Dr. Wil Gafney is here!
Check out our newest episode with the Rev. Wil Gafney, Ph.D. She is the author of A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church and Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne, as well as many other publications. She is an Episcopal priest, and a delightful human, and we're grateful that she joins us to share her wisdom!
Marta & Mandy are joined by “cathedral deans and musical theatre queens” Nathan LeRud and Peter Elliott, the hosts of The Gospel of Musical Theatre, a podcast that takes a deep dive into musicals classic and contemporary, examining the intersection of musical theatre, spirituality, culture, and justice.
In this episode, we talk about performing and authenticity in our liturgical work. Nathan and Peter give a thoughtful exegesis of the musical Oklahoma! as an example of the kinds of discussions they have on the podcast. We discuss the ways that exploring these beloved musicals, in much the way that exploring the bible, forces us to ask questions about what is redeemable about our beloved stories, and what simply isn’t. What does it take to love our favorite musicals, and our biblical stories, more wholeheartedly and more honestly? This is an episode that you don’t want to miss!
Marta & Mandy chat with Molly Baskette, UCC pastor and author of several books, including her most recent, How to Begin When Your World is Ending: A Spiritual Field Guide to Joy Despite Everything. Molly shares some pro-tips for handling some of the most challenging experiences a person can live through. She offers a disaster theology that works for progressive Christians who are searching for meaning-making both in the midst of and following trauma and suffering.
Corbin Tobey-Davis and Tierra Brown join Marta & Mandy to share the work they do at The ROCK Center in Aurora, Colorado. The ROCK Center is a community based organization serving children, youth and their families, offering arts based out of school programming for youth and families that focuses on cultivating resilience through teaching connection, coping skills, and competence. We talk about the way art can heal trauma, providing a vehicle for transformation. Be sure to check out this awesome video of their flagship program, Peace Warriors!
The ROCK Center and Jesus Has Left the Building are both proud recipients of the Tributary Fund of the Rocky Mountain Conference United Church of Christ.
Divesting from Hierarchy features Jenny Whitcher and Javon Bracy, two ministers from Juniper Formation, a faith community where prophetically reimagine the Church from the margins. Juniper is women- and nonbinary-led, multiethnic and antiracist, affirming of undocumented neighbors, celebrating of different abilities, and Open & Affirming of LGBTQ+ individuals and families in the life, leadership, and sacraments of the church. We talk about Juniper’s digital and physical ministry, their commitment to anti-racist and non-hierarchical structure, and how they recognize all of life together as holy.
In this episode, we interview Rev. Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava, interim pastor at Park Hill Congregational Church in Denver, Colorado. Claudia shares her story as a Mexican woman serving the church in the United States. She talks about her own work towards anti-racism, and she gives us our all-time favorite analogy for the constant work of racism - it's like flushing the toilet! If you ever get weary about not "achieving" anti-racism, this analogy will help you understand, and you're sure to laugh out loud too! Claudia reminds us that there is always more to learn, and shares the scriptures that inspire her to stay committed to the work.
Christian Watkins is the Campus Pastor/Executive Director of Ecumenical Campus Ministries at Kansas State University, and she is the Associate Producer of the independent film The Pulpit. In this episode, Marta, Mandy & Christian talk about ministry in rural settings, what it means to be a woman in ministry, how honoring differences is better than assimilation, and so much more.
We also talk in depth about Christian’s involvement with The Pulpit, a suspense thriller which tells the story of a progressive, rural pastor who receives death threats for the message of inclusion she preaches. This film is a powerful and important story about advocacy, and they need your help to make it a feature length film. Support The Pulpit here!
This episode features Kris Watson, founder and CEO, and Pat Dolin, board member, of Nurturing Justice, an organization that exists to "promote the dignity of all humanity, expose the fallacy of white skinned supremacy and promote the notion that there is no hierarchy of human value based on skin color." We talk about the danger of white supremacy, about how important it is to see Jesus as he was historically - a brown-skinned Jew living in north Africa, and ways that people of fact can work towards anti-racism both personally and within their faith communities.
Be sure to check out Nurturing Justice’s resources and events in your journey towards anti-racism.
Marta & Mandy are joined by friend and colleague Jeff Scholes to interview Kristin Du Mez about her book Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.
Kristin Kobes Du Mez is a New York Times bestselling author and Professor of History and Gender Studies at Calvin University. She holds a PhD from the University of Notre Dame and her research focuses on the intersection of gender, religion, and politics. Jeff Scholes is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and the Director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Jesus is in the Narthex features Rev. Lorraine Ceniceros, Conference Minister of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ. Lorraine is the first Latina woman installed into the position of Conference Minister in the United Church of Christ, and only the 5th Mexican-American woman to be ordained in the UCC. Lorraine speaks about her childhood experience of assimilation, and her awakening to her identity as she grew up in southern California and began serving churches in the UCC. This open and thoughtful conversation explores the complicated intersections of race in America.