In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay Pathak and Dave Ferguson discuss growing churches. Dave encourages dreaming big enough to where you are forced to be dependent on God, and talks about some common obstacles that keep us from dreaming big dreams. He also shares tangible practices for staying hungry and motivated after long years in ministry and the shift he believes needs to happen during the life of every leader. Dave Ferguson is the lead pastor of Community Christian Church, a multisite missional community that is passionate about “helping people find their way back to God.” Community has grown from a few college friends to thousands and has been recognized as one of America’s most influential churches. Dave also provides visionary leadership for the international church-planting movement NewThing and is chairman of the board and president of the Exponential conference. He is an award-winning author of books that include The Big Idea, Exponential, On The Verge, Finding Your Way Back To God, Starting Over, Hero Maker and most recently B.L.E.S.S. 5 Everyday Ways to Love Your Neighbor and Change the World. Dave and his best friend Sue have three terrific children Amy, Josh and Caleb. Feel free to email him with questions, ideas, feedback or introductions at [email protected] Show Notes: Dave’s Website https://daveferguson.org Prepare Your Church for the Future by Carl George https://amzn.to/3uIxM2O Lyle Schaller https://amzn.to/3rFsIu2 Multiply Vineyard https://multiplyvineyard.org Dave’s socials: Twitter: @daveferguson Instagram: @fergusondave ...
In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay talks with Tina Colón Williams about her career in humanitarian immigration law, how she came to see the field of law as a potential expression of justice and compassion, and the holy work of receiving people’s most tender stories. Tina shares about growing up on the outside of the cultural majority, her trajectory-altering experience as a teenager of hearing the stories of undocumented immigrants in San Francisco, and how she fell into a job at a cushy corporate law firm before finding her niche in immigration law. Tina beautifully illustrates how her faith informs her work, and addresses some of the common misconceptions about the immigration process. Tina Colón Williams is an immigration attorney, worship pastor and vocalist based in New Haven, Connecticut. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, Tina moved to New Haven in 2005 to attend Yale University. She graduated from the University of Connecticut school of law in 2014, and she currently leads an immigration litigation practice at Esperanza Attorneys at Law, a small low-bono law firm based in New Haven that represents immigrants from countries around the world in humanitarian immigration applications, removal proceedings and immigration appeals. She and her husband Josh lead the Elm City Vineyard church in New Haven, where Tina serves as the Worship Pastor. Tina has also served as a vocalist and songwriter for a number of Vineyard Worship releases over the past several years. Tina and Josh have two young girls, Zoe (4) and Joy (2). They love the city of New Haven, beaches, eating new foods, singing and dancing, and following Jesus in community with others. Show Notes: https://vineyardusa.org/associations/ Vineyard ...
In this episode of We Are Vineyard, Jay talks with worship leader and songwriter, author and National Director of Vineyard Canada, David Ruis. David shares some things he’s been learning about the story of God through his own story of adoption, the work of music in his life, and some stories of his early encounters with the Holy Spirit and his process of reconciling them with his Baptist upbringing. David also shares his heart in seeking the Lord to hear what He wants to do during any gathering or time of worship and his practice of coming with expectation that the Lord is with us. David and Anita Ruis have lead, encourage, and empowered the Vineyard in Canada as the National Directors since 2014. David is a well-respected worship leader and songwriter (You're Worthy Of My Praise, Every Move I Make, and much more). His most recent album, When Justice Shines, was released through ION Records. David has also authored two books: The Worship God Is Seeking and The Justice God Is Seeking. As a team David and Anita are also known to be effective church planters and seasoned pastors having established churches in Canada and the US. David has also been instrumental in seeing Vineyard communities established in Nepal and India. Much of the Ruises' focus has been in indigenous settings, working with people experiencing poverty and subsequent marginalization. They also have significant experience facilitating leadership development and on the creative side David is known for fostering originality in song-writing and the arts in various cultural settings. A burning passion for the Ruises is both practical and theological integration of creative worship in church community, and deep life engagement ...
