New People // New Ways: Your Ongoing Resource for Fresh Expressions of Church

For anyone passionate about reaching people beyond the walls of traditional church, the New People // New Ways podcast is an essential companion. Each episode explores innovative, relational, and contextually grounded approaches to starting and sustaining Fresh Expressions of church, blending practical guidance, inspiring stories, and theological reflection. It equips pastors, lay leaders, and church planters with the tools to meet people where they are, fostering communities that reflect the relational, inclusive heart of Jesus.

The podcast, a collaboration of Fresh Expressions United Methodist and Fresh Expressions Florida, features conversations with adventurers, pastors, and thought leaders from across the Fresh Expressions movement, both well-known voices and emerging practitioners. Guests share real-world examples of creative ministry, team cultivation, relational evangelism, discipleship, and the missional ecclesiology behind Fresh Expressions, offering insights listeners can apply in their contexts.

Our Guest List Is… Incredible!

We’ve had the privilege of hosting the originators of Fresh Expressions in the U.K., including Graham Cray, Michael Moynagh, Martyn Atkins, and Graham Horsley. They share hard-won insights and strategies for pioneering Fresh Expressions in post-Christendom contexts, including lessons learned from both success and failure.

We’ve also welcomed world-renowned scholars such as Leonard Sweet, Elaine Heath, Laceye Warner, and Monika Ardelt, whose visionary perspectives on missional leadership, discipleship, wisdom, and innovation continue to shape the movement.

Denominational leaders and bishops have contributed insights as well, from Ken Carter, Tom Berlin, Lori Jennings, Leslie Newton, and David Wilson, reflecting on the church’s evolving role in cultivating new communities of faith.

Perhaps most importantly, the podcast amplifies voices from the margins. Practitioners like Rai Jackson, Danielle Buwon Kim, Jaidymar Smith, Woo Kang, Andrés Pérez González, Tiffany McCall, Tracy Rose, and Tiffania Icaza Willetts offer stories of courage, creativity, and resilience, models of how to build faith communities that meet people where they are and foster deep relational discipleship.

Every conversation uncovers the practical and relational work of cultivating Fresh Expressions: developing teams, nurturing discipleship, and creating spaces where people experience God outside traditional church walls. Each episode is a reminder that ministry is as much about listening, learning, and journeying as it is about teaching, preaching, or planning.

Good Things Come in Threes

God is a Trinitarian community, always inviting people into the circle dance of love. Good things come in threes, amen?
We’re thrilled to introduce Rev. Isaiah Jennifer Park as the newest member of the New People // New Ways interview team. Isaiah brings fresh energy, a relational lens, and a gift for storytelling that illuminates the people, practices, and principles that make Fresh Expressions transformative. With over two decades of ministry experience, she has pioneered innovative approaches to evangelism, discipleship, and church planting, helping communities grow from the brink of closure into thriving, multiplying expressions of faith.

Most recently, Isaiah served as Pastor of Evangelism and Missional Engagement at Restoration Church, a campus of Floris United Methodist Church in Virginia, where she launched multiple Fresh Expressions, cultivated young adult ministries, and equipped laity to share the gospel through relational storytelling and compassion-driven action. She co-planted Journey Community Church in Chicago, growing a small young adult congregation from ten to over one hundred in just two years, and launching a second campus.

Now, she has joined the Path 1 team as the Director of Church Planting Innovation and Diversity.

Isaiah holds an MDiv from Wesley Theological Seminary (summa cum laude) and a bachelor’s in intercultural studies from Biola University. She is pursuing a DMin in Fresh Expressions and the Future Church at United Theological Seminary. She lives in Brambleton, Virginia, with her husband, Daniel, and their four children.

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Whether you’re just beginning to explore Fresh Expressions, leading a team, or dreaming of new ways to offer Christ and serve the present age, New People // New Ways offers a living library of inspiration, insight, and practical guidance. Each episode offers real-world practices to build faith communities in the ordinary spaces, rhythms, and affinities of life.

With three experienced practitioners and thought leaders guiding the conversations, listeners gain not only strategies and stories but also practical guidance for a church that is relational, inclusive, and Spirit-led. Tune in, be challenged, and let these voices stir your imagination, expand your ministry, and empower you to join God’s ongoing work of transformation in new people, new ways, and new places.

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