Podcast appearances and mentions of randy woodley

Randy Woodley preaches about the healing work of God and about the power of God found in vulnerability. Randy Woodley is distinguished professor of faith and culture at Portland Seminary and author of Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision; he and his wife, Edith, operate Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh farm. Recorded at Fuller's All-Seminary Chapel on May 14, 2025.  

In this special archive episode of the Earthkeepers podcast, Forrest engages with Reverend Dr. Randy Woodley, exploring the intersection of indigenous theology, environmental justice, and the need for a paradigm shift in how we relate to the earth. Woodley shares his journey of establishing the Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, and discusses the transformative experiences offered to those seeking a deeper connection with the land. The conversation delves into the implications of decolonizing evangelicalism, the role of the church in environmental stewardship, and the importance of embracing indigenous wisdom for a sustainable future.Dr. Woodley's booksEloheh SeedsTakeawaysIndigenous worldviews offer transformative experiences for understanding our relationship with the earth.The Western worldview has contributed to environmental destruction.Social media has democratized voices, allowing for new perspectives on environmental issues.Decolonizing evangelicalism can lead to a more just and equitable approach to creation care.The church has often acted as a poor imitation of government rather than a voice for justice.Indigenous wisdom is crucial for healing both the land and communities.Understanding our connection to the land is essential for sustainability.The values of indigenous cultures can guide us toward a more harmonious existence.We must recognize the dignity of all creation and our role within it.KeywordsEarth Keepers, Indigenous Wisdom, Environmental Justice, Decolonization, Spirituality, Community, Land Care, Western Worldview, Transformative Learning, TheologyFind us on our website: Earthkeepers Support the Earthkeepers podcast Check out the Ecological Disciple

Guest preacher, Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, shares with us about the love of God that comes to us in the form of divine vulnerability. He also unpacks the simple yet challenging commands of John the Baptist in Luke 3- to give away what we have as an expression of love those in need. How might John's words invite us into acts of generosity, care, and sacrifice as we continue to participate in the realm of God?

Edith and Randy Woodley invite us to rediscover our connection with nature, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all life and the importance of community-based ecological practices. Uncover their approach to land stewardship, communal living, and the rejection of individualism for a more holistic and balanced way of living. Edith and Randy Woodley are passionate environmentalists and … Continue reading "[145] Contentment and connecting with all life with Edith and Randy Woodley"

In this episode, you will hear from a panel of Native speakers as they consider what it means to be home. You will hear from JR Lilly, Lenore Three Stars, Edith Woodley, Randy Woodley, and Corey Greaves as they share their wisdom with us.Learn more at ccda.org/indigenous.Connect with Lenore on her website: lenorethreestars.com.Learn more about Randy and Edith's work at eloheh.org.Connect with Corey and his organization at mendingwings.net.Connect with CCDA on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Follow CCDA on YouTube.  

What steps can you take to deepen your connection with the natural world? In this episode, we're joined by CAC Affiliate Faculty member Rev. Dr. Randy Woodly. Together, we continue our chapter-by-chapter exploration of Eager to Love with Chapter 4: “Home Base: Nature and The Road.” This episode explores the wisdom of St. Francis and Jesus through the lens of Eloheh, emphasizing their connection to nature and their understanding of the kingdom of heaven as a state of harmony in the natural world. Before Mike begins the interview with Randy, Mike and Paul catch up with Richard at his hermitage to hear his reflections on the fourth chapter of Eager to Love. Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist, scholar, author, teacher, wisdom-keeper, and Cherokee descendant recognized by the Keetoowah Band who speaks on justice, faith, the earth, and Indigenous realities. He is the author of numerous books, including Becoming Rooted and Shalom and the Community of Creation. He and his wife, Edith, co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds outside Portland, Oregon. Hosted by CAC Staff: Mike Petrow, Paul Swanson, and Drew Jackson Resources: A PDF of the transcript for this episode will be available soon. Grab a copy of Eager to Love here. To learn more about Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, visit his website here. Check out Randy and Edith Woodley's new book, Journey to Eloheh here.

