Lady Preacher Podcast

"Whether your body is small or large, aged or young, disabled or abled, toned or soft, lithe or stiff--or somewhere in-between--anti-fatness affects us all, because it is intended to. Fat Church critiques anti-fat prejudice and the Church's historic participation in it, calling for a fatphobic reckoning for the sake of God's gospel of freedom."
- from the back cover of Rev. Anastasia Kidd's book, Fat Church: A Gospel of Fat Liberation.

All year long we hear messages of anti-fatness. At the beginning of the new year, goals of losing weight; not eating chocolate during Lent; prepping our "summer body"; not eating too many treats over the holidays. It's relentless, and those messages seep into our church pews, too. Rev. Anastasia Kidd invites us to bring the conversation around to understanding how anti-fat bias shapes our culture, and how we, especially as Christians, can work to change that. She invites us into a liberation rooted in God's love for us.

About Anastasia
Rev. Anastasia Kidd (she/her) is a lecturer and director of enrollment at the Boston University School of Theology. She was ordained by the Metro Boston Association of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ and previously served as the Chair of the Leadership Development Commission of that Conference.

Happy Pride month, beloveds! We are excited to kick off the month by talking to Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber (she/her) about her new book, Queering the American Dream. She shares about traveling the country and learning about the presence of divinity all around her.

About Angela
Rev. Dr. Angela Yarber (she/her) is an 8-time award-winning author and publisher at Tehom Center Publishing, a press publishing feminist and queer authors, with a commitment to elevate BIPOC writers. She holds a Ph.D. in Art and Religion and has been a seminary professor for nearly two decades. Her recent memoir, Queering the American Dream, is listed in QSpirit's Top LGBTQ Religion Books and her work has been featured in Forbes, NPR, HuffPo, Ms Magazine, the television show Tiny House Nation, and more. For more on her work and ministry, visit www.angelayarber.org and for more on Tehom Center Publishing, visit www.tehomcenter.org

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Burn out is a universal feeling - everyone reaches their wits ends at some point. This has been especially true in the Church world lately, from pastors to volunteers. Rev. Callie Swanland addresses that head on and tackles the conversation in a new way to make us think about how best to fill our wells each and everyday.

About Callie
 Callie Swanlund is an Episcopal priest, retreat leader, spiritual companion, and coach who helps others know their belovedness and find their Spark. Her new book, From Weary to Wholehearted, is a restorative resource for overcoming ministry burnout. Callie is a creative minister and leads individuals and groups in the work of Dr. Brené Brown as a Certified Daring Way Facilitator. Her How2charist: Digital Instructed Eucharist film has reached Christians and curious individuals around the world, and her Wholehearted Wisdom movement invites others into deeper reflection and connection across social media. Callie is an Episcopal Church Foundation Fellow and has keynoted such conferences as: Kanuga Christian Formation Conference, Episcopal Communicators Annual Conference, and Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers Annual Conference. She lives in Philadelphia with her co-dreaming partner Jeremy, their two tween/teen children, and a rescue pup named Rufus.

www.callieswanlund.com 

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Kelsey shares how a few Veterans changed her understanding of Memorial Day worship services. 

Our weekly interview will drop tomorrow, Tuesday, May 28th.

Witnessing the war in Gaza can make us feel hopeless and like there's nothing we can do. Dr. Peter Makari (he/him), a Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe, shares with us today a message of hope, justice, and peace. He offers important background information in relationships in the Middle East and lifts up voices of Palestinian partners who are on the ground doing important work. Peter reminds us to recall Jesus' message of "who is my neighbor" and how that neighbor is not just the person next door, but our global neighbor as well. This is an important conversation and we hope it encourages you to utilize the links below to continue learning and connecting, and turning hope into action.

About Peter
Dr. Peter E. Makari (he/him), PhD, serves as Global Relations Minister for the Middle East and Europe with the Common Global Ministries Board of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), a position he has held since July 1, 2000.

He serves on the National Council of Churches’ Interreligious Convening Table, of which he is a co-convener, and has been an active participant in national Jewish-Christian and Muslim-Christian dialogue initiatives.  He represents the UCC and Disciples on the Faith Forum for Middle East Policy, of which he is a co-convener, and on the board of Churches for Middle East Peace.  He also represents the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) on the Steering and Executive Committees of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign.

An Egyptian-American, Peter has lived in the Middle East, where he worked with the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS) in Cairo, Egypt (1991-1994), and then with the Middle East Council of Churches, based in Limassol, Cyprus (1997-2000). 

Peter earned an M.A. in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo (1993) and a Ph.D. in Politics and Middle East Studies from New York University (2003).  He is the author of Conflict and Cooperation: Christian-Muslim Relations in Contemporary Egypt (Syracuse University Press, 2007).

Peter is a member of West Park United Church of Christ in Cleveland, OH.

Important Links to Learn More

Global Ministries' Middle East and Europe Homepage: https://www.globalministries.org/regions/mee/

Resources, including recommended reading (under “Bookshelf”): https://www.globalministries.org/resource/mee_resources_index/

Our UCC and Disciples response page to the current crisis in the Middle East: https://www.globalministries.org/the-disciples-and-ucc-address-the-crisis-in-the-middle-east/

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Sit down with a group of kindergartners and ask, "Raise you hand if you're creative!" and every single child will raise their hand. Ask a room full of adults that same question, and you'll only get a few hands. So what happens between childhood and adulthood? It's not that we are no longer creative - perhaps we have just lost touch with our creativity! Diane Harpster (she/her) is all about reminding people of their inner creative, reminding them they are made in the image of the greatest Creator. With her Zentangle art, she connects with her own faith and with God, and by teaching that artform to others, she encourages them to do the same.

About Diane (she/her)

As a child, Diane was surrounded by women who made beautiful things with their hands using fabric, yarn, flowers, and fruits of their gardens, and more. It was through them that she learned that creating not only brings joy to the Creator but has the potential to bless others with beauty and joy as well. Diane is a certified Zentangle teacher, an artform founded by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas. She has experienced the calming benefits of this meditative practice, and enjoys teaching others. She says, "Anyone who can hold a pen and write their name can do this!"

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Many of us spend our whole lives trying to earn and achieve, even in the realm of faith. If we just do more, we can be better Christians. But that's not what scripture teaches us. In her new book, Blessed Are the Rest of Us, Miacha Boyett (she/her) invites us to see how striving for accomplishment isn't a way of faith. Instead, Jesus invites us to see our belovedness simply for who we are: imperfect, beautiful human beings.

About Micha (she/her) (in her own words)

Hi. I’m Micha. It’s pronounced “My-kah.” (Very confusing, I know.) I’m an author, youth pastor, podcaster, Down syndrome advocate, barre-enthusiast, and a lover of proper cappuccinos. I have a masters degree in poetry. My dog is big and white and fluffy. I’m the mom of three boys. I believe deeply in rest, but I’m only just learning how to live into that belief. I am against email. I am pro sunshine and TikTok dances.

My new book Blessed Are the Rest of Us is about how my youngest son’s disabilities taught me to recognize my own addiction to accomplishment, and how through acknowledging my limits and longings, I was invited to a new way of living in the world—a way of wholeness, the kind of flourishing life Jesus taught about.

Visit Micha's website, listen to her podcast The Slow Way, or The Lucky Few.

"If we never make the mistake, we never learn from it."
-Rev. Keats Miles Wallace

Many of us struggle with engaging in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts because we are afraid of getting things wrong - that we'll say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or mess up in some way. We attach our ego to it, thinking that if we get it wrong then we are wrong, or are a bad person. Rev. Keats Miles Wallace (they/them) assures us: the only way to do it is by doing it wrong. Because that's how we learn! In today's episode, hear Keats's encouraging words, offering wisdom and grace for those of us who struggle with perfection and need the reminder that it's okay to not get it right all the time.

About Keats
Rev. Keats Miles-Wallace (they/them) is from South-Central Texas, having grown up on the I-35 corridor north of San Antonio and then settling in Seguin. They attended Texas Lutheran University and attained a Bachelor of Business Administration specializing in Marketing prior to attending Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary for their Master of Divinity. They specialize in preaching, pastoral care, and queer theology. They also serve on the staff of the Southwestern Texas Synod Bishop's Office as the Inclusivity, Diversity, Equity & Communications Coordinator, as well as serving the national church on the On Leave From Call Task Force. Keats and their wife Jessica have studied abroad in England, lived in Berkeley, California and Dublin/Hilliard, Ohio, and now live in Seguin, Texas with their dog and cat.

Spiritual anxiety, often the outcome of various forms of spiritual abuse and manipulation perpetuated by certain religious institutions, has become widespread among Christians. In her new book, Holy Ghosted: Spiritual Anxiety, Religious Trauma, and the Language of Abuse, Tiffany Yecke Brooks equips readers with how to identify these tactics, and offers pathways towards healing by inviting people to listen to the God who resides within.

About Tiffany (she/her)
Tiffany Yecke Brooks, PhD, is the lead or contributing writer for more than two dozen books. She is the coauther of Fear is a Choice: Tackling Life's Challenges with Dignity, Faith, and Determination (with NFL running back James Conner), Limitless: The Power of Hope and Resilience to Overcome Circumstance (with Paralympic gold-medalist Mallory Weggemann), and the narrative nonfiction historical thriller Espionage and Enslavement in the Revolution: The True Story of Robert Townsend and Elizabeth (with historian Claire Bellerjeau), and Gaslighted by God: Reconstructing a Disillusioned Faith. She has also published numerous articles in Smithsonian, New York Archives, and peer-reviewed journals. Tiffany has taught literature and writing at Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and the University of South Carolina-Beaufort. She is currently completing an MA in Spiritual Formation at Portland Seminary.

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We've had a large request for smaller episodes that focus on scripture with Pastor Kelsey - so today we're throwing it back to one of our episodes just like that. We're working on getting more of these smaller episodes recorded but in the meantime enjoy one of our more popular episodes!

Blessings are all around us, but if we're not careful, the theology behind the blessings can do more harm than good. Today we take a deep dive into Matthew 5:1-12 and really dissect the Beatitudes. We look at how the blessing isn't in the suffering, but in the way that God shows up and redeems our suffering. Join us: open your mind, open your heart, and fill your cup with a little Gospel.

Last week, Kelsey posted on Instagram an invitation to ask her anything, and she'd answer on the pod - and that's what this episode is! We have questions ranging from motherhood to soteriology. This was such a fun episode to do. Be on the lookout for when Kelsey posts another invitation, next time will be to her email list so be sure to join that here!

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“When Love transforms our heart, our actions align with the truth of our being and we remember that which we already are.”
— Felicia Murrell

When the storm is swirling, a lighthouse serves as a light guiding us safely to shore - for Felicia, that lighthouse is God's Love. In today's episode, Felicia shares with us what Divine Love truly is, and how it calls us home to ourselves - to knowing who we are as beings made in the image of Love.  Felicia guides us into understanding how God sees us through eyes of Love, welcoming and accepting us fully for who we are.

Buy Felicia's book, And: The Restorative Power of Love in an Either/Or World HERE

About Felicia
Felicia Murrell is an author based in Woodbury, MN. She is a spiritual companion, speaker, certified master life coach and former ordained pastor with over twenty years of church leadership experience. She also serves the publishing industry as a freelance copy editor.

With a deep understanding of what it means to be human, Felicia is dedicated to empowering individuals to embrace who they already are and who Love is inviting them to be.

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Women's voices and stories have been left out of history, but the Easter story - if told correctly - lifts them up. Women, especially Mary Magdalene, play a central role in Jesus' walk from entering Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to the Cross on Friday morning, through the Saturday vigil and in the experience and telling of the resurrection. Writer, teacher, and theologian Chelsea Kim Long takes us into the heart of why and how Mary's story is left out, and why it's so important to bring her voice back to the center of the Easter experience.

For an additional faith resource this week, listen to this guided meditation by Chelsea that walks through Holy Week with Mary Magdalene: https://insighttimer.com/chelseakimlong/guided-meditations/a-journey-of-faithfulness-with-mary-magdalene

About Chelsea
Chelsea Kim Long (she/her) is a writer, creator, meditation teacher, and lay theologian. Entering motherhood catalyzed her deconstruction journey out of the white evangelical faith, and she's currently querying her first book that explores the intersections of faith deconstruction, the political and theological implications of living in a female body, and the impossible demands of modern American motherhood.

Chelsea defines herself as a post-evangelical Christian mystic, drawing inspiration from the wisdom of the Bible and the life and words of Jesus as well as her 10+ years of yoga practice. She started teaching meditation in 2017 after completing a 200-hour yoga teacher training, has taken a year's worth of e-courses through the Center of Action and Contemplation, and has been co-leading her neighborhood faith community since 2019. She lives in San Diego with her husband and 3 kids. Find her most recent work at chelseakimlong.com.

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Easter is a day of joy and celebration as we welcome the good news that Jesus is alive! And - sometimes we get caught up in the stickiness of how to talk about the Easter story with kids. Meredith Miller is a children and youth ministry expert and she has a great framework for how to approach telling these stories to little hearts.

Short and sweet, this episode is jam packed with great ways to talk about Easter with kids!

For more resources on having these conversations with little ones, check out this substack article Meredith wrote that tackles five common Easter questions (like, “What is Easter?” and “Why did Jesus die?”) and some concrete examples on how to answer them.

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Hello friends!

It has been pulling at Pastor Kelsey's heart to take a break. It won't be a long one, just a few weeks, but a needed one while she finds the ground underneath her feet.

Thank you for always being here and showing up week after week. We hope that in this time you, too, consider what God might be telling you to "press pause" on. 

**Please note this episode was recorded before the Alabama Supreme Court ruling. We want to be clear that we fully support women's rights and the rights of all who wish to be parents, and we believe IVF should be accessible to all.

Join Kelsey and seminarian Anne Alexis Harra for a conversation ranging from Jesus' encouragement of women's leadership, to reproductive rights, to the atrocities happening in Gaza.

Books recommended during the episode:

•  Call and Consequences: A Womanist Reading of Mark by Raquel St. Claire
• A Woman Is No Man: A Read with Jenna Pick

About Anne Alexis 
Anne Alexis Harra (she/her) is a Postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, and is currently attending seminary. Anne Alexis is passionate about Jesus, the liturgy and worship of the Episcopal Church, reproductive justice, and her two cats, Laney and Nellie. When she's not "doing the Jesus thing," she can be found crocheting, lifting weights, or rewatching Bob's Burgers.

In her classes at Saint Mary’s College of California, Porsia Tunzi encourages her students to bring their full selves. In a class that’s all about how religion shows up in our culture and everyday lives, discussions can get heated, but Porsia insists on creating a safe and brave space for her students to talk about hard things.

In this episode, Porsia shares with us why nuance is so important when it comes to religion. She encourages us all to see how we can benefit from leaning into curiosity and holding space for how all of our different lives and experiences shape our understanding of God.

About Porsia
Porsia Tunzi is a professor and researcher currently teaching at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California. Passionate about asking the hard questions concerning religion and contemporary society, Porsia brings her sociological curiosity into the classroom and public square. Her scholarly work focuses on lived religion, digital media, gender, and race, with additional teaching specializations in popular culture, authority, American religious trends, women’s studies in religion, and interreligious dialogue. Porsia enjoys over 10 years of teaching experience on both the high school and college level.

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In February 2024, Rev. Latishia will be embarking on a profound initiation into the Lucumí tradition, as a priest dedicated to Oshun. The Lucumí faith, also known as Santería, is a rich and vibrant Afro-Caribbean spiritual tradition that has been a source of inspiration and guidance for her on her path. From February 2024-February 2025, Rev. Latishia will undergo the Iyaworaje, commonly referred to as the "year of white." This period is a time of deep spiritual reflection, learning, and growth, marking the beginning of a new phase in her ministry.

In this powerful interview, Rev. Latishia shares how understanding and incorporating the faith of her ancestors has enhanced her own faith, deepening her relationship with Christ and with her ancestors.

About Rev. Latishia James

Latishia James, MDiv (she/they) affectionately known as Rev. Pleasure is a Black queer femme, womanist, writer, facilitator of healing spaces for BIPOC women, femmes, and LGBTQIA folks, and sacral spirituality coach. A Master of Divinity and Certificate of Sexuality & Religion graduate from Pacific School of Religion she lives - and works - at the intersection of pleasure activism, sacral sanctity, spirituality, reproductive and healing justice. She is currently the Co-Director for Organizational Development at SACReD - Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity.

Latishia also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Villanova University in Human Services, which is where they first understood that they could be a healing practitioner beyond a medical professional and began advocating for the wholeness of women and girls of color. Their startup spirit and ministry of presence reaches beyond the physical walls of "the church." Her service as a rape crisis counselor, LGBTQ activist, hospital and abortion-clinic chaplain, and facilitator blossomed into Empathic Solutions, LLC. Their consulting and spiritual coaching practice for people harmed by religious rhetoric and patriarchal power-based violence.

