Politics. Masks. Vaccines. The reasons churches are dividing are legion. How should we as church leaders cultivate spaces where people who have nothing else in common gather and are willing to put those differences aside? Is it possible or just wishful thinking? Is it worth the effort? What kind of leadership, teaching, and programming culture might enable people of opposing opinions to feel at ease with each other? With so much polarization going on in our world, how does the church provide a meaningful alternative?
Cultivating Hospitality in a Divided Church
About the Author: Mike Erre
Mike Erre is a Teaching Pastor at Journey Church in Brentwood, Tennessee. He hosts a podcast for the spiritually and politically homeless called Voxology voxologypodcast.com. A proud Ohio native now living in Nashville, Tennessee, Mike spends his days as a podcaster and teaching pastor. Prior to starting the VOX (now Voxology) Podcast in 2015, Mike served as a pastor at several Orange County megachurches. Mike became disillusioned with the big budget, big production, corporate church and how they so radically differed from the teachings of Jesus. He set out to reshape his vocation exploring what it means to live true to the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, amidst a Christian Culture that seems to easily wander from its core. Mike and his wife Justina spend their time, in large part, learning from their kids, Nate, Hannah, and (the Voxology hype man) Seth.