Liberating Faith

“I don't think we can be liberated without love.”    In the season finale, our co-hosts Idelette McVicker, Leah Abraham, Nichole Forbes and Erin Thomas reunite to share what they have learned about liberating faith this season and to remind our listeners that you are not alone in your journey.    We would love to know: What have you learned in this season of “Liberating Faith”? Share your thoughts on Instagram or Facebook, or email us at shelovespodcasting@gmail.com.  #liberatingfaith #shelovespodcast #faith #faithpodcast 

Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is deeply curious, a wonder-er by nature and in this episode, they connect with Idelette McVicker to talk about a Liberating Faith, what it means to follow Jesus and also how we can be part of ushering in “another possible world.” Join us also, as Dr. Robyn leads us in a grounding practice–something they use every morning to enter the day and ground them. Here are a some of the questions Idelette asked Dr. Robyn in this episode: How do you name yourself? (We have been doing a lot of work in our Dangerous Women community in learning and growing in how we name ourselves.) What is the faith of your childhood? What does a liberating faith mean to you? What do you hope for?   Meet Robyn: Dr Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is a TransQueer, Latinx activist scholar, public theologian and founder of Activist Theology Project. Their latest book is called, Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation.  IG: @irobyn Website: www.drrobynhendersonespinoza.com     #liberatingfaith #liberatingfaithpodcast #faithpodcast 

Deconstructing is such a hot topic in churchy circles these days. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the why and the how of deconstruction. On this episode Nichole sits down with three of her best friends to talk about what it is actually like to walk away from evangelicalism but chose to stick with Jesus. In this first of two part, Nichole, Rachelle Karina and Shaley discuss the catalysts for change they each experienced, how it felt it first leave their communities of faith and where they began to find their footing a Jesus followers out in the wild, on their own. Join Nichole and the ladies for a heartfelt chat that's full of truth, laughter and hope. Meet Rachelle Fehr: Rachelle is a Manitoba prairie born and raised woman of Anishinaabe and Pakistani heritage.  She loves truth, justice, knitting and my garden.  She spends her days as a full time nursing student and a mama to 6 children and Mimi to 1 (soon to be 2!) beautiful granddaughters. IG:@chellemabelle Meet Karina Loewen: Karina is a lot. And she is ok with that now. She loves many things, starting with her partner of 26+years and her five kiddos, who refused to stay tiny and are all taller than her now. She loves being a part of the leadership team for her faith community. She is **this** close to finishing her Masters degree, and jumps at any chance to host, feed and water people in her home. She believes deeply that broken systems don't have to stay that way and that participating in truth, beauty and justice will repair the world. IG:@karina_loewen Meet Shaley Hoogendoorn: Shaley Hoogendoorn is a speaker, vlogger and mental health advocate who aims to dismantle the stigma around mental health and create a safe community for those that struggle. She lives with bipolar ll, and is passionate about educating and empowering others about mental health disorders. She has contributed to publications for Sanctuary Ministries, Psych Central and BP Hope magazine. She hosted a series interviewing women living with mental illnesses at SheLoves Magazine in a series named "Sisters in Mental Illness." Shaley currently co-hosts “This is Bipolar” vlog and podcast. Shaley is also an elementary school teacher and an event planner.  IG: @messybeautywithshaley @this.is.bipolar   #liberatingfaith #faithpodcast #christianpodcast #deconstructingfaith #sheloves

In part 2 of Jesus Followers in the Wild, Nichole Forbes continues her conversation on deconstruction with her friends Rachelle Fehr, Karina Loewen and Shaley Hoogendoorn. They pick up where they left off, discussing what happens after you leave your faith community and how you navigate relationships with those are part of those communities. They also talk of their hopes for the future, the church they dream of and the Jesus they are getting to know now. Join Nichole and the ladies for a heartfelt chat that's full of truth, laughter and hope. Meet Rachelle Fehr: Rachelle is a Manitoba prairie born and raised woman of Anishinaabe and Pakistani heritage.  She loves truth, justice, knitting and my garden.  She spends her days as a full time nursing student and a mama to 6 children and Mimi to 1 (soon to be 2!) beautiful granddaughters. IG:@chellemabelle Meet Karina Loewen: Karina is a lot. And she is ok with that now. She loves many things, starting with her partner of 26+years and her five kiddos, who refused to stay tiny and are all taller than her now. She loves being a part of the leadership team for her faith community. She is **this** close to finishing her Masters degree, and jumps at any chance to host, feed and water people in her home. She believes deeply that broken systems don't have to stay that way and that participating in truth, beauty and justice will repair the world. IG:@karina_loewen Meet Shaley Hoogendoorn: Shaley Hoogendoorn is a speaker, vlogger and mental health advocate who aims to dismantle the stigma around mental health and create a safe community for those that struggle. She lives with bipolar ll, and is passionate about educating and empowering others about mental health disorders. She has contributed to publications for Sanctuary Ministries, Psych Central and BP Hope magazine. She hosted a series interviewing women living with mental illnesses at SheLoves Magazine in a series named "Sisters in Mental Illness." Shaley currently co-hosts “This is Bipolar” vlog and podcast. Shaley is also an elementary school teacher and an event planner.  IG: @messybeautywithshaley @this.is.bipolar   #liberatingfaith #faithpodcast #christianpodcast #deconstructingfaith #sheloves

