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Dropping Our Masks to Confront Anxiety, Despair, and Real Needs: Ed Newton, Wendell Vinson, and Todd Lamphere
Description
*This episode mentions suicide and may be triggering for some listeners.
This week, we’ll hear from Ed Newton, pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. Growing up as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), Ed bridged the hearing and deaf worlds for his parents, fostering immense empathy but also hardship. Later, following his parents’ deaths, he faced a tidal wave of despair and suicidal thoughts. He sought professional help and openly shared his struggle with his church, who responded with grace. Now, Ed advocates for the church to be a hospital for the broken, urging people to seek help and recognize it’s okay not to be okay, but not to stay that way.
Later in the episode, we’ll hear from Wendell Vinson and Todd Lamphere from CityServe, an organization that helps equip and empower churches to serve their communities. They discuss CityServe’s mission to equip local churches and to meet the last mile of need in their communities. They highlight the church’s role in community transformation, citing reduced recidivism rates, and its essential “ministry of presence” before, during, and after crises like natural disasters or war. Finally, they acknowledge compassion fatigue, emphasizing that faithful service requires spiritual replenishment in order to continue to serve others well.
Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned:
Past interview: Erica Campbell
Upcoming interview: Kathie Lee Gifford
Why Not You? Believing What God Believes About You
Interview Quotes:
“My mission was to actually be the voice for two people that could not speak and to help them understand how to aggregate and acclimate into a hearing world.” - Ed Newton
“It’s okay not to be okay. It’s just not okay to stay that way. God can break every chain.” - Ed Newton
“I believe some of the healthiest people I have ever met sit on somebody’s couch. I actually think the red flag of danger is for somebody that says, ‘I’m good. I don’t need counseling.’ I would say watch out for that slippery slope of destruction that’s about to happen.” - Ed Newton
“I just think for most people, life gets shaken up and they don’t know what to do with that. Don’t live life all bound up when you can find somebody