Latishia is dedicated to the wholeness of Black folks, and that is at the forefront of everything she does including her care of herself. They are committed to experiencing the fullness of joy and goodness of their body for their own benefit, outside of systems of oppression, in this lifetime and wants the same for their beloveds.

Connect with Latishia

• Instagram: @love.latishia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latishiaavjames/

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"Don’t oppress an immigrant. You know what it’s like to be an immigrant, because you were immigrants in the land of Egypt." - Exodus 23:9

Through her international relations work, Kerry Brodie saw firsthand the plight that immigrants face in the U.S. God put a call on her heart to make change and create opportunities for people who come to this country to not only find work, but also find community and support. She founded Emma's Torch, an organization that provides refugees with in-depth culinary training as well as employability, equity, and empowerment training. In our conversation, Kerry shares the impetus for creating the organization, how her Jewish faith drives her, and her vision for what is possible when you listen to the still small voice of God putting a call on your heart.

Learn more about Emma's Torch.

About Kerry 
Kerry Brodie is the founder and Executive Director of Emma’s Torch. Since its launch in 2016, Emma’s Torch has opened multiple locations in New York City and has recently expanded operations to Washington, DC. 

Kerry’s passion for sustainable business models has played an important role in Emma’s Torch’s growth. She believes in being mission-driven and data-informed. Her interest in philanthropic R.O.I. has kept the organization laser-focused on ensuring program graduates get the best possible outcomes: to pursue their own goals and attain financial freedom.

Since founding Emma’s Torch, Kerry has had the opportunity to grow her leadership at the intersection of culinary arts and social advocacy. She is a recipient of a Gaudium Award from the Breukelein Institute and was a 2020 JWI Woman to Watch. She has been featured on CNN Heroes, The Forward 50, City & State’s 40 Under 40, and 36 Under 36–among many others.

Anne-Marie Zanzal is a self-identified later in life lesbian. When she came out, she realized how little support there was for folks like her who were coming out later in life. Being a chaplain and ordained UCC minister, when Anne-Marie saw that gaping need, she decided to do something to fill it. She started later in life mutual support groups for queer folks and eventually that grew into one-on-one coaching and support. Anne-Marie offers us the gift of sharing her story and her insight.

About Anne-Marie (in her own words)
I came out later in life as a lesbian. My background is in group work, training in the healthcare system, hospital and hospice chaplain, and as an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Through my journey and experiences of coming out, getting divorced, and searching for support I saw grief and pain, as well as joyous awakenings and new self-discoveries. It can be confusing to hold these dichotomies as well as seek support solely from heterosexual sources. I realized there was a need for support, particularly for people coming out later in life.

My goal is to provide compassionate support to makes the process of coming out less isolating, or provide clarity to the questioning and even someone to share the joy of newfound authenticity.  I work to hold space to process all aspects of your identity including your sexuality and your spirituality.  I seek through coaching and groups to empower my clients to find courage to authentically and boldly discover who they truly are.

Learn more about Anne-Marie and her coaching & support services here, and be sure to check out her podcast, Coming Out and Beyond.

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Author and faith leader Claire McKeever-Burgett is here to share about her new book, Blessed Are the Women.

Through a blend of storytelling, poetry, and prayer, Blessed Are the Women invites readers to reimagine worship, embrace women's narratives, and foster healing within themselves and their communities.

Buy the book here and be sure to subscribe to Claire's Substack.

About Claire
Claire hails from the dry plains of West Texas, and though she’s lived in Washington, D.C., Austin, TX, Louisiana, and Nashville since 2013, she still claims Texas as her home. A graduate of Baylor University with a degree in English and Professional Writing, Claire began her career working at Sojourners magazine on Jim Wallis’ New York Times bestselling book tour for God’s Politics. From there, Claire worked in the nonprofit sustainable food world in Austin, Texas, and then made her way to Vanderbilt Divinity School where she earned a Master of Divinity in 2011.

An author, creative contemplative, and spiritual leader, Claire has dedicated her life to bridging spirituality and social justice. She has served as a clergy, led congregations, and facilitated transformative writing, movement, and liturgical practices centered on healing and embodiment. A mother, certified birth and postpartum doula, and a yoga, dance, and martial arts instructor, Claire lives with her family in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Friends, we are continuing our pause through mid-January to allow Kelsey time to move back home to the Pacific Northwest with her family, but we’re here with a special New Year’s episode talking about looking for God’s miracles and grace, even amidst heartbreak.

We will be back with you on Monday, January 22nd with more interviews and all of your favorite content!

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When it comes to children's books about Advent and Christmas, there are thousands of options. It can feel impossible to weed through them all and figure out which ones have theology, representation, and story you can trust. That's where children's minister and librarian Kari Bauman comes in! Kari shares some of her tried and true go-to books for Advent and Christmas, as well as some new releases, and some ideas for how to incorporate reading stories into your holiday traditions.

Be sure to check out Kari's Instagram page @thechurchlibrarian where she has shared several of the recommendations she offers in the episode!

All of the books mentioned in the episode are listed below. Rather than link them all, we hope you go to your local library or local bookstore to pick some of them up!

• Leah's Star by Margaret Bateson Hill 
• Holy Night and Little Star: A Story for Christmas by Mitali Perkins and Khoa Le
• Waiting Is Not Easy!-An Elephant and Piggie Book by Mo Willems
• The Christmas Quiet Book: A Christmas Holiday Book for Kids by Deborah Underwood
• Joy to the World by Tomie dePaola
• Silent Night: the Christmas Choir by Lara Hawthorne
• The Friendly Beasts: an old English Christmas Carol by Tomie dePaola
• The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola
• Saint Nicholas the Giftgiver by Ned Bustard
• The Night of His Birth by Katherine Paterson
• Brown Baby Jesus by Dorena Williamson 
• The O in Hope by Luci Shaw
• The Colors of Christmas by Matthew Paul Turner
• The Voices of Christmas by Nikki Grimes
• Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou
• The Christmas Mystery by Jostein Gaardner
• All Creation Waits by Gayle Boss

“God never expects us to be perfect. When God created the world, God didn’t high five Godself and exclaim: “It’s perfect!” God just called it good. And good is a B+!”

If you need a reminder that God shows up when it’s “good enough” and not just when it’s “perfect,” this conversation with poet and pastor Meta Herrick Carlson is for you. She reminds us of what it means to be human, to experience the sacred in the ordinary, and to trust that we are enough just as we are - even during the holiday season. It doesn’t need to be perfect to be beautiful, especially in God’s eyes.

About Meta
Meta Herrick Carlson (she/her/hers) is a pastor and poet. Her ministry is rooted in a love for meaningful ritual, accessible language, and healthy communities. Meta’s theology is informed by the sacred wisdom of recovery groups that meet in church basements and the embodied stories of survivors of sexual violence.

“I write because I want to amplify what is already and always good enough. I imagine a world in which we are liberated from fear and shame, where everyone honors their real selves. It is good soil for planting consent, mercy, and joy that grow and flourish. It begins at home, in neighborhoods, in nature, in the ordinary. It begins with blessing.”

Meta laughs at her own jokes, dresses her pit bull in sweaters, and packs extra snacks just in case. She and her husband Matt have three kids who are funny and fiercely loved.

Purchase one of Meta’s Books

• Ordinary Blessings: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Everyday Life 
• Speak It Plain: Words for Worship and Life Together
• Ordinary Blessings for Parents: Prayers, Poems, and Meditations for Family Life
• Ordinary Blessings for the Christmas Season

Connect with Meta

• On her website
• On Instagram

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This conversation with Mary DeJong, spiritual companion and sacred ecology teacher, is all about re-wilding. She teaches us what it means to look at where our wild selves have been blocked or dammed, and how to find our truest flow again. She teaches us: God is right here on this wild earth. She invites us to look up and look down and see God all around us.

About Mary
Mary DeJong is a spiritual ecologist, ecotheologian, wild soul guide, urban naturalist, and practitioner and guide of place-based pilgrimage. She specializes in the spiritual companionship of "rewilding" and instructs spiritual directors and companions through Spiritual Directors International and One Spirit Learning Alliance. Mary facilitates retreats and pilgrimages in the Pacific Northwest and in Iona, Scotland that strengthen the unique and mystical interconnection of participants, the sacred, and the natural world. She has studied and practiced within the Celtic Christian spiritual tradition, her own maternal line heritage, for over twenty years, and is influenced by the lives of Celtic saints, and the lands that guided them.

She holds a post-Heroic Journey framework that calls us to emerge as poets and prophets, instead of heros, an applied mythological worldview that is connected to her training within mythology and the emerging field of ecopyschology. Mary's theoretical and praxis focus within deep ecology, eco-spirituality, ecotheology, ecopsychology and specialization in Thomas Berry's Universe Story delves into why place matters, the sacramentality of creation, and how together this informs the development of our ecological self. Mary terms this work “sacred eco-awakening” and sees this as a critical and holy endeavor as it allows us to come to grievous terms of our human history and to posture ourselves once again side-by-side with the whole of creation.

Connect with Mary

• Visit Mary’s website
• Learn about the Waymarkers Iona Pilgrimage
• Rewilding Retreats | December 16, The Whidbey Institute (Whidbey Island, WA) 
• Cascade Mountains Rewilding Retreat | April 5-7, 2024
• Wild Seasons (virtual self-paced rewilding course)

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The Enneagram is a powerful tool that can show us who we are as part of the image of God, the Imago Dei, in the world. It can also teach us that we all need each other - that no one is better or worse than anyone else, and that together we make up the fabric of God’s Kingdom here on earth. Dani Cooper, an Enneagram teacher and coach, shares with us how we can deepen our understanding of God, ourselves, and one another through the lens of the Enneagram.

About Dani

Dani Cooper is a Certified Enneagram Teacher, Coach and totally-biased personal growth cheerleader for individuals, couples and teams who want to find out who they really are and grow beyond the constraints of their Enneagram types.  She is the author of the book, The Enneagram for Christian Couples, which came out in 2022. Her life's work is learning how to love herself as a messy, imperfect and absolutely enough human person, and helping others do the same.

Connect with Dani

Buy her book, The Enneagram for Christian Couples

Visit her website

Connect on Instagram

Jesus and Women: Beyond Feminism by Niamh M. Middleton

In Jesus and Women, Niamh Middleton combines insights from evolutionary biology, feminism and the #MeToo movement to highlight the revolutionary attitude of Jesus towards women. Her careful exegesis, comparing the treatment and depiction of women in the Old and New Testaments, illuminates the way forward for the treatment of women by Church and society. More importantly, however, it holds the potential to greatly enrich our understanding of Jesus' divinity. Middleton's bold approach encourages Christian women to reclaim their religion as a tool for empowerment, correcting the regressive course that Christianity has taken in this regard since Roman times. 

Buy the Book here

Connect with Niamh on Facebook or Instagram

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Have you ever felt like science and faith contradict one another? Today we sit down with Haley Cole, a physicist also known as Haley the Scientist, to talk about how her understanding of science enhances her experience of God through her faith. 

About Haley

Haley Cole is a physicist studying space radiation, but goes by Haley the Scientist online. She hosts a podcast and blog dedicated to helping people liberate from fundamentalist or hyper-conservative Christianity and find joy, peace, and freedom in feminist theology, curiosity, and open-mindedness. Through her podcast Divinely Modern, her blog and published writing, and her Instagram platforms @HaleyTheScientist and @DivinelyModern, she discusses common topics in deconstruction, Christianity, anti-fundamentalism, politics and society, and how to navigate this messy world.

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As you close out your October and enter November, we invite you to receive this simple blessing.

Hospital chaplains are called to some of the holiest work, entering rooms where grief and vulnerability are often palpable. Rev. Emma Landowski Sancomb shares her experiences with us - what it’s like entering those spaces, how she prepares her own heart, and how she tries to move out of the way so God’s wisdom can speak through her. She does the same in the journaling workshops she offers, which she says are all about allowing space for the Holy Wisdom of God to flow through us.

About Rev. Emma

Rev. Emma Landowski-Sancomb, BCC is ordained in the United Church of Christ and a Board Certified Chaplain that works at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Mequon, WI. Emma is also certified in Holy Fire Reiki I.  Through Emma’s Ministry of Sacred Transition, journaling workshops are offered, alongside officiating weddings, creating ceremonies and rituals for all of life’s sacred transitions.  Emma's desire is to meet each individual where they are and to help them honor experiences of transition, celebration or grief.  Emma’s spirituality is shaped by the larger ecosystem and how we are called to be in community with each other. Outside of ministry and work, Emma can be found spending time with her family outside, gardening or hiking. 

Connect with Rev. Emma

Via her website: https://www.sacred-transition.com/, Facebook, or Instagram

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Patriarchy is neither nice nor particularly Christian, but it shows up in our churches all the time. Liz Cooledge Jenkins tackles this much-needed conversation about the more subtle ways patriarchy weaves its way into church culture and offers us a way forward in her new book, Nice Churchy Patriarchy.


About Liz

Liz Cooledge Jenkins (MDiv) is a writer, preacher, and former college campus minister who lives in the Seattle area with her husband Ken and their black cat Athena. Liz is passionate about building more just faith communities and a more just world. She has a BS in Symbolic Systems (Stanford University) and a Master of Divinity degree. Her writing has appeared in Sojourners, Christians for Social Action, Feminism and Religion, and Red Letter Christians, among other places. She can be found at lizcooledgejenkins.com and @lizcoolj and @postevangelicalprayers. When not writing, Liz enjoys swimming, hiking, attempting to grow vegetables, and drinking a lot of tea.


About the Book

Part memoir and part faith-based feminist manifesto, Nice Churchy Patriarchy takes an unflinching look at the ways misogyny’s subtler forms impact every aspect of women’s experiences in church. From leading a church college ministry, to attending seminary, to eventually developing the confidence to preach, Liz Cooledge Jenkins weaves together her own journey with reflections on biblical interpretation, church history, and intersectional feminism.


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In this brief episode, we lift our hearts together in prayer for the people in the Holy Land, and around the world, who are grieving and afraid. Pastor Kelsey reads two poems from Dane Kuttler’s book, The Book of Solace.

In her recent memoir, Beautiful and Terrible Things: Faith, Doubt, and Discovering A Way Back to Each Other, Rev. Dr. Amy Butler shares about finding her way through wreckage after wreckage. A deeply personal, yet incredibly universal memoir. She’s here with us today to share more of her story, talk about where God’s Spirit has been nudging her lately, and, of course, what she is still learning.

Important Links

• Learn more about Pastor Amy
• Learn more about Invested Faith   
• Order Pastor Amy’s new book, Beautiful and Terrible Things

About Amy
Pastor Amy believes deeply that courageous communities of people who live with tenacious love can change the world.  Much of her career has been spent helping build communities of radical witness in the institutional church. She is currently serving as Designated Pastor at the Community Church of Honolulu in Hawai’i.

Before that, Amy served for for five years as the seventh Senior Minister and first woman at the helm of The Riverside Church in the City of New York. She holds degrees from Baylor University, the International Baptist Theological Seminary, and Wesley Theological Seminary. Pastor Amy’s professional ministry career began as the director of a homeless shelter for women in New Orleans, Louisiana; she later became Associate Pastor of Membership and Mission at St. Charles Avenue Baptist Church in the city of New Orleans. In 2003, Butler was called to the position of Senior Minister of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown, where she was also the first woman to lead that historic congregation. 

Though leading institutions of faith in this moment can be one of the most challenging leadership tasks around, she is optimistic about the impact faith communities have on the world.

When she’s not busy leading, teaching, preaching or writing, Pastor Amy enjoys the beach (obviously), and hanging out with friends. She is an avid reader and loves to write, recently completing her first memoir, now published by Penguin Random House Books. Pastor Amy is mom to three amazing young adults who are each making their way in the world; they are her favorites. 

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This week we have the privilege of sitting down with award-winning national news anchor and host of “Morning in America,” Adrienne Bankert. In an hour-long special that aired on Sunday, September 24th, Adrienne went behind the scenes of the popular show, “The Chosen.” She toured the set, interviewed the cast as well as the creator, Dallas Jenkins. We get to hear from her first-hand what that experience was like and how she feels the show is changing the landscape of faith and media.

Watch The Chosen Phenomenon here and don't miss the extended interviews with the cast here!

About Adrienne
Adrienne Bankert is an award-winning national news anchor and host of “Morning in America” on NewsNation. Morning in America airs on NewsNation starting at 5am (CST). Learn how to watch at www.joinNN.com

In her career as a journalist, Adrienne has covered significant stories across her tenure as a journalist, including the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the rescue of a youth soccer team trapped in a Thailand cave. She’s also interviewed some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry, such as Viola Davis, Will Smith, and Dwayne Johnson.

