Episode 77: The Meat and Potatoes of Ministry: Ken Grant

In this podcast, Kara had the opportunity to interview a man who reframed her story as a youth, her youth minister Ken Grant. While Kara was a teenager in the 90s when youth groups were all the rage and the purity movement was in full swing, she considers herself lucky. Though she was influenced by the purity culture, she never got the message from her youth minister that she needed to be demure. Instead, he encouraged her to lead and use her voice. This was the first time Kara has spoken to Ken since she was 18 and was able to express to him what he meant to her. Listen as they discuss topics including leadership, what Christianity is today, social media, race and white privilege. Ken spent time teaching religion in high schools and universities, and has worked full time as a dad and in youth ministry.

Ken was born and raised in small-town southeast Wisconsin, the sixth of seven children. After graduating from Ripon College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg where Ken met and married his wife Denise. Through moves to North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Texas and back to Michigan, Ken and Denise raised their family and served in the church. Ken has his PhD from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago in History, served as a supply pastor, and in 2020 became an ordained pastor for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and works as the head pastor at Genesis Lutheran Church in Detroit, MI.