God is at work in the hearts of the people around us. His Spirit is everywhere and perfectly working long before we show up. In fact, our job is simply to ask, "Holy Spirit, what are you doing?" We get to ask, listen, and participate in what He is already doing in the lives of others. That is why I decided to sit down with Eric Chow, Director of Ministry and Outreach for the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He is a seasoned missionary with extremely practical advice for parish hospitality and personal mission. And today, he encourages us to recognize the “proximate periphery”, the mission field hidden in our daily routines, workplaces, and families.

Episode Timeline:

• [00:00] – Introduction to Eric Chow
• [01:32] – Eric's personal conversion
• [04:50] – Lessons from Catholic Christian Outreach
• [05:46] – Understanding the mission field in Vancouver
• [11:29] – What parish hospitality could look like
• [17:07] – The origins and mission of the Proclaim movement
• [20:22] – Reaching the proximate periphery right in front of you
• [27:09] – Prophetic listening and partnering with the Holy Spirit
• [29:35] – Why outreach to the furthest away comes first
• [32:51] – Balancing personal mission with the call to holiness
• [36:31] – Living as a radical disciple while working professionally for the Church
• [42:49] – Passing on a missional mindset to our children
• [47:02] – A hopeful vision for the future of the Church
• [49:16] – Simple steps to start praying for and reaching your mission field

Resources Mentioned

• Proclaim

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

Seeing the people we love walk away from Jesus is one of the hardest parts of living the faith today. So I sit down with David Spesia, Executive Director for Evangelization and Catechesis at the USCCB, to talk about the massive shift happening across the country as the US bishops unite around one single priority: seeking and saving the lost. We dive into the quiet fruit of the Eucharistic Revival and talk about how to keep your eyes fixed squarely on Jesus, even when human flaws and institutional friction threaten to pull you off track.

Episode Timeline:

[00:00] – Introduction
[02:41] – Personal Encounters and Intellectual Conversion
[07:45] – Lessons from Teaching High School Religion
[16:12] – Navigating Diocesan Leadership and Building Collaboration
[22:00] – Behind the Scenes of the National Eucharistic Revival
[33:40] – Measuring Long-Term Fruits of Spiritual Renewal
[40:01] – The USCCB Mission Directive to Seek and Save the Lost
[44:03] – Evangelical Discernment and Evaluating Ministry Fruitfulness
[51:41] – Loving the Church as Christ's Body Amidst Human Brokenness

Resources Mentioned

• Living as a Missionary Disciple (PDF)
• Companion to the Handbook on the Catechetical Accompaniment Process

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

Parish renewal can feel like trying to assemble a massive puzzle without having the picture on the box to reference. Bringing your parish back to life isn't about running another program. It's an act of loving accompaniment, and Jesus is already in the work with us. Christina Semmens joins me today to talk about how putting the right leadership pieces in place creates a simple, relational way to wake up our parish communities and make disciples who thrive.

Episode Timeline:

[00:00] – Introduction
[02:00] – Christina’s Journey from Military Leadership to Parish Renewal
[10:00] – What Discipleship Culture Actually Looks Like in a Parish
[15:00] – Moving Beyond Event-Based Evangelization
[19:00] – Customized CPR and Holistic Formation
[25:00] – Waking Up the Walking Dead in Our Pews
[28:00] – Best Practices vs. Quick-Fix Silver Bullets
[34:00] – Eliminating Communication Blind Spots & Building Two-Way Dialogue
[44:00] – A 4-Step Apprenticeship Model for Coaching Leaders
[52:00] – Practical Steps to Begin When You Feel Overwhelmed

Resources Mentioned

• The Catholic Leadership Puzzle
• ChristinaSemmens.com

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

Adam Stephenson, our guest from the episode "Knocking on Doors", joins me for a walk where he gives his hot take on evangelization: you should stick to the parish in your own backyard. He argues that parish shopping keeps us at arms length from the real work of evangelization, while staying local invites us to love the people God has placed right in front of us. And I agreed with him…for the most part. Tune in for a mini-sode on why you should (or shouldn’t) belong to the parish whose geographic boundaries you live in.

Episode Timeline:

[00:00] – Introduction
[00:32] – The Hot Take: Geographic Parish Boundaries
[00:56] – Why Proximity Matters for Loving Your Community
[02:29] – Modern Disorientation and the Loss of Neighborhood Faith
[04:29] – Valid Exceptions for Stepping Away from Your Local Parish
[06:49] – Accompanying "Dying" Parishes and the Mission Field
[09:21] – How to Supplement Your Spiritual Life Outside Parish Walls

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

You leave work at five, but your brain stays parked at the office. You sit with your family, yet mentally you carry the entire parish on your back as if saving everyone depends on you. When evangelization becomes a task we tackle with our own strength, we burn out, our programs flop, and our homes suffer. This week, Hannah Keisling, Evangelization Coordinator at St. Vincent de Paul in Omaha, joins me to share how putting God first, family second, and ministry third gave her the freedom to stop forcing outcomes. We unpack why no program works without real accompaniment, how to surrender the urge to carry it all yourself, and what happens when you let the Holy Spirit do the heavy lifting.

