CQ Podcast Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:00:01 -0400 https://www.buzzsprout.com/2590849 en-us © 2026 CQ Podcast yes bdb6ddc5-1d0a-5326-bec4-fbd1d81e097e CQ episodic false The CQ Podcast helps Christians, churches, and nonprofits grow in cross-cultural competency and gospel-shaped unity. Hosted by Will Plonk, pastor and executive director of the CQ Initiative, each episode blends Scripture, practical tools, and real conversations to equip leaders to engage God’s beautifully diverse world with wisdom and hope.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) CQ https://storage.buzzsprout.com/nlzdeqny9o7cv77nptur8rscv0gu?.jpg CQ Podcast https://www.buzzsprout.com/2590849 Equal Outcome vs Equal Opportunity with Frank Legare | Ep. 11 Equal Outcome vs Equal Opportunity with Frank Legare | Ep. 11 In this episode Frank is back to discuss the reality that not everyone starts from the same place. So what does it mean to pursue justice, humility, and love in a world where some people face barriers others never have to consider?

We talk how Scripture shapes the way we think about equal opportunity, why awareness matters and what it looks like to lead with grace in conversations that are often anything but simple. You won’t want to miss this one!

Last episode of season 1

]]> In this episode Frank is back to discuss the reality that not everyone starts from the same place. So what does it mean to pursue justice, humility, and love in a world where some people face barriers others never have to consider?

We talk how Scripture shapes the way we think about equal opportunity, why awareness matters and what it looks like to lead with grace in conversations that are often anything but simple. You won’t want to miss this one!

Last episode of season 1

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19498793 Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:00:00 -0400 2480 1 11 full false Knowing vs. Growing with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 10 Knowing vs. Growing with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 10 In this episode KeJuan is back and we’re hitting on Knowing vs. Growing. It’s possible to agree with something but never actually let it change the way you live.

In this conversation, we explore why transformation requires more than good theology, how Scripture shapes our understanding of unity and why pursuing people different from us is part of experiencing more of God’s Kingdom

]]> In this episode KeJuan is back and we’re hitting on Knowing vs. Growing. It’s possible to agree with something but never actually let it change the way you live.

In this conversation, we explore why transformation requires more than good theology, how Scripture shapes our understanding of unity and why pursuing people different from us is part of experiencing more of God’s Kingdom

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19435462 Thu, 02 Jul 2026 06:00:00 -0400 1563 1 10 full false Leading Across Difference with Will Krause | Ep. 9 Leading Across Difference with Will Krause | Ep. 9 In this episode with Will Krause, we explore what happens when we we start to recognize the water we’re swimming in. What happens when we begin asking:
What blind spots do I have?
Who’s missing from my life?
What perspectives am I not hearing?

Cultural competency isn’t a destination. It’s a lifelong pursuit. Growth starts with humility. And often, it starts by recognizing how much we still have to learn.

]]> In this episode with Will Krause, we explore what happens when we we start to recognize the water we’re swimming in. What happens when we begin asking:
What blind spots do I have?
Who’s missing from my life?
What perspectives am I not hearing?

Cultural competency isn’t a destination. It’s a lifelong pursuit. Growth starts with humility. And often, it starts by recognizing how much we still have to learn.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19290940 Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0400 2096 1 9 full false Leading without Losing Yourself with Walter Belton | Ep. 8 Leading without Losing Yourself with Walter Belton | Ep. 8 Leadership in diverse spaces comes with a unique tension: How do you grow in cultural awareness and lead people well without losing your own voice in the process?

In this episode of the CQ Podcast, Will sits down with Pastor Belton of Radiant Church for an honest conversation about leading in multi-ethnic spaces with authenticity, humility, and conviction. Together they unpack code switching, resisting unhealthy assimilation, navigating cultural differences, and learning how to serve people unlike yourself without pretending to be someone you’re not.

This conversation is for pastors, leaders, and anyone trying to faithfully engage people across lines of culture, background, and experience.

Because healthy leadership isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about becoming more aware, more loving, and more authentically who God created you to be.

God doesn’t use perfect people. He uses authentic people surrendered to Him for His glory.

]]> Leadership in diverse spaces comes with a unique tension: How do you grow in cultural awareness and lead people well without losing your own voice in the process?

In this episode of the CQ Podcast, Will sits down with Pastor Belton of Radiant Church for an honest conversation about leading in multi-ethnic spaces with authenticity, humility, and conviction. Together they unpack code switching, resisting unhealthy assimilation, navigating cultural differences, and learning how to serve people unlike yourself without pretending to be someone you’re not.

