Makers PDX Podcast

Have you ever wondered how Christianity, the LGBTQ community, and the Bible intersect, and how we can work towards more affirming and inclusive spiritual spaces? Join us on this powerful journey as we break down the complex relationship between these entities and strive to create safe queer spaces within the church and society. In this message, we tackle the six clobber passages that have often been weaponized against the LGBTQ community, and discover the true meanings behind these verses. Together, let's challenge the fear and ignorance that perpetuates exclusion and embrace Jesus's message of inclusion, love, and belonging for all our queer brothers and sisters.

Josh kicks off our "Blood, Sex & Fire" series by looking at the very first phrase in Leviticus, and how it's a callback to the Exodus story.

This past Sunday, we introduced a new friend to our community: Colby Martin. Colby took us through a message part from his book The Shift: Surviving and Thriving after Moving from Conservative to Progressive Christianity. 

Today we started a two-part conversation on The Bible. This first week, Savannah Carreno walked us through how to "read" the Bible. 

We're continuing "Minimalism" by looking at how much we cram into our calendars, and we're asking the question "are you a human being, or a human doing?"

Today, Emily lead us through part 2 of "Minimalism." We talked about what it means to find quality relationships over a quantity of friends, how to see beyond the "likes" on social media, and how to "find your three." 

In part one of Minimalism, Josh takes us on a journey of living a life of less so we can live a life that is full. We walk through the joy of minimalism, as well as the justice of minimalism.

To continue No Bad Parts, we're going after a doozy....sin. Our Incredible friend Savannah Carreno led us in a conversation about original sin, where it comes from, why it matters - and most importantly, what sin REALLY is. 

Today we continued our conversation called  ‘no bad parts” and No bad parts is about re-imagining and revealing the parts of you that make you who you are. This week though, we talk about those around us - and how to see see others as an image of God. If you'd like to watch this teaching, it's now up on YouTube page all well. Thanks for listening.  

Today we continued our conversation "No Bad Parts," and our very own Emily Hunt took us on a journey through history and the scriptures of what it means to be a woman, not only in the first century world, but in 2022. 

Today we continued our conversation called "No Bad Parts," and we talked about body shaming. We went on a journey of what the Bible says about our bodies, took a look at what culture says about your body, and learned to reclaim, reveal, and re-imagine our bodies as images of beauty, not as images to fix. 

This past Sunday, we started our conversation  ‘No Bad Parts” and we talked about what it means to be an inclusive community. We walked through the six places in the Bible that have been used to marginalized the queer community in the past, and learned what these six passages are all about.

Did you know that the Bible lays out how to throw the best parties? To kick off "How to Be Human," Josh takes us on a journey through some basic instructions on how to invite people into your home, and how to throw the best parties.

 Today we wrapped our conversation ‘How to Be Human,” and we talked about your work - what you put your hands to every single day. We walked through this Japanese concept called “ikigai,” and learned how to find what we love, what we are good at, and what the world needs. Just a quick side note - a lot of these ideas come from a book called “How to be here' by Rob Bell. 

Josh sat down with Shane Claiborne, author of “Beating Guns” as well as an activist for gun reform and death penalty abolishment.Learn more about Shane here: http://www.shaneclaiborne.com/Pick up his book, "Beating Guns" https://www.beatingguns.com/

In Part 5 of The Soul & The System, Lauren Wilson led us through a conversation about mental health & community, and how those two things combined is the biggest defense we have again gun violence. This is part 2 of our conversation around gun violence. We recommend watching or listening to Part 1 before jumping into this conversation. 

In part 4 of the Soul & The System, Josh takes a fresh look at what one of the prophets said about the guns of his day, and how true justice isn't just dismantling systems, but imagining how to flip violent systems into life-giving systems.Also - just a heads up about this weeks gathering. Our community met outside this last Sunday, so this audio is from our online teaching.

In part 3 of The Soul & The System, we take a look at war, and what happens when you live in a country who's economical system is built on weapons and violence.

In Part 2 of The Soul & The System, Josh takes us to the intersection of faith & politics, and walks us through a story in the Bible about how Jesus & political parties first intersected. 

The Soul & The System is an 8-week conversation that sits at the intersection of faith & America. In part 1, called "The American Dream," Josh takes us on a journey of the origin of America, and how we should first examine the soul behind the system...because broken souls build broken systems.

Josh brings us one last teaching on New World, with a short look into forgiveness, and how leaving the old behind prepares us for what is to come.