We recorded a special episode with Kelsey and our sound editor, Bri Daniel, to celebrate 100,000 downloads!!! This is a huge milestone that we could barely dream of as we started out, and we’re so grateful to get to celebrate with you all! We talk some behind the scenes talk, whether or not this is different than we expected, what our hopes and dreams are for the future of the podcast, and even our favorite (and least favorite!) parts of doing the podcast.

Thank you all so much for listening. You are making our dreams come true! We love getting to do this for you every week, and we appreciate everything you do to support us.

About Bri
Bri was able to leave her home state and go to Northern Arizona University to persue her dream in film.  She received a Bachelor's degree in Electronic Media and Film with an emphasis in Production.

Her ultimate career goal is to become an editor for films. Along with being the editor of Lady Preacher Podcast she is also the editor for Reimagine Teaching and the co-host and editor Offscript.

Bri is a bookworm who in her free time loves watching movies, reading (sometimes she's reading 3 books at once if not more), playing video games, board games, hanging out with friends and family and trying to go on new adventures whenever possible.

Our Lifecoach:
In the episode, Bri and Kelsey share that they both have the same life coach that they meet with. Her name is Linda Baumgardner and she is truly the best! You can learn more about her at lindabaumgardner.com.

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Content Note: In this episode, we have open, honest, and vulnerable conversation around infertility, body dysmorphia, and cancer.

At the height of the pandemic, Rev. Erin Dickey was in the depths of an infertility journey. She and her husband ordered a Peloton and it arrived the same week they received hard news. Her journey with the stationary bike was far more than she ever expected, and became a source of community, grace, and strength. She’s on the podcast today to share what riding a Peloton and being part of the Peloton community has taught her about faith, belonging, and knowing you are never truly alone.

Sound Note:
Pastor Kelsey had baby Gabriel alongside her throughout the interview, so you may hear baby babbling in the background.

About Erin
Rev. Erin Dickey has served Riverside Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as Senior Pastor since November of 2016. Erin’s favorite parts of ministry are church camp ministries, walking with families through end of life planning/funerals, and preaching. In her spare time she’s an avid Peloton enthusiast, baker, and obsessive dog mom. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband, Justin, who she met counseling church camp, their three dogs, and their cat that thinks he’s a dog.

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I sat down with Victoria Robb Powers and Cameron Mason Vickery of Reverend Mamas to talk about their upcoming book, My Love, God Is Everywhere. This beautiful children’s book asks a series of questions about where God is, and they don’t shy away from the hard stuff, including: where is God when I’m bad? where is God when I die?

Victoria and Cameron are mothers, pastors and founders of the online community Reverend Mama’s. They built Reverend Mama’s as a platform to showcase inclusive faith-based resources tailored for parents and children. In their first children’s book, My Love, God Is Everywhere, Victoria and Cameron explore the concept of God’s presence and boundless love in a child's life. The story follows a child who poses a thought-provoking question, leading readers to uncover the timeless truth that God's love transcends all situations, whether it be moments of stillness, pandemonium, sorrow, joy or even mistakes.

Victoria Robb Powers is the Senior Pastor at Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, and is the first female to pastor a Baptist church in the DFW Metroplex. She is a graduate of Baylor University and Brite Divinity School at TCU in Fort Worth. Victoria lives with her husband and three children in Lake Highlands. She loves to read, write, preach and teach.

Cameron Mason Vickrey is a graduate of Furman University and Wake Forest University School of Divinity. She currently works for Fellowship Southwest, sharing stories of ministry and mission along the US--Mexico border and advocating for migrants. She is also passionate about public education, and co-founded a nonprofit called RootEd, galvanizing parents of public school children to tell their stories and become advocates. Cameron lives in San Antonio with her family.

All her life, Julia Rocchi has searched for both the stillness and community that would connect her with something real and powerful—something like God. But religion, often consumed by its certainties, sometimes fails us. We want to find a new way. Could it be that faith is instead a conversation we carry on in questions?

In her new book, Amen? Questions for A God I Hope Exists, Julia invites us into fruitful curiosity through prayer, poetry, and prose.

About Julia
Julia Rocchi writes prose, poetry, prayers, and a lot of thank-you notes. With an MA in
Writing from Johns Hopkins University, she has garnered multiple story publications and honors, including First Place in the Saturday Evening Post’s Great American Fiction Contest. Julia also works in nonprofit marketing, facilitates gatherings, and performs improv comedy. As an ENFJ, Enneagram 2, and Cancer sign, she’s never met a personality indicator she disagreed with. Julia lives with her family in Arlington, Virginia.

Visit juliarocchi.com to follow her on her blog or on social media.

Rev. Anne Dunlap brings us back to our roots, reminding us who we are and whose we are. A teacher and preacher trained in herbal medicinal practices, Rev. Anne knows how connected Spirit and earth are. In sharing her wisdom, she calls us to ground ourselves in the power and beauty of creation.

About Rev. Anne (she/her)
Nurtured into faith-rooted organizing in the Central America solidarity movement in the 1980s, Anne is particularly grateful to the Central American, Black, immigrant, worker, and indigenous leaders who have challenged and taught her to think and act more deeply about what it means to be human, and what it means to be free. An ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, Anne  is the Faith Organizing Coordinator for SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice) and is also the founder and is also the founder of FierceRev Remedies, offering herbal consults, workshops, mentorship as well as consulting, teaching, and preaching, all towards the goal of racial justice and collective liberation that’s rooted in practice with the land. Anne is the co-editor and a contributor to the 2023 book, “Building Up a New World: Congregational Organizing for Transformative Impact.” Anne is proud to be from Arkansas; having lived in a lot of different places, she now lives in Western New York.

Be sure to check out the podcast, The Word is Resistance, available anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Many of us grew up in a faith environment that was rules-based. It was all about doing the right things and obeying God, “or else.” Meredith Miller believes there’s a new, different way; one that focuses more on who God is and building up a relationship with a God who loves us. Thankfully, she’s written a book as a guide on how to do just that!

From the press release:
So many parents want to pass along their faith, but know that God is so much bigger than the list of do’s and don’ts they were taught about as children. They want to pass along a faith their child doesn’t have to heal from. Woven is the guidebook parents have been looking for. With a deep reverence for scripture and suggested activities to help your family grow in faith together, Woven is for parents who want to go beyond a list of do’s and don’ts and pass along a resilient faith based on genuine love for and trust in God.

About Meredith
Meredith Miller is a pastor, parent, and writer with over 20 years experience in children’s ministry and curriculum.

In 2019 she and her husband Curtis started Pomona Valley Church –a church on Zoom that wants to live the one-anothers, neighbor well, and do justice.  And eat.

But for the 5 years prior she was Curriculum Director for the children’s ministry at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, Illinois, where she created the framework for lessons that responds to the latest research on kids and faith formation.  Since 2007 she’s also been involved with the work of the Fuller Youth Institute.

Meredith holds a Master of Divinity from Fuller Seminary, as well as a B.A. in Religious Studies and Spanish Language & Literature from Westmont College.

Connect with Meredith on her website or on Instagram @meredithannemiller

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In honor of her new book, Woven, coming out this month we are re-releasing our first conversation with Meredith Miller! It's our 2nd most downloaded episode ever, and for good reason! Check it out and be sure to come back next week for a brand new interview with Meredith!

“You don’t need a seminary degree to talk with your kids about Jesus. But it can be nice to have a friend with one.”

Pastor Meredith Miller is here to be that friend for us - talking us through how to have hard faith conversations with our young ones. Even if you aren’t a parent, Meredith is such a good resource full of wisdom that all of us can learn from.

Kids ask really tough questions that a lot of us adults wonder about, too. Join us as we tackle some of those big questions from little kids, like “Where is God?” and “What does sin mean?”

About Meredith
Meredith was born and raised in Alta Loma, and has been helping people have fun following Jesus for almost twenty years. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and a BA in Religious Studies from Westmont College. She loves talking, leading, eating interesting food, drinking dark coffee, and being outside with her kids. She and her husband Curtis are pastors at Pomona Valley Church.

Connect with Meredith
Read her blog: Kids & Faith
Instagram: @Meredithannemiller
Read her article about talking with kids after violence

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Always Remember: You Are Worthy

A message on Luke 13:6-9
The parable of the Fig Tree 

It can be incredibly challenging to find faith-based children’s books that are based in a progressive and inclusive theology! There have been many times I’ve purchased a children’s faith book on Amazon, only to open it up and find masculine imagery for God, or some teaching about patriarchal gender roles. Former librarian and now minister, Kari Baumann, knew that struggle was alive and well, so she has curated the instagram account, @theChurchLibrarian. She shares recommendations of illustrated children’s books adults can use to teach young (and old!) folks about God, prayer, and faith.

About Kari
Kari Baumann is the Pastor to Children and Families at College Park Baptist Church in Greensboro, NC. A former school librarian, Kari enjoys bringing literature, especially picture books, into faith education. She lives with her husband Mike, a public school teacher, and her son Atticus, a middle school student. Kari's family loves to spend time reading (of course), listening to live music, taking walks in the park, and trying as many different burger restaurants as possible.

Find Kari on Instagram: @thechurchlibrarian

Book Recommendations:

• Have You Ever Seen A Flower? By Shawn Harris
• The Beatitudes by Carol Boston Weatherford
• God’s Paintbrush
• Mother God by Teresa Kim Pecinovsky
• Sparrow’s Prayer by Roger Hutcherson
• God’s Holy Darkness by Sheri Green & Becca Selnick
• Psalms For Young Children
• Old Turtle

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Join Pastors Jazzy, Aurelia, Erin, and Kelsey as they discuss our most requested topic: what do pastors *really do* outside Sunday morning worship?

They share their favorite parts of each week, and least favorite, what they wish people knew pastors do, and what they wish they actually had time for. It was such a rich conversation, and we hope it provides good insight for all who want a peak inside a pastor's work life!

About Jazzy
Rev Jazzy Bostock, a kanaka maoli woman, serves two small communities - St. John the Baptist, Episcopal, and Maluhia Lutheran, ELCA, both on the west side of Oahu, in Waianae. She spends her days caring for chickens, learning about bees, tending to her garden, laughing with her wife, walking her dog, and enjoying the sunshine. She and her wife, Bree, have recently become licensed foster parents.

About Aurelia
Aurelia Dávila Pratt is the lead pastor of Peace of Christ Church in Round Rock, Texas, and cohost of the Nuance Tea Podcast, where she is redefining what it means to be a clergywoman of color. Her book, A Brown Girl’s Epiphany, is available for pre-order. Learn more at revaureliajoy.com

About Erin 
Rev. Erin Dickey has served Riverside Avenue Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) as Senior Pastor since November of 2016. Erin’s favorite parts of ministry are church camp ministries, walking with families through end of life planning/funerals, and preaching. In her spare time she’s an avid Peloton enthusiast, baker, and obsessive dog mom. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband, Justin, who she met counseling church camp, their three dogs, and their cat that thinks he’s a dog.

We all know that verse from scripture: you can’t serve God and money. What if we use our money in service to God? Rev. Dr. Sheryl Johnson is here to share about her book, Serving Money, Serving God: Aligning Radical Justice, Christian Practice, and Church Life. In her research, she examines how Christian finance and stewardship approaches tend to emphasize neoliberal values and entrench white privilege - and her goal is to help us figure out how to change that.

About Sheryl
Rev Dr Sheryl Johnson serves as a Visiting Faculty Lecturer at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and a minister at the Congregational Church of San Mateo. She completed her PhD in economic ethics at Graduate Theological Union in 2020 and is the author of Serving Money, Serving God: Aligning Radical Justice, Christian Practice, and Church Life. 

You can find her online at sheryljohnsonphd.com

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When do you feel most connected to God in worship? And if you could nix any part of worship, what would it be?

These are questions Kelsey posed to her community on social media, and the responses were wild! An overwhelming majority of folks wanted to get rid of Passing the Peace (a time of walking around & greeting one another saying, "Peace be with you"). The things people loved the most? You'll have to listen to find out!

Join Pastors Kelly and Kelsey as they sit down to talk about the results, and Pastor Kelly's theory as to how we can simplify worship and embrace it like a regular family dinner - nothing too spectacular, but meaningful nonetheless.

About Pastor Kelly
The Rev. Kelly Nieman Anderson is an experienced educator, youth minister, and ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). As the Manager of Church and Community Engagement for Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, Pastor Kelly is passionate about sharing God’s healing, justice, and wholeness with everyone she meets. She first learned about Lutheran Social Services from a nationwide perspective after becoming a licensed foster parent in Michigan, and since then she has been connected to this work in multiple states. When she’s not visiting churches, she’s traveling for fun—often with her husband in an electric car, bicycle, or motorcycle—to try new food or visit their nieces and nephews. At home, she enjoys relaxing with their rescue cats.

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We're doing something new! Once a month, Pastor Kelsey will be sitting down with other pastors and leaders to discuss a particular topic. Think: less interview, more roundtable discussion. This month we're focusing on Pride Month!

Upcoming topics include:

• What pastors *really do* beyond Sunday mornings
• What is forgiveness and how do we do it
• Moving through grief and difficult times
• Rest and being/doing enough

If there's a topic you'd like for us to discuss, email us at [email protected]!

Today's roundtable guest is Rev. Christian Briones. He's a minister, activist, and all-around badass based in Minneapolis. Today's conversation gets real and vulnerable and we're so grateful and honored to be able to share it with you!

When she was defrocked by the Presbyterian church in the 90s, Cathryn Cummings built a church where ALL of God’s beloved queer children would be welcome. She refused to let hatred close the doors to God’s house. That church, called Spirit of the Sound, served the queer community of the Puget Sound in Washington state (and beyond - people flew in from as far as Florida to attend this church!) for ten years, and its ripple effect of love continues to this day. Now, Rev. Cummings continues to be (as she calls it) “a can of whoopass for Jesus” preaching love and justice wherever she goes.

About Cathryn
Cathryn Cummings was raised in Walla Walla, WA, in a happy UCC family.  She has loved Jesus all her life.  Cathryn married her high school sweetheart and headed off to

Princeton Seminary with him after graduating from Whitworth University. Upon graduation  and ordination in the Presbyterian church, the couple headed to Southern California where they did groundbreaking youth ministry plus many other aspects of pastoral ministry from preaching to multiple mission projects. Returning home to the North West and Portland specifically, she entered a downtown ministry.    Then her life was blown apart when she met and fell in love with Connie.  But as she found out soon enough, God had plans for her and ministry.  When the Presbyterian church defrocked her in 1994, Cathryn began Spirit of the Sound, a ministry reaching out to LGBTQ+folks in the Puget Sound.  It was transformative for many.  In the gay community, their families and as many denominations dealt with gay issues in the church, wrestling with gay issues and ordination.  She had a TED TALK and most recently walked her beloved wife home after 4.5  years of Dementia.  She now lives in Virginia Beach, VA to be near her family, especially her 2 goofball grandsons.  Cathryn is looking forward to continuing to open up a can of whoop ass for Jesus, now on the East Coast.

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“Hearing people’s stories expands our understanding of God and who God is.”

Marcie Alvis Walker is a storyteller whose writing is poetic, deeply theological, intersectional, and inspiring. On her Instagram account @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends, she draws people in with her words and has built an incredible community of grace, hope, and accountability. In her new book, Everybody Come Alive: A Memoir in Essays, she tells her story and invites us to reflect on who God is and where we find God in ourselves and in others.

About Marcie
Marcie Alvis Walker is the writer and creator of Black Coffee with With Friends, a blog and Instagram feed about her Black experience in white spaces. In 2021 she created Black-Eyed Bible Study, a newsletter that offers biblical lessons, practices, and meditations to help center intersectionality, diversity, and inclusion in our spiritual lives.

Marcie Alvis Walker lives in Chicago with her husband, Simon, her child, Max, and their dog, Evie. She reads a lot of books, watches a lot of movies, and drinks a lot of tea and coffee.

Be sure to purchase Marcie’s new book, Everybody Come Alive: A Memoir in Essays, anywhere books are sold! And follow her on Instagram @blackcoffeewithwhitefriends

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On Thursday, May 25th, Rev. Kara Baylor was welcomed home into God’s arms after a long battle with cancer. We are re-playing her episode from August 2020 in her honor.

A word from Pastor Kara’s obituary speaks perfectly to the content of this interview:

Kara also understood that true love requires honesty and action. After the death of George Floyd in 2020 and the protests that followed, Kara was called to take action. She began to publicly question and criticize systems of inequity and injustice.  She started #PissedOffPastor where she spoke passionately about racism, sexism, sexuality and other injustices.  She spoke “Truth to Power” with a balance of anger and grace leaving others to continue the work of advocating for those without a voice.

