NexGen Pastors' Fellowship, which has continually offered events and networking spaces for Asian American pastors since its beginnings in 2011, recently launched a new initiative: a podcast.
"We realized that there's a limitation to the events we've been holding -- if you want the information, you have to actually be there," explained Pastor Sam Koh of Hillside LA, one of the three pastors who lead NexGen. "We also realized that NexGen is not just a Southern California network anymore -- we've become a network that reaches nationwide, and a lot of the pastors from different states aren't able to come down here to attend our events."
Podcasts will explore various topics, including the dynamics between first and second generation pastors in the Asian American context, the theme on which NexGen was originally started. Prominent Asian American church leaders will also be highlighted, particularly those who are serving in the Caucasian or multi-ethnic context.
"We want to ask them to share what they are doing there, and how they're received there, because these are things that most pastors don't get to hear, since most of their pastor friends are Asian Americans," Koh explained.
The first podcast, which was posted online on Tuesday, featured an interview with Gary Lindblad, the dean of the business school at Biola University, who spoke on the importance of faith and work for lay people. This particular podcast served not only to launch NexGen's podcast initiative, but also to prepare the group for the upcoming "Gospel and the City" event hosted by TogetherLA, with which NexGen is partnering.
Lindblad discussed how the idea of radical faith can be integrated in a "secular" work place, and advised pastors on expanding the idea of "loving our neighbor" from being exclusive to the immediate home neighborhood, to being pervasive into the work context.
"You can have a barbecue, invite people over, get to know the people around [your home]," Lindblad said. "But my neighbor that I spent eight to ten hours per day with is the neighbor sitting next to my cubicle ... Your neighbor is your customer, your client, your colleague."
NexGen hopes to post podcasts once every two months. The first podcast can be found at www.nexgenpastors.com/podcast/.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Gospel and the City gathering, taking place on September 16 at Biola University, will focus on how Christians in all fields can use their work places as contexts to be witnesses for the gospel, and is the first event TogetherLA will be hosting since the February city-wide gathering, which brought together numerous local churches and ministries.
