3KVe9DwHUgyQrPnA7Lqrrr on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/between-two-pews/id1627996220 THE TEXT: When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to prepare for his arrival, but they did not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” And Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” THE GUEST: Joe Snavely is currently in his sixth year as Lay Chaplain at Bethany School (Episcopal) in Glendale, OH. Before coming to Bethany, he spent eleven years as the Director of Christian Formation at Christ Church Glendale where he oversaw education and formation activities for parishioners from Kindergarten through Adult. He grew up Roman Catholic in Cincinnati, became an Episcopalian in his early twenties, and received much of his own religious and spiritual education/formation from some amazing Jesuits at Regis University in Denver, CO. He currently lives with his wife Gina, a bunch of kids, and almost as many pets in Covington, KY.

    37 min

  8. 06/16/2022

    The Gerasene Demoniac: June 19th, 2022

    Welcome to another episode of Between Two Pews with Stephen Caine! Today, we are discussing the gospel reading for June 19th: Luke 8:26-39. Jesus, in this passage, casts out a demon from a vulnerable man-- but the response of the people around him isn't joy or celebration, it's fear. Our guest today is Rev. Connor L. Thompson, visiting us from First Christian Church in Middletown, Ohio! THE TEXT: Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. ABOUT REV. CONNOR THOMPSON: Connor Thompson is a Commissioned Minister (Seeking Ordination) in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Connor had his first ministry experience serving as Chaplain at Camp Friedlander operated by Dan Beard Council, BSA. He is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio receiving a Bachelor of Science in Non-Profit and Community Studies, studied in the Certificate of Pastoral Ministry at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is pursuing a Master of Divinity Degree at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Kentucky. Connor serves the Christian Church in Ohio as a member of the Anti-Racism/Pro-Reconciliation Commission and as Camp Director for Otter Camp, a week-long elementary school camp experience at Camp Christian in Magnetic Springs, Ohio. Connor is a Trained Interim Minister by the Ohio Interim Ministry Working Group of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Ohio and the Heartland Conference of the United Church of Christ. Connor is active with the Middletown Area Ministerial Alliance, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Kiwanis Club of Middletown. Connor is an Eagle Scout, has a passion for music, and all things technology. When not working at the church, Connor can most likely be found in a uniform serving the Boy Scouts of America as a Assistant District Commissioner and Order of the Arrow Chapter Adviser. Find out more about First Christian Church and Connor's ministry here: http://www.fcc-middletown.org/

    1h 7m

  9. 06/09/2022

    Trinity Sunday: June 12th, 2022

    Welcome, one and all, to the very first episode of Between Two Pews with Stephen Caine (and his charming assistant, Sarah Dorger)! In this episode, Stephen reveals that he hates Trinity Sunday and the rather difficult lectionary reading involved (John 16:12-15), which seems a little dramatic at first but fairly reasonable once you hear his explanation. Sarah waxes poetic on...well, poetry, specifically Milton and Dante-- as Stephen says, artists step in where theologians' words fail. THE TEXT: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you."

    46 min
  • 9 Episodes

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About

This summer, Rev. Dr. Stephen Caine, along with Technology and Communications Coordinator Sarah Dorger, will be launching a new limited series for you to enjoy: “Between Two Pews”! In lieu of the standard Sunday worship videos, Stephen and Sarah will be releasing nine online recordings where they, along with guest speakers of all different religious backgrounds, reflect on the gospel reading for that week. Humor, introspection, big questions, and creative insights abound as Stephen and Sarah pick their guests’ brains about the best and most interesting lessons that we can get from the gospel to our lives today.

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  • Creator
    Indian Hill Church
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    9