About Pastor Kara
Rev. Kara Baylor was a Black woman preacher in America whose mission was to challenge and change our understanding of the church and awaken people to the depth of God’s love. In her ministry, she sought to help people connect the sacredness of scripture to our ordinary lives, helping us see where God’s Spirit wove throughout this world. 

Pastor Kara had a Master’s of Divinity and served Carthage College as Campus Pastor, leading the Center for Faith and Spirituality since January 2014, a position to which she brought more than 20 years of experience in youth ministry. 

Pastor Kara died on May 25th, 2023, at the age of 52. Her memorial service will be held Tuesday, June 6th, the day after this episode airs. She touched many, many hearts, but especially the hearts of her husband, Trenton, and their two daughters, Thea and Tova.

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We hadn't expected to take our summer break just yet, but Baby Gabriel has arrived. Pastor Kelsey is taking time to be with her family and rest before she get's back up and working.  We will be back after summer break, we just don't have a set date just yet. 

Center your hearts and minds for the week ahead by listening to the stories of the women who walked alongside Christ in his final days.

Text written by Rev Kelsey Beebe

• 1st reading: Woman Anointing Jesus' Feet, read by Emily Labreque (based on Matthew 26: 6-13; Mark 14:3-9)
• 2nd reading: Women Watching & Ministering to Jesus When He Died, read by Nicole Sippel (based on Matthew 27:55-56; Mark 15:33-41)
• 3rd reading: Jesus' Mother With the Beloved Disciple read by Amy Lunde-Whitler (based on John 19:25-30)
• 4th reading: Women at the Burial read by Kenna Ledbetter (based on Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56)

About Emily Labreque
Rev. Emily Labrecque currently serves as the Missioner for Church Revitalization at the Episcopal Diocese of Washington (DC). She is a member at Christ Congregational Church (UCC) in Silver Spring, MD and lives in DC with her 4 year old twins. When not working or chasing her kids, she can be found exercising with the Queer Gym, exploring the National Arboretum, or binging the latest TV dramedy.

About Nicole Sippel
Nicole Sippel is a flower farmer living the dream in what is known as the "Holyland" of Wisconsin, a cluster of tiny rural towns named after saints (St. Cloud, St. Ann, St. Joe, St. Peter, Marytown, Johnsburg)surrounding St. Lawrence Seminary. She is proud of raising her family through her Catholic roots in a progressive way. She prays that you have a truly blessed Holy Week this year, and can look forward to the joyous Easter Season with your loved ones.

Prolific author and speaker, Lisa Sharon Harper, joins us this week, speaking about how we are all made in God’s image and called good, and how often we forget that - about ourselves and about each other. She shares her journey of discovering what the “very good Gospel” is and offers that good news to us, inviting us into the vision God has for the world, and a profound belief that God’s peace is possible.

About Lisa

From Ferguson to New York, and from Germany to South Africa to Australia, Lisa Sharon Harper leads trainings that increase clergy and community leaders’ capacity to organize people of faith toward a just world. A prolific speaker, writer and activist, Ms. Harper is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by designing forums and experiences that bring common understanding, common commitment and common action. She hosts the podcast Freedom Road which features guests who are leaders in the faith and justice movement.

Ms. Harper is the author of several books, including Evangelical Does Not Equal Republican…or Democrat (The New Press, 2008); Left Right and Christ: Evangelical Faith in Politics (Elevate, 2011); Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith (Zondervan, 2014); and the critically acclaimed, The Very Good Gospel: How Everything Wrong can be Made Right (Waterbrook, a division of Penguin Random House, 2016). The Very Good Gospel, recognized as the “2016 Book of the Year” by Englewood Review of Books, explores God’s intent for the wholeness of all relationships in light of today’s headlines. Her most recent book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World--and How to Repair It All, draws on her lifelong journey to know her family’s history, exposes the brokenness that race has wrought in America, and casts a vision for collective repair.

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A little over a year ago, Rev. Jenny Smith came on the Lady Preacher Podcast to talk about living the "palms up life." It's a framework for living that holds things loosely and allowing God's Spirit to move freely in our lives. Little did Jenny know, that soon she would rely more heavily on that practice than ever before.

She received a devastating phone call that her brother was in the hospital and likely wouldn't make it. She wrote her first grief-stricken poem on the plane to Alaska, preparing her heart to say an impossible goodbye.

Over the next year, Jenny continued to write. Jotting poems down in her phone or on napkins, eventually she realized she had a collection. Out of her grief, she birthed the book, Still Here: A Poetry Memoir of Grief & Love. She's here on the podcast with us to share some of her story, and invite us to wade our way through grief and loss together.

Coach Yeamah, who has an incredible group coaching program called Confidently Queer, shares with us some of her story and wisdom this week! She helps folks untangle the legalistic, harmful theology so they can live as their full self, created and celebrated by a God who loves them wholly and completely. Join us for a powerful conversation that will leave you feeling a little more whole.

Connect with Yeamah:

• Visit her website and check out her group coaching program, Confidently Queer.
• Download her free e-book 
• Follower her on Instagram @coachyeamah

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Latishia James, M.Div, aka Rev. Pleasure encourages us to notice what is holding us back from experiencing the abundance and pleasure God wants for us. Especially during this time of Lent, when we are taught deprivation and restriction, Latishia invites us to lean instead into what sets us free and brings us joy.

About Rev. Pleasure, Latishia James

Latishia James, MDiv (she/they) affectionately known as Rev. Pleasure is a Black queer femme, womanist, writer, facilitator of healing spaces for BIPOC women, femmes, and LGBTQIA folks, and sacral spirituality coach. A Master of Divinity and Certificate of Sexuality & Religion graduate from Pacific School of Religion she lives - and works - at the intersection of pleasure activism, sacral sanctity, spirituality, reproductive and healing justice. She is currently the Co-Director for Organizational Development at SACReD - Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity

Latishia also holds a Bachelor of Arts from Villanova University in Human Services, which is where they first understood that they could be a healing practitioner beyond a medical professional and began advocating for the wholeness of women and girls of color. Their startup spirit and ministry of presence reaches beyond the physical walls of "the church." Her service as a rape crisis counselor, LGBTQ activist, hospital and abortion-clinic chaplain, and facilitator blossomed into Empathic Solutions, LLC. Their consulting and spiritual coaching practice for people harmed by religious rhetoric and patriarchal power-based violence.

Latishia is dedicated to the wholeness of Black folks, and that is at the forefront of everything she does including her care of herself. They are committed to experiencing the fullness of joy and goodness of their body for their own benefit, outside of systems of oppression, in this lifetime and wants the same for their beloveds.

Connect with Latishia

• Instagram: @love.latishia
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latishiaavjames/

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"Love your neighbor as yourself" is often easier said than done. Author and neighbor, Shannan Martin, is here today to share some practical wisdom and how-tos (with plenty of her own mistakes and learnings along the way) on how we can live out this simple, yet challenging, commandment.

About Shannan (in her own words!)

I’m a mom, wife, and neighbor in Goshen, Indiana. I’m a voracious reader, a wannabe-gardener, a news-geek, a thrift store-stalker, a justice-fighter, and an aficionado of not-too-spicy salsa. I’m also an author (Start with Hello, The Ministry of Ordinary Places, and Falling Free) and a cook at a soup kitchen. I fall asleep most nights thinking about breakfast.

Connect with Shannon:

Once a month, she sends out a free issue of The Soup. It’s usually on the topic of Jesus, food, or community. (Most likely, a combination of all three.)

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Moms and Co-Authors, Erin Strybis and Kimberly Knowle-Zeller are here this week sharing about their new book, Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years. In the book, Kim and Erin allow their readers to experience God's grace and love, and feel a little less alone on the parent-hood journey. There is a deep need in the world for a devotional for moms that is rooted in progressive theology, and that allows us to feel less alone. Through scripture, stories, and prayers, Erin and Kim help us take a deep breath and find God in everyday moments.

Buy the Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years

About Erin

Erin Strybis is a Chicago-based writer, mama of two and coauthor of The Beauty of Motherhood. Her stories have appeared in The Washington Post, Coffee + Crumbs, Living Lutheran, The Everymom and elsewhere. She also writes Nourish, a monthly newsletter to help you be kinder to yourself and others. When she's not chasing her kids or writing, Erin enjoys practicing yoga, singing at church or curling up with a good book. Connect with her on Instagram (@erinstrybis) and at erinstrybis.com, where you can subscribe to Nourish and preorder The Beauty of Motherhood, releasing March 21.

About Kim

Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is an ordained ELCA pastor, mother of two, spouse of an ELCA pastor and co-author of The Beauty of Motherhood: Grace-Filled Devotions for the Early Years (Morehouse Publishing, March 2023). She lives with her family in Cole Camp, MO. She believes in the power of words, unearthing the extraordinary in the ordinary, and encouraging others to follow their passions. Connect with her online at kimberlyknowlezeller.com or on Instagram (@kknowlezeller). 

Purchase your 2023 Lent Devotional HERE!!

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“By walking in the footsteps of Jesus, I believe that we can heal our hurting world.”

Professor and Minister for Gender Justice, Sherry Warren, is here this week to share how our faith calls us towards action.

Purchase your 2023 Lent Devotional HERE!!

About Sherry
Professor Sherry Warren is the minister for gender justice on the Health and Wholeness Advocacy team of Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ. She holds a Ph.D. in social work and a graduate certificate in women, gender and sexuality studies from the University of Kansas, where she also earned B.A. and M.S.W. degrees. She is a facilitator and trainer in the Our Whole Lives curriculum.  

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Purchase your 2023 Lent Devotional HERE!!

Have you ever wondered what it means to find or experience God? Or perhaps you have experienced an unraveling in your faith and wondered how you might ever find your way back.

If that is you - this conversation is for you. Spiritual Director Julianna Tate Zoch is here today to share her own experience of wandering through the wilderness of faith and what it looked like to rebuild and find her way back to God.

About Julianna

Julianna Tate Zoch is a Spiritual Director and founder of Wondering Company, a faith community for wonderers.

Combining her personal experience of 7 years wrestling with faith and her formal training through a Masters of Divinity degree (‘21, Lipscomb University), she creates space for wonder so others don’t feel alone in their faith experience. 

She is also a wife, daughter, sister to four amazing women, a barista, baker, chronic hobby-abandoner, and more. You can find her at WonderingCompany.com or at @wonderingcompany on Instagram.

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Purchase your 2023 Lent Devotional HERE!!

"The word compassion, which means to suffer with, like the idea that Jesus has compassion - yes! because he did it. That's the ultimate, epitome of God's compassion. Christ coming is saying, you know what I can't get them to be more like me until I become more like them."

Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay is here this week to share her brilliance and expertise around worship; but even more so, she speaks to the God who knows, sees, and understands us. She knows what it is to wonder if she is qualified for the call God placed on her heart - you know that question we've all wondered: am I enough? Good enough? Smart enough? Thankfully, she trusted in the call and is here sharing what she has learned on the journey about what it means to worship beyond just in the sanctuary, but in our every day lives.

About Rev. Dr. Cheryl:
Cheryl Lindsay was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio.  She attended the University of Pennsylvania and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics with a concentration in Marketing.  In 2012, she graduated with honors from Ashland Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Evangelism and Church Renewal.  The Doctor of Worship Studies at The Robert E. Webber Institute of Worship Studies was conferred upon Cheryl in June 2018. 

Cheryl enjoyed a successful career in financial services prior to launching her own business.  In 2008, she accepted the call to pastoral ministry and served at Mt. Zion Congregational Church, United Church of Christ in various capacities.  She is a contributing author to Those Sisters Can Preach:  22 Pearls of Wisdom, Virtue and Hope and Lesser Evils: Daily Reflections on Seeking Wisdom. Cheryl A. Lindsay Ministries specializes in developing worship planning communities, revitalizing liturgy and worship design, infusing worship with the creative arts, and coaching worship leaders. In 2019, Cheryl was called as pastor and teacher to First Congregational UCC of Wellington, Ohio. The United Church of Christ named Cheryl as the Sermon Seeds Writer and Editor in 2020 and expanded her role to Minister for Worship and Theology in 2022. In this work, Cheryl provides worship resources, theological reflections, and bible studies for the denomination and Christian faith communities around the world.

Cheryl believes that God has called her to use all her gifts for the glory of God.  Her hobbies include singing, creative writing, crafting and drama.  She has volunteered on numerous boards and committees in the communities she serves. In addition, she is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Cheryl loves to connect on social media and can be found @RevDrCherylL on most platforms. You can also find Cheryl's worship resources here.

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"Every time you let go, you begin again. And every time you begin again, a part of you is born again."

Pastor Kevin Sweeney is on the podcast this week to talk about his new book, The Joy of Letting Go. So much of our faith asks us to let go - to release our human desire to control everything and turn our trust over to God. Kevin shares some incredible wisdom on how difficult it can be, but also how we can practice letting go in real, tangible ways.

Listen and learn more about how you can embody your faith by learning to let go.

In Kevin's's own words:
My dream is that everyone who reads this will open up to the possibility that to engage everything from the concrete to the cosmic, from joy to justice, and from the tiniest arguments with your partner to the most monumental social tragedies of our time without losing our joy, we have to learn how to let go.

Buy the book!

About Kevin:
Kevin Sweeney was co-founder and lead pastor of Imagine Church—an urban church in Honolulu—for the past decade. He recently closed down this community. He is the host of the podcast “The Church Needs Therapy” and is the author of the books, “The Making of a Mystic: My Journey with Mushrooms, My Life as a Pastor, and Why It’s Okay For Everyone to Relax,” and “The Joy of Letting Go."

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Doing Nothing Is No Longer An Option: One Woman’s Journey into Everyday Antiracism

Jenny Booth Potter is on the podcast this week (and next!!) to talk about her recently released book that is a deep dive into her own journey with antiracism work. It's a powerful testimony to what it looks like to engage (especially as a white woman) in the work of antiracism every day, in both big and small ways.

Listen and learn more about how you can embody your faith by engaging in everyday antiracism practices.

In Jenny's own words:
I wrote a book about my own antiracism journey that I’ve been on for the last 20 years. I wrote with the mantra “we impress through our perfection but we connect through our flaws.” I wrote it for YOU - the you who looks at the world and wants to make it more just and looks at your family and wants to end cycles of White silence and inaction and violence and looks at yourself and wants to heal and imagine a better way than the one you’ve been handed. I wrote it because I am raising White children and I don’t want us to just pass on the mess of a racist society to them without trying to clean it up a bit ourselves. And I wrote it to let the lessons I’ve learned over the years go beyond my life and interact with yours -  I can’t wait for you to read it.

Learn more about Jenny here and see where to buy the book!

About Jenny:
Jenny Booth Potter is a creative producer, storyteller, and co-host of The Next Question, a web series about expanding our imagination for racial justice. She has co-led racial justice trainings across the country for churches and organizations, and is the Chief Content Officer of HerSelf Media, a company that aims to create stories that empower and bring joy to Black women. Jenny and her husband, John, make their home outside of Chicago with their two boys and one wild puppy.

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Doing Nothing Is No Longer An Option: One Woman’s Journey into Everyday Antiracism

Jenny Booth Potter is on the podcast this week (and next!!) to talk about her recently released book that is a deep dive into her own journey with antiracism work. It's a powerful testimony to what it looks like to engage (especially as a white woman) in the work of antiracism every day, in both big and small ways.

Listen and learn more about how you can embody your faith by engaging in everyday antiracism practices.

In Jenny's own words:
I wrote a book about my own antiracism journey that I’ve been on for the last 20 years. I wrote with the mantra “we impress through our perfection but we connect through our flaws.” I wrote it for YOU - the you who looks at the world and wants to make it more just and looks at your family and wants to end cycles of White silence and inaction and violence and looks at yourself and wants to heal and imagine a better way than the one you’ve been handed. I wrote it because I am raising White children and I don’t want us to just pass on the mess of a racist society to them without trying to clean it up a bit ourselves. And I wrote it to let the lessons I’ve learned over the years go beyond my life and interact with yours -  I can’t wait for you to read it.

Learn more about Jenny here and see where to buy the book!

About Jenny:
Jenny Booth Potter is a creative producer, storyteller, and co-host of The Next Question, a web series about expanding our imagination for racial justice. She has co-led racial justice trainings across the country for churches and organizations, and is the Chief Content Officer of HerSelf Media, a company that aims to create stories that empower and bring joy to Black women. Jenny and her husband, John, make their home outside of Chicago with their two boys and one wild puppy.

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Merry Christmas!

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

During this season of Advent we wanted to share episodes that will bring hope, light, and hopefully fill your well during this season.

