In the Spirit of

Eric Meyer & Nick Talbott: Mystery & the Modern State of Faith

In our conversation with Eric & Nick, we learn: 1. Why Nick left his coaching career for the church. 2. Why Eric says we need to deconstruct our faith. 3. Why having a crisis in your faith is not a problem. 4. How having three pastors works. 5. How the church is keeping its youth engaged. 6. Why pastors are some of the loneliest people. 7. How leaning into the mystery has been a liberating experience. Eric Meyer & Nick Talbott are a part of the pastoral team at Trinity United Methodist Church and University United Methodist Church in Salina, Ks.  Learn more at: https://www.triumc.org/ [https://www.triumc.org/] & https://theuumc.org/ [https://theuumc.org/]

Glenna Phillips & Jennifer Kaufman: Breaking the Stigma on Mental Health

In our conversation with Glenna & Jennifer, we learn: 1. How Jennifer's curiosity evolved her career. 2. How the pandemic kept Central Kansas Mental Health Center on its toes. 3. How creativity played a major role in helping the community access telehealth. 4. What mental health is, and why it's such a personal journey. 5. Why it takes safety to poke at your trauma. 6. What simple question we can ask that could save a life. Glenna is the 5th Executive Director of Central Kansas Mental Health Center's nearly 60-year history and is involved in many committees and boards and was a part of getting the Mental Health In Schools Initiative up and running. Jennifer joined the CKMHC team as a child case manager in 2010 and was promoted to Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Project Director last year, where she provides oversight of the agency-wide CCBHC model of care implementation and is a certified Managing Aggressive Behaviors trainer. Learn more at: https://www.ckmhc.org/

Sarah Crews: Creating Space for Death in the Prairie

In our conversation with Sarah, we learn: 1. What it means to walk each other home. 2. How everything she thought about death has changed. 3. How Sarah's love for music led her to start a cemetery. 4. How she is restoring the prairie & bringing back native species. 5. How natural burial practices allow families & loved ones to create and experience beautiful memories. Sarah is the director of Heart Land Prairie Cemetery, a natural burial ground in Central Kansas devoted to ecological practices and management, which was the first of its kind in Kansas. She is the host of A Path Home, a podcast of the National Home Funeral Alliance, of which Sarah is a member. Sarah is an active advocate and educator for home funerals and green burials. Learn more at https://www.heartlandprairiecemetery.org/

C.J. Janovy: LGBT Activism & the Kansas Spirit

In our conversation with C.J., we learn: 1. What 3 lessons you learn in activism. 2. Why brave LGBTQ people share their stories. 3. What CJ hopes the audience will do after watching the documentary. 4. Why this stage of American life is not allowing people to accept the total value of their neighbors as humans.  C.J. Janovy is a celebrated journalist, author, editor, and critic who is currently the Director of Content at KCUR, the NPR Affiliate of Kansas City. C.J. helped launch the Kansas Reflector, which is a nonprofit news organization covering the Government of the State of Kansas. C.J. is the author of No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism from LGBT Kansas which has inspired a documentary called No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas. Learn more at https://cjjanovy.com/

Anna Pauscher Morawitz: Connection, Creativity, & the Arts

In our conversation with Anna, we learn: 1. Why she left her background in mental health. 2. How the arts help reflect and connect people. 3. Why Anna is passionate about collaboration and how she contributes. 4. What she wants Salina, Ks to be known for.