Episode 5 | Our Journey Out of the Institutional Church

Welcome to Episode five of the Ekklesia Podcast! The is the first episode in our new home at The Ekklesia Podcast. My wife Susan joins me again for this episode as we talk about our journey out of the institutional church setting and into a more authentic and genuine experience of the ekklesia. We both hit a wall of performance Christianity in 2009 which started us on this journey we’re still on today. The notion of leaving the institutional church was foreign to us until we hit a wall of performance – and we hit it hard! After all, I was a pastor in institutional churches for 20+ years. Why would I leave when I was the one leading?

Join our conversation as we recount what that experience was like and what it continues to be like as we discover a fresh way to live apart from institutional obligations.

Enjoy!

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Episode 4 | Rethinking the Clergy/Laity Distinction

Welcome to the fourth episode of The Ekklesia Podcast. In this episode I crack open the lid on the clergy/laity distinction that exists within the institutional church. Like so many other topics we’re going to discuss as this podcast continues to grow and move along, this won’t be the only time we address this subject. It’s more of an introduction to the issue.

Do the words “clergy” and “laity” appear anywhere in the New Testament and if so, what do they refer to? Is there such a thing in Christ’s ekklesia as a professional clergy who have authority over a non-professional segment of his body, called the laity? What is the role of history and tradition in influencing our thinking of the clergy/laity separation? Has tradition trumped scripture in our understanding of top-down authority structures in the institutional church? Join me as I talk about these important questions and more. Welcome to The Ekklesia Podcast!

This episode is the 4th of 4 episodes that were originally on my old UnSunday Podcast. I’m shutting that podcast show down and have moved here instead. I think “Ekklesia” is a better reflection of the things I want to say than “UnSunday” was.

-Mike

Episode 3 | Who Are the Pastors?

Welcome to the third episode of the Ekklesia Podcast! I’m still feeling my way through the newness of this podcast. Thanks for joining me on this journey. In this episode, I interact with Jon Zens’ latest book entitled, Jesus is Family: His Life Together as I talk about pastors in the ekklesia and the detriment that top-down authority structures are to authentic life in the assembly. We seem to be ignoring Jesus’ words, “It shall not be so among you” when it comes to power and control in the institutional church. Zens’ book is one of the best I’ve ever read on the ekklesia. I recommend it without hesitation.

This episode has was originally on my old UnSunday Podcast. I’m shutting that podcast show down and have moved here instead. I think “Ekklesia” is a better reflection of the things I want to say than “UnSunday” was.

Enjoy!

Episode 2 | How Did We Get Here?

Welcome to episode 2 of The Ekklesia Podcast! My wife Susan joins me in this episode as we escape the extreme heat of the southwest and find ourselves in the tall pines of Arizona. It was there that we decided to record this episode – a podcast in the pines. I’m pleased with the way it turned out. I was a little concerned because we were outside in an uncontrolled environment.

In this episode we talk about how we got here. How did the institutional church get to where it is today? Where did the modern top-down authority structure that we see in so many institutional church settings come from? Did we get here by accident or was it intentional? What did Jesus say about top-down authority? Does the modern institutional church reflect the New Testament’s anticipation of it? Join us as we ask honest and direct questions about these subjects and more!

This episode was originally on my old UnSunday Podcast. I’m shutting that podcast show down and have moved it here instead. I think “Ekklesia” is a better reflection of the things I want to say than “UnSunday” was.

Enjoy!

Episode 1 | Introduction

Welcome to the new Ekklesia Podcast! I’m labeling these first four episodes UnSunday because they are the episodes I started on my UnSunday Podcast and have since moved them to the new Ekklesia Podcast. Ekklesia more accurately describes this podcast, so I will be closing the UnSunday Podcast soon. All the Unsunday episodes are here and labeled UnSunday in the title.

In this episode, I introduce the podcast and talk about some of the subjects I want to cover in future episodes. I chose the name Ekklesia because I think it accurately describes my own journey out of the institutional church and into a more authentic reality that enables me to be more genuine about who I am. As a former pastor in the institutional church setting, I had to wear a lot of masks to cover up who I really was and what I really thought. As I mention in this episode, I love Christ’s assembly, but I question whether many of the practices in the modern institutional church setting are what Jesus had in mind and whether today’s institutional church is an accurate reflection of what the Ekklesia should be.

Join me on this journey as we engage in this much needed ongoing conversation.

-Mike