Podcasts about quest church

Minister Trey Johnson | March 30, 2025 | Quest Church

Learning to become the Love you are. Rev Cindy Fuller, Inner Quest Church, Alpharetta, Ga www.innerquestchurch.org

In this episode, Ruth delves into the future of Christian spirituality as it pertains to the role of justice. Joined by her long-time friend and expert in reconciliation studies, Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, the discussion centers on the growing movement of the Holy Spirit towards deeper justice work, specifically racial justice. Dr. McNeil discusses her new book 'Empowered to Repair', which explores the biblical figure Nehemiah as a model for reparative actions that go beyond the warm fuzziness of relational reconciliation to concrete outcomes that reflect true justice. The conversation also addresses resistance within Christian communities towards reparations and repair, exploring how faith and a scarcity mentality influence these defenses. Ruth and Brenda call for activating all believers as ministers of reconciliation, underscoring the importance of integrating justice work with spirituality for the church to remain relevant, especially among younger generations.   This season we are exploring the future of Christian spirituality. Based on her own experience and the lives of people she accompanies on the journey, Ruth has been naming what she is noticing and observing regarding the future of Christian spirituality– how the Spirit is moving and how we can align ourselves to participate in the future God is leading us into. Elements she is naming include respect for the role of desire; emphasis on spiritual direction; welcoming and inclusive; committed to justice; and more. This season Ruth will sit down with thoughtful Christian leaders to discuss their thoughts on one of these elements, as it has to do with the future of Christian spirituality. This season was inspired by the Beyond Words series by the same name. Check out those posts here.   Brenda Salter McNeil is a gifted teacher, preacher and a leader in the international movement for peace and reconciliation.  Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence. She is an Associate Professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, where she also directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She also serves on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA. Dr. Brenda is recognized internationally as one of the foremost leaders of reconciliation and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today. She is the author of a number of books, including Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now and Empowered to Repair: Becoming People who Mend Broken Systems and Heal our Communities.    Mentioned in this episode: Empowered to Repair by Brenda Salter McNeil Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton Music Credit: Kingdom Come by Aaron Niequist Prayer for Healing from Music in Solitude   Join us for our upcoming Online Oasis: When the Road is Dark and Dim:  Navigating the Dark Night, Depression, and Grief on the Spiritual Journey. In this Online Oasis event, Dr. Bob Watson, a licensed clinical psychologist, joins Ruth to explore the differences and the overlaps between the dark night of the soul, depression, and the experience of grief on the spiritual journey. Whether you are wondering about this for yourself,  for someone you love, or  someone you are accompanying as a pastor, psychologist or spiritual director, this conversation will equip you to more wisely discern what is really going on, help you learn how to welcome God's presence into this aspect of the journey, and identify the appropriate resources for each.    It is ideal for:  pastors, spiritual directors, psychologists, individuals, spiritual friends. Join us on Wednesday, October 30 from 12-1:30 CST. Learn more and register HERE.   Support the podcast! This season patrons will receive special bonus episodes with each guest, guiding listeners on how to pray into these different topics. Become a patron today by visiting our Patreon page!     The Transforming Center exists to create space for God to strengthen leaders and transform communities. You are invited to join our next Transforming Community:® A Two-year Spiritual Formation Experience for Leaders.  Delivered in nine quarterly retreats, this practice-based learning opportunity is grounded in the conviction that the best thing you bring to leadership is your own transforming self! Learn more and apply HERE.   *this post contains affiliate links

As a ministry leader, have you ever noticed the brokenness of the neighborhoods and communities around you and had a desire to help, but we're unsure where to start or maybe even fearful that you might make a mistake? In this week's conversation on FrontStage BackStage, host Jason Daye is joined by Brenda Salter McNeil. Brenda is the director of the Reconciliation Studies Program at Seattle Pacific University. She's also an associate pastor of preaching and reconciliation at Quest Church in Seattle. She's a dynamic speaker, an award-winning author, and her latest book is entitled Empowered to Repair. Together, Brenda and Jason look at some of the challenges and opportunities we have as local ministry leaders to help mend broken systems and bring healing to our communities. Brenda shares practical steps as we reflect on the story of Nehemiah on how we, as local ministry leaders, can help usher in healing in our communities and neighborhoods.Dig deeper into this conversation: Find the free Weekly Toolkit, including the Ministry Leaders Growth Guide, all resource links, and more, at http://PastorServe.org/networkSome key takeaways from this conversation:Brenda Salter McNeil on the collective nature of Christian identity and spiritual growth: "We've been invited into being the people of God, and we are being shaped into those people together."Brenda Salter McNeil on the importance of discerning how God may be guiding the church to evolve in its mission: "Think about what the shift is that God might be calling our church to make to cause us to be more actively present in the world around us."Brenda Salter McNeil on the significance of living a Christ-centered life that serves as a visible example to others: " Let's go show people what the people of God look like."----------------Looking to dig more deeply into this topic and conversation? FrontStage BackStage is much more than another church leadership show, it is a complete resource to help you and your ministry leaders grow. Every week we go the extra mile and create a free toolkit so you and your ministry team can dive deeper into the topic that is discussed.Visit http://PastorServe.org/network to find the Weekly Toolkit, including the Ministry Leaders Growth Guide. Our team pulls key insights and quotes from every conversation with our guests. We also create engaging questions for you and your team to consider and process, providing space for you to reflect on how each episode's topic relates to your unique church context. Use these questions in your staff meetings, or other settings, to guide your conversation as you invest in the growth of your ministry leaders. Love well, live well, & lead well Complimentary Coaching Session for Pastors http://PastorServe.org/freesession Follow PastorServe LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | FacebookConnect with Jason Daye LinkedIn | Instagram...

