Liberation Bible Study

In this episode, host Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill is joined by MLP Board Member Rev. Lydia Tembo as they discuss Easter through the lens of discovery. What new thing do we discover through the Easter story? How do we care for one another as resurrected people? Episode originally recorded April 8, 2020.

In this episode, host Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill is joined by the Rev. Jessica Vazquez Torres as they discuss Good Friday text of John 19: 16-30 through the lens of ending. How do we move through an abrupt change, when our source of hope seems gone?

In this seventh and final episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, author of Activist Theology joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore John 18:1-12 a portion of the Good Friday text, through the theme of faithfulness in the small things. As they examine closely Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane they wonder how betrayal reveals a lack of relationship. What are the necessary conditions for deep relationships to exist and how is that related to the work of abolition? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: www.abolitionistadvent.com/ To follow the work and writing of Dr. Robyn click here: https://irobyn.com/

In this episode, host Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill is joined by Myles Markham as they discuss the Passion Sunday text: Matthew 26:14-30 through the lens of Family and Betrayal. How do we deal with betrayal, when do we harm others, intentionally or not, and how do we respond when we do? How do we claim ourselves and find liberation when our families are the ones who betray us?

In this sixth and final episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Rev. Amantha Barbee, pastor at Oakhurst Presbyterian Church in Decatur, GA, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore the Easter Sunday text John 20: 1-18 , through the theme of emptiness. Who stops to notice Mary weeping by the Tomb? What do her tears have to tell us about the empty tomb? Where are the empty places in our lives we have not yet seen the resurrection? How does abolition call us to sit with the weeping world where we might catch a glimpse of God's liberating vision? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this episode from March 2020, Rev. Dr. Justin Sabia-Tanis, professor at United Theological Seminary and author of "Transgendered Ministry, Theology and Communities of Faith" joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to discuss the Palm Sunday story in Matthew 21:1-11 through the theme of visibility. They explore how Pride, as an act of visibility, functions as spiritual preparation to help us face the homophobia and transphobia that LGBTQIA+ folks face daily. How is Jesus' parade into Jerusalem an act of resistance as he prepares for what is to come in the days ahead?

In the fifth episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Samantha Davis, Founder and Executive Director of the Black Swan Academy, an organization empowering Black youth in Washington, DC, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore the Palm Sunday text of Mark 11:1-11, through the theme of unity. Where does Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem invite us to be unified? With whom are we unified and for what purpose? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this episode, Rev. Jess Cook, Program and Communications Manager at More Light Presbyterians joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to discuss Ezekiel 37:1-14 through the theme of waiting. They explore how the dry bones the prophet Ezekiel invites us to face the depths of despair in order to find signs of hope and life. Where is God whispering to us to be knit back together, and to form a multitude for acts of liberation?

In the fourth episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Rev. Shavon Starling-Louis, Pastor at Meadowlake Church, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore John 12:20-33, through the theme of life. What does Jesus' awareness of his own death have to teach us about living? What does life have to teach us about abolishing death-dealing systems of oppression? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In the fourth episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Rev. Shanea Leonard Associate for Gender and Racial Justice in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A), joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore John 3:14-21, through the theme of condemnation. What does God's love show us about what is to be condemned? How is the work of abolition bound up in the work of love? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this third episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Rev. Lindsey Anderson, Co-Pastor at Love Rising Lutheran Church in Detroit, MI, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore John 2:13-22, through the theme of anger. What do we do with a Messiah who shows emotions? How does the way we treat our bodies as a temple relate to the work of abolition? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: https://www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this second episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Daniel Williams, Minister for Spiritual Formation at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and MLP Board member, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore Genesis Genesis 17:1-7,15-16 (the story of God's renaming Abram to Abraham and Sarai to Sarah), through the theme of naming. How can the simple act of naming build the foundation for abolition? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent click here: https://www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this first episode of a special mini-season of Abolitionist Lent Bible Study, Rev. Emily Brewer, Executive Director of Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, joins Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill to explore Genesis 9:8-17 (the story of God's covenant with Noah and all the earth following the flood), through the theme of promise. How does God's promise enable us to vision the possibilities of abolition of prisons and policing? To learn more about Abolitionist Lent find out more at https://www.abolitionistadvent.com/

In this episode of Liberation Bible Study Rev. Anne Dunlap joins host Alex Patchin McNeill to read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 through the theme of knowledge. Together they explore how love might just be the key to upending tyrannies of knowledge in the work for liberation.

