Advancing Our Church
The Advancing Our Church Podcast was established in 2017 to contribute to the ongoing dialogue around best practices and education on Catholic Stewardship, leadership, and Advancement. Since then, the podcast has evolved into topics such as evangelization, finance, and even Bitcoin. The podcast’s mission is to advance the mission of Jesus Christ in all ways we serve Him as a Church.
Episodes
September 25, 2023 • 22 mins
The back-to-school season was once filled with exciting anticipation as children embarked on a new learning adventure. However, in recent years, schools have become ground zero in an attempt to fundamentally transform America. Traditional academics, like reading, writing, and arithmetic, have been replaced with agenda-driven curricula to reform the values of our youth and less to provide them with the critical building blocks of a ...
Mark as Played
September 13, 2023 • 41 mins
Today, we are joined by Rob Faughnan, CFRE, who will share some of his recent research on parish giving and some strategies to enhance offertory and increase engagement. Rob is a seasoned organizational leader with 20+ years of fundraising and operations management experience in the nonprofit sector. He is recognized for demonstrating a natural aptitude for managing effective major gifts, annual giving, and direct mail fundraising ...
Mark as Played
August 28, 2023 • 28 mins
Jim Friend talks with Fr. Joe Laramie, S.J., National Director for the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network. Fr. Joe became the national director in 2020. He lives in Milwaukee and travels widely to offer talks and retreats for this ministry. He is also a National Eucharistic Preacher for the Eucharistic Revival. Fr. Joe was ordained in 2011 and he previously taught at all-boys high schools in Kansas City and Colorado and served as a co...
Mark as Played
August 22, 2023 • 55 mins
Join Jim Friend and this expert panel for a conversation about giving to Catholic parishes, dioceses, and other organizations. Our panel includes Bevin C. Kennedy, Cabinet Secretary, Development and Communications for the Diocese of Manchester, Joseph M. Gillmer, CFRE® CSPG CAP, Executive Director of Development for the Archdiocese of Washington, DC and Scott Whitaker, Secretariat Director of Stewardship and Development for the Dio...
Mark as Played
August 15, 2023 • 41 mins
On today's show, Brian Crimmins and our host, Jim Friend, discuss the recent Giving USA 2023 report. The two discuss why philanthropy and the number of donors in 2022 is down from the previous year and what can be done about it. Join this discussion for insights on how religious and nonprofit leaders can take action to be successful in fundraising in 2023. Brian and Jim discuss relationship building, some macroeconomic factors, and...
Mark as Played
August 7, 2023 • 30 mins
Published: August 7, 2023
Join us for a discussion about the relationship between Development and Communications. How do we optimize those roles to work in unison toward the goals of your nonprofit organization? Join Jim and Jennifer Melville Trefelner, APR, CPRC, the Director of Communications and Development for the Diocese of Palm Beach. Jennifer has been a guest on Advancing Our Church many times over the years. She brings a...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 36 mins
Published: May 14, 2023
Today we welcome Katie Boller Gosewisch, the Executive Director of the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking, which was founded in 2013 by a group of Catholic Sisters who were committed to ending human trafficking and supporting survivors. They’ve created a national network of resources and support made up of 110 congregations of women religious and another 70+ individuals and groups spread thro...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 49 mins
Published: May 01, 2023
Today we will be talking about Evangelization with our special guest Tom Quinlan. As Catholics, we are called to spread the Good News of the Gospel and share the love of Christ with others. This is what evangelization is all about, and it’s a crucial aspect of our faith. Pope Francis has emphasized the importance of evangelization, calling on all Catholics to be missionary disciples and to go out to the p...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 44 mins
Published: April 10, 2023
We’re pleased to have Dr. Laura Sicola on the podcast this week because communication is a common thread in the work of Advancing Our Church. Laura talks with us about communicating through storytelling, using common and accessible language with our audiences, and she touches on crisis communications. Laura also speaks about the importance of aligning our verbal messaging with our nonverbal cues, how to...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 26 mins
Published: March 26, 2023
We welcome Andy Lesnefsky, the President of Vagabond Missions, a national organization that shares the Gospel with inner-city teens by equipping young adults to serve as Catholic missionaries. Since 2018, Vagabond Missions has quadrupled its footprint by opening missions in 4 new cities. Vagabond has staff serving inner-city teenagers in Pittsburgh, Wichita, Steubenville, Mobile, Oklahoma, Indianapolis,...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 26 mins
