And Also With You

7th graders Emmie Rayburn and Liz Corsig sit down with Julia Noel and Liz Corsig to discuss the significance of music in our faith journeys. We discuss what made Emmie and Julia fall in love with music at a young age, what its like to be part of the Celebrate band, and what music teaches all of us about God. Listen in to learn more!

MPPC Youth Hampton and Clara sit down with Liz and Erin to discuss an important tool on our faith journeys: discernment. We know that God is active in all the joyous, grievous, and mundane moments of our lives, but how can we actually slow down long enough to NOTICE God's presence? And how can we pay attention to the way that God calls us to live here and now? Turns out it all has a lot to do with community! Listen in to find out more and let us know: How is God calling YOU to show up in the world?

Ella Matchett (MPPC youth) and Bailey Wise (youth advisor) sit down with Liz to share memories from their time walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. What does the Camino teach us about God's active presence in the world? What are Ella and Bailey's intentions as they prepare to walk the Camino again in a few months? Listen in to find out!

In this episode, 7th graders Hampton Bundy and Sloan Jordan sit down with Executive Pastor Millie Snyder and Resident Pastor Joseph Jumper to learn all about our two sacraments: Communion & Baptism. What makes something a "sacrament"? In what ways do sacraments nourish us on our faith journey? Can anyone take communion? Should we get baptized more than once? And maybe Hampton will FINALLY get her big question answered: why don't we get dunked in a tub during baptism? Listen in to find out. Peace be with you!

Tune in to listen to JP Hoce, William Livingston, and Sarah Good discuss one of the most transformational experiences in many of our faith journeys: Montreat Youth Conference! What is it that makes Montreat so foundational to our faith? How do we continue to bring practices that we learned at Montreat back home and incorporate them into our daily lives? And lastly, what EXACTLY does it mean to leave your cool at the gate? Listen in now to find out. Peace be with you!

Welcome to Lightning Round!!! In this episode, Liz sits down with youth Avery Peacock, Margaret Hinshaw, Caitlyn Anderson, Reece Efird, Sadie Griffin, and Carson Greenway to share our favorite stories from our time visiting our partners in Remedios, Cuba last summer. Thanks for listening!

7th graders Hampton Bundy and Clara Efird sit down with Liz and Allison to discuss one of our favorite parts of our faith journey: YOUTH GROUP! Listen in to find out more about the intentional, sacred practices that we live out each week on Sunday nights and consider how these practices shape our journey of faith. Peace be with you!

On this episode, Harper Ayres, Levi Kemp, Mike McCoy and Liz Corsig sit down together to discuss one of our favorite MPPC Youth trips: the Sailing Pilgrimage! Listen in to hear about what a week of contemplative prayer, meditation, and leaning into discomfort teaches us about God. Peace be with you!

On this episode, Lambeth Gibson and Henry Yingling sit down with Senior Pastor Joe Clifford to discuss his summer 2023 sabbatical! Every seven years, each member of our clergy is given three months off to step away, recharge, and participate in God's gift of sabbath. Listen in to hear Joe's thoughts about how his faith and ministry have been shaped by this gift. Peace be with you!

On this episode, JP Hoce and Cooper Lamm sit down with Senior Pastor Joe Clifford to discuss generosity as a faith practice. What does it look like to practice generosity? How does generosity allow us to participate in the work God is already doing in the world? And why is it SO hard for humans to choose to practice generosity? Dive into this topic with us and as always, peace be with you!

Today, Christopher Beaman and Phae Smith sit down with MPPC Associate Pastor for Children and Their Families, Lisa Hickman, to discuss a daunting topic: SCRIPTURE. What is the role of scripture in our faith? How are we supposed to interpret it, and where do we even begin? We know that scripture is the word of God, but what do we do with all the messiness? Jump into this complex topic with us, knowing that God is with us in this sacred space! To quote theologian Fredrick Buechner, “If you look at a window, you see flyspecks, dust, the crack where Junior’s Frisbee hit it. If you look through a window, you see the world beyond. Something like this is the difference between those who see the Bible as a holy bore and those who see it as the Word of God, which speaks out of the depths of an almost unimaginable past into the depths of ourselves.”

On this episode, MPPC Youth Mia Dover, SK Williamson, and Christopher Beaman sit down with Worship Arts Director Mark Kemp to discuss all things MUSIC and its significance in worship. Listen in now to learn more about how music contributes to communal worship and allows us to grow deeper in our relationship with God and one another!

On this episode, Covington Cooke and Cooper Lamm sit down with Associate Pastor for Youth and their Families, Michelle Thomas-Bush to discuss the science behind faith practices. How do faith practices alter our brains? What can we learn from these scientific studies? How can faith practices allow us to live into the fullness that God calls us to? Listen in to find out!

Today, youth Mental Health Advocates Cooper Lamm and Violet Thomas-Bush sit down with Liz Corsig and Mike McCoy to discuss self-compassion as a faith practice. How can we show compassion for ourselves and others and what does God have to say about it? Listen in to find out, and don't forget to join us for the self-compassion exercise at the end of the episode!

On this episode, MPPC Youth Annabel Lamm and Cooper Lamm sit down with Senior Pastor Joe Clifford to discuss one of our most cherished faith practices: PILGRIMAGE. Annabel and Cooper walked the Camino de Santiago with the youth in June 2022, and a few months later, Joe walked the Camino with an adult group from the church! Listen to us share stories, laughs, and memories of this transformational experience and consider the ways that you can incorporate pilgrimage into your daily life. Buen Camino!

On this episode, JP Hoce and Christopher Beaman sit down with CROSS Missions Director Erika Funk to discuss service as a faith practice. Why are Christians called to do service? What is "white savior complex" and how do we make sure we are practicing service in an empowering way? Listen to this episode to find out!

Brother/Sister Team Reece and Clara Efird sit down with Michelle to kick off Season 3 of our podcast: Faith Practices!!! We have already learned so much about faith practices this year and we can't wait to dive in. Thanks for joining us and peace be with you!

JP Hoce and Christopher Beaman are joined by MPPC Executive Pastor Millie Snyder to chat about predestination! There are a lot of misconceptions about this doctrine, and many people outside the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) tend to believe that we talk and think about it WAY more than we actually do. In the end, predestination is a reminder that God loves us and that nothing we do can make God love us any more or any less. God has set us free to live faithful lives in response to this grace. That is the good news! Thanks for listening, and peace be with you.

In this episode, JP Hoce and Christopher Beaman sit down with Rev. Dr. Joe Clifford, Senior Pastor at Myers Park Presbyterian Church, to talk about ATONEMENT!!! Joe breaks down several of the theories of atonement to help us understand reconciliation, recognizing that these are all human attempts to explain something that is beyond our human understanding. We are so grateful to Joe for taking the time to wrestle with this complicated topic alongside us. Peace be with you!

In today's episode, Jane Porter Hoce and Christopher Beaman sit down with MPPC Associate Pastor John Magnuson to ask: why do some people say that our faith should be private? How are we supposed to talk about our faith with other people? Listen now to find out! Peace be with you!