Academy Podcast

In this episode of The Academy Podcast, we share an important update: a hiatus and reimagination of our podcast journey. Join host Shalom Agtarap as we reflect on the gifts of the new year, the wisdom of the Magi, and the importance of rest and discernment. While we pause to prayerfully envision the future of this offering, we encourage you to revisit past episodes and share your feedback in this survey to help shape what's next: https://bit.ly/academypodcast2025 Thank you for being part of this transformative community. Keep listening—to life, to creation, and to the still, small voice guiding us all. For updates and to stay connected, visit Academy.UpperRoom.org. We look forward to returning with renewed vision and purpose. Shalom Agtarap is a graduate of Two-Year Academy #29 and has served on multiple Academy leadership teams, including the upcoming Two-Year Academy #43. She is an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church who builds community through relational organizing. Her roots are in the church but they are watered by many streams as she intentionally cultivates connection across racial/ethnic lines, religious traditions, and socioeconomic backgrounds for the common good. Shalom lives in Tacoma, Washington with her spouse and three children. JOIN US We're excited to announce that the next Two-Year Academy begins November 3, 2025. Learn more about Two-Year Academy #43 and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/two-year-43/ Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Rubén Ortiz's teaching from the 2022 online Academy Day Apart retreat called “Hope in a Time of Despair: Advent Through Immigrant Eyes." In this episode, Rubén Ortiz shares his personal journey as a migrant, weaving together stories of family, faith, and transformation. Through the lenses of familia, nepantla (the in-between spaces), and diaspora, Rubén reflects on the spiritual lessons he's learned through migration and exile. Drawing on biblical narratives, his own experiences, and the themes of Advent, Rubén explores the creative and transformative potential of waiting, belonging, and building bridges across cultures. Join us as Rubén invites us to expand the boundaries of our hearts, see the vast ocean of possibilities in migration, and discover how faith shapes a life in motion. Take a look at Rubén's presentation slides here: https://bit.ly/rubenortizacademy Rev. Rubén N. Ortiz, M.Div., is the Latino Field Ministries Coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). He a two-time immigrant: Cuba to Ecuador (1993) and Ecuador to USA (2000). With studies in music, communications, and theology, Rubén has served as a pastor for more than two decades as well as a Spiritual Director. He is often called upon as a consultant, advisor, and resource facilitator and is passionate about promoting the wellbeing of congregations and pastors. Rubén was a participant in Two-Year Academy #32 (a Spanish and English bilingual Academy) and is also part of the Academy Advisory Board. In his ministry with CBF, he works with Latino congregations and partners and provides leadership to FAMILIA, CBF's Latino Network. Rubén and his wife, Xiomara, are “empty-nester” parents of Natalia Sofia and Daniel Andrés. JOIN US We're excited to announce that the next Two-Year Academy begins November 3, 2025. Learn more about Two-Year Academy #43 and apply here: https://academy.upperroom.org/event/two-year-43/ Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Barbara Brown Taylor's teaching from a Five-Day in Alabama in 2022. In this episode, Barbara reflects on the spiritual significance of twilight, exploring how this threshold time between light and dark mirrors our own journeys through faith, transformation, and the unknown. Join us for a compelling discussion as Barbara invites us to embrace the sacredness of liminal spaces, to find divine presence in moments of transition, and to open ourselves to the mystery that twilight holds. Discover how twilight can be a teacher in the journey of descent and transformation, where we are invited to live faithfully in the tensions of life. Barbara Brown Taylor is a best-selling author, teacher, and Episcopal priest.  Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won an Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association in 2006.  Her next three books earned places on the New York Times bestseller list.  Taylor has served on the faculties of Piedmont College, Emory University, Mercer University, Columbia Seminary, Oblate School of Theology, and the Certificate in Theological Studies program at Arrendale State Prison for Women in Alto, Georgia. Her latest book, Always a Guest, was released in October 2020 from Westminster John Knox Press. JOIN US We're excited to announce that the next Two-Year Academy begins November 3, 2025. Lear more at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/two-year-43/. The online application for Academy #43 will be available in the very near future. If you want to be one of the first to know when registration is open, please complete this simple form to give us your name and contact information so that we can inform you as soon as the application is ready. Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Molly Vetter's teaching from Academy #42 in 2023 on the topic, "Spirituality and Embodiment." In this episode, Molly Vetter reflects on the intersection of scripture, art, and spirituality, inviting listeners to see how sacred traditions and personal experiences converge in daily life. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that invites us to see our faith embodied in everyday life, to find the sacred in art and community, and to live faithfully—even when it challenges institutional norms. Rev. Molly Vetter is passionate about many things: building community with unlikely and diverse people, making the church more boldly welcoming, and caring for the earth. Since 2019, she has served as Senior Pastor of Westwood United Methodist Church in Los Angeles, a congregation with a rich legacy of thoughtful engagement on social issues and incredible worship gatherings in which to connect to the grace and mystery of our God. Molly received her Masters of Divinity from Claremont School of Theology and studied Art History for undergrad at Boston University. In her personal and professional life, she loves planning events and trips, and enjoys experiencing them, too. She loves designing and making things, especially out of fabric or food or the internet. Outside of the local church, Molly has served in several leadership roles in the broader United Methodist Church and stays active in organizations that serve the local community. She volunteers with the Grain Place Foundation, a non-profit that will inherit and continue her family's organic farm in central Nebraska. Molly lives with her husband, Matthew Parker, and their son Jonah. Molly is an alum of Two-Year Academy #41 and will serve as Retreat Leader for upcoming Two-Year Academy #43. Artwork & Photos from the episode: The Trinity — Kelly Latimore: https://kellylatimoreicons.com/products/the-trinity That they may have life — Corita Kent: https://collection.corita.org/piece/64-24 Enriched bread — Corita Kent: https://collection.corita.org/piece/65-02 Welcome Sign — Noah Purifoy: https://bit.ly/3BKvF3V Toilet Bowl Sculpture — Noah Purifoy https://bit.ly/3Y32fG2 Sitting in The White House — Noah Purifoy: https://bit.ly/3ByXyfr White/Colored — Noah Purifoy: https://bit.ly/3BsD5bZ Claremont School of Theology Cross — Sam Maloof: https://bit.ly/3XPVMho JOIN US We're excited to announce that the next Two-Year Academy begins November 3, 2025. A website and online application for Academy #43 will be available in the very near future. We'll be sharing those details in the coming weeks. If you want to be one of the first to know when registration is open, please complete this simple form to give us your name and contact information so that we can inform you as soon as the application is ready. Link to Form: forms.gle/X63WN8RHtAvLDWLL7 Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Juan Carlos Huertas' teaching from Academy #42 in 2023 on the topic, "Attentiveness to the Word." In this episode, Huertas dives into the rich world of prophetic literature, exploring how the ancient texts of the Bible connect to the realities of our lives today, emphasizing how scripture mirrors modern challenges in justice, leadership, and kinship. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that invites us to engage more deeply with scripture, justice, and our role in building a more equitable and loving world. Juan Carlos describes himself as a follower of Jesus, husband, dad, spiritual director, and pastor. Currently he is Minister of Proclamation and Practice of Justice at First-Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, NE. Previously, Juan Carlos was the pastor of Grace Community United Methodist Church in Shreveport, Louisiana. Juan says what God has called him to do in his ministry is, “To work as Jesus would have us work to make a difference in our community, to work together for peace and justice.” Juan is married to Shannon Perry Huertas and they have three children, Seth, Isabelle, & Lucas. For more information, go to https://www.firstplymouth.org/juan-carlos-huertas. JOIN US We're excited to announce that the next Two-Year Academy begins November 2, 2025. A website and online application for Academy #43 will be available in the very near future. If you want to be one of the first to know when registration is open, please complete this simple form to give us your name and contact information so that we can inform you as soon as the application is ready. Link to Form: https://forms.gle/X63WN8RHtAvLDWLL7 Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Shively Smith's teaching from Academy #42 in 2023 on the profound spirituality of the New Testament. In this episode, Dr. Smith explores the diversity within early Christian texts, emphasizing how the spirit of new life and love was interpreted across various cultures, languages, and geographies. She encourages listeners to reflect on the spiritual and social implications of the crucifixion, urging us to consider who stands with us at the cross and who we wish were there. Tune in to be challenged, inspired, and invited into deeper reflection on the intersections of faith and society. Shively Smith is Associate Professor of New Testament and Director of the PhD Program at Boston University School of Theology. She is also Resident Scholar and an itinerant elder at the historic Metropolitan AME Church of Washington DC. Since the age of 16, Smith has been a student of the Bible and other sacred texts. Dedicated to the life of the mind and journey of the spirit, she goes about her work as a scholar and teacher of biblical texts and histories with hopes of making a difference by speaking informed, courageous, and spirit-filled truths. Smith says: “I'm proud to have studied and collaborated with some of the most committed and educated scholars, teachers, and preachers in theological education, the Church universal, other religious traditions, and beyond. Each day, I aim to grow in my understanding and faith to create bridges for people from different walks of life to talk to each other.” For more information, go to https://www.shivelysmith.com/about. You can hear more from Shively in her session on Spirituality and Scripture at the first session of The Academy's new hybrid offering mentioned below! JOIN US The Academy for Spiritual Formation presents Spirituality in Practice. This newest offering is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply here Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Lucretia Berry and Ben Bowell's teaching from an online Academy Day Apart in 2021 called, Courageous Curiosity: Cultivating an Antiracist Spirituality. In this enlightening conversation, Lucretia and Ben share their personal stories of Christian faith formation and its intersection with antiracism. Together, they offer profound insights into the importance of examining our stories as we seek to dismantle racism, inviting us to engage in deep soul work for true transformation. Lucretia Berry is the founder of Brownicity - Many Hues, One Humanity (brownicity.com), a non-profit dedicated to advocacy, education and support for racial healing and antiracism that hosts thousands of learners committed to an antiracism learning journey. She is a wife to Nathan and a mother of three little girls. A former college professor, Lucretia designed an onboarding course and authored the accompanying study guide called, What LIES Between Us: Fostering First Steps Toward Racial Healing. She is the Antiracism Curriculum Specialist for Community School of Davidson (NC), a contributor for (In)courage.me, and a TEDx and Q Ideas speaker (Charlotte). Lucretia finds joy in prayer, dark chocolate covered almonds, and dancing! Ben Boswell is the senior minister at Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC where he serves at the intersection of strategic leadership, spiritual formation, and social justice. He is a preacher, pastor, author, civil rights leader, and sought-after public speaker. Ben is also a former infantry officer in the U.S. Army National Guard, a graduate of Marion Military Institute (AA), Campbell University (BA), Duke Divinity School (MDIV), and Saint Paul's School of Theology (DMIN) where his doctoral thesis was “Identifying Whiteness: Discerning Race through Spiritual Practice in the White Dominant Church.” During his doctoral studies, Ben also completed the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation (#39). He is the author and founder of Confronting Whiteness (confrontingwhiteness.com/), a group that aims to transform people racialized as white into anti-racist practitioners. Ben loves craft beer, movies, running, spending time outdoors and being with his family. JOIN US The Academy for Spiritual Formation presents Spirituality in Practice. This newest offering is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply at academy.upperroom.org/event/spiritua…-practice2024/. Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Grace Imathiu teaching at the Indiana Five-Day in 2021. Grace illuminates the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, a title she challenges because parables cannot be contained. Grace explores the story through different lenses to reveal a God of reckless abundance who shows us how our life together could be despite our histories. Rev. Grace Imathiu is Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. Pastor Grace is a citizen of the world for whom ‘the world is her parish'. As an African who is married to a European and is raising an American son, Grace is fluent in three languages, was educated in Kenya, U.S.A., in England and Israel. Grace has a passion and gift for inspiring and nurturing prophetic communities of faith to live out loud the Jesus Story. For Grace, the quintessential expression of the resurrected Lord's presence is a community whose very DNA is a radical hospitality which births a loving and a healthy tension that is ideological, theological, racial, ethnic and cultural. She thrives on diversity. Grace was married to David Jones, who recently died in March 2023. Together, they are the parents to Erik. JOIN US The Academy for Spiritual Formation presents  Spirituality in Practice. This newest offering is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply at academy.upperroom.org/event/spiritua…-practice2024/. Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Elaine Heath's understanding of neighborhood shalom. Her lecture from Academy 40 speaks to us of hopes and expectations, of well formed theology that is undone by lived experience. Knowing about Jesus and experiencing the compassion and presence of Jesus in the neighborhood is nothing short of transformational. Listen on, dear one, and as you listen, breathe deeply and expand gently. Elaine Heath's vocational journey includes having served as Dean of the Divinity School at Duke University, and the McCreless Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology.  She is a pioneer in new forms of theological education. In that capacity Heath is co-founder and former President of Neighborhood Seminary. The author of thirteen books, Heath is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and served in pastoral ministry prior to her academic ministry.  She lives with her husband at Spring Forest, an intentional Christian Community and farm in rural North Carolina where she serves as Abbess. JOIN US The Academy for Spiritual Formation presents  Spirituality in Practice. This newest offering is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/spirituality-in-practice2024/. Show Notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Claire K. McKeever-Burgett as she discusses the sacred people, places, and experiences that shaped her new book, Blessed are the Women. Step into the holy conversation of what it means to be - not just a woman - but human - one who is loved, and listened to by the Divine. Blessed indeed are the ones who hear women in the Bible for they, like Christ, will see the Divine Mother face to face. Listen on Beloveds.  