Signal Café Podcast with Chris Forbes
Brought to you by Forbes Nonprofit Strategies and Incite Futures Labs, Signal Café, hosted by Chris Forbes, explores the signals, trends, and drivers shaping the future of ministry. Each episode invites pastors, nonprofit leaders, and faith-based strategists to think ahead, discern cultural shifts, and respond with clarity and conviction. It’s a space to scan the horizon and prepare faithfully for what comes next.
At Signal Café, we apply the best practices of strategic foresight to spark meaningful conversations about the church’s future. Episodes cover topics such as digital discipleship, spiritual formation in a fragmented culture, rebuilding trust in institutions, generational transitions, the rise of global Christianity, and emerging models of funding and cooperation.
This podcast is for those called to lead with wisdom in uncertain times. Whether navigating denominational change, rethinking missions, or anticipating what’s next for ministry, Signal Café helps you see what’s emerging and respond with grounded hope.
This isn’t just another ministry podcast. It’s a curated foresight lab for leaders ready to engage complexity with vision and courage. If you’re planting churches, leading networks, or stewarding resources for lasting impact, Signal Café offers future-focused insight for faithful leadership.
To learn more about Strategic Foresight for Faith-based Nonprofits, visit: https://www.forbesstrategies.com/
Episodes
12 episodes
Is Your AI Chatbot Sentient? with Dennis Draeger and Chris Turner
Chris Forbes and Matt Tullos talk with Dennis Draeger, Foresight Director at Shaping Tomorrow, and Chris Turner, Director of Communications for the Tennessee Baptis...
Panarchy and Creation Care: Recognizing Signals Shaping the Future with Rick Presley
Chris Forbes and Matt Tullos talk with Rick Presley about recognizing overlooked environmental signals and why they matter for ministry and the future. They explore how bias, political framing, and cultural assumptions can limit awareness, ofte...
Navigating Human Identity within Digital and AI Landscapes with Mike Mirabella
In this episode of The Signal Cafe, Chris Forbes, Matt Tullos, and Mike Mirabella explore how digital environments and AI are shaping identity, relationships, and formation. They describe a “crossfade” era where physical and digital re...
The Future of Lifelong Learning in the Church with Father & Son Jeff and Isaac Jordan.
In this episode of Signal Café, we step inside a local Edmond, Oklahoma community group that spent nine weeks using Incite Futures Labs tools to ask a pressing question: What will shape lifelong learning and leadership formation in the church t...
Reading the Season: Discernment in Uncertain Times
In this episode of the Signal Café, Chris Forbes and Matt Tullos reflect on how leaders navigate uncertainty when signals are noisy and direction feels unclear. Using weather forecasts, seasons, and biblical language of time, they explore the d...
Why Metamodernism Matters for the Future of Ministry with Mary Jo Sharp
In this episode, we identify metamodernism as an emerging cultural signal with significant implications for the future of ministry. Younger generations are holding doubt and hope together, showing renewed openness to spiritual questions while r...
Shaping Tomorrow: Horizon Scanning with Dennis Draeger
In this Signal Cafe episode, Chris Forbes and Matt Tullos talk with Shaping Tomorrow's Foresight director Dennis Draeger about the craft of horizon scanning and why ministry leaders must learn to i...
Ministry-Embedded Foresight in Action with Future Commission 2050 Leaders
"The sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel should do" (1 Chronicles 12:32). That same wisdom is needed today as ministry leaders face a changing world.The Future Commission 2050 Project (FC50) cohort, compri...
Using Legal Signals in Ministry Foresight with Joel Harder
In this episode of Signal Café, we delve into how to identify and utilize legal signals in strategic foresight. Legal developments often shape the future in subtle ways, but with a trained futurist eye, they can provide early ...
Why Ministries Need Faith-Based Foresight with Dr. Jay Gary
The next ten years will change everything. Is your ministry ready? Economic instability, cultural shifts, technological disruption, and institutional decline are reshaping how churches and mission organizations serve in the world. The question ...
The Shift to Distributed Leadership in Missions & Ministry with Eldon Porter
Exploring the signals, trends, and drivers behind the rise of network leadership and what it means for missions, local churches, and the Great Commission today.In our second episode of Signal Café, we talk with veteran ...
The Next Era of the Cooperative Program with Future Commission 2050 Project Founder Chris Forbes
In this first episode of Signal Café, Matt Tullos interviews host Chris Forbes about his new book, The Next Era of the Cooperative Program. They discuss how strategic foresight can help Southern Baptists respond to challenges ...