This episode, Jonathan and Sy talk with the incredible Brandi Miller about:-        How faith and churches change when we engage with the political idolatry of the American church-        The spiritual and political fruit of the MAGA movement-        The good things people still want and can find in Jesus and Christian community amidst all the nonsense-        Developing inner lives that can sustain political engagement and community building-        Plus, Jonathan and Sy discuss some fascinating numbers about the political views and voting patterns of the average Black Christian versus the average overall DemocratMentioned in the Episode-            Our anthology, Keeping the Faith-            Brandi's podcast, Reclaiming My Theology-            Her other show, The Quest Church Podcast-            The article on Black, Christian political beliefs and votingCredits-        Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our bonus episodes and other benefits at KTFPress.com.-        Follow host Jonathan Walton on Facebook Instagram, and Threads.-        Follow host Sy Hoekstra on Mastodon.-        Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify.-        Our podcast art is by Robyn Burgess – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.-        Transcripts by Joyce Ambale and Sy Hoekstra.-        Production by Sy Hoekstra and our incredible subscribersTranscript[An acoustic guitar softly plays six notes, the first three ascending and the last three descending – F#, B#, E, D#, B – with a keyboard pad playing the note B in the background. Both fade out as Jonathan Walton says “This is a KTF Press podcast.”]Brandi Miller: God made people in God's own image, and people's job is not to conform into your pastor's version of following Jesus. It's to conform more into the likeness of Jesus as you become more yourself. And so instead of going to a pastor who is essentially saying, “Follow me as I follow Jesus,” you say, “We're following Jesus, and you're gonna discover who you are along the way.”[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting injustice. I'm Sy Hoekstra.Jonathan Walton: And I'm Jonathan Walton. We have a fantastic show for you today. We are talking all about church and politics with the great Brandi Miller, who many of you know. And we're doing our new segment, Which Tab Is Still Open?, diving deeper into one of the recommendations from our newsletter. This week, a closer look at the political beliefs of the average Black Christian versus the average Democrat. If you think those are pretty much the same, you've got stuff to learn [laughter]. So stay tuned.Sy Hoekstra: Brandi Miller is the host of the podcast, Reclaiming My Theology. As she calls it, a space to take our theology back from ideas and systems that oppress. She's also now newly the host of the Quest Church Podcast, which is unsurprisingly for Quest Church in Seattle [laughs], where Brandi has the staff position of Chief Storyteller. Before that she was a justice program director with a college ministry working at the intersection of faith, justice, and politics. If you know Brandi, I don't have to convince you that this is a good conversation. If you don't, just, you need to get to know her, so [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes, yes, yes.Sy Hoekstra: Get ready for this one.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, we talked to her about her perspective on evangelical politics, how she sees people's faith changing as they engage with the American church's idolatry, and what Jesus has to offer as a vision for us in this political landscape. There is a lot in the episode, I hope you're ready. Her article in our anthology was called, “Left Behind: What American Evangelicalism Has Lost and Needs to Find.” And of course, you can get the anthology at keepingthefaithbook.com.Sy Hoekstra: And before we get started, just a reminder that we have been telling everyone we need your subscriptions [laughter], please. The best way, if you are into what we do, helping people try and leave the idols of White America and seek Jesus through this media and you want to help us build something that can do that in an effective and far reaching way to people, we need your support. We have been doing this as a side gig for a lot of time. For a long time it's been me and Jonathan in our rooms with laptops trying to make things work, and they have worked [laughs]. But if you wanna see that stuff grow and you wanna see this stuff continue for a long time into the future, we really do need your support.So go to KTFPress.com, please become a paid subscriber. Get access to all the bonus episodes of this show. Get access to our monthly subscriber chats that we're starting, get access to comments on our posts and support everything we do centering and elevating marginalized voices. If you cannot afford a subscription, like if money's the only barrier, please just write to us, info@ktfpress.com, and we will give you a free or discounted subscription. Whatever you ask for, no questions asked. We want everyone to have access to all the stuff that we're putting out, but if you can afford it, we really, really want the support.Actually, one of the things that you'll be supporting now is that our newsletter is free. So anybody can go to KTFPress.com, sign up for the free mailing list. You get news about KTF press, you get all kinds of stuff like that, but you also get recommendations from us every week that are things that we think will be helpful in your political education and discipleship. And you will also get things from us that we think are helpful in staying grounded and hopeful in the midst of all of the difficult issues that we are all seeing in our news feeds and in our politics and everywhere else and in our churches. So please, KTFPress.com, become a paid subscriber. Thank you so much in advance.Jonathan Walton: Yep. Thanks in advance, and here is the interview with Brandi.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Jonathan Walton: Brandi, thank you so, so much for joining us on Shake the Dust. We really appreciate it.Brandi Miller: Of course. Glad to be here. Always glad to get to spend time with you all, so.How Does Faith Change When We Engage with The Idolatry of the American Church?Making Our Political Theology Accessible to EveryoneJonathan Walton: Yeah, I mean, now you wrote this bomb essay. Okay. And so something that you said, which [laughs] is still true in 2024: " The result of the syncretism of American religion, propaganda-based iconography and political power is cultish religiosity centered on Donald Trump as God's Messiah sent to buttress patriotism, political power, and global dominance. Regardless of his lack of demonstrable Christ-likeness in his politics, it is clear that pandering to his constituents' desire for Christianized power in the United States has framed him as the president who will ‘bring America back to God.' This is a trade-off: Christian practice and the way of Jesus for American Christian power and utopianism.” End quote.Monstrous, amazing text, right? [laughter] Now, after you wrote this, you became a staff member at a church, right?Brandi Miller: Mm-hmm.Jonathan Walton: And you have a large community of people following and engaging with you online. And as you try to teach and disciple people out of this syncretism slash nonsense, how have you seen their faith change?Brandi Miller: Well, one thing I'll say is something that's changed about myself first, because even as I hear back my own words, I can hear how inaccessible they are to a common regular person. Like how many four to six-syllable words can I use to say Donald Trump does not look like Jesus, and that does not matter to most Christians who follow White American religion. That is what I was trying to say, that there is a propaganda based way of doing religion that has indoctrinated a ton of us into a traumatic type of spirituality that we cannot hold. And so I think even a critique of myself in a way that I've changed is trying to ask, how do I take what is a political reality rooted in a current religious moment and strip it down in a way that a regular person can understand?Because if I am theologizing people out of their own experiences or trying to pull them out of a demonstrably terrible politic and they can't understand where we're going, then that's on me. And so I think that part of my trying to engage with a lot of this stuff has been my own change around how I engage with it so that people who are trying to follow Jesus outside of this kind of syncretism with American nationalism can actually come along.When People See the Idolatry, Staying in Church Community Is HardBrandi Miller: That being said, I think that, I mean, it's been kind of bleak honestly. Like I think that the church that I work at is a church that is people's last stop on their way out of Christianity specifically for these issues. Because they can see the ways that American politics have more say in the lives of people who identify as Christian than Jesus does.And when that is the case, it is really hard to be a part of a Jesus community. And so what I'm seeing a lot is people trying to figure out, can I actually trust community as I follow Jesus? And a lot of people can't. And it makes sense to me, and they leave. But what ends up happening is that people are like, “Well, I can follow Jesus outside of the church,” and I actually believe that some people can do that. But I think because community is at the core of following Jesus, when you leave in those contexts without any kind of community to buttress your faith at all, it's really, really hard to, with integrity, continue to live out those values, and it's really easy to become increasingly cynical in the media ecosystem that we have.And so I don't really know what to tell people pastorally, right? Because there are many ways that I could say, “No, no, no, just come back to the church,” but the church isn't trustworthy. And I can say, “No, go on your own,” but with a lack of community, a lot of the faith stuff falls apart because it's meant to be done together in a non-westernized religious context. And so I'm finding that to be a pretty sad and frustrating space to occupy. So I think that'd be my first bid.What People Can Still Get from Church Community Even after Seeing the IdolatryJonathan Walton: I have so many thoughts, but I'm going to let Sy ask his question.Sy Hoekstra: No, no, no, go for it, Jonathan. We have time.Jonathan Walton: [laughs] So in the midst of that, this new like re-imagining of what community would look like, independent of the colonized faith, what we call it at KTF, White American folk religion, what I call it in Twelve Lies, are there any fireworks of imagination that have happened that you're like, “Oh, that looks nice. That might be something that is hopeful,” for a group of people who are on this subway stop at the end of the line?Brandi Miller: Well, I mean, I think that people still want all the good stuff, right? I think people want connection and community and gentleness and kindness and meekness and self-control and the fruit of the spirit, and the beatitudes. I think people still want the Jesus stuff. People want to live in an accessible and just world where people can be fully themselves, where the image of God in me meets the image of God in you, and somehow in that magic we're transformed. I think people still want that, and I think when people come and get a taste of that, it's really, really beautiful. Because what it results in really is friendship and friendship results in systems change and system change results in world change and political change.Jonathan Walton: Right, right, right.Brandi Miller: And so, I think that what I've seen happen is a lot of progressive spaces have done one of two things. One, said like, well, the individual transformation doesn't matter. And I'm like, that's actually not true. The health of the individual and the health of the system are always a cycle that are moving over and over and over again. And so we're like, “Well, F individual transformation and let's just like go do the system change.” And I'm like, yeah, but if like people don't change, then they're not gonna be alongside you as you change the systems and not understand why the systems change would be good for them. And I think churches do that too.Jonathan Walton: Right?Brandi Miller: So I think a lot of progressive media culture does that on one side, and then the other side uses all of this abstraction to describe what the world looks like when it changes, which is, I don't know, right now sounds like the end of postmodern empire. Like we're in empire collapse right now. And I'm like, “No one knows what that means.” Most normal average people do not know what it means. So they're like, “Let's find creative ways to engage post empire collapse.” And I'm like, can you just say that the United States is participating in all kinds of evil, and when our comeuppance happens, it's going to result in a completely different societal structure that we are not ready for.And so, what I'm always looking for are glimpses of what could life look like after that? Which I think is what you're asking. And a lot of that looks like people choosing to care for each other well to build more simple lives rather than more complicated ones, to choose work that isn't their entire identity and allowing themselves to explore who they are outside of the kind of enculturation that happens when we don't have a life outside of that. And that is what I've seen change people's politics. It's not like having a fancy activist job. It's seeing how your neighbors are suffering and doing something about that together, or getting a measure on a ballot that changes things for folks.And so I think that I'm seeing glimpses of people entering into more embodied, simple space that is actually transformative and actually grounding and does a lot to downshift some of our very present anxiety. And I think that's been really good. And so I think there's some structural and systemic things I've seen too, but a lot of the stuff that I'm seeing is people trying to make sense of this abstracted language and say, what does this actually mean for my life in real time, and how can that be good?The Fruit of the MAGA MovementSy Hoekstra: One thread there that kind of leads into my next question is, you said that the idea that your church is the last stop on a lot of people's road out of Christianity, when I was a kid, I would, in evangelical churches, I would hear the sentiment a lot that—I would hear that sentiment a lot actually. I would hear like, “Oh, when you go to a progressive church, that's just, you're just on your way out [laughs], so don't ever go there.” That was the kind of, that was the warning, right?Brandi Miller: Yeah [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: But basically, what I hear you saying is the reason that it's their last stop or the reason that they're on their way out is not because of they've lost their way or a lack of integrity, they don't really care about Jesus, whatever. They actually care about Jesus maybe more than the places that they left, and got so hurt as a result that that's why they're on their way out. And that's, I think that's a reality that Jonathan and I see a lot too, and I just wanted to point that out to people. But also this kind of gets a little bit into what my next question was, which I also had a big long quote here, but I'll just summarize [laughs] because Jonathan already read a big long quote [laughter].Jonathan Walton: I did.Sy Hoekstra: You basically talked about how there are a lot of masks that evangelicals wear to cover their support for Donald Trump's racism. So it's like the sanctity of life or pro-gun politics or pro-Israel politics. And that it basically that the result of that is you're not talking about the racism of Donald Trump, you're talking to people about those masks and saying, “If you're not willing to wear this mask, then basically you're an enemy to be negated because you're a baby killer, or you're an anti-Semite” or whatever it is. But I wonder if four years on having seen so much more of the fruit of the MAGA movement, if there's anything that you would kind of add on to this description of how it operates.Shifting Acceptable Political Discourse Far to the RightBrandi Miller: Yeah. So one of the main things I think about right now is the Overton window. So for folks who aren't familiar with the Overton window, it's essentially the range of acceptable political thought from left to right. And so there is an acceptable range of political thought, I'm doing some writing and thinking about this right now, but that what is considered far on the left and far on the right changes as that window shifts farther left or right. And what we've seen in the last four years is the Overton window shift so far to the right, that stuff that would've been considered so extreme, so outlandish, so problematic as to not be acceptable is now mainstream.So when George Santos can have an entire political campaign and multiple years of being in the public spotlight, and everyone be like, “Ah, this is just kind of like normal run-of-the-mill American politics,” that's wild.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, yeah [laughs].Brandi Miller: When Donald Trump can have dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of criminal, like of criminal… or like he has so many, so many things that are happening right now at felony levels, and we're like, “Oh, I mean, he's just like working through it.” That is so wild to me, that the Overton window has shifted so far to the right that Marjorie Taylor Greene can do every bit of chaos that she's doing. That Mike Johnson is considered a normal speaker of the house.Jonathan Walton: That is, ugh… [laughs].Brandi Miller: We've moved so far right, that now what used to be considered moderate is considered hyper progressive. That being like, hey, like… maybe we should give people… that we've actually reversed, like with Roe v. Wade, we've reversed rights for people and we consider that normal. Like the Overton window has shifted so aggressively to the right that it is so, so damaging. And that has just continued over the last four years.Shifting Acceptable Religious Thought Far to the RightBrandi Miller: The thing I am observing and doing a lot of work around right now is what does it mean when the Christian range of political or range of acceptable religious thought also shifts to the right? And so I've been asking the question, what is that?What we're talking about really is orthodoxy. We're saying there is this range of historically acceptable Christian thought, but when that gets chain linked to the Overton window and shifted to the right, the way of Jesus that gets to be considered left or moderate or something becomes completely unidentifiable to most Christians. And when that happens, the only response that we have in those super conservative spaces or that have moved to the right that much is to parrot political actors and call it holiness. And that is what I'm most concerned with and what I'm seeing most right now, is that people can't even have conversations because of those things like, yeah, you're an anti-Semite or you're a baby killer, or whatever.You can't even have the conversations about why that ideology became important to someone, because even questioning the ideology itself or that indoctrination feels like it's a deviation from holiness because your religion is so connected to nationalism that to separate those feels like sin.Sy Hoekstra: It's almost, it's like the way that you might get a question shut down in church because if of something you're asking about some orthodox doctrine or whatever, like expressing a doubt of some kind.Brandi Miller: Yep.Sy Hoekstra: You're saying that's not just religious anymore basically. That is political. Or the politic—because the religious and the political are so closely linked that your political doubt is religious doubt almost.Brandi Miller: Yes. Yes, most certainly. Connected to God's connection to a nation.What Is the Good That All the Idolatry Is Overshadowing?Jonathan Walton: Yeah, I got in this conversation with a… Sometimes I opt into the online debates to get fodder for more posts [Sy laughs]. And I asked someone what they meant by Orthodox. They were saying “Israel is God's nation. The United States should support Israel because we are also God's nation, we're mirror countries of each other. This is an orthodox view.”Sy Hoekstra: Whoa.Jonathan Walton: They had obviously no, like no image or thought about the non-evangelical 200-year-old, 50-year-old, 25-year, 2-year-old church that they were in [laughter], you know? But all that to say, as you talk about Jesus on your show, talk about Jesus in your writing, talk about Jesus in your church, talk about Jesus with us. We're constantly trying to get people to look at the Jesus of Nazareth and not the Jesus of nationalism. Right? What would you say in this era, like with the church and politics, what value do you think Jesus's teaching, Jesus's witness, his life, death, resurrection has to offer us this election season? And what is the good that all the syncretism that we're talking about is just completely overshadowing?Following Jesus Helps us Find Ourselves and Resist Structures That Demand ConformityBrandi Miller: Well, right. The Jesus story is a continuation of the Hebrew story, and that story is centered on a God who cares about righteousness. And righteousness is not adherence to political doctrine, it's right living in harmony and wellbeing with other folks. Dr. Randy Woodley talks about shalom in the community of creation and that you know that the world is well when the marginalized say so. And the Hebrew scriptures follow that journey really, really closely. Even if the people fail in it, God's calls stay consistent to make sure that the orphan and the widow and the foreigner are cared for. And that we know that a whole community is healthy and well and living rightly when that's the case. And Jesus lives out that same story.And part of that story requires that people are given the chance to be themselves. That if we believe in this kind of, there's a lot that I do not believe about how we extrapolate Genesis one and two, but I think one of the core things is that like God made people in God's own image, and people's job is not to conform into your pastor's version of following Jesus. It's to conform more into the likeness of Jesus as you become more yourself. And so instead of going to a pastor and essentially saying, ‘Follow me as I follow Jesus,” we say, “We're following Jesus and you're gonna discover who you are along the way.” And that is what Jesus does with his disciples. Right? Jesus invites a diverse group of wackadoodle dudes to come and be themselves [Jonathan laughs]. And they change a lot. They change a lot, but they don't change away from themselves, which I think we see in the story of Peter, right? Peter's a fisherman at the beginning and he's a fisherman at the end. And the way in which he's a fisherman is really different, but he is still at his core in some ways who he is. And I know there's some conflation with vocational and whatever, but there are ways that people are, that people who were zealous in the beginning are zealous, but in a more refined way at the end. People who were engaging with the people in a particular way are doing so less judgmentally at the end.So I think there's a way that there is an invitation to become fully ourselves that we do not get in church spaces because we're told that sanctification or that honoring the death and resurrection of Jesus is to become less like yourself. It's to do this… I think we just take the John the Baptizer quote, “more of him, less of me” out of context when you're like… y'all, the reason he's saying that is because they think he's the Messiah and he needs to make some stuff really clear. He's not saying, I need to become less of myself. John needs to become more and more of himself in order to do what Jesus has invited him to do.