Claire K. McKeever-Burgett is an author, creative contemplative, and spiritual leader who has dedicated her life to bridging spirituality and social justice. With a background in English and Professional Writing from Baylor University and a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School, 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. She writes regularly on Substack, and her book, Blessed Are the Women: Naming and Reclaiming Women's Stories from the Gospels (February 27, 2024), shares stories of women from the Gospels in their words, with their own names, interwoven with Claire's personal story of growing up as a woman with a vision and a voice in a conservative, Southern Baptist, male-dominated world. Claire's writing invites people to pray, dance, sing, and create along with women in ways that help them heal from religious and theological trauma and find a place of welcome and peace within a reimagined, woman-led faith. Those familiar with the Academy Podcast will also recognize Claire as a former host of the podcast. Claire is an alum of Two-Year Academy #41 and previously served on staff as Associate Director for The Academy for Spiritual Formation. JOIN US The Academy for Spiritual Formation presents Spirituality in Practice. This newest offering is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/spirituality-in-practice2024/. SHOW NOTES Order Claire K. McKeever-Burgett's new book Blessed are the Women at https://www.clairemckeeverburgett.com/book. Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources SUPPORT OUR WORK If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Luther Smith's teaching from Academy 29 in Burlingame, CA. His lecture on "Faithfulness within Conflict" reminds us that conflict should be embraced as a pathway to healing. Ultimately, Dr. Smith invites us to deal with conflict because “Our obedience requires it." The question he asks us is, "will we engage conflict confidently and creatively, or will we find ourselves unprepared?” Listen on, dear one, and as you listen, breathe deeply and expand gently for our world is in deep conflict and, as Luther suggests, it has always been. Luther Smith is an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, longtime Academy faculty person, and a member of The Academy Advisory Board. Luther spent 35 years of his career as an activist, scholar, and professor at Candler School of Theology, and he is known to be an authority on the life and theology of Howard Thurman. Luther is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community at Candler. His current research focuses on the writings and  correspondence of Howard Thurman, advocacy on behalf of children, and a spirituality of hope. He is married to Helen Pearson Smith and lives in Stone Mountain, GA. They have four children and five grandchildren. JOIN US If you would like to hear Luther Smith teach in person, he will be one of our faculty presenters for Spirituality in Practice: Embodied Imagination for Life and Liberation. This newest offering from The Academy for Spiritual is a unique six-session hybrid model that consists of three immersive, five-day in-person retreats and three online one-day retreats plus monthly two-hour online practice sessions to support integration of learnings and nurture community. Spirituality in Practice is structured to provide an in-depth spiritual journey while keeping the time and financial commitments at more manageable levels. We are accepting applications now. Session 1 begins September 6, 2024, in Mundelein, IL (near Chicago). Find more details and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/spirituality-in-practice2024/ Show Notes: Order Luther Smith's new book Hope is Here: Spiritual Practices for Pursuing Justice and Beloved Community. Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support Our Work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Ray Buckley's teaching from the 2021 Spiritual Formation in Today's World. His Lecture on Reconciliation. As an indigenous person in North America, Ray speaks with authority about what it takes to be reconciled across walls meant to keep people and creation apart. Let us consider what it will take for indigenous folks, and all historically marginalized people, to have more access which leads to equity in all areas of life. Ray Buckley is the Director for the Center for First Nations Spirituality and longtime faculty member of The Academy for Spiritual Formation. Ray has served the United Methodist Church as a staff member of the United Methodist Publishing House, Director of the Native People Communication Office, and Director of Connectional Ministries and Native Discipleship for the Alaska Missionary Conference. Ray is the author of multiple books and resources for all ages. His stories, poetry, and art have appeared in numerous journals, periodicals and books around the world. Ray and his brother, Rick, make their home in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of Alaska. The 2024 cohort of Spiritual Formation in Today's World begins February 1-3, 2024. You can learn more and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/sftw-2023/. Show notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support our work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features Daniel Wolpert's teaching from the 2021 online Academy Day Apart retreat called Drinking from Ancestral Wells: God's Wisdom for the Work of the Present Age. Dan contrasts the wisdom of our ancestors with the destructive nature of colonization that cuts people off from God. He guides listeners to reconnect to their ancestors and allow that ancestral wisdom to help them reconnect with God. Dan is the author of multiple spiritual formation books and is executive director and co-founder of MICAH, the Minnesota Institute for Contemplation and Healing; spouse; partner; ally; activist; and dad. Dan has been a student of the spiritual life since age 21 and has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation in numerous settings. In addition to his retreat and teaching work, Dan provides counseling and spiritual direction services at MICAH. Show notes: The quote from Wendell Berry that Shalom references in the outro comes from the poem, "Wild Geese," by Wendell Berry found in "Collected Poems 1957-1982" (North Point Press). Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources Support our work If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month, the Academy Podcast features a word from Alexia Salvatierra. The content comes from her lecture at last December's online Academy Day Apart retreat called, “Hope in a Time of Despair.” Alexia explores the immigrant and refugee experience through the lens of hope, likening it to the hope of a woman in labor. They have faith that on the other side of the hardship, there is new life that is a fulfillment of God's dream for their lives—a life where they not only survive but thrive. Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is the Academic Dean of Centro Latino and the Associate Professor of Integral Mission and Global Transformation at Fuller Theological Seminary.  She has over forty years of ministry experience, including as a missionary in the Philippines, in Spanish-speaking and English-speaking congregations, as a legislative advocate, as the founder and director of multiple non-profit organizations and as an international speaker/training/consultant.  She was the co-founder of several national initiatives in the arena of engaging the Church in the immigration crisis. She is the co-author of "Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World" and "Buried Seeds: Learning from the Vibrant Resiliency of Marginalized Christian Communities." Show notes: Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission. For more information and resources visit: academy.upperroom.org/resources SUPPORT OUR WORK If the Academy Podcast or any of the ministries of The Academy for Spiritual Formation have benefited your life and spirituality, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to show your support. You can do so and learn more about how your gifts make a difference at https://academy.upperroom.org/donate/