Join podcast host Erin Thomas as Erin chats with author Amy Kenny about her very recently released book 'My Body is Not a Prayer Request'. Amy was raised in churches that saw her body as broken or evil, so she determined that God and faith needed to be much bigger than one kind of body or one kind of ability. While her childhood faith traditions sought to cure her, Amy sought the deeper waters of God's healing which proclaimed that her body was created very good and is a marvelous creation as it is.   About Amy: Amy Kenny (PhD, University of Sussex) is a disabled scholar and a Shakespeare lecturer whose research focuses on medical and bodily themes in literature. Her work has been featured in Teen Vogue, The Mighty, The Audacity, and Sojourners. Kenny is a scribe for Freedom Road Institute for Leadership and Justice; serves on the mayor's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Taskforce in California; coordinates support for people experiencing homelessness in her neighborhood; and is currently colaunching Jubilee Homes OC, a permanent supportive housing initiative in her local community.   Dr. Amy Kenny's book, My Body Is Not A Prayer Request: Disability Justice in the Church releases May 17, 2022 Freedom Road  UC Riverside  Jubilee Homes OC   

What a powerful conversation with one of the women I love most in this world. Be ready to get uncomfortable.  Nicole Joshua brings us her voice and her perspective, located at the foot of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa.   Do you have a faith that makes room for your discomfort? How do you stay in discomfort? How do you hold room for someone else's changing faith? How do you hold room for your own changing faith?   Nicole shares:   A Liberating Faith is a faith that gives you a voice.  A Liberating Faith allows you to ask the questions. We go deep and far and Nicole gets vulnerable with us, as she shares the compassionate faith she is finding in the feminine image of Mama God.    About Nicole: Nicole Joshua had a deep thirst for learning. She completed her Bachelor of Theology in Community Leadership, majoring Biblical studies, at Cornerstone Institute (formerly known as Cornerstone Christian College) in 2011 and then went on to complete her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree(cum laude) at the University of the Western Cape in 2012, majoring in Biblical Studies. She also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Financial Accounting) degree from the University of Cape Town. And in 2016, she completed a certificate in Leadership in Urban Transformation Studies through the University of Pretoria, a course which ultimately led her to embracing her passion for taking what she has learned in Biblical Studies, through academia, into communities.   She is a mom to a beautiful daughter, and wife to an incredible husband.   Without a doubt, Nicole is passionate social justice, about partnering with God in God's work of redeeming and transforming our world, and she believes that the Bible provides us with narrative framework that shapes our understanding of God and of the work to which God calls us. She is deeply concerned with praxis; i.e. she believes that how one lives out their faith in the world, how one's faith shapes their engagement with their communities, finances, family life, relationships, etc. in ways that bring about healing and transformation, is more important than focusing purely on figuring out the right beliefs. #liberatingfaith #liberation #faith #faithpodcast #progressivechristian 

In honor of Mother's Day, Leah invites her mother, Debbie Abraham, to the podcast to chat about motherhood, the formation of their faith journeys, and the stories that have shaped them.       Debbie is an architect who lives in Portland, Oregon, USA, with her husband, Santosh. She is mother to Leah and David, and mother-in-law to Nithin and Elizabeth. She enjoys cooking (most of the time), making crafts, playing games, and spending time with her loved ones. You can follow her on Instagram @debbiepdx. Follow Leah: @leahabraham9

Nichole sits with one of her best pals to reflect on the homecoming Rachelle has experienced as she has stepped back from traditional evangelicalism and moved towards an Indigenous way of knowing Creator. Listen in as two friends, on parallel journeys, find freedom in faith through exploring and embracing their indigeneity.   Meet Rachelle Fehr: Rachelle is a Manitoba prairie born and raised woman of Anishinaabe and Pakistani heritage. She loves truth, justice, knitting and my garden. She spends her days as a full time nursing student and a mama to 6 children and Mimi to 1 (soon to be 2!) beautiful granddaughters.     Nichole Forbes: @nicholemforbes    