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Brandi Miller: And so, because in the church we often say, let's collapse our identities into one social, political and religious identity, people lose themselves. And so I think part of the invitation and the good that we offer to people is that you get to be yourself. And that justice work, this other side of the coin in the Hebrews text around justice and righteousness is making things right when righteousness, when people's ability to live fully as themselves to live original blessing is not in place. And so I think that there's an invitation in the way of Jesus to live fully as ourselves and to make right the spaces where people are not offered space to live the life that is abundant.Jonathan Walton: May it be so in churches and spaces this fall [laughs] where that could be extrapolated. And as you were talking, I was just like, yeah, “God loves you,” should not be a controversial statement.Brandi Miller: Right…. Woof…Jonathan Walton: Right? Like it shouldn't [laughs].How Has Brandi's Calling Changed around Political Engagement?Sy Hoekstra: Alright. So, on your show, you're often talking about theology and culture. You obviously have a ton to say about politics though, and I've heard you say on the show you'd be kind of more interested in getting into that somehow at some point in your life. And you took a break from the show recently. Basically, you're in the middle of a season on purity culture, and you kind of took a break from the show because you felt some tension between talking about theology and church culture and purity culture with everything that's going on in Gaza. And I'm just wondering how the last four years have affected your sense of calling or your desire to engage politically from someone who has largely played a pastoral role.Helping People Develop Inner Lives that Can Sustain Political EngagementBrandi Miller: Yeah. Some of what I'm learning is that regardless of whether there's an urgent political moment that people are still entering into these spaces in a lot of different ways. And so me stopping the podcast because of everything happening in Gaza and trying to figure out how to respond wasn't actually as helpful as I had hoped it would've been. It didn't make more space for people, it just disengaged people from one of the only spaces that they're engaging with religion at all. And so pastorally, I think what I ended up doing was leaving people behind. And I didn't, I think I was so at that point unsure of how to respond to what was happening in Gaza and didn't know what my role would be, and felt like as a person who's, it's a little bit like one of my Jewish friends was talking about the parable of the virgins and the oil.Some of us just showed up really late to this party, and we know so little, we've showed up so late, that it feels pretty impossible to show up effectively. And so I was trying to be responsible with what I did and did not know about Israel, Palestine, Gaza, all of that. Instead of just saying what I could unequivocally say, which is that violence in all forms, particularly genocide, is an egregious violence against God, against people and needs to be dealt with aggressively. Like, I can say that without any… we can say, “Free Palestine,” because that is an easy thing to, it's pretty easy for me to say, to agree with that idea. What I did though in being like, oh, purity culture isn't connected, was to say that people have on-ramps to these kinds of justice expressions that are far away.And maybe it's like [laughs], I hate to use this metaphor, but like, or parallelism rather. Yeah, I hate to use this parallelism, but when I think about how QAnon feeds into conspiracy theories, I think there's a lot of ways that progressive Christianity can feed people toward better, more just politics. And so when I take away the on-ramps, I take away people's opportunity to enter into a more just spirituality. And so me choosing to not talk about sex for four weeks or whatever, for me it felt like it was a solidarity practice, but it really was just cutting off people from a community that they cared about. So I think I would say that that was like one thing that I'm learning.And that is, and I think that what I'm trying to figure out is, as a person who primarily plays a pastoral function, what does it mean to invite people into a discipleship that can hold the politics that they're engaging with? Because one of the things I learned from 2016 was that many of us had a ton of passion, a ton of anxiety, a lack of knowledge, and we weren't able to hold onto the activism at the level that we held it during Black Lives Matter. We just weren't able to do it. And so, I think I'm trying to ask how do you build people's inner lives and community orientations in such a way that we can actually hold the political movements that we want to see happen?So how do we become community organizers locally and nationally when our inner lives aren't able to hold even the basics of our day-to-day lives? And that's not a knock on anyone, it's just a, we don't know how to cope. We don't know how to be in therapy. We don't know how to ask good questions about our lives. And so I think that I'm still asking the question, what is the role of the pastoral in the political, when most of my examples of the pastoral and the political is just telling people how to vote once every four years indirectly so you don't lose your funding, and nothing else otherwise.Helping People Learn and Grow through Curiosity and Questioning AssumptionsJonathan Walton: Yeah. I care a little bit about that, the inner life, peace [laughter]. I write, you know, I have a whole thing about that. So as you're talking, something I feel like I've run into is, I had a conversation with someone and they said to me, “The church discriminates against queer people? What do you mean?” And I looked at them and I was like, they were not being facetious, they were not joking. And like, and so I watched this train wreck happen in her brain, right? Where it's like, so then I just said, “You know, let's just talk about conversion therapy.” I said, “Let's just start there…” UN resolutions that say this is to—like all she, you could see it on her face she's like, like she did not know.And so I watched it happen and couldn't stop it. So Brandi, when someone is sitting across from you and you see this lack of knowledge and the capacity to harm. Right? So there's this lack of knowledge, but they're gonna say the homophobic terrible thing whenever somebody asks them, and you are the pastoral person in residence with them. What habits, practices, tactics do you employ not to destroy them, like intellectually? How do you not reduce them to their ideas? How do you love them and meet them where they're at so that they will be at church next week? They will be, like all those kinds of things, to stay on the journey with you.Brandi Miller: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: And stop hurting people.Jonathan Walton: And yeah, and stop hurting people.Brandi Miller: Yes. Yeah, I mean, you become a master of caveats, and that's the easy thing. The hard thing is to believe that people are trying their best. I think that most people, and I'm really learning this and trying to learn this in the best ways I can right now, is that if you're not just like on the internet where I know people are not trying to do their best, they're just being mean, like in real life with people who are sitting, who you don't have to question whether they're a bot or not, people are trying to do the best they can and the best they can might be terrible. And that's okay, because when people are trying to do the best that they can, and when people are given the benefit of a doubt, they are more open to engaging with things that are embarrassing or challenging or confusing.And so a lot of what I do is ask questions in the context of my own experience. I'll say, “Hey, when you say that, that hits me in a really strange way, and it's kind of hurtful and I can see where this would be hurtful for somebody else. Can you help me understand where that idea came from for you and how that became so important to you?” Or like, “I can hear that this is really important to you, can you help me understand why?” Because if I can understand that why, I can create a human connection that allows me to walk someone through, like, “Yo, when you say to me as like a partnered queer person, that my future marriage is not God's best, when did that become so important to you? When did thinking about like queerness in this way become so important to you?And how big, like on a scale of one to 10, how big does that feel for you? And what would that feel like for you if I said something back to you like, ‘You're heteronormative marriage where it looks like your wife doesn't really like you that much, you're kind of a jerk, isn't God's best for you,' what would you say back to me?” Like what a strange thing for you to say to me. And so I think I do a lot of assuming that people are doing their best and asking a lot of origins questions. Because I think that most of evangelicalism is more concerned with indoctrination than it is with development and discipleship. And when you can expose the indoctrination, it opens up a lot of space for questions. Because I know a lot of people that have said to me things like, “I have never thought about that before,” or, “I have never considered that before.”Or, “It came from this book.” And I'm like, “Well, have you read these other books?” Or they're like, “It came from this verse.” And I'm like, “Well, have you read the equivalent verse in the gospels that exists?” And the answer usually is no. The people have not done their due diligence to come to their own ideas. They have parroted because parroting in the church gives you survival, and I understand that. I understand that being able to parrot ideas gives you belonging. And so to fall outside of that, to ask questions outside of that risks your belonging. And so I try to create spaces where people's stories can belong, even if their ideologies need to be questioned and engaged with differently. So I think that's the main way that I engage with that pastorally at least.Jonathan Walton: That is amazing. So being able to sit down with someone, see someone across difference in a way, and turn to wonder, awe and curiosity as opposed to prejudice, judgment, and condemnation. That's great. Amen.Where Listeners Can Find BrandiSy Hoekstra: Can you tell our listeners where they can find you or your work on the internets.Jonathan Walton: Or in real life. Or in real life [laughs].Brandi Miller: Yes. Yeah, you can… if you're not being a weirdo, you can find my church, Quest Church out in Seattle [laughter]. We're doing the best we can out there. I work there, I'm a regular person out there, so don't be a weirdo [laughter].Brandi Miller: But I'm online in several spaces. Primarily, I have a podcast called Reclaiming My Theology, that takes a topic.Jonathan Walton: Five stars, five stars, five stars.Brandi Miller: [laughs, then says very quickly] If you'd give it, it takes 30 seconds to do [laughter]. Yeah, that is exploring different types of problematic or oppressive ideologies and how they wiggle their way into our interpretation of the Bible and Christian culture and how they create Christian culture. We're working through a series on purity culture now that feels like it's never ending, but it's like a perfect intersection of a lot of the other forms of oppression that we've talked about. So we'll be in that for a little bit. And then I just launched a podcast with Quest Church, talking to people about formation practices that make them feel at home with God. And so if you're looking for more of a formational storytelling bend, I'm interviewing folks around those practices right now, as well as the stuff that I'm already doing on the podcast that takes a little bit more of an academic theological bend.Sy Hoekstra: What's the name of that one?Brandi Miller: The Quest Church Podcast.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, okay, got it [laughter]. Okay, cool.Jonathan Walton: Cool, cool. Nice.Sy Hoekstra: Thank you so much for that. If you go and listen to Reclaiming my Theology, you'll hear some familiar voices like Jonathan Walton and Tamice Spencer-Helms and other people that you know. Brandi Miller, this has been fantastic. I'm so happy you joined us [the sound of clapping]. Jonathan's actually applauding, I don't think that's ever happened before [laughter].Jonathan Walton: She's great. She's great. Lovely.Sy Hoekstra: Thank you so much for being with us.Brandi Miller: Yeah, delighted to be with you all. Thank you so much for the opportunity.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Sy and Jonathan's Thoughts about Christian Community and Communicating Theology Well after the InterviewSy Hoekstra: Okay, Jonathan, that was fantastic [laughs].Jonathan Walton: It really, really was.Sy Hoekstra: What are you thinking coming out of that? Where are your thoughts at?Jonathan Walton: Yeah, so I'm actually stuck on the first thing that she said.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, okay. After that you blacked out and then you don't remember the rest of the interview.Jonathan Walton: [laughs] Well, I remember it. But one of the… I thought to myself, you know, I've changed a lot in the last four years since we wrote the essays that we did and since KTF started and all those things. And so it really pushed me to reflect. And when I was in journalism school with Peter Beinart, who is an amazing writer and commentator, especially right now.Sy Hoekstra: Who you've mentioned before, yeah.Jonathan Walton: Yes. Yeah, I mean, his work is just amazing. But something that he said in class was, you need to write for the language of the bleachers, like between a fifth and eighth grade level. And that is not a knock on people who are not educated or didn't go to university. It's more like we don't talk like this on a regular basis.Sy Hoekstra: You mean you don't talk the way that highfalutin people write [laughs]?Jonathan Walton: Exactly.Sy Hoekstra: Gotcha.Jonathan Walton: Right. And it was one of those things where I was like, huh, I wonder, would I say things the same way now? Or how can I say them so that people leave saying, “Oh, I know what he meant and I understood what he said,” versus, “I don't know what half those words meant, but it sounded really good [Sy laughs]. Thinking of reflecting on how Jesus spoke to people and who he called and how he called them was something that I just, just struck me about that response. And then obviously we also threw out some big words, some large terms and all those things. And one of the things that stood out to me that I didn't know about was the Overton window that she said. I'd never heard of that before.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, okay.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, but what has become normal. Having a term for that's just helpful. For me, like [laughs] I think I've mentioned this before, is that when I feel anxious, when I feel worried, when I feel concerned, one of the places that I go is information. I need to put it in a box. I need to have words to just feel grounded to engage. And now I can just say, “Oh, the Overton window has shifted [laughs], and that helps me have a place to stand [laughs] in a lot of our discourse and gives me more space to do what she talked about at the end, which is like, can I love people across difference? And when I have cohesive frameworks and information especially like in context, and I can do that more effectively. So I learned a lot. I was challenged and I'm really grateful.Sy Hoekstra: I think actually the thing that stuck out to me, kind of, I end up in a similar place, even though I'm coming from a totally different angle. Which is that the thing that she articulated about the how political doubt becomes religious doubt in like our current, kind of nationalist Christian nationalist landscape was really interesting to me. Because you hear it, so it's such a common thing if you think about it, right?Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: At least I've heard so many times people just be like, how can a Christian possibly vote for the Democrats? Right? Or asking like doubting Republican orthodoxy is actually grounds to doubt the foundations of your faith or the seriousness of your faith, when Jesus had absolutely no issue having people who he called disciples who were wildly politically different from each other.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: So when she talks about wanting to talk across difference like that, or wanting to how Jesus helps people become a better version of themselves, he was doing that with people who were like the Roman empire is fine and I work for them and I get rich off of them and that's great, like Matthew [laughs]. Versus the Roman Empire is the enemy and we need to throw them off via murder and other forms of violence, AKA Simon the Zealot. And like they're just sitting together with Jesus. They're both followers of Jesus, no question.Jonathan Walton: Exactly, right.Sy Hoekstra: And they have opposite political views. And one of them is like really earnestly advocating and killing a bunch of people [laughs]. Right?Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: And that is like, it's just a, I don't know, in the context of some of the church context where I grew up or some of the… like it's just a lot of the conservative Christian context now that is unthinkable, but it is also the absolute norm for Jesus [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: So that gives you a sense of when you're a place where your church culture is off, when something that is unthinkable is the norm for Jesus [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Exactly. Exactly. That is what I hope we would say when someone says, what is syncretism?Sy Hoekstra: So syncretism is another one of those big words. I'm not sure we defined it right. Syncretism is a word that a lot of White westerners use for basically poor Black and Brown people, and sometimes Asian people.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: When it's like, oh, you are a Christian, sure, but you're also practicing this native thing. Like my wife's family's from Haiti, right? You are Catholic, but you're also doing this voodoo stuff. And so that's not real pure Christianity, that's syncretism. And now…Jonathan Walton: Exactly.Sy Hoekstra: You were saying Jonathan, sorry, that was… go ahead.Jonathan Walton: No, but like, so Brandi's just turn of phrase when she said, oh, when someone's political foundations are shaken, their religious foundations are shaken. That is syncretism.Sy Hoekstra: Right, yes. Exactly.Jonathan Walton: And so putting it in that language just makes it more effective, more practical, more illuminating for people as opposed to saying, “Well, you're political and social and religious ideologies are enmeshed with one another, but creating an agenda…” It's like, we don't need to talk like that [laughs]. You know what I mean? We can just say it plainly and things God can meet us in that.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Which Tab Is Still Open?: Average Black, Christian Voting Patterns and Political Beliefs vs. the Average DemocratJonathan Walton: Alright Sy. Let's jump into our latest segment that we introduced during the bonus episodes, and now we're bringing to you on our wider feed, is Which Tab Is Still Open. Out of all the highlights we've sent around lately in our newsletter, what's still standing out to us? And so, Sy, this one's yours. So go for it.Sy Hoekstra: This one, yeah, this one is mine. It was an article that I had in the newsletter recently by a professor named Ryan Burge, who is a political science professor and a statistician. He's basically one of the go-to experts in America for a lot of media and other sources for data about religion and politics, like surveys, pollsters, et cetera. So he's a professor at Eastern Illinois University, but he's also an American Baptist Convention pastor [laughs]. So this article is about the average Black church attending Protestant. In a lot of these polls and surveys they ask people how often do you go to church, as a measure of your religiosity. Just like an estimate basically, of your religiosity.So he says for the average Black regular church attending Christian, what is the kind of differences in their political beliefs between just the average overall Democrat? And we talked about this in one of our, in the March bonus episode, that for like a lot of people don't realize the distance between… a lot of White people don't realize the distance between [laughs] average Black voter and average Democrat voter, because Black people always vote Democrat, right?Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: So if you're not kind of familiar with the culture or the politics, then those, the Black people and Democrats can be synonymous. So basically what he said was the average Black church goer is like a self-identified moderate. Is like almost in the middle of the political spectrum. Is more moderate than the average Democrat on abortion, immigration, policing, all kinds of stuff. Not conservative, but more moderate than the average Democrat. And they've become more moderate in recent years. And so there's an actual kind of statistically significant shift toward the right, but voting hasn't changed at all. Or there's been very little change in actual votes.And then the other interesting thing that he pointed out was the average… they do these polls where they have people rank themselves on a political spectrum from one to seven. So one is as liberal as it gets, and seven is as conservative as it gets. And then they also have people rank the Democrat and Republican parties for where they are, like the party overall. And in the last 10 years, the average Black church going Protestant assessment of where the Republican party is, has not changed at all, like in any significant way.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: So meaning when Donald Trump is the standard bearer, no significant difference in how radical or how right the Republican party is than when Mitt Romney was the standard bearer [laughs], right?Jonathan Walton: Yep.Sy Hoekstra: So you're saying that, “Yep. I get it, totally.” I think to a lot of people, that is some pretty stunning news [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.Sy Hoekstra: So, I don't know, the interesting points to me are just how our assumptions are like about voters in general are based on how White people vote, because White people vote very ideologically and Black people just don't. Like I've seen other polling data where it's like, basically Black people self-identify as liberals, moderates, or conservatives at roughly the same rate as White people. They just don't, Black people just don't vote ideologically. That's the difference, right? And then yeah, that thing where there's no difference between Trump and Mitt Romney is so interesting [laughter].Not no difference between those two men, but no difference between the parties under those two men. And by the way, the rest of the Democrat, the average Democrat thinks the Republican party is far more to the right than it was 10 years ago.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: So, basically what I'm saying is Black people knew the whole time [laughs], Black people knew what was up with the Republicans, and the assessment hasn't changed. I don't know, that to me is just a thing that people need to know. I don't know. When people say like, you hear sometimes from progressive people, “Listen to Black people, listen to Black women.” It just gets thrown out there, is like a, what I think to some White people probably sounds like just this weird ideological platitude that people are saying. But this is the reason [laughs]. The reason is marginalized folks in a system understand the system better than people in the dominant positions of the system, and have a, I don't know, have a kind of a clearer sense of where things are, have a more practical view of how to handle themselves in that system, which I think is the non-ideological voting. And yeah, all that stuff is really interesting to me. And I'm wondering what your thoughts were since this was my recommendation.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. I mean, I've… there are so many things that come to mind as we're talking about this. One thing is that the Overton window, as Brandi mentioned [laughs], it has shifted for some people, right? When we talk, when Randy Woodley talks about how people in the United States do not have the luxury of saying, “Oh, it doesn't matter who's president.” Marginalized people know it matters who is sitting in a political position. If it doesn't matter to you, then that creates a different set of problems. And I think another thing I think we have to remember is that [roughly] 70 percent of the voting population in the United States is White. The people who are registered, the people who turn out.And so there's, I think just there's a lot of context to layer over top of this that can obscure just the basic reality of the emancipation and the passing and Civil Rights Act. And the reality is, Black people voted for Lincoln because he wanted to stop slavery. Lincoln was a White supremacist. Lincoln literally argued in his presidential debate in Illinois that he did not believe that Black people were equal and could never be cultured to be with White people.Sy Hoekstra: And therefore we should send them back to Africa.Jonathan Walton: And therefore we should send them back to Africa. That is Lincoln. But why did we vote for him when we finally got the chance to vote, kind of with… [laughs]? It's because he said he did not want to have slavery exist anymore. Now, fast forward to the Civil Rights Act. Why did we all turn into Democrats? Because they said, “Hey, you should actually have civil rights.” Not equal rights, not full rights, not decriminalization. Not all, just some basic civil rights. Bam, now we're in that camp. This has always, always, always been about survival. The statistics are great. You could do the analysis, there's wonderful data that comes out. But at the end of the day, I'm gonna listen to my mama [Sy laughs] and say, “Oh yeah.”It would be preposterous of her to vote for anyone who is for the active destruction of her community. And the reality is, most of the time that is Republicans. Now, there are destructive policies against Black people that come from the Democrats. The difference is, just like we see here, the difference is this thing called White supremacy. One party says White supremacy exists. The other party says it doesn't. One party says White supremacy exists and desires in rhetoric to make it stop, even though they pass policies that continue to perpetuate it. The reality is though, there are more Black people, more people of color, more women in the party that has a donkey and not an elephant. And therefore, we will ride donkeys [laughs].And so that does not mean that we are for… we, when I say Black Christians, are for anything that the Overton window to use Brandi's saying again, has expanded. So Black folks' views on abortion, Black folks' views on war, Black folks' views on policing. Again, we like to be safe too. And unfortunately, a lot of times in communities of color that equals calling the police. That equals saying, “Hey, can someone help me?” Right? In Baltimore, in Chicago, in over policed parts of New York City, Black folks still have to call the police. Like it's not some utopia where we're just gonna let everything go. That doesn't exist in our communities.We still actually desire for the systems to work for us. We do not desire the system to destroy us. And so we use the systems and desire to make them better. And so these numbers I think are exceptionally informative at illuminating the, or illuminating the reality that many people in marginalized communities already know. But hopefully there'll be a common place for us to talk about it. Now there is a resistance to academia and research in progressive and conservative circles [laughs]. And so someone may say, “Well, that's just not true because it's not true for me.” But hopefully it will create some common ground to be able to have a cohesive conversation about Black folks, the Democratic party and progressive and conservative politics.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, that's what we're trying to do. Political education, man [laughs].Outro and OuttakeJonathan Walton: Lord have mercy.Sy Hoekstra: Lord have mercy. This has been a great conversation. We were so happy that Brandi came on. And thanks for talking as always, Jonathan.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: We will see you all in a couple of weeks. Our theme song is Citizens by Jon Guerra. Our podcast Art is by Robin Burgess, transcripts by Joyce Ambale. And as I'm gonna start saying a lot, I'm stealing this from Seth at Can I Say This at Church? This show is produced by our subscribers [laughs]. Thank you all and we will see you all in two weeks.[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Jonathan Walton: And he loves wackadoodles, I'm gonna use that one. Loves wackadoodles [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: That I have never heard. Is that because I'm not from the south that I've never heard that? Was that… [laughter]?Jonathan Walton: Well, no. Brandi's not from the south either.Brandi Miller: Also, you know I'm big up north here. I'm a Pacific Northwest girly full on. There's no doubt there [Jonathan laughs].Sy Hoekstra: Is that a Brandi quote? Is that from you?Brandi Miller: No, I'm certain that come from somewhere.Sy Hoekstra: I'm just lost. It's fine.Brandi Miller: Maybe it's Black. Maybe that's what it is.Sy Hoekstra: Well, obviously if I am the confused one and you're not, that's my first thought as well. So [laughter], there's always, there's just like, I'm so used to that point in conversations at this point in my life where I'm like, “Oooooh it's because I'm White” [laughter]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ktfpress.com/subscribe