This month's episode of the Academy Podcast features teaching from Amy Oden on the topic of “Meeting God in Our Longing” from the 2021 cohort of Spiritual Formation in Today's World. Amy explores the art of discerning between the way that leads to life and the way that leads to death by paying attention to our deepest longings. She emphasizes that in our fast-paced and noisy world, practicing mindfulness, or pausing to listen within, can help us recognize what our soul needs and guide us in making the choices that will bring freedom and aliveness. Born and raised on the prairies of Oklahoma, Amy has found her spiritual home under the wide-open sky. She earned her PhD in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University, writing her dissertation on Augustine. Over the last 30 years, she has served on the faculties of Oklahoma City University, Saint Paul School of Theology and Wesley Theological Seminary where she also served as Dean. She now is an itinerant professor, teaching at several schools in the areas of theology and history of Christianity and spiritual formation. She is also a spiritual director, companioning people as they listen for God in day-to-day life. Amy is committed in her scholarship to illuminating ancient voices for Christian life today, introducing spiritual practices that can ground and nourish lives of following Jesus into the world. Her most recent book is "Right Here, Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness." The 2024 cohort of Spiritual Formation in Today's World begins February 1-3, 2024. You can learn more and apply at academy.upperroom.org/event/sftw-2023/.

In this month's episode, we hear from Safiyah Fosua. Safiyah was speaking on the topic of "Meeting God in Our Healing" from the 2021 cohort of Spiritual Formation in Today's World, a one-year online program from The Academy. Safiyah shares the story of the Gadarene demoniac from the synoptic Gospels to help us understand how our relationship with fear is connected with our healing, both personally and socially. Safiyah Fosua is a retired professor of spiritual formation at Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University and former Director of Transformational Preaching Ministries at Discipleship Ministries of the United Methodist Church. Safiyah and her husband, the Rev. Dr. Kwasi Kena, also served as missionaries to Ghana, West Africa, assisting the Methodist Church of Ghana in curriculum writing, leadership development, and local pastors' education. Safiyah has served churches in Iowa, and New Jersey, and is in frequent demand as a preacher, speaker, Bible study leader, and worship designer for national events. In addition to her professional teaching roles, Safiyah and her husband have two adult children and are the proud grandparents of two grandchildren. In spare moments, Safiyah writes prayers and Christian poetry, as well as engages the ancient practices of needle crafting, quilting, and batik. Safiyah references the Adinkra symbol from Ghana called the Gye Nyame, which you can see and learn more about at http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra/gyen.htm. The 2023/2024 cohort of Spiritual Formation in Today's World begins August 24-26, 2023. You can learn more and apply at https://academy.upperroom.org/event/sftw-2023/.

This month's episode features teaching from Wilkie Au during the first session of Two-Year Academy #40 in 2018. Wilkie explores how the stories in scripture can be a paradigmatic lens for viewing our current life experiences, helping us to see how God is showing up in our lives today and inviting us into a deeper felt knowledge of God's love for us. Wilkie reminds us that interacting with scripture using our full being—both our intellect and our imagination—can unlock deeper transformation of spirit. Wilkie Au is a spiritual director and Emeritus Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, where he taught in the area of Christian spirituality and coordinated the graduate concentration in spiritual direction. He is the author of the award winning books, By Way of the Heart: Toward a Holistic Spirituality and The Enduring Heart: Spirituality for the Long Haul. He has also co-authored several books with his spouse, Dr. Noreen Cannon Au, including God's Unconditional Love: Healing Our Shame, where they explore the topic of this podcast episode. Their latest book together is Aging with Wisdom and Grace. Wilkie's books have been translated into Spanish, Polish, Chinese, and Korean and published in foreign editions in Great Britain, India, and the Philippines. Dr. Au has served as a member of editorial boards for scholarly journals and is a leader in the field of spirituality and formation for spiritual direction and pastoral ministry.

In this month's episode, Cláudio Carvalhaes asks us to consider how we understand ourselves and our faith in relation to the land. For over 50 years, we've commemorated Earth Day in April and yet investment in our planet feels like such an onerous task. What does it mean to recite “The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof” when it comes to honoring Earth Day? What is our task as followers of the way, who experience the fullness of God revealed in nature, when it comes to divesting of systems that wreak havoc on the earth? Cláudio Carvalhaes is a theologian, liturgist, performer, artist, and activist. Originally from Brazil, he is the Associate Professor of Worship at Union Theological Seminary - New York City. He is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and is the author of multiple books including, Liturgies from Below: Praying with People at the End of the World, Praying with Every Heart: Orienting Our Lives to the Wholeness of the World, and most recently, Inventory, Metamorphoses  and Emergenc(i)es: How Do We Become Green People and Earth Communities.

For this month's Academy Podcast episode, in honor of March and the celebration of women's history, we have chosen to highlight the life of Saint Teresa of Avila through the scholarship and spiritual guidance of Sister Kathleen Flood. Sister Kathleen bears witness to the courageous life of St. Teresa, whose devotion to Christ led her to become a reformer of the Carmelite order, a resister against the Christian nationalism of 16th century Spain and the Spanish inquisitions, and a profound teacher on the life of prayer. An Illinois native, Kathleen R. Flood, OP, presently resides in Wisconsin. She became a member of the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation (the Order of Preachers) in 1981, and served as a campus minister in Illinois and Wisconsin. She came to Nashville in 1988, serving for many years as University Catholic Chaplain at Vanderbilt University, as well as providing a ministry of spiritual direction, leading retreats, preaching, and teaching. Sr. Kathleen is a graduate of the Graduate Theological Foundation and holds the Doctor of Ministry Degree in Christian Spirituality. She holds multiple degrees and currently serves as an adjunct faculty member for the Doctor of Ministry program at Drew University in New Jersey and is a long-time faculty for The Academy for Spiritual Formation.