On Easter Sunday, Josh took us through the 4 stories of Jesus' resurrection and showed us the mystery found in the resurrection, and how that mystery still plays a part in creating a new world.

This year at Makers, we wanted to create a personal space where you can walk through Good Friday on your own. This is an experience for you to find out what Good Friday means to you - this is a space to sit quiet, to go for a walk, to deeply meditate on how this day is speaking to you today. 

What role did governance play in sending Jesus to the cross? This week, Elaine Philippi shows us the areas in our lives where we can emanate the radical love demonstrated on the cross by participating in this world, not evacuating it.

To wrap up Earth & Us, Katy Schlata & Amy Tom walked us through practical ways we can properly care for the earth.

Is science here to debunk the Bible, and does The Bible debunk science? We would argue that they actually have a beautiful handshake with one another and show us what it means to care for both Earth and Us.  

Is Climate Change a new, progressive idea? Does The Bible say anything about Climate Change? In this first week of Earth & Us, we go on a journey through The Bible and notice how proper care for the earth is one of the oldest stories of time. 

This week, Emily continued our conversation "Crowded Table" by asking the question: What would happen if we were willing to be open? What would happen if we trusted ourselves, if we welcomed to our table those who may look different from us, whom we may not agree with?

We're continuing our conversation "Crowded Table" by looking at the story of Peter & Cornelius, and what it means to open your heart and your home to both family and strangers.

This week, Elaine Philippi offered us a beautiful approach to justice. Elaine showed us four postures on the justice continuum, and how our choice between each impacts communities and people who are being excluded: ignorant, curious, hypocrite, and (aspiring) ally.

This past Sunday at Makers, we walked through the Christmas story as a guided meditation. We recreated this guided meditation for our podcast. Find a space in your life today for a 20 minute guided meditation through the story of Christmas and finding your particular hope in the story of Divine arrival. 

The Christmas Story insists that new birth first shows up to the least, the lowest, and the last place you would look. In this weeks conversation around Advent, Emily Hunt gives takes us on a honest, raw journey through the story of Mary from a woman's perspective. 

 The Christmas story seems to be all about the baby in the manger, the donkeys and the stars, but I would argue that it's actually all about the misfits, the rebels, and the curious. This Advent season, we're taking an honest look at the Christmas story to remind us that new birth can show up at anywhere, anytime, and its most likely the last place you will look.

Not only is justice at the heart of Makers, but it's also at the heart of Christian imagination. We strive to do our part to restore the world to a state that more fully reflects God's wholeness, peace, and justice. Building the future is hard work and flows from the heart. For us, justice is not just a lofty abstract ideal, but also earthy and practical, and is a continual process for the larger good of the human family.

Madeline Engle once said, "You are an artist at work, and your life is a work of art."Creativity is the universal language that moves the world forward. It's one of the few areas in our society where people can share an experience even if they see the world in radically different ways. It also encourages us to cherish intuition, uncertainty, and creativity and to search constantly for new ideas; artists aim to break rules and find unorthodox ways of approaching contemporary issues. We not only make art that is good, but does good.

We believe that a new world is on the other side of a collective imagination. For us, curiosity is the engine behind our beliefs. We fully embrace the "gray space" of The Bible, Jesus, God, and the belief systems that surround it all. Because we embrace the unknown, you'll find that we ask more questions than give answers. We are deeply interested in the-thing-under-the-thing, and the journey to find the depth and substance in all parts of our human experience first starts with curiosity.

The Scriptures tell us stories about entire nations traveling through the wilderness. And many times, new worlds, new futures, and new ways of being fully human were found in the wild.We're committed to walking into the unknown to find more than the status-quo and mundane. Everything we do is an experiment, and we are always looking for a bolder way to live our lives. We see the future as a path un-paved, and we choose to participate in paving a new world for all of us.

The first word in the Bible about humanity is that we bear the image of God, and it's followed with God saying "it is good." This is our starting point with every person we meet.We believe in original human goodness, and we pursue a wide-open door for everyone, always. We practice radical inclusivity in race, sexual identity, and belief. We believe that all of you can fully belong; your identity, your hangups, your past, your beliefs, your beauty, and your complexity.

We are deeply rooted in both goodness and peace. We see the goodness and peace of Jesus to be bigger, wider, more inclusive, and filled with more wonder than any of us can imagine. Because of that love, we practice the same rhythms Jesus lived by: a life of presence, beauty, belonging, grace and peace.

Lisa Saunders, who is a pastor and native Portlander, walks our community through her story of growing up as a black woman in a city with a racist history, and how she hopes for the church of Portland to unite under radical equity.