This conversation is for pastors, leaders, and anyone trying to faithfully engage people across lines of culture, background, and experience.

Because healthy leadership isn’t about becoming someone else. It’s about becoming more aware, more loving, and more authentically who God created you to be.

God doesn’t use perfect people. He uses authentic people surrendered to Him for His glory.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19212968 Thu, 21 May 2026 05:00:00 -0400 2520 1 8 full false Bridge Building with Charnise Mangle | Ep. 7 Bridge Building with Charnise Mangle | Ep. 7 In this episode of the CQ Podcast, we talk about bridge building — what it really takes to grow in cultural fluency and navigate hard conversations across differences.

From ministry to leadership, friendships to organizations, we explore why good intentions alone aren’t enough. Healthy bridge building requires humility, honesty, curiosity, and the willingness to stay in conversations that stretch us.

We discuss practical best practices, common mistakes people make when engaging across cultures, and why cultural fluency is less about performance and more about formation.

]]> In this episode of the CQ Podcast, we talk about bridge building — what it really takes to grow in cultural fluency and navigate hard conversations across differences.

From ministry to leadership, friendships to organizations, we explore why good intentions alone aren’t enough. Healthy bridge building requires humility, honesty, curiosity, and the willingness to stay in conversations that stretch us.

We discuss practical best practices, common mistakes people make when engaging across cultures, and why cultural fluency is less about performance and more about formation.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19137487 Thu, 07 May 2026 06:00:00 -0400 2306 1 7 full false Assimilation to Authenticity with KeJuan | Ep. 6 Assimilation to Authenticity with KeJuan | Ep. 6 How do you lead as a person of color in a predominantly white space? This conversation holds tension: pursuing unity while carrying the weight that often comes with it. The pressure to assimilate. The exhaustion of navigating difference. The challenge of leading in a way that stays true to who you are. Because unity isn’t the same as uniformity. We talk about what it means to reject assimilation, create space for authentic expression, and lead in a way that reflects how Jesus made you.

]]> How do you lead as a person of color in a predominantly white space? This conversation holds tension: pursuing unity while carrying the weight that often comes with it. The pressure to assimilate. The exhaustion of navigating difference. The challenge of leading in a way that stays true to who you are. Because unity isn’t the same as uniformity. We talk about what it means to reject assimilation, create space for authentic expression, and lead in a way that reflects how Jesus made you.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-19061480 Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0400 2370 1 6 full false Singing + Culture with Jim Thompson | Ep. 5 Singing + Culture with Jim Thompson | Ep. 5 Singing isn't just a response in worship. It's formation and it's obedience.

In this episode, we explore the theology of singing, how worship takes on different expressions across cultures, and what that means for our day to day. 

Different expressions may sound unfamiliar, but they expand how we see and worship God. The way we sing is shaping us, whether we notice it or not.

]]> Singing isn't just a response in worship. It's formation and it's obedience.

In this episode, we explore the theology of singing, how worship takes on different expressions across cultures, and what that means for our day to day. 

Different expressions may sound unfamiliar, but they expand how we see and worship God. The way we sing is shaping us, whether we notice it or not.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18969244 Thu, 09 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0400 2682 1 6 full false From the Block to the Boardroom with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 4 From the Block to the Boardroom with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 4 From the block to the boardroom. What does it actually take to build something that translates across cultures?

This conversation moves past ideas and into action. Because building something truly diverse requires more than good intentions.

We get into the tension: unity vs. uniformity, the real cost of diversity, and what it looks like to honor the parts of the body of believers that have been overlooked. It’s uncomfortable at times. It’s imperfect. But it’s necessary.

The truth? You don’t need to have it all figured out. But you do need the right posture, the right people, and a willingness to grow.

]]> From the block to the boardroom. What does it actually take to build something that translates across cultures?

This conversation moves past ideas and into action. Because building something truly diverse requires more than good intentions.

We get into the tension: unity vs. uniformity, the real cost of diversity, and what it looks like to honor the parts of the body of believers that have been overlooked. It’s uncomfortable at times. It’s imperfect. But it’s necessary.

The truth? You don’t need to have it all figured out. But you do need the right posture, the right people, and a willingness to grow.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18906256 Thu, 26 Mar 2026 05:00:00 -0400 2268 1 5 full false Theology & Transformation + Culture with Frank Legare | Ep. 3 Theology & Transformation + Culture with Frank Legare | Ep. 3 In this conversation with Frank Legare, we unpack the cultural mandate, the difference between assimilation and accommodation, and how Scripture calls the church to be a blessing to every nation.