Our dear friend Ellie Roscher just launched her new book, The Embodied Path, which is all about our bodies and the amazing, sometimes harrowing, stories they tell. It’s a book that will widen your compassion, deepen your understanding, spark your curiosity, and strengthen the empathy you have for others, as well as strengthen your love for yourself and your own body.

Ellie is here on the podcast today, as our last podcast interviewee of 2022, to share all about The Embodied Path!

About Ellie

Ellie Roscher is the author of The Embodied Path, 12 Tiny Things, Play Like a Girl and How Coffee Saved My Life. Her writing also appears in The Baltimore Review, Inscape Magazine, Bookology Magazine and elsewhere.

Ellie hosts the Unlikely Conversations podcast and is a certified yoga instructor. She teaches writing at The Loft Literary Center and the Minnesota Writing Project. Through curious inquiry, commitment to the sacred ordinary and artistic collaboration, her work accompanies people to a more centered, whole, and embodied self.

Ellie holds an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College and an MA in Theology from Luther Seminary. She lives in Minneapolis with her spouse and sons.

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Enneagram Sevens are known for being spontaneous, opportunistic, and seeking joy and fun wherever they go. To share some of that joyous spirit with us today is Rev. Jenny Sung!

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an Enneagram 7, or love someone who is a 7, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Advent Devotional
We're just kicking off Advent and if you'd like to treat yourself to a devotional, you can grab yours here! Use code SAVE 5 to get $5 off!

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram Seven
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Sevens
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

About Rev. Jenny Sung
Reverend Jenny Sung is an ordained free range pastor with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She has been preaching, writing, and curating spaces worldwide for healing through brave love and community art. She received her Masters of Divinity through Luther Seminary and is the founder and co-director of One Dance Company.

You can connect with Rev. Jenny on Instagram @iampastorjenny, on TikTok @freerangepastorjenny, or on Twitter @iamjenny sung

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Our sound producer had so much fun while listening to the unedited version of Monday's episode that we decided to make it a blooper reel for you all to enjoy! We hope this brings a smile to your face as it did to ours.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving! 

Enneagram 5s are cerebral, investigative types. Tending to be more introverted, they carefully protect their time and energy, though they can also be quite goofy - a lovely trait you'll experience in this week's episode with Kelsey's husband, Rev. Kevin Beebe! It was such a fun episode to do, our amazing sound editor put together a blooper reel that will go live on Wednesday morning so be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an Enneagram 5, or love someone who is a 5, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Advent Devotional
We're just kicking off Advent and if you'd like to treat yourself to a devotional, you can grab yours here! Use code SAVE 5 to get $5 off!

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram 5
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Fives
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

About Rev. Kevin Beebe
The Rev. Kevin Beebe joined Spirit Alive! Church in Kenosha, WI as Pastor in September 2019. He arrived at Spirit Alive! after previously completing his internship at The Bridge in St. Charles, MO and finishing his Master of Divinity at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of California Lutheran University. Prior to seminary, Kevin graduated from the University of Montana and served as a Young Adult in Global Mission of the ELCA, working in conjunction with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land as an English teacher in Ramallah, Palestine. He grew up in Pullman, WA, nestled between the wheat fields of the Palouse and the cultural center of Washington State University. Kevin and his wife, Kelsey, and their cat, Velcro, live in Kenosha.

Pastor Kevin is driven by an understanding that God’s Love is constantly breaking into our lives, pulling us into deeper relationship with the Divine and the rest of creation. He is drawn to the ways God’s grace thrusts us into the world to live out God’s justice and proclaim that the Kin-dom is at hand.

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Tracy uses their vision and creative expression towards cultivating humanity in a world largely condemning and diminishing of the beauty, interconnections and the vulnerability that come with being human. Her early touring career and a musician and songwriter brought her across the continental United States and many parts of Central and South America. Tracy’s songs opened pathways for relationships and the relationships seeded new songs about the lived realities of people in many different places and the struggles for life and justice everywhere.  Now, after decades of public performance and community building, Tracy feels some responsibility as an artist to document through their artistry the movements of liberation alive in the world, as she participates in them. Songs born out of the contemporary movements for liberation in the world today can be the fruit of and seeds for justice and beauty now and in the generations to come.

Listen to Tracy Howe on Spotify or Apple Music

Visit Tracy’s website

Watch the official music video for Tracy’s song Build the World that Kelsey can’t get out of her head!

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Enneagram Fours are known for having big feelings. To talk to us more about Enneagram Fours we have Jody Thone. 

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an Enneagram 4, or love someone who is a 4, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram Four
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Fours
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
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About Jody

Jody Thone is a leadership development expert, a coach and a reflective supervision practitioner. Jody is an Enneagram teacher and retreat leader who loves the intersection of spirituality, transformational growth and creativity.  Jody is currently the Director of Leadership Development for the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and runs The Center for Good Work which she began in 2012. 

Jody loves painting, hiking along the St. Croix River or on Minnesota’s North Shore and being on (or in) the water.  Nothing is better, (especially after a day of hiking or paddling) than deep conversations with family and friends while we share great food, laughter and tears.  

Jody navigates her own transformational growth using the map of the Enneagram and her home territory- point 4.  She uses the Enneagram as a systems map, a leadership development map and a presence practice map and welcomes the opportunity to journey further with you.

Jody Thone

[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/centerforgoodwork/about

https://www.facebook.com/jodyellenthone

Enneagram Sixes are known for being overly prepared. They have a unique gift for sensing what the dangers are in a situation and having a plan. To talk to us more about Enneagram Sixes we have Emily Snowden, who is a pastor and brilliant enneagram teacher.

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an Enneagram 6, or love someone who is a 6, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram Six
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Sixes
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

Renowned author, Mitali Perkins, joins us this week to share about her powerful new children's book, "The Story of Us." It speaks to the power of creation, our relationship with the elements, the chaos of natural disaster, and wondering how God comes as the restorer of broken relationship.

"One of life's greatest joys is to create spaces where young people feel safe, welcome, and beloved. Stories are one such space." — Mitali Perkins

About Mitali in her own words:

I was born Mitali Bose in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, and always tried to live up to my name—which means “friendly” in the Bangla language. I had to! Because my family moved so much, it was the only way I could make new friends.

By the time I was 11, I'd lived in Ghana, Cameroon, London, New York and Mexico before settling in California just in time for middle school. Yep, I was the new kid again, in seventh grade, the year everybody barely makes it through.

My biggest lifeline during those early years was story. Books were my rock, my stability, my safe place as I navigated the border between California suburbia and the Bengali culture of my traditional home.

After studying political science at Stanford and public policy at U.C. Berkeley, I taught in middle school, high school and college. When I began to write fiction, my protagonists were often—not surprisingly—strong characters crossing all kinds of borders, seeking community, and promoting justice.

Enneagram Twos are known for being altruistic helpers. They have a unique gift for sensing people's needs, caring for others, and reading a room. To talk to us more about Enneagram Twos we have Holly Johnson, who is a pastor and Enneagram teacher based out of Minneapolis.

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are a 2, or love someone who is a 2, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram 2
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Twos
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

Enneagram Threes are known for being goal-driven big dreamers. They have a unique gift for seeing potential in themselves and everyone around them, and cheering folks on to be their best selves. To talk to us more about Enneagram Threes, we have Val Hystek, who is a writer, enneagram enthusiast, and teacher.

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an Enneagram 3, or love someone who is a 3, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram 3
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Threes
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

About Val

Val Hystek (she/her) has always been a writer, but becoming an author was an audacious dream for a 90s kid. After completing her Honours Specialization in English Language and Literature Degree from the University of Western Ontario, Val went on to become a primary teacher at an inner-city school in Ontario. She is married and a mom to two girls, Savanna (8) and Paisley (4).

After experiencing secondary infertility and three recurrent miscarriages, Val began to write again, trying to find Jesus underneath the pieces of her shattered faith.

She now writes for her online community, both on Instagram and Facebook and her blog www.valhystek.com 

Enneagram Eights are known for being self-confident, strong, and assertive. They have a unique gift for seeing injustice and calling it out for what it is. To talk to us more about Enneagram Eights, we have Marlie Heberling, who is a seasoned Enneagram teacher and graphic designer. She’s an Enneagram Eight herself and shares her insight and wisdom with us about our beloved Enneagram Eights. 

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are an 8, or love someone who is a 8, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram 8
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Eights
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

About Marlie

Marlie Heberling has been studying the Enneagram for over 12 years. She began teaching enneagram classes six years ago during her time as a youth minister and has since led workshops at conferences, taught classes to multigenerational groups, and worked with individual couples and families. Marlie began The Fellowship9 Project in 2020 as a way to explore creating better connections through compassion. Fellowship9 is in the process of becoming an educational nonprofit that will offer Enneagram courses to schools, faith and nonprofit groups, and individuals with the mission of creating a more connected community. 

Enneagram Ones are known for being ethical and conscientious. They have a unique gift for discerning right from wrong. To talk to us more about Enneagram Ones, we have Hazel Monae, who is a leadership development teacher and Enneagram expert. She’s an Enneagram 1 and shares her insight and wisdom with us about our beloved Enneagram Ones.

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are a 1, or love someone who is a 1, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram One
• 40-Day Devotional for Enneagram Ones
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

About Hazel Monae in her own words
Hi there! I am Hazel Monae (she/her)! I live, work, and create leadership development curriculum at the intersections of anti-racism/racial equity, ethical leadership development, and theology. I am a skilled leadership development practitioner, community advocate, and adaptive leader bringing over a decade of experience designing and leading programs and initiatives that transform systems, environments, and organizational culture.

Enneagram Nines are known for valuing peace and having the unique ability to see all sides. They have a unique gift for bringing people together and making folks feel seen and supported. To talk to us more about Enneagram Nines, we have Michael Shahan, who is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Enneagram teacher. He’s an Enneagram 9 and shares his insight and wisdom with us about our beloved peacemakers, Enneagram Nines.

Our hope as you listen to these episodes about the various types, whether you are a 9, or love someone who is a 9, or you’re simply just curious about the enneagram - is that you learn something about who you are. That you find healing in knowing you are not alone, and that you are loved just as you are.

Resources

• Learn more about the Enneagram Nine
• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook

Welcome to our Enneagram series!! This fall we're doing a deep dive on the Enneagram, which is an ancient spiritual tool used for better understanding ourselves, and one another. 

This week, Jessica Denise Dickson introduces us to the history and usage of the Enneagram, and gives an overview of the 9 types. It's a little longer than our typical episode, but it is jam packed with amazing wisdom and information!

Throughout the next nine weeks, we will have more expert guests doing deep dives on each of the 9 types. We pray this series helps you better understand yourself, and gives you tools for deepening and strengthening your relationships with others!

Below Jessica's bio, you'll find lots of resources, including some recommended Enneagram tests to help determine which type you are, as well as books and websites.

About Jessica Denise Dickson
Jessica Denise Dickson is a life empowerment coach who teaches and coaches for the reclamation of our full humanity, equity, justice, and freedom through the intersections of the Enneagram, antiracism, and embodiment. She does this in one-on-one coaching, in groups and workshops, and with organizations.

To this work, Jessica brings a Master’s degree in Counseling, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a career counseling certificate, and embodiment training with several teachers. She also has over 15 years of experience in diversity education; 9 years as an Enneagram student and teacher; years recruiting, training, and providing professional development for staff; and a commitment to her own personal and professional growth . . . and more.

She believes when we do this work, we live more authentically with self-trust, self-safety, and fully-embodied freedom. When we do this, we change the world.

Resources

• Free Enneagram test (once you receive your results, you can pay to learn more, but we recommend taking a screenshot of your results and then going to the Enneagram Institute to learn more)
• Paid Enneagram test via the Enneagram Institute (at the time of this recording, it costs $12)
• Learn about Enneagram types in relationship with other Enneagram types

Book Recommendations

• The Road Back to You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Morgan Crohn
• The Enneagram for Black Liberation: Return to Who You Are Beneath the Armor You Carry by Chichi Agoram
• Millenneagram: The Enneagram Guide for Discovering Your Truest, Baddest Self by Hannah Paasch
• The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr and Andreas Ebert

In this brief episode, we breathe and pray together and listen to words from powerful mystics on the beauty and importance of rest.

Book recommendation from the episode:
Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West

Jamie McGhee, a novelist, playwright, and essayist, who is Black, queer, and prefers not to identify within a gender binary, though is often perceived as and was assigned female at birth. And Adam Hollowell, an author, ethicist, and facilitator, who is a white male. Adam was on faculty at Duke University while Jamie was a student and they began reading James Baldwin together and eventually writing about his work and studying it more deeply.

I’ll allow them to tell you the rest of the story, but their recently published book, “You Mean It Or You Don’t” is such a profound exploration of Baldwin’s work. As they say on their website, “It is an invitation into Baldwin’s demand for responsibility, honesty, and accountability in a time of great moral evasion.” It’s also a call to action - within each chapter they offer real, concrete ways you can get involved in social justice action happening in your local community. The book was published by Broadleaf Books and we’d encourage you to support your local bookstore, and you can go to bookshop.org to find where there is one near you, or you can purchase at the bookshop.org link below.

Show Links

Read more about Jamie, Adam, and their work here.

Purchase “You Mean It Or You Don’t”

Special thanks to our editor: Bri Daniel

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Support us financially and help us be able to offer honorariums for guests!
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
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• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook, or email us at revkelsey @ dancingpastor.org

Queer-Affirming, Millennial & Gen Z Led. That's how Tree of Life Lutheran in Minneapolis describes themselves. Rev. Marissa Sotos shares what a faith community like this looks like. What happens when we let go of "the way it's always been done," and try something new? What happens when elders are led by youngers, and vice versa? What happens when we release the need for certainty and instead embrace a faith of doubt and curiosity?

Listen to find out!


About Rev. Marissa
Marissa Sotos has been pastor and church planter at Tree of Life Lutheran since 2016. She loves the energy and creativity of Northeast Minneapolis and getting to be part of this vibrant little community called Tree of Life.

Marissa holds a Bachelor of Music in Harp Performance from St. Olaf College and a Master of Divinity from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. She is originally from Monrovia, CA where she grew up in a fundamentalist sect. After half a decade of atheism and flirting with Buddhism, she fell in love with the Lutheran church's focus on grace, care for neighbor, constant reformation and embrace of paradox.

In addition to pastoring Tree, Marissa is the Liturgical Design Coordinator at Central Lutheran Church and is pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Liturgy from St. John’s University.

She and her wife Maggie enjoy reading, camping, crosswords and hanging out with their goofy German Shepherd, Xander.

Connect with us!

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook, or email us at revkelsey @ dancingpastor.org

Hi friends! We are taking a break from July 25th - August 21st and we will be back with more amazing content for you starting Monday, August 22nd! Be sure to listen to this quick message and prayer from Pastor Kelsey and you can find all the links to stay connected below:

• Sign up to receive a little Gospel in your inbox every Monday Morning with our weekly devotional.
• Check out our website for great resources, previous blog posts, and more.
• Get some Lady Preacher Podcast swag!
• Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook, or email us at revkelsey @ dancingpastor.org

We apologize; the wrong audio for this interview was originally uploaded (and was 2hrs long!). It's fixed now but may take a while for the correct audio to show up on your podcast platform. You'll know it's the correct audio if it's under an hour. Thank you for your grace and understanding!

In a time when it’s harder than ever to look reality in the eye, Rev. Jenny Smith offers people the courage to show up authentically to all of life’s complexities. As a writer, coach, and spiritual guide, she  believes we cultivate resilience and healing when we move from the story of fear and avoidance toward a palms up posture of curiosity and creative awareness. Drawing on her own life experience, she treats sensitive topics like anxiety, perfectionism, professional burnout, guilt, and grief with disarming humor and grace, offering hope that the way to wholeness is often right through the heart of the hard things. 

Palms Up Path
The Palms Up Path is a self-paced virtual on demand course that guides you to befriend your fear, question the stories you’ve been handed and deepen trust in yourself and the love that supports you. You’ll learn how to hold your life in a way that creates spaciousness and freedom. Designed by a writing pastor who journeyed deep into high-functioning anxiety and panic attacks, this course is for the anxious and exhausted among us who are in search of a better way to live. Learn more here!

About Jenny
Jenny's been a writer since elementary school. Something about the written word connects her to the deepest parts of herself. After winning a few awards writing for her high school newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska, she went on to discern a call to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church.

After a college degree, getting married, and getting her master’s degree, Jenny and her husband traveled back to Alaska to serve several churches. Their two kids, Isabella and Wesley, were born in Alaska before they traveled south to Washington state so she could serve a church as lead pastor. She loved telling stories, helping churches organize around beautiful visions, and nurturing the divine in every human. During the pandemic, Jenny moved to a different church and served as co-pastor, before transitioning into full-time writing and speaking in 2022.