This month's podcast episode features Regina Laroche as she bears witness to the healing and transformation that can come when we risk stepping into the wounded places in our neighborhoods and in our world. Regina cultivates food, connections, and community in her work with DIASPORA GARDENS, Planting Connections, Planting Hope, and the St. Mark Giving Garden. These integrate farming or gardening with art, cultural identity, and celebration; and are dedicated to nourishing and healing earth, bodies, spirit, and communal relationships. The emphasis is on communities of color with histories of racialized trauma and land-related violence. Regina invites us to deepen our birthright connections to healthy land, healthy food, empowering traditions and resilience in ways that bring justice and repair to all.  These offerings draw on Regina's life of small-scale farming on the edge of Lake Superior, her mother's rural South Carolina upbringing, and her father's Haitian Afro-Caribbean culture. Regina is experienced in the creative dance and story work of InterPlay, is trained in spiritual direction, is an alum of the Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation, and holds a theatre degree from St. Catherine University. You can follow Regina's work and offerings at www.diasporaonmadeline.com. Be sure to check out Regina's latest offering called, "Seeds of Repair," which begins with a free online event on Sunday, February 26, 2023.

This month's podcast episode features Juan Carlos Huertas, who currently serves as minister of proclamation and the practice of justice at First-Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, NE. Huertas holds a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University in Atlanta, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana, where he majored in Religion and minored in Spanish—his first language growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is a trained spiritual director and committed to practices that move communities to liberation through shared wisdom, communal leadership, and contextual action. Juan is married to Shannon Perry Huertas. Juan and Shannon have three children: Seth, Isabelle, and Lucas

This month's episode features Roberta Bondi's exploration of prayer. Roberta is a writer, speaker, teacher, and retreat leader. She is Professor Emerita of Church History at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Roberta earned a bachelor's degree from Southern Methodist University and completed two years of study at Perkins School of Theology. She holds Mater of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University. A weaver and spinner who is interested in women's work with fiber through the ages, Roberta is the author of nine books and a longtime faculty member of The Academy for Spiritual Formation. Roberta's lifetime of studying the desert mothers and fathers of the Early Church lends itself to the wisdom you're about to hear-–that the whole of the Christian spiritual life is about growing in the knowledge of God's love, and that we can't love others if we don't first know God loves us.

Perhaps it is because of Hee Soo's formation and orientation to Confucianism and Buddhism that we experience a refreshing expansion on the story of Elijah 1 Kings 17-19. Have you had an experience like this? Where you set aside time to dislocate from your regular rhythms and give yourself over to a new road, the hospitality of strangers, and the provision of God? Hee-Soo Jung was born in Kwang hwa do, Korea. He came to the United States in 1982. His family was in the Confucian/Buddhist tradition and, at 16 years of age, he became the first converted Christian in his family. Hee-Soo Jung holds degrees from Methodist Theological Seminary, Dongguk University Graduate School in Seoul, Korea; Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California; Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, California and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, he has completed the Upper Room's Two-Year Academy for Spiritual Formation. His passionate leadership has been focused on Korean-American Churches and cross-racial appointments in urban, rural and suburban churches. Helping groups develop their common vision has been a central ingredient in all his vocational experiences. Hee-Soo Jung was elected to the United Methodist episcopacy in 2004 and currently serves as bishop of the Wisconsin area.

In this Academy Podcast episode, Rev. Larry Peacock reminds us of our essential nature as God's beloved. Larry is the Director of the Franciscan Spiritual Center in Milwaukie, Oregon, has led retreats and workshops for groups and churches across the country and is the author of "The Living Nativity – Preparing for Christmas with St Francis," and "Openings: A Daybook of Saints, Sages, Psalms and Prayer Practices" and many articles on liturgy and spirituality. He pastored United Methodist churches in England, Michigan, and California for 30 years before moving to Massachusetts to become Executive Director of Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center. After being a participant in the Academy for Spiritual Formation, he became a retreat leader and faculty presenter for the Academy. He is trained as a spiritual director and has made pilgrimages to Assisi, Iona, Taize, walked the last 100 Km of the Camino de Santiago and taught at Boston University School of Theology. He is married to author Rev. Anne Broyles and has two children and one amazing granddaughter. As you listen, receive this blessing: May the truth of our belovedness usher us through the doorway into a hurting world. May God's delight in us not only blush our cheeks, may it be the fire in our belly that will sustain us as we invest invest in new possibilities for a changed world.

In this episode, we have the gift of hearing from Rev. Grace Imathiu, Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Illinois. Pastor Grace is a citizen of the world for whom ‘the world is her parish'. As an African who is married to a European and is raising an American son, Grace is fluent in three languages, was educated in Kenya, U.S.A., in England and Israel. She has preached in Germany, Ireland, New Zealand, Togo, Liberia, Denmark, Australia, Malaysia, Brazil, and all throughout the United States. Grace has a passion and gift for inspiring and nurturing prophetic communities of faith to live out loud the Jesus Story. For Grace, the quintessential expression of the resurrected Lord's presence is a community whose very DNA is a radical hospitality which births a loving and a healthy tension that is ideological, theological, racial, ethnic and cultural. She thrives on diversity. Grace is married to David Jones and together they are the parents to Erik. Pastor Grace will invite us to hold the posture of a prophet as she encourages us to imagine a new future. If it is true, what Einstein said, that“Imagination is more important than knowledge,”— then the task of prophetic ministry is to “to nurture, nourish and evoke imagination” Brueggemann.

Our host, Shalom, reflects at the beginning of the episode saying  “As I listen to this previously recorded lecture from Academy 38 in Nebraska in 2017, I'm struck by the bite size and yet weighty spiritual truth present in the text that bears witness to the Resurrection.”   Dr. Hy has a doctorate and post doctorate in the field of psychology. He has taught at numerous universities and his research and writing has been reprinted as a classic in a developmental psychology book. In his lecture, teacher Hy spends time deconstructing what it takes to participate in healing. are we first assaulted then instantly healed? do we move immediately from jarring  events to feeling free and confident? Teacher Hy, who is quoting Ronald Rollheiser, would say the difference lies in amazement versus pondering. Listen on dear ones. And as you listen, hold, carry and transform the tension that Naturally builds up from being a part of this world. May you experience God, yourself and your own pain in ways that will lead you to ponder anew.

