What if ministry could be understood as a form of technology?

On the Season 17 premiere of the Igniting Imagination® podcast, Rev. Lisa Greenwood, Rev. Sue Phillips, and Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson explore this provocative question. This change in mindset could open the door to understanding how ancient spiritual practices can be renewed to meet the deep longings and challenges of our modern world.

They unpack what it means to approach ministry through this sense of curiosity, especially how it can help cultivate genuine connection and community. They also examine the dynamic relationship between tradition and innovation, highlighting spiritual practices that speak meaningfully to today’s social and cultural realities.

Host

Rev. Lisa Greenwood is the President & CEO of Wesleyan Impact Partners and Texas Methodist Foundation. She joined the staff of TMF in 2012 serving as Vice President for Leadership Ministry before taking her current role in 2022. She is an ordained elder in the North Texas (now Horizon Texas) Conference of the United Methodist Church, where she served congregations for twenty years. During the last five years of her local church ministry, Lisa served as a ministry strategist with Horizons Stewardship Company. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School.

Co-Host

Rev. Sue Phillips is on the founding team of the Workshop for Emotional and Spiritual Technology, a tech startup working to help people live more meaningful lives. After serving as a denominational executive for the Unitarian Universalist Association, she co-founded Sacred Design Lab, a nonprofit that interprets innovation to the religious world and ancient wisdom to the world of innovation. Clients and partners have included Pinterest, Google, Logitech, the Obama Foundation, and the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General.

Producer

Rev. Dr. Blair Thompson is chief learning and innovation officer at Texas Methodist Foundation and Wesleyan Impact Partners, where she and her team lead the organizations’ three Lilly Endowment-funded initiatives: Courageous Congregations Collaborative (C3), Courageous Leadership Imperative (CLI), and Phygital Preaching Fellows. She also leads Wesleyan Impact Partners’ Locke Innovative Leader Award process and cohorts of spiritual entrepreneurs. Blair is the creator and producer of the Igniting Imagination® podcast.

Links

Visit our show’s website at ignitingimagination.org.

To view videos of podcast episodes, please go to the Igniting Imagination YouTube.

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