Ministry to Parents Podcast Chris Sasser, Kerry Ray, and Amy Diller

In this episode of the Ministry to Parents Podcast, the M2P team has a great conversation with Stuart Hall. Stuart is a husband, dad, speaker, and author who works with Reggie Joiner and the team at Orange. Stuart has been an influential voice in ministry for quite some time while also being the father of multiple kids who played sports in middle school, high school, and on college athletic scholarships. So, we thought Stuart would be the perfect voice to chat with this month as we tackle the tension that often exists between the church ministry and sports. How can we, as ministry leaders, best minister to and help the kids, teens, and parents within our ministries who have sports as a part of their lives? Let’s talk about it!

This month, we invite you to join us for another episode that we recorded live at the D6 Conference in Orlando, FL. Our special guest for this podcast is Christina Embree. Christina is a church planter, New Gen Coordinator at Plowshares Brethren in Christ in Lexington, KY, and serves as the Minister of Generational Discipleship for the Great Lakes Conference of the Brethren in Christ. She earned a Masters of Arts in Ministry, Children, Youth and Family focus from Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) and is currently a doctoral candidate of Ministry in Spiritual Formation at IWU. Christina has a heart to see homes as the primary place for faith formation and spiritual growth for kids, parents, grandparents, and every other member of the family. So, grab a cup of coffee and listen in as Kerry and Amy have a fun and incredibly insightful conversation with Christina about what churches can practically do to connect the different generations. 

In this episode, Sass, Amy, and Kerry are joined by special guest Brock Morgan. Brock is a pastor, author, speaker, consultant, and coach. We spend this episode diving into his book The Anxious Teen to talking about what is happening within this generation concerning anxiety and what we, as ministry leaders and parents, can do to help our kids and teens grow in healthy ways. Brock shares some great stories and insights with us concerning anxiety. He also takes the time to provide us with some practical suggestions on what we can do as ministry leaders and parents to better engage. Give it a listen and share it with someone else!

We have a real treat for you this month on the M2P podcast as we share the first of three episodes that we recorded live with some of the main stage communicators at the D6 Conference in Orlando, FL. Our first guest is Dr.  Timothy Paul Jones, who is the vice president; C. Edwin Gheens professor of Christian family ministry; and chair of the Department of Apologetics, Ethics, and Philosophy at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Timothy is also the author of more than a dozen books, including In Church as It Is in Heaven (InterVarsity, 2023) with Jamaal Williams. He also serves as a preaching pastor at Sojourn Church Midtown and cohosts The Apologetics Podcast. Timothy joins Kerry and Amy in this month’s podcast to share with our M2P listeners how families can step into truly discipling their kids at home. 

Lots of things are true in life. No, we’re not talking about death and taxes, but we are talking about the fact that kids and teens will continue to grow and move from one stage of life to the next. In this episode of the Ministry to Parents Podcast, Sass, Amy, and Kerry talk about how church leaders can help kids, teens, and parents transition from one place to another in a healthy way. There are things we can do to help students celebrate milestones and move into new ministries as well as help parents lead their kids in these transitions. As always, we have a little fun and laugh a lot, so enjoy!

In this episode, your favorite three M2P April Fools—Sass, Kerry, and Amy—talk about the importance of friendships and how ministry leaders and parents can help kids and teens learn how to build and maintain healthy friendships. This is such a key part of life, and, as adults, we need to be paying attention to how our kids are navigating their relationships and help them see how important the relationships they have are to their future. We tell some personal stories and give some practical tips on how to be on this journey with the kids and teens that we lead and love.