Spring has sprung. New life is teeming. Resurrection Sunday and Easter tide are right around the corner. We also celebrate Earth day this month. Even as we witness biodiversity waning and people going hungry for lack of nutrition the earth is crying out. In this month's episode, we hear from Susan MacKenzie. Susan talks about sustainability as the long term environment where all things, all creation may flourish and achieve their highest purpose. Sustainability never sounded so good. Sustainability never sounded so much like the beloved community. How can buying locally sourced goods or eating seasonal produce or reducing single use plastic lead us to new life in mind body and spirit? How can these practices help us to build the beloved community? Susan speaks on this in more at a previously recorded 2019 Five Day Academy that took place in Iowa.

In this month's episode, we hear from Marjorie Thompson author of Soulfeast, a spirituality classic and best seller. For many church workers this is a seminal book on spiritual formation. Marjorie is ordained in the Presbyterian Church USA and brings to her ministry over 30 years of experience in retreat work, teaching and writing, and Christian spiritual formation. Marjorie considers writing a central dimension of her vocation. For 12 years Marjorie served as director of Pathways in Congregational Spirituality with the Upper Room. In that position, she was chief architect of Companions in Christ, an innovative small group resource series for adult spiritual formation. Currently she works freelance, offering retreats, lectures and spiritual guidance. Marjorie deeply supports the Academy for Spiritual Formation and has served as faculty for both Two Year and Five Day models. In this episode we hear a portion of one of her lectures to church leaders in 2017.

In this month's episode, we hear from Rabbi Chava Bahle at a Two-year Academy in Nebraska on the topic of Hebrew Spirituality and Holy Texts. Chava Bahle is a twice ordained rabbi and maggid, a Jewish inspirational storyteller. Her current work is to live into the teaching of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, her teacher, of blessed memory, who taught that we can and should find nourishment in traditions other than our own. She earned her Doctor of Ministry from Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, where she focused on mystical aspects of interreligious dialogue. Chava writes book reviews for academic journals, and since a brain injury in 2018, focuses her life on study and prayer. She is currently pursuing study for an ethical biography of German expressionist actor Conrad Veidt. Rabbi Chava explains that to imitate God is not only to give life, but to Sustain, nurture, and enhance life. Our host, Shalom, asks, “Perhaps sacred texts are doorways, invitatioons the Holy One urges you to pass through into an experience with the mystical. Perhaps there are Living Words around you even now, not text but image that is drawing you in in the same way. Can we pause long enough to first receive the invitation and then follow through?”

In this month's episode we hear from Luther Smith on the topic of meeting God in our justice seeking. Luther Smith is an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, longtime Academy faculty person, and a member of The Academy Advisory Board. Luther spent 35 years of his career as an activist, scholar, and professor at Candler School of Theology, and he is known to be an authority on the life and theology of Howard Thurman. Luther is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community at Candler and his current research focuses on the writings and correspondence of Howard Thurman, advocacy on behalf of children, and a spirituality of hope. What Dr. Smith shares is perhaps an antidote to the egregious ways we we exploit and water down the sacrifices and struggles of Civil Rights activists and movement leaders every January. May these words of Dr. Smith root and ground you as we move beyond proclaiming justice with our lips, and into proclaiming justice with our whole embodied lives.

In this month's episode we hear from Amy Oden on the topic of tradition and what we are handing over to those who follow. Born and raised on the prairies of Oklahoma, Amy has found her spiritual home under the wide-open sky. She earned her PhD in Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University, writing her dissertation on Augustine. Over the last 30 years, she has served on the faculties of Oklahoma City University, Saint Paul School of Theology and Wesley Theological Seminary where she also served as Dean. She now is an itinerant professor, teaching at several schools in the areas of theology and history of Christianity and spiritual formation. She is also a spiritual director, companioning people as they listen for God in day-to-day life. Amy is committed in her scholarship to illuminating ancient voices for Christian life today, introducing spiritual practices that can ground and nourish lives of following Jesus into the world. Her most recent book is Right Here, Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness. Amy speaks of tradition: not a treasure chest sealed shut and unchanged but an openhanded gift that stays alive precisely because its practices and teaching adapt to a new time place and context. The advent season is here now and the season of Christmas will soon follow after that. There will be much handing down, handing over of gifts. There will be rituals that have been on pause that perhaps this year can finally be resumed. will we revel in the sameness? in the treasure chest that finally gets unlocked after 20 months of a pandemic? Or will it look look and feel different now as it is handed over and shared after so much of our communal and global life has changed?

In this month's episode, we hear from Ray Buckley on the topic of "Bearing Witness." Ray offered the following teaching at Five Day Academy in 2019. Ray is the interim Director for the Center for First Nations Spirituality and longtime faculty member of The Academy for Spiritual Formation. Ray has served the United Methodist Church as a staff member of the United Methodist Publishing House, Director of the Native People Communication Office, and Director of Connectional Ministries and Native Discipleship for the Alaska Missionary Conference. Ray is the author and illustrator of a number of story-books and studies on Native peoples for children and youth. His stories, poetry, and art have appeared in numerous journals, periodicals and books around the world. Ray and his brother, Rick, make their home in Palmer, Alaska. Ray's teaching invites listeners to consider what it means to embody witness. How does our speech change when we've encountered another culture? How is our imagination shaped by another's language? How do our lives transform when we've been impacted by another story? As you listen, become aware of the ways wisdom has been shared with you.

This month's podcast features Elaine Heath, Academy faculty, Upper Room Books author, and so much more. Elaine's scholarly work is interdisciplinary, integrating pastoral, biblical, and spiritual theology in ways that bridge the gap between academy, church, and world. And it's because of this approach that I'm excited for her words to us today that were a portion of her time with Academy 34. Her current research interests focus on community as a means of healing trauma, emergent forms of Christianity, and alternative forms of theological education for the church in rapidly changing contexts. In addition to having served as Dean of a Divinity School and Professor of Evangelism, Elaine is co-founder of the Missional Wisdom Foundation, and more recently she co-founded Neighborhood Seminary, a contextualized model of missional theological education for laity. Elaine's episode reminds us, "We are already God's joy, God's delight — even before we embark on our respective journeys toward reconciliation, reparation, and healing, we are aglow with the warmth of Christ's love. That is good news."