“Reconciliation and reparations were never supposed to be two opposite things.” The Church is called to be a repairer of the breach. Drawing on the prophetic texts of Isaiah and Nehemiah, Brenda Salter McNeil joins Mark to discuss her latest book: Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities. Together they reflect on the Church's responsibility for social justice; the call to engage politics for the common good; the nature of systemic injustice and systemic change; empowerment and mutual investment in change; and the importance of moving closer to injustice in order to become a “repairer of the breach.” Brenda Salter McNeil is a leader in the international movement for peace and reconciliation. She is an Associate Professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, where she also directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She also serves on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA. She is the author of numerous books on Christianity, reconciliation, and racial justice. Follower her @RevDocBrenda. AB Mark introduces Brenda Salter McNeil Learn more about Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities Isaiah 58 and “As If Worship” Isaiah 58:11-12—“And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt. You shall raise up the foundations of many generations. You shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in. Repair and reparations Brian Stevenson: “Real reparations would mean to repair what was actually broken.” “We want to see justice. We want to see change. … Reconciliation and reparations were never supposed to be two opposite things.” Why the Old Testament prophetic book of Nehemiah is relevant to the church in this political moment: “I wanted to use a narrative in scripture that showed us how do you actually organize people. That it's not just enough to preach about it on Sundays, there's a way that we've got to bring a diverse coalition of people together and show them that we can rebuild what is broken around us.” “How do we retain our identity and our dignity?” How asking the right questions can generate empathy and motivate action Nehemiah's Prayer of Confession Honest confession, just telling the truth Brenda's son Omari's social post: “We are always left saddened but not shocked. This will happen again. Another black queen or king doing what should be considered a regular activity will be killed just because. Black people will express outrage while everyone else will continue on relatively unchanged. We'll exclaim, hashtag Black Lives Matter, and we will get countless comments about, What about all lives matter? I'm looking at you, white evangelical churches. The shock will wear off for the rest of the world and we'll be left to rebuild again by ourselves. This cycle is so ingrained in the Black American narrative that we have learned to quickly spring into actionable next steps because we've done this before and we will do it again. We've had no choice but to normalize the trauma and carry on. So to those who wonder, I have no hope that I or my future children will ever live in a world that is quote unquote equal or totally safe or fair, even though I will always fight for it. Sadly for me and so many others, I lost that dream as a little boy.” Our own humanity is being diminished in every act of injustice Is systemic change possible? Individualistic vs communal lenses The need to get proximate to injustice in order to become a repairer When does proximity help? What causes proximity to stick and create change? Empowerment and mutual investment The work of justice is ultimately God's work Fannie Lou Hamer's activism James Baldwin: “I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.” Doing what we say “We might not change everything, but in our little corner of the world, we can make a difference in that spot and people get to see a glimpse of the kingdom. And that's life changing.” About Brenda Salter McNeil Brenda Salter McNeil is a teacher, preacher, and leader in the international movement for peace and reconciliation. Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence. She is an Associate Professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, where she also directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She also serves on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA. Dr. Brenda is recognized internationally as one of the foremost leaders of reconciliation and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today. She is the author of Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0, A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race (2008), The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change (2005), coauthored with Rick Richardson, *Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now,* and her latest book, Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities.