Part of being a pastor is coming alongside people who are preparing to die, as well as providing compassionate support for families left behind to grieve. Theologies around death and hell can make this process at best complicated and deeply traumatic at worst. Not only that, but the reality that BIPOC bodies, queer/trans/nonbinary bodies, and bodies considered too disabled have long been targets of violence and death under white supremacist culture. The reality of death is not only rooted in deep fear and mystery, but also in injustice and suffering.  *** About Prema: Pastor Prema Samuel is an ordained minister with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada. She has a heart for supporting people experiencing major life transitions, especially during seasons including end-of-life and physical death. Her years of experience as a long term care chaplain have given her deep wisdom and love around the touchy subjects of death and dying, and she is passionate about helping create safer spaces for us to have liberating conversations about these things.    About Erin: Pastor Erin Thomas is also an ordained minister at Trinity Lutheran Church in Amiskwacîwâskahikan, Treaty 6 Territory (aka: Edmonton, AB). She is passionate about supporting people who are seeking to explore different ways of experiencing God and spirituality as they heal & discover justice in their own lives.  IG: @erinthomas457     #LiberatingFaith #LiberatingFaithPodcast #SheLoves #SheLovesPodcast #FaithPodcast

Founder of SheLoves Magazine Idelette McVicker has a book out! *Cue roaring applause* The book, titled "Recovering Racists: Dismantling White Supremacy and Reclaiming Our Humanity," is about her journey of learning how to live outside the constructs of whiteness and discovering how to belong in the circle of humanity. Leah Abraham and Lindiwe Mpofu chat with Idelette about her writing process and discuss moments in the book that captured their attention. Buy her book!  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1587435438/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_GQ0ZAM83BN3BSZB5N8NH *** About Idelette:  Idelette McVicker is the founder of SheLoves Media Society and author of Recovering Racists: Dismantling White Supremacy and Reclaiming Our Humanity (Brazos Press, April 2022). She was born as a white, Afrikaans woman in South Africa during the apartheid years, meaning she grew up on the wrong side of justice. That location shaped her life, her faith and her love for liberation–for both oppressed and oppressor.  Idelette is an immigrant and an introvert who's also an Enneagram 7. She loves to walk in the forest with their dogs or sit around a table with friends and loved ones. Idelette worked as a journalist in Taiwan and moved to Canada in 1999, after falling in love with Scott that same summer. Now they have three teenagers, two dogs and a restaurant.  She believes we belong to each other and that a different world is absolutely possible.  @idelettemcvicker Idelette.com About Lindiwe: Lindiwe is a writer whose voice was shaped under the African sun and now finds itself navigating life in the prairies where she works for a nonprofit organization. She is passionate about strong cups of tea and seeking out stories that shine a light on the inherent dignity of all humans. Lindi is part of the Marketing Team for SheLoves. Like a true millennial, she shares most of her writing on Instagram @bylimbo. @bylimbo Leah Abraham: Leah is a storyteller + writer + journalist + creative + empathizing romantic + pessimistic realist + millennial + immigrant + ISFP + Enneagram type 2 + she/her + much more. She grew up in India and relocated to the U.S. in her teens. Currently she's living in Boston.  Her life's calling is to be a cat mom and to decolonize the world around her. @leahabraham9

Nichole Forbes chats with Rev. Crystal Quintero about the path from passive ally to anti-racist co-conspirator and how our language dictates our posture on the journey.  Meet Crystal: Rev. Crystal Quintero is currently pursuing her MDiv at NAIITS and has been pastoring families for ten years. Formerly an anti-bias, anti-racist K-3 educator, she works as an editor for a curriculum company. In her free time, she likes to explore her city of Los Angeles with her husband and two-year old daughter. https://sites.google.com/view/spiritwellcrq @crystalrquintero   Nichole Forbes: @nicholemforbes   #liberatingfaith #liberatingfaithpodcast #faithpodcast #sheloves #shelovesmagazine

Church spaces have a reputation for being hostile grounds for trans, nonbinary, and queer people. How can 2SLGBTQIA+ folks nurture new life and hope in the face of discrimination & shame? How can we embody fully both our gender identities/sexual orientations and our faith journeys? Join Erin and Emmet as they explore the need to create safer faith spaces for people of all gender identities and sexual orientations.    From Emmet's bio: "Introspective and enthralling, with equal parts grit and grace, Emmet Michael is a musician who was built on his trials. Turning to music in his darkest times, he found solace in his ability to share his heart with others through his lyrics. Drawing on his experience of transitioning from female to male, living with mental illness, and battling addiction, his songs carry a tone of desperation and sorrow. With soulful melodies and heart wrenching lyrics, his music conveys a message that is both powerful and vulnerable. Entirely unique, yet familiar."   Content Warning: mentions of substance use and suicide   Be sure to check out Emmett's music and follow him on all his platforms!     Website Facebook Youtube Apple Music Spotify Instagram Twitter Bandcamp   Erin: Instagram (erinthomas457) #liberatingfaith #liberatingfaithpodcast #sheloves #shelovespodcast #faithpodcast