This month's podcast features teaching from Dan Wolpert at Two-Year Academy #39 in Malvern, PA in 2018. He and his wife, Debra, co-taught the topic on Spirituality and Embodiment. The clips in this episode are excerpts from the final lecture of that session. Dan, is author of multiple spiritual formation books, and is Executive Director and co-founder of MICAH, the Minnesota Institute for Contemplation and Healing, spouse, partner, ally, activist, dad. Dan has been a student of the spiritual life since age 21 and has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation in numerous settings. In addition to his retreat and teaching work, Dan provides counseling and spiritual direction services at MICAH. Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission.

Today’s conversation features Christopher Carter, Assistant Professor and Assistant Chair & Department Diversity Officer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. Christopher Carter’s teaching and research focuses on philosophical and theological ethics, Black and Womanist theological ethics, environmental ethics, and animals and religion. He approaches religious studies as a liberation ethicist committed to exploring how the moral economy of U.S. religious thought and culture impact the everyday lives of marginalized populations, particularly African American and Latinx communities. He is active in the leadership of the American Academy of Religion where he serves as a steering committee member of both the Religion and Ecology and the Animals and Religion Group. Professor Carter is also a pastor within the United Methodist Church and currently serves as an assistant pastor at Pacific Beach United Methodist Church. He is married, and, together with his spouse, they have one child, Isaiah. We at the Academy got to know Christopher through Frank Rogers, longtime Academy Faculty and Advisory Board member. He taught Christopher as a PhD student at Claremont School of Theology several years ago. Christopher served as faculty for one of the Academy Day Apart Retreats in fall of 2020 and we hope to learn alongside him again soon. Enjoy Christopher and Claire's conversation, which starts with parenting and ends with Howard Thurman, and is interlaced with wisdom, laughter, and joy throughout.

In this episode, our host, Claire, is joined by Jenny Booth Potter. Jenny is the Co-Host and Producer of The Next Question, a video-based web-series devoted to expanding the imagination for racial justice. In the first season, the show has already hosted conversations with Nikole Hannah-Jones, Rachel Cargle, Andre Henry, and Brené Brown, and includes co-hosts Austin Channing Brown and Chi Chi Okwu. You can find out more about The Next Question at www.tnqshow.com. In addition, Jenny has led anti-racism trainings for churches and spoken at conferences such as CCDA, FILO, and the World Vision Pastor’s Gathering. She is also on staff at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL as a creative producer where she writes, develops, directs, and produces creative content for Willow Creek Community Church and the Willow Creek Association. She enjoys creating spaces for people to connect and be transformed by the power of story. Listen on, beloveds, and as you listen, breathe, expand, grow, learn, transform.

In this episode, we’re joined by Cole Arthur Riley, who is a writer, speaker, and liturgist. She currently serves as the Content and Spiritual Formation Manager for a Center for Christian Studies at Cornell University called Chesterton House. In her role, she produces and curates written content for spiritual formation and leads care and spiritual support for staff and students. While working for an Episcopal church, she became enamored with both Anglican and Catholic liturgical traditions, finding beauty in written prayer as well as the embodied experience of Eucharist and prayer services. Cole is the creator and writer of Black Liturgies—a project seeking to integrate the truths of Black dignity, lament, rage, justice, and rest into written prayers. You can follow the project on Instagram @blackliturgies. Broaching topics of spiritual practice, embodiment, expanding liturgy to speak to Blackness, the limitations and concerns of social media, and so much more, Cole and Claire spoke as colleagues, companions, and friends in this liminal space of spirituality and justice, prayer and protest, worship and work. Episode tracks: “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” by Amy Stroup, used with permission.

In this episode, we’re joined by Safiyah Fosua, beloved Academy faculty and one of our four renowned teachers for our new one-year online offering, Spiritual Formation in Today’s World, that begins February 25, 2021. Learn more about Safiyah and the other faculty, curriculum, and sacred spiritual rhythm the one-year offers by visiting academy.upperroom.org and consulting the schedule for 2021. Claire's conversation with Safiyah was pure delight, and we're so excited to get to share it with you in this first month of 2021. Safiyah invites introspection, honor of the past, and hope for the future.

December's episode is a compilation of the best moments of 2020 from Claire's podcast conversations with Lisa Yebuah, Dan Wolpert, Ben Boswell, Amos Disasa, Frank Rogers, M Barclay, Lanecia Rouse, and Amy Stroup. Of course, we hosted many more conversations than these in 2020 with Academy leaders and friends—conversations that challenged us to act, opened us to joy, and reminded us that justice and mercy are the children of Love. The excerpts from the conversations in this “best of” podcast are just a few of our favorites, many of them memorable moments that changed our own thinking, feeling, and being in the world. In the end, we’re simply grateful. Grateful we can hold this space for holy and healing conversation; grateful we can talk about hard things, real things, big things; grateful we can show up, again and again, in the presence of the Holy One asking to be transformed for the healing and transformation of the world.

Today’s conversation features Luther Smith, who is an ordained elder in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, longtime Academy faculty person, and a member of The Academy Advisory Board. Luther spent 35 years of his career as an activist, scholar, and professor at Candler School of Theology, and he is known to be an authority on the life and theology of Howard Thurman. Luther is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community at Candler and his current research focuses on the writings and correspondence of Howard Thurman, advocacy on behalf of children, and a spirituality of hope. He is married to Helen Pearson Smith and lives in Stone Mountain, GA. They have four children and five grandchildren. Whether you know Luther and have had the honor of learning both from and with him or today is your very first introduction to his life and work, you’re in for a treat. Our host Claire McKeever-Burgett says of him, “Luther served as faculty at the first Five-Day Academy I attended in 2014 and from that time on, he’s been a friend and wisdom guide, a breath of fresh air, a beacon of hope.” They gathered via Zoom in late summer to talk about everything from Howard Thurman to what keeps them grounded in these strange times. May their conversation offer you further insight, deeper inspiration, and abundant hope.

In this episode, we’re joined by Rev. M. Barclay who is the co-founder and executive director of enfleshed, a nonprofit creating and facilitating resources of spiritual nourishment for collective liberation. M is passionate about bringing fresh and relevant perspectives to the questions, traditions, and theologies that have sustained faith communities for centuries. They have extensive experience in writing, preaching, and teaching on Christianity and its relationship to queer and trans lives, feminism, white anti-racism, and other pressing matters of justice. M is a leader with the UMForward Collective and formerly served as Director of Communications with Reconciling Ministries Network. They have also enjoyed working as a hospital chaplain, youth director, justice associate, and faith coordinator for reproductive justice in Texas. M is proud to be a 2018-2020 Culture of Health Leader with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They delight in queer community, finding the nearest hike while traveling, reading theologies, and working with stained glass.