In this episode we are joined by speaker, educator and author, Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, who is Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies and Director of the Reconciliation Studies program at Seattle Pacific University. Rev. Dr. Brenda is also associate pastor of preaching and reconciliation at Quest Church in Seattle, Washington, as well as the author of several books, including Becoming Brave, Roadmap to Reconciliation, Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0, and the classic, A Credible Witness. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Thread or Insta Lisa @lisasharper or to Freedom Road @freedomroad.us. We're also on Substack! So be sure to subscribe to freedomroad.substack.com. And, keep sharing the podcast with your friends and networks and letting us know what you think! www.threads.net/@lisasharper www.threads.net/@freedomroad.us freedomroad.substack.com www.saltermcneil.com

In this inspiring episode, we welcome Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, a pastor, dynamic speaker, award-winning author, professor, and thought leader. Dr. Salter McNeil is recognized internationally as one of the foremost leaders of reconciliation and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today in 2012. A trailblazer with a loving and prophetic approach, her mission is to inspire and empower emerging Christian leaders to practice reconciliation in their communities. She talks with us about the crucial need for bravery and action in the pursuit of justice, the pivotal role young people play in advocating for change, and the church's responsibility to commit to reconciliation through concrete actions. We learn about her faith journey and gain valuable insights on decolonizing our minds. She underscores the need for building diverse coalitions, practicing self-care, and finding supportive communities to sustain this work. Additionally, she talks about her experiences at Quest Church, where every member is valued and contributes to the community's journey towards affirming the image of God in all human beings. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of reconciliation, and discover how you can contribute to this vital work in your own sphere of influence.Dr. Salter McNeil serves as an Associate Professor of Reconciliation Studies at the School of Theology, Seattle Pacific University, where she directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She is the author of the newly released book, Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities, as well as Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now, Roadmap to Reconciliation, Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0, and A Credible Witness. She is also the coauthor of The Heart of Racial Justice.To get more content like this and learn more about ignite and PSR go to psr.edu.

Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a woman of God gifted as a teacher and preacher and a leader in the international movement for peace and reconciliation. Her mission is to inspire, equip, and empower emerging Christian leaders to practice reconciliation in various spheres of influence. She is an Associate Professor of reconciliation studies in the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University, where she also directs the Reconciliation Studies program. She also serves on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA. Dr. Brenda is recognized internationally as one of the foremost reconciliation leaders and was featured as one of the 50 most influential women to watch by Christianity Today. She is the author of Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0, A Credible Witness: Reflections on Power, Evangelism and Race (2008), The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change (2005), coauthored with Rick Richardson, Becoming Brave: Finding the Courage to Pursue Racial Justice Now and Empowered to Repair: Becoming People Who Mend Broken Systems and Heal Our Communities.

Earlier this year at the Evangelical Covenant Church's annual conference, Alyssa Paulson stood in front of delegates denomination-wide. She was there to defend her church. “You think that if you can just get them to see, like, ‘Hey, here I am just another human bopping around in this world … then the rest won't matter,” Paulson said later. Awaken West 7th in St. Paul, where she is an elder, was removed from the Evangelical Covenant Church, or ECC, in late June. The removal was due to being “out of harmony” with the denomination's policies and teachings on homosexuality and gay marriage. “It's not OK that my pastor could perform my funeral, but he can't perform my wedding,” Paulson said, adding that she was seeking acknowledgment that queer Christians who want to marry exist. “You can speak on my love in death, but not in life.”  Reevaluating the conversationAwaken West 7th's removal from the ECC is just the latest episode in a wider conversation for churches about the place LBGTQ+ people have in their congregations.At the conference, Paulson says that it seemed most people had already made up their minds, even before she gave her defense statement. “I'm talking to everybody making friends, and everyone was kind and loving and accepting,” Paulson recounts. “The second people found out that I was from Awaken, and who I was — literally eyes shot the other direction.”  For Awaken West 7th, run-ins with church leadership have a more extended history. In 2017, Lead Pastor Micah Witham was suspended for giving a blessing over a same-sex couple in his congregation. His decision to officiate a same-sex wedding in 2020 ultimately led to the church's removal. Witham said he met “with the Board of Ordered Ministry, like five different times.”Witham believes everyone should be able to participate fully in church life at Awaken. He decided to officiate the same-sex marriage ceremony partly to make the ECC reevaluate its rules for pastors and churches. “The last time this happened was 1996. That's almost 30 years ago, right?” Witham is referring to a resolution on human sexuality. It was adopted as the basis for Church policies in the 2000s.  “Gay marriage wasn't legal in the United States of America at that time. To say we've already had this conversation is just so ... inadequate.”   A grieving fellowshipThe ECC's official stance currently is “faithfulness in heterosexual marriage, celibacy in singleness — these constitute the Christian standard. When we fall short, we are invited to repent, receive the forgiveness of God and amend our lives.” Updated guidelines from the 2010s state that pastors can attend as a congregant but can't bless, pray, officiate or participate in same-sex weddings. ECC member churches are also prohibited from hosting same-sex weddings. According to Witham, these new guidelines were not voted on or discussed by the majority of pastors in the denomination. This discussion and voting process is typically required before adopting such measures. When the church updated these guidelines, Witham said that there were “no pastor[s] who dissent[ed] on this theologically in the room.” Like Paulson, Witham spoke at the annual national conference to argue against removal. He made his case for LGBTQ+ acceptance but didn't seek to change the ECC's overall stance. Instead, he wanted more dialogue and for individual churches in the denomination to make their own decisions. In the end, 75 percent of delegates voted to remove Awaken from the Evangelical Covenant Church.Awaken also isn't the first church involuntarily removed. In 2019, First Covenant Church in Minneapolis was also removed for adopting similar policies accepting LGBTQ+ congregants to participate fully in church life, including marriage.   In an announcement to media, Evangelical Covenant Church Executive Board Chair Tim Rodgers said, “We are always grieved when fellowship is broken ... we pray for God's blessing on Awaken and the Covenant Church as we each continue to join God in mission.” The Evangelical Covenant Church did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.  The situation isn't unique to the Twin Cities. Quest Church in Seattle, Wash., voluntarily left the denomination over similar issues this year.“The Evangelical Covenant Church leadership at that time was very dogmatic in opposition to that,” said Brent Carlson, leadership chair at First Covenant. “Unfortunately, that is not the tradition of the [ECC].” The financial factorCarlson and Witham have repeatedly said that, in their view, the ECC has historically valued having various opinions on religious beliefs and interpretations.  “The Covenant Church was about dialogue, community, love within the community ... it seems to have changed, and that's unfortunate,” Carlson said.“For a lot of people, this topic brings up a lot of fear about what's next. Kind of the classic slippery slope argument,” Witham said.He also believes money plays a big part. “There are a lot of churches who have said, if the covenant moves on this, we will leave.” The end of polite disagreementThe politicization of evangelical Christianity means churches risk losing their base if they move towards LGBTQ+ inclusion, said Anthea Butler, chair of the religious studies department at the University of Pennsylvania and an expert on evangelicalism.“Sexuality has always been a part for evangelicals to be, not just a moral issue, but a political issue as well,” Butler explained. In her opinion, the time for polite disagreement within churches, especially evangelical ones, is over, and she doubts it ever truly happened.“This is a theological issue. And so, [for the ECC] the theology says, ‘We don't do same-sex marriage.'” Since First Covenant in Minneapolis was removed from the ECC, they have concentrated on social justice issues, mainly housing and homelessness. They are considering how churches must adapt, down to the language they use. “We don't call them services anymore. We call them gatherings because we want to get away from the traditional preaching down from on high,” Carlson said. Awaken is not currently seeking to join a new denomination. A recent annual budget increased by 20 percent. Witham questions if being removed might hurt the ECC more than it hurts Awaken. “If a Christian church is in the sweet spot of God's heart, where the Spirit is leading, it will produce good fruit,” Witham said, borrowing from a passage from Galatians. “[If you] look around at Awaken, there's fruit everywhere. So, [in] some ways, I'm sad for the Covenant.” 

On this episode, we are joined by Rev. Gail Song Bantum, Lead Pastor of Quest Church, which recently voluntarily cut ties with its denomination—the Evangelical Covenant Church—because of its hard right turn on LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Pastor Gail was invited to speak with us today, because she is an eye witness to a profound come-to-Jesus moment taking place right now inside of white evangelical denominations. She posted her letter to the denomination online. Lisa read it. We are going to talk about it. We'd love to hear your thoughts. Tweet to Lisa @LisaSHarper or to Freedom Road @FREEDOMROADUS. We're also on Substack! So be sure to subscribe to The Truth Is... and Freedom Road. And, keep sharing the podcast with your friends and networks and letting us know what you think! twitter.com/lisasharper twitter.com/FreedomRoadus lisasharonharper.substack.com/ freedomroad.substack.com/ www.thebantumspace.com/gailbantum seattlequest.org/

Patterns that keep us from forward motion! Learn to lift above and send life force to your world.

Top headlines for Thursday, June 8, 2023In this episode, we discuss the prospects of the 2024 presidential election with current frontrunners Biden and Trump potentially facing off again, as well as challengers seeking nomination. We also dive into the recent LGBT Pride Parade for children at DC libraries, Quest Church's pro-LGBT decision, and The Chosen actors' responses to criticism over displaying pride flags. Subscribe to this Podcast Apple Podcasts Spotify Google Podcasts Overcast Follow Us on Social Media @ChristianPost on Twitter Christian Post on Facebook @ChristianPostIntl on Instagram Subscribe on YouTube Get the Edifi App Download for iPhone Download for Android Subscribe to Our Newsletter Subscribe to the Freedom Post, delivered every Monday and Thursday Click here to get the top headlines delivered to your inbox every morning! Links to the News Who are the declared candidates running for president in 2024? | Politics News DC library holds LGBT pride parade for children | U.S. News Mom of 6-year-old who shot teacher faces federal charges | U.S. News Christian and Missionary Alliance to allow female pastors | Church & Ministries News Former megachurch pastor used influence to prey on women for sex | Church & Ministries News Quest Church disaffiliates from Evangelical Covenant Church | Church & Ministries News 286 Kentucky churches leave UMC amid homosexuality debate      | Church & Ministries News Dozens of Christians killed in Nigeria by herdsmen | World News Arnold Schwarzenegger: Seeing loved ones in Heaven is a 'fantasy' | Entertainment News 'The Chosen' actor clarifies use of 'homophobia' in Twitter spat | Entertainment News

Believe | Pastor Joshua Reyes by Quest Church

Religious Freedom: May the DEA deny a church an exemption for the use of Ayahuasca in its rituals? - Argued: Wed, 25 Jan 2023 9:46:45 EDT

Brandi Miller, chief storyteller for Quest Church, op-ed writer for the Huffington Post, and podcast creator for "Reclaiming My Theology", sits down with Tim to discuss her journey. Brandi explains some of her background. Tim and Brandi discuss her conversion to Christianity and her deconstruction journey. Tim and Brandi discuss what she's doing now. Lastly, Tim and Brandi examine how conservative media influenced Conservative Evangelicals and how white supremacy underlies that journey. Follow us on Instagram: @thenewevangelicals Get tickets to our live event with Bradley Onishi in Philly Support our work Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A Horn Filled With Oil | Pastor Rick Hawkins by Quest Church

The latest ways to connect and grow with Quest Church!