Episode Links
Jenny's website: Palms Up Life
Jenny's Instagram: @jennysmithwrites
Stay tuned for a course that Jenny has coming out soon!

 Rev. Breanna Illéné and Pastor Kelsey sit down to talk Christian Education, what it means to be ecumenical in our faith and embrace the many Christian traditions we carry, and raising children who have a faith that is wider and broader than a particular denomination.


About Breanna
Breanna is the Curator of Content and Ecumenical Innovation Coordinator and her role includes communications; identifying, celebrating and sharing innovative ministries (particularly those involving ecumenical cooperation); building strategic relationships and broadening opportunities for ecumenical engagement.  She has an MA in Social Justice (Loyola University-Chicago), an MA in Christian Education (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary) and an MDiv (Iliff School of Theology) and is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. She lives in Madison, WI with her son Ngnédji, spouse Andrew, and pitbull Ira. She loves to spend time outdoors (she's shooting for 1000 hours outdoors this year!), cooking and trying new foods, and traveling. 

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"How do you know I don't have to pray 50x a day in this particular way in order for my family not to die in a fire? Well, I don't, but we're goingt o take the chance that this is OCD and we're going to take the chance that we know that God is a loving God, and we're going to lean into that."

Contrary to popular misconception, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is not just about cleaning and organizing; OCD is often a very debilitating "doubting disorder" that tries to convince folks they are bad or terrible people.

It often deeply affects those with a faith life who develop compulsions that center around needing to behave, pray, or practice faith in a certain way for God to be happy with them, or for their loved ones to be safe. It can be a fine line for faith practitioners to navigate, but as our guest today says, "OCD tends to be when someone is engaging in a faith practice out of fear and the faith piece actually comes out when they're engaging in it because it brings meaning, because it brings hope."

Rev. Katie O'Dunne lives with OCD and speaks with us today about her own journey through treatment and how it has impacted her faith. She is an advocate for those who suffer silently, helping countless folks find pathways towards treatment, healing, and faith, so they can find a fulfilling and healthy spiritual life, and life in general.

About Katie:
Rev. Katie O'Dunne is the founder of Faith & Mental Health Integrative Services, an organization helping individuals with OCD and related disorders live into their faith traditions as they navigate evidence-based treatment. Prior to this, she spent 7 years serving as the Academy Chaplain and the Pauline and R.L. Brand Jr. '35 Chair of Religious Studies at Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. While serving in this role, she also served as a consultant on interfaith programming for schools around the country. Katie is proud to be an IOCDF lead advocate, an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and an endurance athlete tackling 50 ultra-marathons for OCD. She is currently pursuing her doctorate at Vanderbilt to continue with her focus on faith & mental health. She graduated from Candler School of Theology at Emory with her Master of Divinity and Certificate of Religion & Health in May 2015.

Episode Links & Resources:

• International OCD Foundation: https://iocdf.org/
• New IOCDF Faith/OCD Page that we just launched (with resources for clergy, individuals with OCD, and clinicians): https://iocdf.org/faith-ocd/
• My website: https://www.revkatieodunne.com/
• Faith & Mental Health Integrative Services (my new practice): https://www.revkatieodunne.com/faithandocdsupport
• Free Support Groups:  https://www.revkatieodunne.com/faithandocdsupportgroups
• IOCDF Video Content: https://www.youtube.com/iocdf
• Embracing Faith in God & Treatment (Sojourner's): https://sojo.net/magazine/january-2022/embracing-faith-god-and-treatment

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Doubt can be incredibly lonely. In a world that tends to value a faith that resembles certainty, it can be very isolating to feel like you have more questions than answers.

 So many of us struggle in those quiet moments when God feels far away and the foundation of our faith feels unstable. Perhaps you, also, have looked with envy at those who have such a "strong faith" that they have absolutely no uncertainty. Maybe you have wondered: why can't I have faith like that? Why do I have so many questions? Why do I feel so uncertain?

Kat Wadsworth, curator of the popular Instagram @about_doubt, comes on to share her experience of living with both faith and doubt, feeling them together, and knowing that one does not cancel out the other. Our hope is that as you listen to Kat's story, you feel a little less alone in yours.


About Kat
Kat Wordsworth experienced a prolonged period of crippling doubt, which inconveniently began while she was working for a church. Having discovered firsthand that doubt still carries a stigma, she is passionate about making doubt a more accepted and less feared conversation in Christian culture. She shares her story of messy, doubtful faith on Instagram (@about_doubt) and lives in England with her husband and children.

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NOTE: This episode was recorded and published BEFORE the final Supreme Court decision was released, effectively overturning Roe v. Wade and stripping folks with a uterus of their rights. 

For many folks, it felt like the earth shook when Politico published the leaked draft of the Supreme Court's case on Roe v. Wade. Reproductive Justice activists turned up their microphones and voices for louder advocating for reproductive rights.

There are a lot of questions we ask have about what the work of Reproductive Justice will look like if the leaked draft is accurate. There's a great deal of fear and concern, and rightly so. Thankfully, we have the wisdom of folks like Essence Ellis, a recent graduate of Yale Divinity School, whose ministry is centered at the intersection of theology, public health, and women's rights. She's on the podcast today to talk about the impending Supreme Court decision, what it means, how the work will continue, and where we can find hope.

About Essence
Essence Ellis is a recent graduate of Yale Divinity School where she received her Master of Divinity. During her time at seminary, Essence participated in various extracurricular activities and worked with CHHSM as the Rev. Jerry Paul Scholar. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia, Essence works at the intersection of theology, public health, and women’s rights. She is excited to be serving the UCC as the CHHSM/JLCM Fellow, working remotely from Chicago, IL.

Resources and Organizations
Sister Song
Planned Parenthood
SPARK Reproductive Justice Now
A more extensive, comprehensive list of national and local reproductive justice organizations can be found here

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"When I speak of resilience, and when I speak of celebrating Juneteenth, it is recognizing that Pastor Kelsey and I get to have this conversation today as equals, as co-laborers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Over 150 years after Juneteenth was first celebrated by Black communities in the United States, it was finally recognized as a national holiday in 2021. Artistic Theologian, Alexus Rhone, curated a storytelling event a few years ago to celebrate Juneteenth, primarily focused on resilience. When I asked her about resilience within the Black community, she spoke about the page 1 reality of trauma and suffering, and the page 2 that comes after - which is the resilience: the way the Black community "built something out of nothing."

We're releasing this episode a few days prior to Juneteenth 2022 in hopes that you approach this holiday with a perspective widened by the stories and wisdom Alexus Rhone shares with us today.

About Alexus
Alexus Rhone is a writer, producer, artistic theologian and "revolutionary artist" devoted to creatively exploring the power of truth when ‘dressed’ in story.

Founder of Truth Meet Story, LLC, Alexus is committed to expanding empathy one story at a time.

She holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Bachelor of Journalism/Public Relations degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Host of the virtual faith and adult storytelling series “Jesus, Jazz & Dessert Wine@Vespers”,  Alexus currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Connect with Alexus
Via her website
On YouTube
On Twitter @UnshackledProd
On LinkedIn

Resources about Juneteenth
Juneteenth.com
History.com article on Juneteenth
New York Times article on Juneteenth
Video from Columbia University on Juneteenth

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Happy Pride Month!! Preacher, activist, and drag queen, Marge Erin Johnson, joins us this week to kick off Pride and to talk about the ways God loves every single part of us. She shares the depth of grace we receive when we enter into a sanctuary for Drag Church, because it offers the message that you are welcome exactly as you are.

About Marge
Marge Erin Johnson (she/her) is a preacher, activist, and drag queen currently residing in the neighborhood of Washington Heights in NYC. Originally a quarantine queen who started doing drag in her friend’s abandoned studio apartment, she is glad to join progressive and lefty faith communities that are living into the value of extravagant welcome the the belief in God’s radical love. Marge believes that drag combined with worship can unlock the magic that can help us to imagine and bring about the kin-dom of heaven here on earth. Marge received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York with an interdisciplinary concentration in biblical studies, social ethics, and queer theology. To learn more about her drag ministry, visit theologyqueen.com.

Connect with Marge
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theology.queen/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/home
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzh316q3w2pXUE9bd0Z0CTA
Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theologyqueen
Watch Marge's most recent sermon on the conversion of Paul here
Listen to Marge's Christmas Blessing on the Lady Preacher Podcast from December 2021

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“You don’t need a seminary degree to talk with your kids about Jesus. But it can be nice to have a friend with one.”

Pastor Meredith Miller is here to be that friend for us - talking us through how to have hard faith conversations with our young ones. Even if you aren’t a parent, Meredith is such a good resource full of wisdom that all of us can learn from.

Kids ask really tough questions that a lot of us adults wonder about, too. Join us as we tackle some of those big questions from little kids, like “Where is God?” and “What does sin mean?”

About Meredith
Meredith was born and raised in Alta Loma, and has been helping people have fun following Jesus for almost twenty years. She holds a Masters of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and a BA in Religious Studies from Westmont College. She loves talking, leading, eating interesting food, drinking dark coffee, and being outside with her kids. She and her husband Curtis are pastors at Pomona Valley Church.

Connect with Meredith
Read her blog: Kids & Faith
Instagram: @Meredithannemiller
Read her article about talking with kids after violence

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“We all have mental health, just like we have medical health, physical health, financial health and wellness. We need to start normalizing that we all have it.” - Dr. Dominique Pritchett

Dr. Dominique Pritchett is an exceptional licensed therapist, speaker and mental wellness consultant. After experiencing burnout and discrimination in her career, she opened Beloved Wellness Center, the first and only private mental health practice in Wisconsin curated for Black women and girls. As an extension to her practice, Dr. Dominique is the founder of Space for Sistas™ - a wellness community and podcast for Black women and girls.

As a speaker and principal consultant at Dominique Pritchett & Co., she strives to help companies develop solution-focused strategies to create cultures of well-being and belonging. Dr. Dominique engages and educates audiences through thought-provoking stories, relevant statistics and actionable steps towards wellness.

Dr. Dominique received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Capella University, master's in clinical social work from Loyola University of Chicago, and bachelor's in social work from Carthage College.

To learn more about Beloved Wellness Center, please visit www.belovedwellnesscenter.com.
IG: @belovedwellnesscenter
FB: @belovedwellnesscenter

To learn more about Dominique Pritchett & Co., please visit www.dominiquepritchett.com.
IG: @dominiquepritchett
FB: @dominiquespritchett  

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On a recent trip to Hawaii, Pastor Kelsey encountered so much beauty in learning about Hawaii's history and the practices of Indigenous Hawaiians, but also the heartbreak of the impact colonialism has on the islands. Upon the recommendation of several colleagues, Kelsey reached out to Rev. Jazzy Bostock, a kanaka maoli woman who pastors two churches on Oahu.

It is our privilege to hear about the ways Rev. Jazzy interweaves her identity as a native Hawaiian and a practicing Christian. She speaks to the beauty of tradition, liturgy, hula, and the connection to God's creation. Rev. Jazzy also shares some of the social justice issues native Hawaiians are facing right now and what folks can do to learn, help, and be a part of change. At the end, she shares some wisdom for how folks who want to visit Hawaii can do so in an ethical, mindful way.

About Rev. Jazzy Bostock
Rev. Jazzy Bostock, a kanaka maoli woman, serves two small communities - St. John the Baptist, Episcopal, and Maluhia Lutheran, ELCA, both on the west side of Oahu, in Waianae. She spends her days caring for chickens, learning about bees, tending to her garden, laughing with her wife, walking her dog, and enjoying the sunshine. She and her wife, Bree, have recently become licensed foster parents, and are awaiting their first placements. 

This week I sat down with Sheila Whittenberg, a children's minister in Berlin, Germany that has been at the train station welcoming in refugees from Ukraine. In this episode, she shares some heartbreaking stories, but also where she is seeing God and finding hope.
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About Sheila in her own words:
Artist, Contemplative and Advocate for children. That's me. I live in Berlin, Germany with my husband, two crazy teenagers, and a Cockapoo named Lucy (who is also my painting pal). I explore the intersection between Divine Mystery and the mundane and the interaction between spirituality and the human body. Celebrating diversity and challenging social constructs about the narrow definition of physical beauty are also themes that surface regularly in my work.

Fun facts: I speak Russian, German and English. Orignally from Georgia in the Southern U.S., I spent my formative young adult years in Russia (Siberia, no less!) and the last 20 years in Germany.

Please follow my artistic journey on Instagram: @sheilaingermany

See her artwork here

Here is a link to Sarah Vecera’s book, “Wie ist Jesus weiss geworden?” (“How did Jesus Become White?”)

https://www.sonntagsblatt.de/sarah-vecera

Her Instagram is: @moyo.me

Rev. Becca Middeke-Conlin (she/her/hers) is the Director of Evangelical Mission (DEM) and Associate for Youth and Young Adult Ministry in the Arkansas Oklahoma Synod. 

Pastor Becca has served congregations in Connecticut and Pennsylvania where she has developed a passion for youth ministry and social justice. Over the last few years she has been the founder and lead organizer of two events in the North East Pennsylvania Synod: We Love, a day of worship and workshops to help congregations be more welcoming to the LGBTQIA+ community, and Trouble the Water, which focuses on racial justice and reconciliation.

Becca grew up in the St Louis area before moving to Minnesota during middle school. She attended college in Wisconsin before going east to attend seminary at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.

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This week Pastor Kelsey sits down with Rev. Shane Montoya to discuss the many creation stories found within the bible, leading to a conservation about ecotheology, the intersection of climate change and racial justice, and how we can better care for Earth and for one another. May this conversation lead you to think about how we are all connected. 

Rev. Shane Montoya (He/His) is a United Church of Christ Minister, Florida Man, and Pastor of the Miami Shores Community Church. He lives in slightly chaotic but usually sunny South Florida with his wife, Shannon, and his two dogs, Archie (the old man of the house) and Olive (the cutest basset/bloodhound mix in the world). When he's not pastoring, he plays video games, reads history and trashy sci fi and fantasy, and just recently picked up Sanda, Chinese mixed martial arts. His not very well updated website is revmontoya.faith, his twitter handle is @shanemontoya

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What does it look like to practice and believe in resurrection when the world around us feels bleak and dim? What does it look like to live out Easter in our lives when the powers of empire stand against us, as they did against Christ? What does it mean to practice Easter in a Good Friday world?

Minister Blyth Barnow shares a message of gritty hope and resurrection, in honor of her favorite holiday: Easter!

A word from Minister Blyth Barnow (she/her):
I went to seminary to learn how to hold spiritual space for the communities I come from. Communities “the church” deemed crude, dirty, expendable, sinful…profane. Queers, femmes, people who use drugs, sex workers, working class people, organizers. But these are the people who taught me about the sacred and I know that we are holy. We deserve access to spiritual care that lifts us up, knows us deeply, and affirms our dignity.

I put myself through seminary by working at the Harm Reduction Coalition. For me, harm reduction is a spiritual practice rooted in unconditional love. It calls us to healing and demands justice. Just like the Gospel.

My faith and my queerness are about liberation. Both connect me to a long lineage of people who have fought to honor God’s promise to them and God’s beauty within them. I’m not queer despite being Christian. I’m Christian because I’m queer. Both teach me that the voice of the empire is not the voice of God. My worth, your worth, is not up for debate. We are beloved by God, made in the image of God.

About Minister Blyth Barnow (she/her)
Min. Blyth Barnow  serves as the Ohio Associate Director for Faith In Public Life in Ohio, where she works to bring clergy and people who use drugs together to end the racist war on drugs. She is a preacher, harm reductionist, writer and community organizer. She is the founder of Femminary, an online ministry, and is currently working to establish harm reduction resources for faith based communities. She has brought her worship service, Naloxone Saves, to several states. Blyth graduated from Pacific School Of Religion where she received a Master of Divinity and the Paul Wesley Yinger preaching award. She also serves on the National Leadership Team for Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ), the Overdose and Drug Use Ministry of the United Church of Christ, and Faith In Harm Reduction.

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Happy Good Friday!

Friend of the podcast, Rev. Krista Zimmerman, has a special treat for us and delivers a sermon on Good Friday in today's bonus episode!

 Whether you’ve been going to church your whole life or are brand new to this whole Christianity thing, we can all afford the opportunity to learn and reflect on the meaning of Holy Week. Rev. Leah Rumsey is here to break down what each of the days of Holy Week are, why they are important, and how God is still speaking to us through them. Join us in conversation about Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and, of course, Easter Sunday.

About Rev. Leah Rumsey
Rev. Leah Rumsey is a United Church of Christ minister and a doctoral candidate at Harvard University, where her dissertation studies religious education in early 20th-century Egypt and where she serves as the assistant director for undergraduate studies in religion. Although she has recently served churches in the Boston area, most of her work has been in university chaplaincy positions at Suffolk University, Franklin College, and Brandeis University. She lives in Westminster, Massachusetts with her husband, a flock of laying hens, and two Narragansett turkeys.