What is the relationship between “home” and “faith”? Two immigrants — Lindiwe Mpofu and Leah Abraham — discuss how one's ever-evolving concept of home influences one's ever-evolving faith, and vice versa.  Lindiwe is a writer whose voice was shaped under the African sun and now finds itself navigating life in the prairies where she works for a nonprofit organization. She is passionate about strong cups of tea and seeking out stories that shine a light on the inherent dignity of all humans. Lindi is part of the Marketing Team for SheLoves. Like a true millennial, she shares most of her writing on Instagram @bylimbo. Lindiwe Mpofu: @bylimbo   Check out Lindiwe's work: https://shelovesmagazine.com/2020/owning-the-power-of-my-name/ https://shelovesmagazine.com/2020/english-speaking-god-white-god/   Leah Abraham:  @leahabraham9

How did SheLoves come to life? Why do we talk so much about Love? Tina Francis Mutungu and Idelette McVicker invite you into their friendship (they first met in 2003) and the first years of SheLoves. As immigrants with very different stories, they found a meeting place in their out-of-sort-ness in dominant culture and their belief in the power of relationship–both human and Divine.    Tina was one of the first people who got the heart of what Idelette was trying to create with SheLoves (the difference between a lone nut and a leader) and became one of the first persons to write a weekly column called “TGIF: Tina's Glee-Inducing Fridays.” Her posts became some of the most popular writing on the SheLoves website.    While Tina has moved on to do different things (–get married, move to Seattle and have a son), their friendship has remained. Together, they've traveled to Uganda, Burundi, Moldova and even Tennessee together.    They talk about Love as the “activating force” within SheLoves and how that shapes their faith and their work.   Idelette also asks Tina what it means to her now to have a liberating faith?    “Ask me how I want to be loved.” —Tina Francis-Mutungu   About Tina (@teenbug): Tina has spent her career telling stories. In the past 15 years, her storytelling work has spanned television, radio, photography, writing, and speaking. These days she lives in Seattle with her husband Kupa and reads stories to her 7-year-old Ezra. She is an old soul, a strategic thinker, a storyteller, a team-builder, and a truth-teller. She loves her family, her mother's masala chai, poetry, hot sauce, learning new words, comfortable shoes, and climbing into bed after a hard day of work. She names the elephant in most rooms, and always roots for the underdog. Tina is a graduate of The Living School, a two-year program grounded in the Christian contemplative tradition at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. She was guided by teachers Richard Rohr, Cynthia Bourgeault, and James Finley. Through daily contemplative practice, she is awakening to the pattern of reality—God's loving presence with and in all things. She is currently a postulant discerning a call to the priesthood in The Episcopal Church. She is starting seminary in the fall.   About Idelette (@idelette): Idelette McVicker is the founder of SheLoves Media Society and author of Recovering Racists: Dismantling White Supremacy and Reclaiming Our Humanity (Brazos Press, April 2022). She was born as a white, Afrikaans woman in South Africa during the apartheid years, meaning she grew up on the wrong side of justice. That location shaped her life, her faith and her love for liberation–for both oppressed and oppressor. Idelette is an immigrant and an introvert who's also an Enneagram 7. She loves to walk in the forest with their dogs or sit around a table with friends and loved ones. Idelette worked as a journalist in Taiwan and moved to Canada in 1999, after falling in love with Scott that same summer. Now they have three teenagers, two dogs and a restaurant. She believes we belong to each other and that a different world is absolutely possible.   Intro & Outro read by Lindiwe Mpofu (@bylimbo)

Welcome to the first episode of “Liberating Faith,” a SheLoves podcast where we ask the question: How can a faith centered around antiracism, decolonization, feminism, allyship, and radical love lead us individual and collective liberation? In this first episode, you'll get a chance to meet our hosts — Nichole Forbes, Erin Thomas, Idelette McVicker, and Leah Abraham. They discuss why they chose the name “Liberating Faith” and the unique ways they are showing up to this conversation.  It's a chance for you to get to know the hosts a bit more intimately and get a sneak peek of what's to come.    Intro & Outro: Lindiwe Mpofu @bylimbo    Nichole Forbes:  Weshouldrecordthis.com @nicholemforbes Erin Thomas: Reluctantmysticism.com @erinthomas457   Idelette McVicker: Idelette.com @idelettemcvicker   Leah Abraham:  @leahabraham9 #sheloves #shelovesmag #shelovespodcast #liberatingfaith #liberatingfaithpodcast