Gail Song Bantum, lead pastor of Quest Church in Seattle, WA and Brian Bantum, Theologian in Residence, joined me in a conversation on their newest book, Choosing Us. Having been married 25 years and in vocational ministry almost as long, they have learned a thing or two about navigating their relationship in this “world of … Continue reading Episode 144 – Gail Song Bantum & Brian Bantum

On this episode, we are joined by Pastor Gail Song Bantum and Dr. Brian Bantum to discuss their new book Choosing Us: Marriage and Mutual Flourishing in a world of Difference. We ask them about death and love, confession and change, and how to read the stars. Support the Mestizo Podcast by giving today.Have a question you want answered on the podcast? Leave us a message at 312-725-2995. Leave us a 30 second voicemail with your name, city, y pregunta and we'll discuss it on the last episode of the season. You can also submit a question using the form on this page.Merch: Whether you want a t-shirt, hoodie, baby onesie, journal, mug, or sticker, tenemos un poquito de todo. My favorite is the recently released "Product of Abuela's Prayers" crewneck, celebrating the theology we inherit from nuestras Abuelitas. Check out our New merch store by visiting our store. Courses: Want to take courses that prepare you to face the challenges of doing ministry in the hyphen? Visit learn.worldoutspoken.com today and enroll in one of our newest courses. About the BantumsGail Song Bantum is lead pastor at Quest Church and has created four mentoring groups nationally for women of color leaders. A nationally known speaker on topics of justice, leadership, and mentoring, she has spoken at Why Christian?, Evolving Faith, Christian Community Development Association, and the Proctor Children's Defense Fund Conference, among others.Brian Bantum (PhD, Duke University) writes and speaks on the intersections of identity, race, and gender. He is the Neal F. and Ila A. Fisher Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, a contributing editor for the Christian Century, and the author of The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial World and Redeeming Mulatto: A Theology of Christian Hybridity.

Quest Church sermon - Faith Works sermon series  March 13,  2021

The latest ways to connect and grow with Quest Church for March 2, 2022.

In this episode, Kat chats with Gail Song Bantum about her and her husband, Brian's new book, Choosing Us: Marriage and Mutual Flourishing in a World of Difference. Gail rewrites the marriage narrative by highlighting mutual flourishing and the freedom and beauty that comes with that in our relationships with our spouses. Reverend Gail Song Bantum is the Lead Pastor of Quest Church, an urban, multi, and inclusive community in the heart of Seattle. Pastor Gail is particularly passionate about empowering emerging leaders and is a highly sought after speaker, preacher, and consultant. She is a contributing author of the New York Times Bestseller, A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal, edited by Sarah Bessey, and co-author of Choosing Us: Marriage and Mutual Flourishing in a World of Difference. Pastor Gail received her M.Div. from Duke Divinity School and is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church. She and her husband, Dr. Brian Bantum, have three young adult sons and reside in Seattle, WA. Follow Gail and her family on their website www.theBantumspace.com Follow Kat @Kat_armas Follow Chasing Justice @chasingjustice_ Support The Protagonistas on Patreon!

Quest Church sermon - Feb 27th - Faith Works Sermon Series

Make Your Mark | Pastor Rick Hawkins by Quest Church

“The greatest act of worship is to become who God says you are.” - Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeilOn this episode of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes authors Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil and Rick Richardson to discuss their latest book, “The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change.” In it, they recognize that racial and ethnic hostility is one of the most pervasive problems the church faces. In large part, because it is a spiritual battle. In this book and in conversation with Michael, Brenda and Rick provide a model of racial reconciliation, social justice, and spiritual healing that creates both individual and community transformation.Rick Richardson is director of the Billy Graham Center Institute and its Church Evangelism Initiative, and professor of evangelism and leadership at Wheaton College Graduate School. Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil is a dynamic speaker, an author, and a trailblazer with over thirty years of experience in the ministry of racial, ethnic, and gender reconciliation. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and is on the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle. HELPFUL RESOURCES:The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social ChangeRiverside.fm

Quest Church weekly sermon - Faith Works sermon series

“God's call upon our lives doesn't change. Our context may change, but our call never does.” Meet Eugene Cho, former Senior Pastor of Quest Church and President/CEO of Bread of the World. In this episode, Eugene shares insights about God's calling for your life, defining your life's values, and practical ways to monitor your health as a church leader. He encourages us to embodied leadership. To show up. When we feel like we have people on every side of the aisle hijacking the message of Jesus… Eugene reminds us how to place Jesus at the center of it all. Welcome to Episode 051 of the Leaders in Living Rooms Podcast with Sean Morgan.

Gail Song Bantum and Brian Bantum join us on the podcast today. Gail is the Lead Pastor of Quest Church in Seattle and Brian is a Professor of Theology at Garrett Seminary. We spend some time talking about what it's like for Gail to be a woman leading a church, about Brian's work on the Mulatto Jesus, and then we get into creating space for mutual flourishing in marriage. They share with us a bit of what that journey has looked like for them and share insights that they've learned about how we might create space for each partner to be able to flourish in our marriages.  Check out their new book Choosing Us And find them at The Bantum Space ----- To help support me and my work, particularly with post-evangelical churches and pastors, you can make tax-deductible donations to: “WE Ministries” And mail it to: Mike Goldsworthy 6285 E. Spring St #474 Long Beach, CA 90808

The Katinas | Quest Church

Quest Church sermon Jan 23rd  How Faith Works Sermon Series

John Kenney

The House Of Thanksgiving | Pastor Rick Hawkins by Quest Church

John 11 | Welcome To Quest Church | Guest Speaker J.C. Watts

Quest Church weekly Sermon - Faith Works sermon series. October 10th

Eugene Cho teaches from Mark 1:21-34 on living into the authority of Christ and His kingdom. Eugene is the founder and former pastor of Quest Church in Seattle, founder and president of One Day's Wages, and the president & CEO of Bread for the World. Slides available at https://bit.ly/3lAzU6A

Psychedelica Lex Episode 2021-026 –Critique of DEA's Denial of Religious Exemption for Soul Quest Church (Ayahuasca) Psychedelica Lex Episode 2021-026 Critique of DEA's Denial of Religious Exemption for Soul Quest Church (Ayahuasca) Part 2 of 2 ____________________________________________________ Author and host, Gary Michael Smith, Esq., is a decades-experienced, AV rated, attorney, American Arbitration Association panelist, founding director of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and general counsel to the nation's oldest federally recognized, 501C3, multi-racial peyote church. Psychedelica Lex is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of the laws and regulations governing psychedelic substances. ABOUT THE PSYCHEDELICA LEX PODCAST AND CHANNEL President Nixon's enactment of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970 banished most psychedelics to Schedule I, making psychedelics for most purpose illegal. However, as the Congressional Record reveals, psychedelics never got a fair trial and little scientific evidence, if any, was considered by lawmakers. Prohibition was more about politics than public health. Yet, historical record, anecdotal evidence, and scientific studies all suggest that prohibition was an unnecessary and harmful overreaction and that many benefits may be derived from psychedelics. Psychedelica Lex puts the question of psychedelics on trial. Hosted by a veteran litigation attorney, each episode will explore psychedelics from different perspectives. As we explore the evidence together, you - the audience - will serve as jurors. Together we will examine every facet. Applying the rigors of cross examination and the Socratic method, we will seek an objective truth. ____________________________________________________________ The growth, trafficking, sale, possession, or consumption of psychedelics may be a felony punishable by imprisonment, fines, forfeiture of property, or any combination thereof. Most states have regulatory and criminal laws that mimic federal law. This podcast is for general informational purposes only. Material in this podcast is not intended to be and should not be used as a substitute for personal consultation with appropriate professionals. I am not your lawyer, and this podcast is not legal advice. PARENTAL ADVISORY: This podcast discusses psychedelic drugs. This episode may contain content that viewers may find offensive. Potentially offensive topics may include: drugs, sex, violence, religion, politics, science, public policy, economics, freedom of thought, free will, the nature of consciousness, art, and law. Language may be coarse and could include George Carlin's seven dirty words: sh*t, p*ss, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks*ck*r, m*th*rf*ck*r, and t*ts or some combination thereof. Opinions expressed in the podcast belong to the party who expressed them and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Psychedelica Lex or its host. SPECIAL CAUTION This podcast might place you at risk of changing your mind. Viewer discretion is advised.