Episode Links:


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Mystics are not just a thing of the past. We all can embrace the mystery of God and the way of Christ in the world today. Kevin Sweeney, a pastor in Honolulu with his wife Christine, is here to share his journey within mysticism. He shares his journey of releasing ego, surrendering into God’s love, and embracing the wild journey life truly is. Kevin also shares about his new, forthcoming book, “The Making of a Mystic: My Journey with Mushrooms, My Life as a Pastor, and Why It’s Okay For Everyone to Relax,” which comes out on May 31st.

About Kevin Sweeney
Kevin Sweeney is co-founder and lead pastor of Imagine Church—an urban church in Honolulu that is welcoming of all people, sees imagination as the key to the future, chooses authenticity over performance, substance over hype, and quality over quantity.

He is the host of podcast “The Church Needs Therapy” and is the author of the forthcoming books, “The Making of a Mystic: My Journey with Mushrooms, My Life as a Pastor, and Why It’s Okay For Everyone to Relax,” out on May 31st, and “The Joy of Letting Go” which will be out in January 2023. Both on Quoir Publishing.

He lives In Honolulu with his wife and co-founder of Imagine, Christine, and their two kids, True and Mikayla.

Episode Links:
Making of a Mystic video trailer
The Church Needs Therapy Podcast
Connect with Kevin on Instagram @kevinsweeney1

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The Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is one of the most well-known parables. Movies, musicals, plays, and books have been made and we think we have it all figured out. But today, we're going to peel back another layer.

For further reading on this parable, we encourage you to check on the following resources:

• Short Stories by Jesus by Amy-Jill Levine (book)
• Love and Lostness by Debie Thomas (short essay)

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“What I do know is that an unremarkable day can be full of wonder if we pay attention.”

Take a moment to think about how you feel when you’re slouching. The word “radiant” is probably not the first word that comes to mind. But in her new book, Slouching Toward Radiance, Heidi Barr shows us that we can feel radiant even when slouching. Her words are one of comfort and blessing, allowing us to feel seen.

In today’s episode, Heidi shares how complicated joy can be, and where she finds it even on the gloomiest of days. It is often found in the tiny things: in the way the sun touches your skin, or in the moss growing on the crumbling steps outside. And it is there, in those little signs of life, where we can find the God of joy and hope.

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Heidi Barr lives in Minnesota with her husband and daughter where they tend a large organic vegetable garden, explore nature and do their best to live simply. She works as a wellness coach, holds a Master’s degree in Faith and Health Ministries, and is the Managing Editor of Wayfarer Magazine. As a mother, spouse, nature lover, and writer, she is committed to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet.

Episode Links:

• Pre-Order Heidi’s book, Slouching Toward Radiance
• Purchase Heidi’s book 12 Tiny Things that she co-authored with Ellie Roscher and find more resources about 12 Tiny Things
• See a list of Heidi’s other books here
• Connect with Heidi on her website or Facebook

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Recent studies estimate that 1 in 4 people are disabled in some way, which is an indicator that we need to bring issues of ableism and disability justice to the fore-front. This week we we have on Allison Connelly-Vetter and Bekah Maren Anderson who do a lot of amazing advocacy work around disability justice. They break down some of the harmful ways we have interpreted scripture - especially Jesus' healing stories! - and show us a way that is more inclusive and celebratory of disable folks. Allison and Bekah also speak to the many ways that ableism rears its ugly head, even when we don't even realize it, and share just how intersectional the work of disability justice is.

If you are interested in how to make a world that is more inclusive, equitable, and accessible for all, this is the episode for you.

Episode Links

• Talila Lewis' 2022 definition of ableism
• 10 Principles of Disability Justice from Sins Invalid
• Stella Young's Ted Talk on inspiration porn
• More information about the UCC's Accessible to All program for churches to become certified as accessible and inclusive for disabled folks (similar to Open and Affirming or WISE)
• Here's where folks can order Nancy Eisland's The Disabled God
• Folks can connect with Allison and Bekah by emailing [email protected] 

About Allison Connelly Vetter
Allison Connelly-Vetter (she/her) received a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary. While in graduate school she studied interdisciplinary approaches to disability theology and Madness and wrote a capstone thesis on Christian ableism and restorative justice. Allison regularly preaches and offers presentations and workshops on disability theology for religious congregations and communities across the country. She finds a spiritual home in both the United Church of Christ and in lay-led, non-canonical catholic communities. Allison is a co-convener of the Disability Theology Discussion Group, a spiritual reflection space created by and for disabled, neurodivergent, Mad/mentally ill, and chronically ill folks. Allison and her wife, Brooklyn, live in Minneapolis, MN, where Allison is the Children, Youth, and Families Program Coordinator for Spirit of St. Stephen’s Catholic Community and a faith organizer for the Center for Sustainable Justice.

About Bekah Maren Anderson
Bekah Maren Anderson (she/her) is a queer disabled writer, theologian, and activist. She has been writing and speaking about disability Ministry and Theology since 2016, earned her master of divinity from Union theological seminary in 2021, and currently serves as cochair for the United Church of Christ Disabilities Ministries Board of  Directors. When not trapped in her inescapable desk, she can usually be found playing Dungeons and Dragons.

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About Kia
An unapologetic agitator, Kia Speaks creates content that pushes the conversation forward. From digital campaigns and multimedia projects to thought-provoking articles, visuals and speeches, Kia tells stories that challenge, provoke, and move audiences into action.

With over 15 years of communications experience, Kia has created award-winning digital campaigns that produced national and international media coverage, interviewed New York Times best-selling authors, Grammy-award winning artists, and US ambassadors, and provided digital support for speeches and lectures by Oprah Winfrey, Angela Davis, and more.

When she’s not writing and tweeting, you can find Kia in front of the camera discussing media, culture, and society. She has been featured on NPR, BET, and TVOne.com discussing sex, gender, theology, and more.

Kia earned a B.A. in English from Spelman College and graduated from Kennesaw State University with an M.A. in Professional Writing. She is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary.

Connect with Kia:
Find Kia online via her website, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook

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If you are able, place your hands out in front of you with your palms up and open. It's a posture for both giving and receiving. It's also the posture for transformational leadership.

The traditional understanding of leadership was transactional: see what I am doing, listen, and follow me. The landscape of leadership has been slowly changing over the last few decades into a more transformational kind of leadership, which is more about coming alongside people rather than standing out in front.

Rev. Anne Anderson, who is working on her PhD in Human Relationships with a specialization in Pastoral Leadership, is here to share more about what this kind of transformational, open-handed leadership looks like. And trust us! It's not just for pastors! Everyone is a leader in some capacity, and there are gems of wisdom in this conversation that are applicable for all.

Share this episode with your team, with your friends, and then have a conversation together about when you have experienced open-handed leadership and what it can look like in your own life.

About Rev. Anne Anderson
Anne Anderson, Community Pastor at Martin Luther University College, Waterloo ON. Canada. Pastoring a community called thirdspace, a mom to two fantastic kids, a partner to a great husband, a student ( currently a Phd Candidate in Human Relationships specializing in Pastoral Leadership ) researching transformational leadership and emergent faith communities. Currently working a lot on food insecurity and students during the pandemic. I call Waterloo , ON home and have been grateful to travel and work in the US , UK and Africa over the years. I love to read and play music and do boot camp with great friends!

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Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent. As we go into this season, remember how this past Sunday was Transformation Sunday. The day in which we remember how Jesus went to the mountain with his disciples and transformed. Even in the darkest times we are able to find God. Look for God today, whether it's in the eyes of a child, in the blooming of our spring flowers, or in the vast beauty of nature.

We are all made in God’s image - the imago Dei - but many folks in western culture are taught, both implicitly and explicitly, that they are not. In her new book, A Brown Girl’s Epiphany, Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt shares her story of embracing her belovedness with a call to all of us to work towards healing. She names the harmful theological belief systems, particularly the ones rooted in white supremacy, and offers a more abundant, loving vision of what the world can be if we embrace the truth of who God created us all to be.

There is no better description of Rev. Aurelia’s voice and work than the one found on her website:
“By stepping out of harmful belief systems informed by white supremacy and scarcity, we can step into healthy paradigms of abundance, liberation, and power. A Brown Girl's Epiphany is a love letter to all of us in need of guidance on our journey. Honest, vulnerable, and humble, Pratt imagines a world where the walking wounded become the fully healed and liberated, where our inner work becomes the starting point for creating heaven on earth.”

About Aurelia:
Aurelia Dávila Pratt is the lead pastor of Peace of Christ Church in Round Rock, Texas, and cohost of the Nuance Tea Podcast, where she is redefining what it means to be a clergywoman of color. Her book, A Brown Girl’s Epiphany, is available for pre-order. Learn more at revaureliajoy.com

Pre-Order Rev. Aurelia’s book here!

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Reverend Jenny Sung is a free range Pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We cover a multitude of topics, but we dove pretty deep into the trauma the Asian community, specifically the Asian American community, has been experiencing lately. Rev. Jenny shares her own experience and context, but does such a brilliant job of drawing a wide lens so we can see the interconnectedness of racism among all people of color, while at the same time honoring the individual experiences of people. Rev. Jenny eloquently speaks about how racism affects people’s sense of belonging, and how our Christian faith reminds us always of not only who we are, but whose we are.

This was such a powerful conversation, my friends, and I’m honored to be able to share it with you.

About Rev. Jenny Sung
Reverend Jenny Sung is an ordained free range pastor with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. She has been preaching, writing, and curating spaces worldwide for healing through brave love and community art. She received her Masters of Divinity through Luther Seminary and is the founder and co-director of One Dance Company.

You can connect with Rev. Jenny on Instagram @iampastorjenny, on TikTok @freerangepastorjenny, or on Twitter @iamjenny sung

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What story would you tell if you were given permission to tell the truth?

Anna Darian is a professional storyteller helping us discover the power of our voice and owning our story. She shares her story, and how each of us can find ourselves in the stories of others. We talk about the universality of storytelling and its value, what it means to find truth in our own story, and we even got metaphysical at one point about what truth actually is. But ultimately, this episode is about the universal stories we all share - that we all have underlying fears, insecurities, hopes, and dreams, and its in the sharing of those that we realize we are all connected.

About Anna
Anna Darian is a storytelling coach helping everyday people become exceptional leaders by leveraging the power of their story. Since launching her coaching business in 2017, she has helped hundreds of people around the world gain confidence in their voice through private coaching, workshops, and live performances. Based in Tucson, Arizona, raised in France and the daughter of Armenian immigrants, she calls herself a shameless truth teller, and storytelling is her ministry. For those who appreciate traditional street cred, she holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of Arizona and a Masters in Urban Planning from the American University of Beirut. But clearly, she doesn’t believe that a degree dictates one’s career path.

Links:
Connect with Anna via her website or on Instagram @Anna.Darian
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“The yoga stays the same so that you can change.”

In this episode, yoga teacher Holly Hancock talks us through the various ways that yoga intersects with her faith and her striving for social justice. They may seem worlds apart, but there are a multitude of parallels of practicing yoga and practicing Christianity. Both yoga and Christianity teach us how to be in relationship with others, with ourselves, and with the being who created us. They offer guiding principles to help us grow and evolve. And the good news that Holly offers us is that there is no such thing as a perfect yoga student, just like there is no such thing as a perfect Christian. In the same way, Holly offers the notion that when we are doing anti-racism work, we never get to a place where we receive a badge that says we are “officially anti-racist.” It is work that we will continually practice. And in Holly’s words, the hope is that, as we continue practicing, we get to a more loving and less judgmental place of yourself and others.

Holly also speaks to how, through the practices of yoga and Christianity, we are called to work for a world that embraces and uplifts the diversity of our world. They call us to look around the room and notice who is not present, who is not given a microphone or platform, and pay attention to the ways that white supremacy has seeped into our practice. Holly describes the eight limbs of yoga and how they can help guide us in this work, to help us become more loving, compassionate, and strive for equity and justice in our world.

Ultimately, this work begins with us, with our own practice, on our own mat or in our own pew.
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About Holly:

Holly Hancock is a full-time yoga instructor based in Washington, DC. She’s been practicing yoga since 2006 and teaching since 2014. She believes a good yoga practice should be joyful, effective, and most of all, sustainable. She considers it her job and privilege to make yoga accessible to anyone interested. You can find Holly on her website, on YouTube, or on Instagram, and be sure to sign up for her newsletter to take her classes on Zoom.

Resources & Links:

• Susanna Barkataki and her book Embrace Yoga's Roots: Courageous Ways to Deepen Your Yoga Practice
• Yoga is Dead podcast with Tejal Patel and Jesal Parikh
• A Queer Dharma: Yoga and Meditations for Liberation by Jacobi Ballard
• The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

People who struggle to find God in a church often find God in nature. For Rev. Corey Turnpenny, she thought, "Why can't we have both?" and started Church in the Wild, a church that worships outdoors every Sunday. They hike together, breath  in the outside air, and worship while embracing the views of God's creation.
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Rev. Corey Turnpenny (she/her) is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. In 2019, Corey felt the Spirit’s call to plant an alternative church for those who, like her, feel closest to the Divine in nature. Since then she has become the planter and pastor of Church in the Wild, an alternative spiritual community focused on connecting with and caring for Creation. Corey earned her Masters in Divinity from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and now lives with her spouse, their 2 kids, and 2 dogs in Windsor, NY.

Right now there is a lot of uncertainty and grief in the world. Many of us find ourselves searching for hope and longing for grace. If you feel like you are wandering around in the dark, wondering where the light is, maybe you need a reminder that God is all around you and always with you. Today's episode is a reminder of where we can find God as we search for hope and long for grace.

Be sure to get your copy of our Lenten devotional, Searching for Hope and Grace.
Pre-order now at dancingpastor.org/store!

Women play an integral part in history, including in biblical history. In many contexts, they are seen as mere side characters, and often aren’t even recognized with a name. However, we know that women are not just sidebars: they are main characters. They love, they birth, they lead, they prophesy, they teach, they heal, they wage war, and they testify.

Author and Episcopal priest Rev. Alice Connor is here to share some of these women’s stories with us today. She recently wrote the book, Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation, which is a follow up to her book Brave: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Grief, Mercy, Folly, Joy, Sex, and Redemption. Alice talks about how the Bible is R-rated because it is real, and our real lives (not the ones we post on social media for all to see) are definitely R-rated. When we read these women’s stories within the Bible for what they truly are: raw, honest, full-bodied, and whole-hearted, we not only see them for who they are, but we see ourselves as well.

About Alice:

Rev. Alice Connor is an Episcopal priest and a chaplain on a college campus. She wrote Fierce: Women of the Bible and Their Stories of Violence, Mercy, Bravery, Wisdom, Sex, and Salvation, How to Human: An Incomplete Manual for Living in a Messed-Up World, and Brave: Women of the Bible and their Stories of Grief, Mercy, Folly, Joy, Sex, and Redemption.

She co-wrote an article for the Journal for the Study of the New Testament called “Mantic Mary? The Virgin Mother as Prophet in Luke 1:26-56 and the Early Church.” That’s academic-speak for “Hey, maybe Mary the mother of Jesus was more than a mom and actually had a word of challenge to speak to us? Just sayin’.”

Alice is also a certified enneagram teacher and a stellar pie-maker. She lives for challenging conversations and has a high tolerance for awkwardness. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband, two kids, a dog, and no cats.

Abortion access and reproductive freedom are hot topics in the political sphere, especially among people of faith. What many folks don’t know, is that a majority of faith leaders and practitioners are in support of reproductive rights and safe access to abortion services. Rev. Angeal Williams, a lead organizer for SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity) is on the podcast today to share exactly why that is. She offers definitions for terms we hear often, like “reproductive dignity” and shares why so many faith leaders are passionate about it. 

About Angela:

Rev. Angela Williams (She/Her) is a queer Presbyterian pastor and community organizer. She currently serves as the Lead Organizer for SACReD (Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity), a new organization of people of faith who support reproductive dignity and autonomy for all people. Angela finds life in listening to podcasts, exploring creation, and engaging in theological discussions that go off the beaten path.

SACReD Gathering: 

Join the Spiritual Alliance of Communities for Reproductive Dignity (SACReD) January 25-26, 2022 for a first-of-its-kind virtual gathering of justice-oriented people of faith, activists, and leaders from the reproductive health, rights, and justice community. Discover how faith and reproductive liberation are interdependent through keynotes, panel discussions, and breakout sessions. Learn more and register here.