Episode Timeline:

[00:00] – Introduction
[06:39] – Transitioning Roles and the Grief of Leaving Youth Ministry
[18:38] – Why Programs Fail Without Real Accompaniment
[22:52] – Parish-Wide Programs vs. Personal Apostolates
[34:27] – Recognizing the Warning Signs of Ministry Overload
[41:08] – Rebuilding Mental Boundaries Between Work and Family
[50:45] – Grounding Your Daily Mission in Scripture and Named Prayer

Resources Mentioned

• St. Vincent de Paul Church - Omaha

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

Imagine a standing coffee date with a friend who talks at you the entire time, looks at their watch, and then says, “Gotta go! This was great!” You’d walk away feeling pretty unsatisfied. The level of intimacy we can reach is limited when conversation remains one-sided. But, too often, we treat our prayer lives the exact same way. We focus on how well we said our prayers instead of stopping to listen to what God wants to say back.

This week, Jonna Schuster, author of Hearing God's Voice, joins me to talk about listening prayer. We dive into its theological foundations, the four primary "languages" God uses to communicate, and how learning to hear His voice shifts our daily mission from a heavy burden into a rest-filled collaboration.

Episode Timeline:

• [00:00] – Introduction
• [01:21] – Jonna's origin story
• [08:34] – What inspired Hearing God's Voice
• [14:00] – The scriptural foundation for listening prayer
• [18:00] – The 4 languages of God: seeing, hearing, feeling, and thinking
• [24:41] – Receiving God in the mode of the receiver
• [27:58] – Physical vs. emotional feelings in prayer
• [35:01] – Asking God for practical solutions and wisdom
• [39:33] – Overcoming the biggest obstacles to hearing God
• [46:56] – How listening prayer complements Catholic devotions
• [50:50] – Moving from performance anxiety to rest and intimacy
• [53:02] – What church renewal looks like when prayer becomes the norm
• [59:01] – Where to begin and how to find Jonna's work

Resources Mentioned

• CatholicRevivalMinistries.com
• Hearing God's Voice

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

What happens when a priest in a cassock and a layman with a clipboard start walking their neighborhood boundaries? Join me, Jim Jansen, as I sit down with Father Jeff Loseke and Adam Stephenson from St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Gretna, Nebraska, to talk about how they took on neighborhood outreach. Instead of waiting for people to walk through their church doors, they exported their parish database into Google Maps and started showing up on front porches. From active parishioners and homebound seniors to those who haven't set foot in a church in decades, they found that personal connection opens doors to healing old wounds and bringing people back to the sacraments. Whether you're responsible for every soul within your parish boundaries or you simply want to be a better neighbor, this conversation will help you turn a walk down the street into an encounter with Jesus.

Episode Timeline:

• [00:00] – Introduction
• [00:01:46] – Guest Introductions & St. Charles Borromeo’s Rapid Growth
• [00:07:59] – Moving from a "Mega-Parish" Mindset to Neighborhood Ministry
• [00:12:46] – Mapping Parishioners and Neighborhood Boundaries with Simple Tech
• [00:18:34] – The Routine: Door-to-Door Walks, Prayer Booklets, and Door Hangers
• [00:24:53] – Balancing Introversion vs. Extroversion in Doorstep Evangelization
• [00:29:54] – Training Parish Missionaries and Mobilizing Intercessors
• [00:32:30] – Starting the Fuse: Non-Threatening Bridges and Low-Barrier Invitations
• [00:44:31] – Fitting Neighborhood Outreach into the Overall Parish Mission & Clear Path
• [00:51:40] – Vision for the Future: Empowering Lay Responsibility and Local Presence
• [01:00:27] – Final Encouragements for Pastors, Staff, and Introverted Leaders

Resources Mentioned

• St. Charles Borromeo
• Sent Evangelization
• The Art of Neighboring by Dave Runyon

⭐️ Enjoying the Show?

If The EquipCast is helping you navigate the realities of parish leadership, please take 60 seconds to leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your review helps other tired ministry leaders find these tools and realize they don’t have to walk this path alone!

Connect & Take the Next Step:

• Grab Your Free Tools: Get the playbook that actually changes lives at EverydayEvangelization.org.
• Bring This to Your Parish: Discover strategic training and accompaniment at Anchor Consulting.
• Read the Book: Order your copy of A Clear Path: How to Make Missionary Disciples in Your Parish.

The EquipCast is powered by Everyday Evangelization in conjunction with Anchor Consulting, delivering practical evangelization strategies and parish ministry tools to help you leave your ministry better than you found it.

Copyright © 2026 Anchor Consulting. All rights reserved.

The EquipCast is back!

After a few months away, I am excited to kick off a new chapter for The EquipCast. In this quick 3-minute teaser, I share a bit of my own story from this past spring, express my deep gratitude to the Archdiocese of Omaha, and share where we are heading next. Moving forward, The EquipCast is an independent production powered by EverydayEvangelization.org. While the platform is new, our mission remains exactly the same. We are here to give you practical tools, honest conversations, and encouragement for the messy work of parish renewal. You don't have to carry the weight of ministry alone.

👉 Resources & Tools: Visit EverydayEvangelization.org to access specialized tools to help train your team and guide your church renewal strategy.

Note: The EquipCast is an independent production powered by EverydayEvangelization.org and is no longer affiliated with the Archdiocese of Omaha.