Psychedelica Lex Episode 2021-026 –Critique of DEA's Denial of Religious Exemption for Soul Quest Church (Ayahuasca) Psychedelica Lex Episode 2021-026 Critique of DEA's Denial of Religious Exemption for Soul Quest Church (Ayahuasca) Part 1 of 2 ____________________________________________________ Author and host, Gary Michael Smith, Esq., is a decades-experienced, AV rated, attorney, American Arbitration Association panelist, founding director of the Arizona Cannabis Bar Association, board member of the Arizona Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and general counsel to the nation's oldest federally recognized, 501C3, multi-racial peyote church. Psychedelica Lex is the first book to offer a comprehensive survey of the laws and regulations governing psychedelic substances. ABOUT THE PSYCHEDELICA LEX PODCAST AND CHANNEL President Nixon's enactment of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970 banished most psychedelics to Schedule I, making psychedelics for most purpose illegal. However, as the Congressional Record reveals, psychedelics never got a fair trial and little scientific evidence, if any, was considered by lawmakers. Prohibition was more about politics than public health. Yet, historical record, anecdotal evidence, and scientific studies all suggest that prohibition was an unnecessary and harmful overreaction and that many benefits may be derived from psychedelics. Psychedelica Lex puts the question of psychedelics on trial. Hosted by a veteran litigation attorney, each episode will explore psychedelics from different perspectives. As we explore the evidence together, you - the audience - will serve as jurors. Together we will examine every facet. Applying the rigors of cross examination and the Socratic method, we will seek an objective truth. ____________________________________________________________ The growth, trafficking, sale, possession, or consumption of psychedelics may be a felony punishable by imprisonment, fines, forfeiture of property, or any combination thereof. Most states have regulatory and criminal laws that mimic federal law. This podcast is for general informational purposes only. Material in this podcast is not intended to be and should not be used as a substitute for personal consultation with appropriate professionals. I am not your lawyer, and this podcast is not legal advice. PARENTAL ADVISORY: This podcast discusses psychedelic drugs. This episode may contain content that viewers may find offensive. Potentially offensive topics may include: drugs, sex, violence, religion, politics, science, public policy, economics, freedom of thought, free will, the nature of consciousness, art, and law. Language may be coarse and could include George Carlin's seven dirty words: sh*t, p*ss, f*ck, c*nt, c*cks*ck*r, m*th*rf*ck*r, and t*ts or some combination thereof. Opinions expressed in the podcast belong to the party who expressed them and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Psychedelica Lex or its host. SPECIAL CAUTION This podcast might place you at risk of changing your mind. Viewer discretion is advised.

Welcome to Lakeview Covenant Church Youth Ministry's weekly podcast where our middle and high school youth ask questions about the mid-week teaching and we do our best to answer them honestly, authentically, and faithfully as we wrestle with questions about faith and life in community. This week we had the privilege of having Pastor Ruby Varghese join us as she taught on Conviction & Humility. Ruby is the Pastor of Youth and Young Adults at Quest Church in Seattle, Washington.  You can watch last week's teaching here: https://youtu.be/ohrMHl54ha8You can follow Ruby: Instagram: @RubyavTwitter: @rannv

1st Grade Failure Barnes & Noble Janitor Couch Surfing with Kids Today on The Pursuit: Eugene Cho   Eugene is President & CEO of Bread for the World, Founder & President of One Days Wages, Founder and Former Senior Pastor of Quest Church in Seattle. But what struck me the most was Eugene's journey from shy, immigrant kid to world-changing activist. Show notes: Eugene Cho on Twitter: @EugeneCho Eugene Cho on Instagram: @EugeneCho Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: Buy on Amazon Overrated: Buy on Amazon Bread for the World: bread.org One Days Wages: onedayswages.org The Pursuit with Richard Lee, now a featured podcast at the SOLA Network: sola.network   Social for The Pursuit with Richard Lee: Twitter - @thepursuitcast Instagram - @thepursuitcast Facebook - thepursuitcast Rate and Review on iTunes!  

(00:00-09:42): Headlines: Small Christian Colleges Set Attendance Record Despite Pandemic. From Obscure To Sold Out: The Story Of Four Seasons Total Landscaping In Just 4 Days. Bethel Church pastor who prophesied Trump win posts apology video, then takes it down. Another COVID-19 Vaccine Is Showing Some Very Promising Early Potential . (09:42-38:25): We were joined by attorney, political commentator, and senior at The Dispatch, David French. A fellow at the National Review Institute and a staff writer for National Review from 2015 to 2019. He joined us to comment on his recent column “The Cultural Consequences of Very, Very Republican Christianity”. He, along with Brian and Ian discuss political division and polarization, the potential for hope in the future for peace and understanding between US citizens, and more. (38:25-46:41): A Twitter for conservatives? Parler surges amid election misinformation crackdown. Its embrace by prominent conservatives and a sudden influx hint at a once informal online dynamic that has recently become more official: the blue internet and the red internet. (46:41-1:05:19): We were joined by author and ministry leader, Eugene Cho. He is a pastor, speaker, author, visionary and humanitarian. A son of Korean immigrants and a natural entrepreneur, Cho spends much of his time circling the globe speaking about the intersection of faith, justice, and leadership. He is also the pastor of Quest Church –an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. We discussed his book “Thou Shalt Not Be A Jerk” in which Eugene reminds us, we find our hope not in a politician or nation, but in the person of Jesus Christ. And from that foundation, we can walk with integrity, vote with conviction, listen to the hurting—and always remember that God is still on His throne. (1:05:19-1:15:13): Brian and Ian take time to discuss this excerpt from JD Greear’s book “What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?” called “Be the “Them””. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(00:00-09:22): The Dodgers are world champs and it might be the oddest of all World Series endings. PLUS, Class Is Back In Session In The First Trailer For ‘Saved By The Bell’ Revival. (09:22-18:37): There’s a theology driving Sean Feucht’s worship music protests — and it’s a popular one. What’s at stake aren’t just political and ideological differences but complex and deeply rooted theological commitments that have long been forming Christian identities. (18:37-28:00): Joanne Bratta from Hopeful Beginnings joined us to provide an update on this amazing ministry. She talked about how they are managing to continue serving through this crisis. Via website: We are first and foremost a child welfare agency and take our responsibility very seriously. Our counselors are some of the very best in our area and are committed to our clients. The entire staff thinks “out of the box” to provide you with professional services. We are with you every step of the way, will care for you, and nurture you in whatever journey you choose. We walk alongside you! (28:00-38:12): Here’s an interesting phenomenon: Meet the TikTok Generation of Televangelists. Brian and Ian discuss this piece by Rachel Seo in Christianity Today. (38:12-47:16): Aaron Earls writes “More Pastors Endorse Political Candidates in 2020: But very few do so from the pulpit, according to the latest from LifeWay Research” in Christianity Today. (47:16-1:05:55): We were joined by author and ministry leader, Eugene Cho. He is a pastor, speaker, author, visionary and humanitarian. A son of Korean immigrants and a natural entrepreneur, Cho spends much of his time circling the globe speaking about the intersection of faith, justice, and leadership. He is also the pastor of Quest Church –an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. We discussed his book “Thou Shalt Not Be A Jerk” in which Eugene reminds us, we find our hope not in a politician or nation, but in the person of Jesus Christ. And from that foundation, we can walk with integrity, vote with conviction, listen to the hurting—and always remember that God is still on His throne. (1:05:55-1:15:48): Brian and Ian take time to discuss this excerpt from JD Greear’s book “What Are You Going to Do with Your Life?” called “Be the “Them””.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rev. Eugene Cho speaks about engaging in politics as a Christian. His many passions involve leadership, justice, the whole Gospel, and the pursuit of God's Kingdom here on this earth. Eugene is the founder and former pastor of Quest Church in Seattle, the founder of multiple non-profits and grassroots organizations. He has authored two acclaimed books, including his latest; Thou Shalt Not Be a Jerk: A Christian's Guide to Engaging Politics.

This week we talk with Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil, a fiery and prophetic voice on the way followers of Jesus must engage in racial reconciliation. We draw on her books A Credible Witness as well as her newest book, Roadmap to Reconciliation 2.0 which is an update of her previous book of the same name.Dr. Brenda is is a dynamic speaker, author, professor, and thought-leader with over 30 years of experience in the ministry of reconciliation. Her mission is to inspire, equip and empower emerging Christian leaders to be practitioners of reconciliation in their various spheres of influence around the world. She is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church and serves as a member of the pastoral staff of Quest Church in Seattle, WA.Music by Robert EbbensArt by Eric Wright/Metamora Design

During the Summer of 2019, the congregants of Quest Church wrote questions down that they would like to ask our pastoral staff. In this episode our pastors talk about their favorite books, names for God, liturgy, theology, church history - even atonement theory - and how to live out what we believe - fun and thoughtful questions framed for all ages and stages of faith from our Pastor of Youth, Kids and Family Pastor and Pastor of Global and Local Ministries.

During the Summer of 2019, the congregants of Quest Church wrote questions down that they would like to ask our pastoral staff. Over the course of three separate podcasts our pastors will be diving into the questions we received. In this episode you will be hearing from Pastor Gail Song Bantum, Pastor Aaron Cho, and Pastor Brenda Salter McNeil.

For our first episode of the SeattleQuest Podcast we wanted to talk about the "why" behind the podcast. Pastors Liz, Gail, and Brenda gathered to talk about Quest Church, our yearlong church theme of "HUMAN", and the future of our new podcast.

Jim Barnard is the campus pastor at LifeGate Church in Denver, Colorado. Jim shares the story of learning to deal with grief and loss, gathering community, and finding hope in the middle of suffering. Throughout his journey, the communities around Jim have shaped his heart by encouraging him to be hopeful and deal honestly with his emotions while struggling with his wife's illness. In the midst of that illness, Jim explains the ways God has been faithful to provide even things that were deemed impossible like having a child. Please listen and share! Stories Jim shared: The joys of being a campus pastor at a mobile church Giving his life to Christ as a 10 year old and his family falling apart a week later The youth pastor who valued him enough to invest in him Why you need to be a mentor Meeting his wife at a new church The health problems his wife Alisha developed three months into their marriage Moving into ministry as a career Crying in an elevator while giving up the dream of having a child Having a baby with 75 people in the waiting room Sensing God's call to move while holding his newborn son Writing about his wife's condition Great quotes from Jim: It was really challenging to find those people to mentor me. I don't know what to do with what God's given me but I need to find people who know what to do. Our story is our greatest evangelical tool. Resources Jim mentioned: Quest Church of St. Louis Romans 5:1-4 Jim's blog I Write to Save My Wife Notice: JavaScript is required for this content. The post Jim Barnard Finds Hope in Suffering through Community appeared first on Eric Nevins.

Eugene Cho is the founder and lead pastor of Quest Church - an urban, multi-cultural and multi-generational church in Seattle, Washington. He is also the founder and visionary of One Day's Wages, "a grassroots movement of people, stories, and actions to alleviate extreme global poverty" which has been featured in the New York Times, The Seattle Times, NPR and numerous other media outlets. For his entrepreneurial work and spirit, Eugene was honored as one of "50 Everyday American Heroes". Eugene recently released his first book, Overrated: Are We More in Love with the Idea of Changing the World Than Actually Changing the World?