Frank shares the moments that disrupted his own assumptions and how stepping into multi-cultural spaces deepened his understanding of the gospel.

We talk humility, curiosity, and what it means to enter every cultural encounter as a learner.

The Bible doesn’t just teach us, it transforms us.

"Theology & Transformation + Culture" 

]]> In this conversation with Frank Legare, we unpack the cultural mandate, the difference between assimilation and accommodation, and how Scripture calls the church to be a blessing to every nation.

Frank shares the moments that disrupted his own assumptions and how stepping into multi-cultural spaces deepened his understanding of the gospel.

We talk humility, curiosity, and what it means to enter every cultural encounter as a learner.

The Bible doesn’t just teach us, it transforms us.

"Theology & Transformation + Culture" 

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18831827 Thu, 12 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400 2230 1 4 full false Education + Culture with Charnise Mangle | Ep. 2 Education + Culture with Charnise Mangle | Ep. 2 We’re sitting down with educator and CQ board member Charnise Mangle to talk about culture, classrooms, and what it costs to lead with conviction in predominantly white spaces.

This is about Imago Dei in real life.
About being the only face like yours at the table.
About the emotional labor no one sees.
And about building a culture where students don’t just learn… they feel seen.

The next generation is watching as we lead.

]]> We’re sitting down with educator and CQ board member Charnise Mangle to talk about culture, classrooms, and what it costs to lead with conviction in predominantly white spaces.

This is about Imago Dei in real life.
About being the only face like yours at the table.
About the emotional labor no one sees.
And about building a culture where students don’t just learn… they feel seen.

The next generation is watching as we lead.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18746778 Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:00:00 -0500 2754 1 3 full false Real Talk + Real Growth with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 1 Real Talk + Real Growth with KeJuan Robinson | Ep. 1 "Real Talk Real Growth."

We're talking: the Kingdom culture, multi-ethnic ministry and what it takes to build spaces where people don't just attend... they belong. This isn't surface-level diversity talk. This is discipleship leadership. This is the church learning how to live like Heaven looks. 

If you care about faith, culture, and the future of the Church - this conversation is for you. 

Join Pastor P and KeJuan as they talk about the importance of honesty and clarity in cross cultural ministry. 

]]> "Real Talk Real Growth."

We're talking: the Kingdom culture, multi-ethnic ministry and what it takes to build spaces where people don't just attend... they belong. This isn't surface-level diversity talk. This is discipleship leadership. This is the church learning how to live like Heaven looks. 

If you care about faith, culture, and the future of the Church - this conversation is for you. 

Join Pastor P and KeJuan as they talk about the importance of honesty and clarity in cross cultural ministry. 

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18664699 Thu, 12 Feb 2026 06:00:00 -0500 1929 1 2 full false Immigration + Culture with Alma Ruth Immigration + Culture with Alma Ruth Join Pastor Will Plonk, Executive Director of CQ Initiative, as he sits down with Alma Ruth, a missionary serving along the southern border, for a powerful conversation on immigration, culture, and faith.

Recorded in the fall of 2025 — months before the recent ICE-related shootings and the renewed national outcry surrounding immigration enforcement — this conversation speaks with surprising clarity into our current cultural moment. Together, Will and Alma Ruth explore what it looks like to see immigrants not as headlines, but as neighbors; not as political problems, but as people made in the image of God.

This pre-drop episode isn’t a reaction to breaking news — it’s a deeper, longer view of how faith shapes the way we understand dignity, belonging, and responsibility across cultural lines.

If you’re looking for language, wisdom, and perspective to help you process what’s happening around us, this conversation is for you.

]]> Join Pastor Will Plonk, Executive Director of CQ Initiative, as he sits down with Alma Ruth, a missionary serving along the southern border, for a powerful conversation on immigration, culture, and faith.

Recorded in the fall of 2025 — months before the recent ICE-related shootings and the renewed national outcry surrounding immigration enforcement — this conversation speaks with surprising clarity into our current cultural moment. Together, Will and Alma Ruth explore what it looks like to see immigrants not as headlines, but as neighbors; not as political problems, but as people made in the image of God.

This pre-drop episode isn’t a reaction to breaking news — it’s a deeper, longer view of how faith shapes the way we understand dignity, belonging, and responsibility across cultural lines.

If you’re looking for language, wisdom, and perspective to help you process what’s happening around us, this conversation is for you.

]]> CQ Buzzsprout-18585332 Wed, 28 Jan 2026 14:00:00 -0500 1551 1 1 bonus false