In this episode, Claire is joined by Lanecia Rouse Tinsley who is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in Houston, TX, and the owner/creator of LAR Art Studio. Lanecia's portfolio includes a range of work in abstract painting, photography, teaching, writing, and speaking. Lanecia’s work is deeply informed by her studies in sociology, theology, and culture. Her works are products of contemplative and intuitive abstract composition practices. She explores in them various perspectives that might illumine our everyday quests to make life meaningful and content while grappling with fundamental questions about our existence. Lanecia is the perfect reminder that the work of love and justice is expansive work and it begs of us to stand our sacred ground, to open ourselves to change, and to deeply trust in the God who marches, dances, listens, learns, and sings along with us.

Today's conversation is with Amos Disasa, senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas, TX. The conversation, recorded at the end of June, is deep and wide, intense and honest, vulnerable and, at times, terrifying, in the sense that much of what we discuss cuts to the core, inviting deep introspection and authenticity. As Amos says, "We aim to have healthy conversations, not perfect ones." This feels like one of those conversations--healthy, whole, honest, true.

Our new music is from today’s conversation partner on the podcast, a Nashville based singer songwriter, Amy Stroup, who graciously offered instrumentals from her songs “Far Side of the Sea,” “Versailles,” and “Fearless” for our podcast episodes going forward. You’ll want to check out all of Amy’s music on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your tunes. This episode sounds a lot like a conversation between longtime friends, because it is one. Claire and Amy have known each other since high school. At the beginning of June, they talked about all things songwriting, healing, racial justice, Richard Rohr, connection, spiritual practices that keep Amy grounded, who she’s currently listening to and reading, and more. While connection has always been important, it feels even more so in these days of living in the midst of a global pandemic and as we continually engage antiracism work. Maybe this will spur you to send a text to an old friend or quarantine for 14 days so you can safely drive to see your people. Maybe you’ll find some new music to dance to or rediscover an author who makes your heart come alive. However the Spirit moves you, our prayer is that we’ll remember, together, that the work of love and justice, the work of antiracism, the work of spiritual formation is expansive work and it begs of us to stand our sacred ground, to open ourselves to change, and to deeply trust in the God who marches, dances, listens, learns, and sings along with us. If you’re here for this kind of life-changing work, we’re so glad you found us, and we hope you’ll stay with us for the long haul.

In this episode, we’re joined by Ben Boswell, Senior Pastor of Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina and Two-Year Academy #39 graduate. In his role as Senior Minister, Ben works at the intersection of strategic leadership, spiritual formation, and social justice. In addition to pastoral responsibilities, Ben facilitates anti-racism trainings for white dominant congregations called, “What Does It Mean to Be White?" Ben is a former commissioned officer in the U.S. Army National Guard, a graduate of Marion Military Institute (AA), Campbell University (BA), Duke Divinity School (MDIV), St. Paul’s School of Theology (DMIN), and completed course work for a PhD in Moral Theology and Ethics at the Catholic University of America. Ben has served as a Commissioner on the North Carolina Commission of Inquiry on Torture, and on the board of the Alliance of Baptists and Baptist House at Duke Divinity School. In the following conversation, Ben and Claire discuss dismantling white supremacy, the Black, Indigenous, and Persons of Color we all need to be following right now, his daughter, what it’s like to preach right now, and more.

In this episode, we’re joined by Sophia Agtarap and Amy Steele of Vanderbilt Divinity School. The Academy and The Upper Room have partnered with both Sophia and Amy and Vanderbilt Divinity School on many endeavors, most recently the viewing and panel discussion of “Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story” that included Academy faculty person Luther Smith. What follows is a conversation with Amy and Sophia about spirituality and justice, how COVID-19 affected the divinity school and shifted theological education, taking care of ourselves and others in these strange and intense times, and more.

Conversation with Lisa Yebuah by Academy Podcast

In this episode, we’re joined by Dan Wolpert who is Academy faculty, Upper Room Books author, Upper Room eLearning facilitator and teacher, Executive Director and co-founder of MICAH, the Minnesota Institute for Contemplation and Healing, spouse, partner, ally, activist, dad. Dan has been a student of the spiritual life since age 21 and has taught in the fields of psychology and spiritual formation in numerous settings. In addition to his retreat and teaching work, Dan provides counseling and spiritual direction services at MICAH. He is also the author of “Leading a Life with God, the practice of spiritual leadership", “Creating a Life with God: the call of ancient prayer practices", co-author of “Meeting God in Virtual Reality", and most recently “The Collapse of the Three Story Universe: Christianity in an age of Science”. Dan lives in Minneapolis, MN just two blocks from where George Floyd was killed. Claire and Dan's conversation is an important one, especially for white people. Dan helps illumine the spiritual life as THE life, encompassing all things from justice to activism to prayer to healthcare to work.

In this episode, Claire is joined by Elaine Heath, Academy faculty, Upper Room Books author, and so much more. Elaine’s scholarly work is interdisciplinary, integrating pastoral, biblical, and spiritual theology in ways that bridge the gap between academy, church, and world. Her current research interests focus on community as a means of healing trauma, emergent forms of Christianity, and alternative forms of theological education for the church in rapidly changing contexts. What follows is a conversation with Elaine about what is needed from us as spiritual leaders for these times, what it means to “neighbor well,” the profound and sound theology of Julian of Norwich, and so much more.

In this episode, Claire speaks with Roger Owens from his home in Pittsburgh, where he’s now teaching spiritual formation classes to his seminary students online, enjoying family meals with his teenagers again, and discovering that The Academy and its rhythms are a helpful guide in this time of global pandemic...and always. What follows is a conversation with Roger about the expansiveness of God, the invitations of a global pandemic, his writing process, the spiritual practice of music, and more.

Today, I get to talk with Frank Rogers via Zoom about all things spiritual formation, being gentle with ourselves in the midst of difficult emotions, how he found himself working the The Academy, practicing compassion, and more. What follows is an honest conversation with Frank about what it is to be human and healing in these uncertain times. It is full of joy and endless compassion, all things Frank embodies and lives in beautiful and inspiring ways.