In this episode of Liberation Bible Study Adrian White joins host Alex Patchin McNeill to read Jonah 3: 1-10 through the theme of repentance. Together they explore whether repentance has any role in enacting liberation.

In this episode of Liberation Bible Study, Rev. Jess Cook joins host Alex Patchin McNeill to read Acts 19:1-7 through the theme of Baptism. What is the Spirit of Baptism and how does remembering ours support the work of liberation?

In this episode, host Rev. Alex Patchin McNeill, and Rev. John Russell Stanger, a therapist in Louisville, explore a text for Ash Wednesday Psalm 51:1-17 through the theme of shame. Can facing what we are ashamed of help us find the wisdom in our secret heart?

Podcast Episode 9 Growth by Alex Patchin McNeill

In this episode, host Alex Patchin McNeill, and Dr. Keisha McKenzie, Director of Digital Strategy at Auburn in NYC, explore Mark 8: 27-38 through the theme of identity. Jesus asks, "who do you say that I am?" and we wonder how that answer informs our movements for justice.

In this episode host Alex Patchin McNeill, and Aubrey Thonvold, Executive Director at Reconciling Works, explore the popular verse John 3:16 through the theme of love. For God so loved the world, but what does that require of us? Text: John 3:14-21

In this episode, Alex Patchin McNeill, and Rev. Derrick McQueen, pastor at St. James Presbyterian Church in Harlem, attend to the Easter story of the women at Jesus' tomb. Together they wonder whether the women at the tomb were afraid or was it amazement and in awe of what had happened. What awakens in us when we understand resistance as the place where we move from the paralysis of fear and amazement and go do justice? How does our rising up, allow Christ to rise also? Join us to find your Easter. Text: Mark 16:1-8 For further exploration: Andra Day's Rise Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNKu1uNBVkU Rev. Derrick McQueen's reflection on Passover Seder and Easter Sunday https://labshul.org/re-dear-derrick-good-friday-good-passover/

In this episode Alex Patchin McNeill, and Rev. Shawna Bowman, pastor at Friendship Presbyterian Church in Chicago, explore Good Friday through the theme of failure. They wrestle with the intimacy of relationships in this story of betrayal, how decisions borne of fear accelerate failure, and whether our tenderness with others is actually a possible site for transformation and liberation. Text: John 18:1 -1 9:42

In this episode Alex Patchin McNeill, and Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director at Campaign for Southern Equality, discuss Jesus' protest parade into Jerusalem for Palm Sunday through the theme of joy. They explore the queerness of political theatre, examine the work of resistance while living in your own Jerusalem, and liberation as an act of participation. Text: Mark 11:1-11 Check out Jasmine's work at www.southernequality.org

In this episode, Alex Patchin McNeill and Dr. Robyn Henderson Espinoza, Director of Public Theology Initiatives at Faith Matters Network, and activist theologian, reflect on a part of Paul's letter to Corinthians naming "God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom" through the theme of wisdom. They explore resistance to empire as a willingness to sit with the difficult texts, and see possibilities for liberation through the act of proclaiming what others deem foolish to expose the ridiculousness of the empire.

In this episode Alex Patchin McNeill and Rev. Cedric Harmon, Executive Director of Many Voices: A Black Church Movement for Gay and Transgender Justice, discuss the story of the raising of Lazarus through the theme of hopelessness. Together they explore practices to transform hopelessness and our call to resist the demand of go, go go. Liberation is found when you are unafraid to remove the stone from your community's tombs. Text: John 11: 1-44 Many Voices: www.manyvoices.org More Light: www.mlp.org

On this episode, host Alex Patchin McNeill and collaborative reader Jess Cook, Program and Communications Manager at More Light Presbyterians, explore the story of Jesus' transfiguration through the theme of transformation. Jess and Alex both identify as transgender and in this reading put the trans in transfiguration. They explore ways to resist using old labels for new ways of being embodied in the world, and how the simple act of being yourself can be a vision of liberation. Text: Mark 9: 2-9 More Light: www.mlp.org