Published: March 12, 2023
A partnership between ACS Technologies and Villanova University’s Center for Church Management in the Villanova School of Business examined the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on church giving. With over 1000 U.S. Catholic parishes participating nationwide, the findings were revealing. Join Jim Friend and ACS Technologies’ Terry Poplava to learn about the far-reaching implications for our Church. For mo...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 33 mins
Published: February 26, 2023
Jim Friend speaks with Dr. Matthew Whelan, the ninth president of Caldwell University and the first male lay president in Caldwell’s history. Prior to joining Caldwell, Dr. Whelan served as Vice President for University Enrollment Strategy and Relationship Development at Stony Brook University, where he held a variety of key leadership roles in undergraduate and graduate admissions, financial aid, re...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 26 mins
Published: February 12, 2023
Jim Friend speaks with David Savage, Executive Director of The Papal Foundation, whose mission is to serve the Holy Father and the Roman Catholic Church through faith, energy, and financial resources. In this role, David leads the organization’s focus on addressing Pope Francis’ priorities to build the Church, educate and prepare leaders, and care for the most vulnerable people, young and old, around...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 46 mins
Published: January 29, 2023
An increasingly post-Christian world is forcing parishes to re-envision how they “make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). Jim Friend speaks with Susan Windley-Daoust, theologian and director of missionary discipleship for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in southern Minnesota, who provides a roadmap to pastors and parish staff to make sense of it all through her new book, The Four Ways Forward, Beco...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 39 mins
Published: January 17, 2023
The Saint John Vianney Center (SJVC) brings 76 years of service to Catholic Clergy, Consecrated Men and Women Religious, and Clergy of other Christian denominations worldwide. David Shellenberger, President, and CEO, joins Jim Friend to discuss how SJVC helps to identify and navigate the areas of stress and anxiety, emotional and addiction concerns, spiritual struggles, and health and medical needs of...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 42 mins
Published: December 20, 2022
On our last episode of 2022, Jim Friend speaks with Richard Lanahan, the Director of Stewardship and Development for the Diocese of Metuchen. Rich’s broad experience includes development in Higher Education, Catholic Parishes, schools, and healthcare institutions. In the Diocese of Metuchen, Rich oversees the Bishop’s Annual Appeal and assists parishes with Capital Campaigns, feasibility studies, and...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 52 mins
December 04, 2022
Today, Jim Friend is joined by John Matthew Knowles, J.D., a business development strategist and advancement executive who serves as Executive Director of the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference, or DFMC, and President of the Catholic Finance Association. In addition to these leadership roles, John serves on boards of directors, task forces, and advisory councils for several national Catholic organizations wh...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 29 mins
Published: November 14, 2022
Healing and renewing our Church is the goal of the National Eucharistic Congress, headed by the new Executive Director, Tim Glemkowski. The Church has been rocked with scandal, division, disease, and doubt, but now the bishops plan to confront these challenges by reminding everyone that Jesus is present and more powerful than the storm. Join Changing Our World‘s, Jim Friend to learn how we can heal, ...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 37 mins
Published: November 01, 2022
Join Brian Crimmins, CEO of Changing Our World, and Nathan Chappell, Senior VP of AI at DonorSearch, authors of the new book Generosity Crisis: The Case for Radical Connection to Solve Humanity’s Greatest Challenges as they share a startling analysis of the changing nature of generosity in America and why its decline threatens to end the modern non-profit era. The Generosity Crisis demonstrates that ...
Mark as Played
August 5, 2023 • 34 mins
October 17, 2022
Today we are talking about #cryptocurrency, an evolving topic that is more and more relevant to our world and our Church. Join Changing Our World’s Jim Friend and his guest, Matthew Pinto, the host and founder of the Catholic Crypto Conference. Matt is conducting the conference on November 17/18 at the Valley Forge Sheraton in PA. Matt discusses how businesses use crypto, Web3, and Blockchain technology and what...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
NFL.com's "Around the NFL" crew (Gregg Rosenthal, Dan Hanzus and Marc Sessler) break down the latest football news, with a dash of mirth.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.