Resources & Links:

SisterSong: https://www.sistersong.net/

All Options Pregnancy Support: https://www.all-options.org/

Faith Aloud: https://www.faithaloud.org/

SACReD: https://www.sacreddignity.org/

National Abortion Federation: https://prochoice.org/

Brightness and Shadows Worship Service

Brightness and Shadows is an original worship service written by the young adult community at Tree of Life Lutheran in Minneapolis for winter evening prayer. It focuses on themes of journey, wisdom, protection, Mary and Jesus, and the goodness of both darkness and light. You can learn more, listen, and download bulletins and music here. You can also stream the whole service here.

The start of a new year is always chock full of social media posts and conversations about “New Year, New You” but that messaging is steeped in fat-phobia and diet culture. Rev. Heidi C. Heath is doing a January series on her social media debunking this idea that we need a “new you” in the new year. Instead, she says, “We need more of you.” In her words, “Don’t you dare fall for the lie that you need to shrink your body, or yourself to make other people comfortable. Give the world the gift of taking up all the space that’s yours.”

As she untangles some of the harm of diet culture, Rev. Heidi also explains that fat phobia intersects with racism, homophobia, classism, sexism, and more. To untangle one, you have to work on untangling the other. She points to several others, like Sonya Renee Taylor, who are leading the way in that work.

What we love about Heidi is her deep honesty and her ability to preach a good word into all of our hearts. If you are someone who struggles with knowing your body is good and beloved, and never too much, this episode is full of Gospel for you.
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The Rev. Heidi Carrington Heath (she/her/hers) is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ (UCC).  She holds a BA from William Smith College (the women’s half of Hobart and William Smith Colleges).  She has a Masters of Divinity from Andover Newton with a certificate in Spiritual Care and Counseling.  Heidi also holds a professional diploma in Leading Spiritual Diversity in Higher Education from NYU.

Heidi is a public theologian and teller of hard truths, someone who holds pain and joy with the same breath. She serves as the Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches.  Heidi is also a Spiritual Director, writer, preacher, speaker, and activist.  Her other hats include: proud queer femme, the wife of Rev. Dr. Emily C. Heath, and slightly codependent cat mama to Atticus and Windsor.

Affectionately known as “The Facebook Chaplain,” Heidi is the curator of online community at Notes from the Chaplain.

You can also connect with her via her website or on Instagram @revfemme. She’s still figuring out TikTok. You can also follow her writing at: revfemme.medium.com.

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

Katrina is currently the minister of the United Church of Warsaw in Western New York. She is a graduate of Buffalo State College and Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School.  A fifth generation clergy person, she has served the church in a variety of capacities throughout her career. In her spare time, Katrina enjoys gardening and making music with her band, Languid Dandy.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Jessica McFarland is a commissioned minister with the Christian Church, Disciples of Christ currently working Georgia as an economic justice advocate, teacher, writer, and mother to two teenagers. She fulfills her pastoral call primarily through work in housing justice and poverty alleviation. Jessica has an academic background in philosophy, political theory, biblical languages, literary and cultural criticism, and translation practice and holds degrees from Swarthmore College, Harvard University, and the Graduate Theological Union. She is on extended leave from her doctoral studies in religion in literature, with a planned dissertation focus on biblical theology and anti-theology in post-Shoah Israeli poetry. Jessica is currently serving as Director of Development for the Atlanta-based nonprofit Initiative for Affordable Housing (www.affordablehousingatl.org), which also operates an employment program for homeless women centered on the practice of traditional loom weaving (www.reloom.org). She teaches private courses on a variety of humanities topics for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students and adult learners and is the author of two chapbooks of poetry, “The Religion of Consequences” and “Bring Enough for Everyone.” 

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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Rev. Mahogany S. Thomas is a native of Columbia, Missouri and an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. She serves as the Executive Minister of Peoples Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) in Washington, D.C.

Rev. Thomas has served churches around the country, from Connecticut to Chicago to San Francisco, and she has even preached in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem.

Rev. Thomas is a graduate of Yale Divinity School (YDS), where she received her Master of Divinity. Her scholarship at YDS included Homiletics, Womanist Theology, and Practical Theology at the intersections of the Black Church. She was the recipient of both the Andover Newton Seminary Diploma Program and Black Church Studies Certificate. Rev. Thomas received her Bachelor of Arts from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and graduated summa cum laude. Her undergraduate studies focused on Religious Studies with an emphasis on sex and gender in the Christian tradition.

Rev. Thomas is also the recipient of several prestigious awards from Yale University. She was awarded the Charles Merick Award for Effective Public Address especially in preaching and the Henry Hallam Tweedy Award for the student with exceptional promise for pastoral leadership. Likewise, she was the recipient of the newly established Martin B. Copenhaven Preaching Prize from Andover Newton Seminary.

In both her teaching and radical proclamation, Rev. Thomas is passionate about serving God and God’s church. She brings gifts of administration, wisdom, and passion to her work. Ministry for Rev. Thomas is defined far beyond the pulpit as she believes in radiating the love of Jesus through both her joy and witness.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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The Rev. Liz Tichenor has put down roots in the Bay Area but is originally from New Hampshire and the Midwest. An Episcopal priest, she serves as rector at the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection, Pleasant Hill, California. Liz and her husband, Jesse, are raising two young children and continuing to explore the adventure of living, parenting, and serving in their community. Some related passions include running, fine baked goods, growing as many tomatoes as possible, chasing after their puppy, and ethical pranking.

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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Marge Erin Johnson (she/they) is a preacher, activist, and drag theologian currently residing in Washington Heights. Originally a quarantine queen who showed off her makeup looks on Instagram, she is glad to join progressive and lefty faith communities living into the values of extravagant welcome and God's radical love. Marge believes that the joy of drag can reach the ends of the earth and that drag combined with worship can unlock the magic to help us imagine the kin-dom here on earth. Marge is a graduate of Union Theological Seminary, and in her non-drag life, she goes by James Admans (they/them) and serves as the Digital Minister of Fort Washington Collegiate Church. To learn more about James/Marge's drag ministry, visit theologyqueen.com.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Emelda De Coteau leads Pray with Our Feet (PWF), an online community lifting up the intersection of progressive Christian faith and social justice. She co-hosts the PWF podcast with her Mom, Trudy.

Emelda serves as the founder of Women Creatives Chat, a community centering wellness and empowerment for creative entrepreneurs and mompreneurs  through events (both online and live), workshops, and mindful products and services. She also writes about wellness, holistic healing practices and social justice for Good Life Detroit, Modestine Tea and Breaking the Silence…Healing the Pain.

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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Reverend Kelly Nieman-Anderson is a pastor at both Christ the King Lutheran Church in Port Washington, WI, and Living Hope Lutheran Church in Saukville, WI. She is a graduate of Luther Seminary and has been happily married to her husband David for 14 years. Together, they love traveling, trying new foods, and riding their red Indian motorcycle. They’re both pastor’s kids and Midwesterners, they speak Spanish, and they have a spoiled cat. David works as the Innovation Engineer at University School of Milwaukee, where he also coaches a middle and high school robotics team.

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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Kimberly Knowle-Zeller is a writer, ELCA pastor, wife, and mother of two. She lives with her family in Cole Camp, Missouri. She writes at the intersection of faith and parenting, searching for holiness in the ordinary of our days. Her stories on faith and motherhood have appeared in The Christian Century, Living Lutheran, The Episcopal Cafe, Coffee + Crumbs, and more. When she’s not at the park with her children, walking around town, or tending to the garden, you can find her with a pen and paper. Or a good book. And a cup of coffee. She believes in the power of words, unearthing the extraordinary in the ordinary, and encouraging others to follow their passions. Kim works from home part-time for Exhale Creativity, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs, encouraging other mother writers in pursuing creativity alongside motherhood. She regularly preaches, teaches, and leads women’s retreats across the United States, thanks to technology. You can sign up to receive her monthly newsletter, Walk and Talk, here; read her blog, or follow her on Instagram.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Rev. Krista Zimmerman is the Associate Pastor at Mount Pleasant Lutheran Church in Racine, WI, where she lives with her sweet dachshund Herman. Krista is a powerful preacher, always speaking the Gospel that God loves you always and no matter what. She is fun, a strong Enneagram 2, and always says just what your aching heart needs to hear. To learn more about Rev. Krista’s church, click here.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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Julie Hall, MBA MS LMFT
Julie Hall is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She is an experienced clinician with a deep passion for supporting families, couples and individuals in their journey toward healing and wholeness.  She focuses on building a collaborative, compassionate, safe and empowering experience for each client whom she encounters.

Julie is licensed in the state of Connecticut with an office in Greenwich, CT, providing teletherapy options as well.  Julie has lived in New Jersey, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and now makes her home with her family in Connecticut. You can learn more about Julie’s clinical practice here.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

Welcome to 12 Days of Chrstimas Blessings with the Lady Preacher Podcast!

We've invited on some of our former guests on the podcast and each of them will be doing an episode for this special mini-series! They will be offering you a reflection and blessing in each episode.

We know you're busy so we're keeping them short, sweet and simple. There is so much happening in our world and you do so much for others. We're grateful you are letting us do this one thing for you.

Thank you for being here. We hope this mini-series blesses you and fills your well this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!
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.
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Buy some Lady Preacher Podcast//Dancing Pastor Ministries Apparel:
https://www.bonfire.com/store/dancing-pastor-ministries/

Visit our website and sign up for our Weekly Devotional email!

Find us on Instagram or Facebook!

We started off 2021 interviewing Deidra Riggs, and that’s how we’re ending the year, too! On January 6th, 2021 we launched our first podcast of the year, interviewing Deidra about how 2021 would be “The Year of Dismantling: Eliminating Systems that Marginalize and Oppress.” She is back this week to share what she has been working on and learning this year.

Full disclosure, I had originally asked Deidra to come on and talk about how we can have “an anti-racist holiday,” but our conversation morphed into SO.MUCH.MORE than that. Deidra shared about the power of anchoring yourself in your own story and culture, how to hold space for hopelessness, and how hopelessness is the real thing that pushes us towards change, and rooting our anti-racism work in love rather than shame.

I learn so much every time I talk to Deidra, and I’m so excited to share this conversation with you! Be sure to listen all the way to the end to hear her talk about a BOOK SLAM she is doing on December 6th. It’s $15 to participate and we at the Lady Preacher Podcast are sponsoring FIVE people to participate. All you have to do is reach out (send us an email or DM) and we’ll pay the fee on your behalf. First come, first served. You won’t want to miss it.

Following this episode with Deidra, we’ll be taking a short break through December. Thanks for being on the journey with us for 2021 - we’ll see you next year!

Love, your Lady Preacher Podcast team: Pastor Kelsey Beebe & Bri Daniel (our AMAZING sound editor!)

LINKS FOR THINGS MENTIONED IN THE PODCAST:

• Advent Devotional
• Deidra Riggs Website, Instagram, & Patreon
• Book for the Book Slam

Be sure to connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, or on our website!!

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In Deidra’s own words:

I’m Deidra (pronounced “Dee-dra”), your JEDI (Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion) Coach. I identify as black, cishet, and my pronouns are she/her. I’ve been married to Harry for 30+ years. We have two adult children, Jordan and Alex, and one son-in-law, Benson. We also have two dogs, Santana and Sasha. Harry is an ordained minister in the American Baptist Church. I don’t go to church. I am a Christian. I think.

In this space, we value curiosity. We apologize when we do wrong. We do not make space for bullying or othering. All opinions are welcome.

I mess up. I sometimes get defensive. I apologize. I am always learning, always growing.

I’ve written two books for traditional publishers. You can read more about those here. My most recent project is the ebook, “30 Days to Being Actively Anti-Racist on Social Media.” You can learn more and purchase the ebook when you click here.

I am a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and I work with individuals, faith communities, organizations, companies, and groups to help identify opportunities for growth in your anti-racist and intercultural journey. Connect with me to schedule an assessment and to begin working on a plan to expand your capacity for cultural competency.

I live in Bloomfield, Connecticut. I love disco, design, and diversity.

A topic that we all are aware of, but tend to shy away from: the wage gap. There are so many glass ceilings - for women, and especially women of color. Anna Fontus is here to talk about what creates those glass ceilings and how we can start to push on them a little harder. They may not shatter, but maybe they can crack. Anna talks especially about the intersection between the wage gap and diversity, equity, and inclusion. She gives us advice on how we can can reshape our minds, and drop the narratives that we have in place , so that we can help ourselves and our communities to move forward - and get paid more while doing so.
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Anna Fontus has provided policy analysis, development, and strategy services to various projects at Capitol Impact since her hiring in 2014. As a program manager, she has helped drive policy agendas responsive to challenges in K-12 schools, higher education and workforce development, with a success story to tell at the local, state, and federal levels. Her work at Capitol Impact has reinforced long-held beliefs that “we are all in this together.” Anna cherishes the opportunities her job has provided in connecting segments and building coalitions to improve programs and positively impact millions of Californians. Known for her unyielding commitment to underserved populations and deconstructing the roots of their challenges, she brings an incisive focus on equity to her work at Capitol Impact and in her community engagement.

Outside of Capitol Impact, Anna works to serve the Sacramento community in several volunteer roles. She is the 2019 Vice Chair for the Paratransit, Inc. Board of Directors, the Community Engagement Lead for the Sacramento Metro Chamber’s Metro EDGE Leadership Council and sits on the Inspire Giving Leadership Council.

After completing morning cardio, her workday, and engagement with a local organization, you can find Anna ensuring she has spectacular food recommendations for her friends, convincing them to walk or bike to those recommendations, or planning her next voyages abroad. She recently added three new stamps to her passport and hopes to add more in the near future.

Loving our bodies isn't easy. In this episode, we delve into the notion that loving our bodies isn't something we "achieve." We don't just wake up one day and love our body and never feel shame again. Instead, it's a daily - and sometimes moment by moment - practice.
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Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, or online. 

This week we have a solo episode - meaning just Pastor Kelsey is hosting and discussing how it's okay to be angry with God. To be human is to experience grief, and pain, and loss. But the biggest thing to remember is that God abides in Jesus, Jesus abides in us, and we abide in each other. Through our pain and our grief it is important to remember that we are not alone. After all Jesus wept, while a simple passage in the bible it holds the most meaning. In our pain Jesus is with us weeping, and we have each other to lean on. 

The choice to not have children is a path a lot of folks take, and it can often come with a stigma. There’s often a response those folks get when they tell others they don’t want kids - everything from “Are you sure?” or “One day you’ll change your mind.” 

Today we have on Rev. Liz Miller to talk about why saying some of those things can cause harm, and how they are really rooted in the notion that women, or folks with wombs, are only made to bear children. So, while talking directly about the choice to not bear children, we are also doing a little bit of patriarchy dismantling. Brick by brick, right?

Liz has a particularly unique perspective on the choice to have children , which they’ll share more about in the interview. Most folks, regardless of gender but especially women, have to extricate themselves from the narrative that children will inevitably be a part of their story. But Liz was given a very different lens to understand parenting as one particular call/vocation - but not THE call of their life in particular. 

Whether having kids is a part of your story or not, this interview is full of incredible insight on the benefit of choosing not to have kids and how we can better come alongside those folks who make that choice for themselves.

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Rev. Liz Miller (she/they) is the Pastor at Edgewood United Church UCC in East Lansing, MI. Originally from California, she graduated from Agnes Scott College in Georgia, earned her Master of Divinity from Andover Newton, and previously served a congregation in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. In her local community she serves on her city's Human Rights Commission. She is a writer, a spouse, a quilter, and a triathlete.

October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness month, and October 15th was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. In honor of that, we invited Rev. Dr. Colie Bettivia to come on the podcast to talk about why this topic is so personal and important to her. She shares her own experience and talks about what to say and what not to say when someone you know is going through the trials of pregnancy and loss.

Pregnancy loss is defined differently around the world, but in general a baby who dies before 28 weeks of pregnancy is referred to as a miscarriage, and babies who die at or after 28 weeks are stillbirths. I read that, for women that know they are pregnant, miscarriage happens in 10-15% of pregnancies, but that number could actually be closer to half. All that comes to 1 in 4 women experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. Looking at these numbers - it is clearly incredibly common, and yet we don’t talk about it. We are so grateful to Rev. Dr. Colie for coming on to break the silence and help us understand just how common it is, how to offer support to others, and, for those who have experienced loss themselves, to know they are not alone.
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Rev. Dr. Colie Bettivia serves as a co-pastor of Grace Congregational United Church of Christ, in Two Rivers WI, and has been there since 2013. She grew up in Glen Ellyn, a suburb of Chicago. She has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Illinois and a Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary, and in May of 2020, graduated with a Doctor of Ministry degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary. Her doctoral research project was a study on Millennials in church and is titled: "Hello, We're Here! Active Participation in Traditional Church Congregations by Those in the Millennial Generation." She lives in Two Rivers with her husband, Tobin, and their young son, Lincoln. Together, they enjoy running, hiking, and trying new foods.