Randy & Edith Woodley have a radically different perspective on what it means to live a fulfilling life. As Native American authors and educators, they challenge the Western notion of pursuing individual happiness, arguing that true well-being comes from living in harmony with our broader community and the natural world. In this conversation, Randy and Edith share their personal stories of overcoming intergenerational trauma and discovering the wisdom of indigenous worldviews. They contrast the European dualism that separates the spiritual and material realms, with a holistic understanding that sees all of creation as interconnected. Digging into concepts like hospitality, humor, and the importance of story, Randy and Edith paint a vision for how we can all learn to live more authentically and in right relationship - not just with each other, but with the earth itself. Their insights challenge us to unravel the lies we've been told, and to rebuild our lives on a foundation of harmony, respect, and generosity. This is a conversation that can open up a different way to see the world. So get ready to have your assumptions challenged, and your heart opened, as we explore a path to greater well-being - for ourselves, our communities, and our planet. Randy and Edith Woodley are a dynamic couple with a deep passion for creativity and Indigenous spirituality, justice, and earth empowerment. Their diverse backgrounds and experiences have uniquely equipped them to bring about positive change in their communities for over three decades. They have four children and six grandchildren.Randy Woodley, an award-winning author and Cherokee descendant (UKB), weaves Indigenous wisdom, ecological sustainability, and spirituality. He is respected by Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities worldwide and has been featured in The New York Times, Politifact, Time Magazine, and The Huffington Post.Edith Woodley, a member of the Eastern Band of Shoshone Indians, and of Choctaw, Crow, Paiute, Pi'ikanni, Umatilla, and Mohawk descent showcases Indigenous cultures through traditional beadwork, seed-keeping, and storytelling. She advocates for Indigenous rights and cultural preservation. Edith is co-founder and co-leader of a semi-annual mentorship called “Decolonizing with Badass Indigenous Grandmas.” Randy & Edith's Book:Journey to ElohehRandy's Recommendation:The Universal ChristJoin Our Patreon for Early Access and More: PatreonConnect with Joshua: jjohnson@allnations.usGo to www.shiftingculturepodcast.com to interact and donate. Every donation helps to produce more podcasts for you to enjoy.Follow on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or Threads at www.facebook.com/shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/shiftingculturepodcast/https://twitter.com/shiftingcultur2https://www.threads.net/@shiftingculturepodcasthttps://www.youtube.com/@shiftingculturepodcastFriar TimeThrough meaningful interviews and heartfelt conversations, Friar Time, hosted by Fr....Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

In recognition of the recent summer solstice, we are releasing an episode from the podcast archives. This is in fact an episode from season one, a conversation with Randy Woodley. Out of all the episodes we've done, this episode has been listened to more than any other—and for good reason! As you listen to this conversation, you might ask yourself a practical question: What is a specific practice that I can embrace in this solstice season, to help me to become a better relative in the family of creation? Guest: Dr. Randy WoodleyEloheh Indigenous Center for JusticeEloheh SeedsDr. Woodley's book: Shalom and the Community of CreationDr. Woodley's book: Decolonizing EvangelicalismDr. Woodley's article - The Fullness ThereofEarthkeepers' interview with Tri RobertsonRichard Twiss - author & teacherKeywords: Indigenous theology, indigenized, indigenization, decolonizing, evangelicalism, empire, dualism, dualistic thinking, Native, Native American, Randy Woodley, Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, Tri Robinson, colonization, Eloheh, George Fox University, creation care, kinship theology, ecotheology, intercultural studies, environmental justice, Native theologyFind us on our website: Earthkeepers Support the Earthkeepers podcast Check out the Ecological Disciple

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

Welcome to the Season four kick-off! Today, we have our first interview with one of the authors from our anthology on Christianity and American politics, the incredible Dr. Randy Woodley. The episode includes:-        How dualism defines White worldviews, and how it negatively affects White Christians-        How love and vulnerability are central to a life with Jesus-        Why our voting decisions matter to marginalized people-        And after the interview in our new segment, hear Jonathan and Sy talk about the attack on teaching Black history in schools, and the greater responsibility White people need to take for their feelings about historical factsResources Mentioned in the Episode-            Dr. Woodley's essay in our anthology: “The Fullness Thereof.”-            Dr. Woodley's book he wrote with his wife, now available for pre-order: Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Led Us to Harmony and Well-Being-            Dr. Woodley's recent children's books, the Harmony Tree Trilogy-            Our highlight from Which Tab Is Still Open?: The podcast conversation with Nikole Hannah-Jones and Jelani Cobb-            The book A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being a White Person or Understanding the White Persons in Your LifeCredits-        Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our newsletter and bonus episodes 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.-        Production by Sy Hoekstra.-        Transcript by Joyce Ambale and Sy HoekstraTranscript[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.”]Randy Woodley: So the Europeans were so set in this dualistic mindset that they began to kill each other over what they consider to be correct doctrine. So we had the religious wars all throughout Europe, and then they brought them to the United States. And here we fought by denomination, so we're just like, “Well I'm going to start another denomination. And I'm going to start another one from that, because I disagree with you about who gets baptized in what ways and at what time,” and all of those kinds of things. So doctrine then, what we think about, and theology, becomes completely disembodied to the point now where the church is just looked at mostly with disdain.[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: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting injustice. My name is Jonathan Walton.Sy Hoekstra: And I am Sy Hoekstra, we are so excited to be starting our interviews with our writers from our Anthology in 2020 that we published when we [resigned voice] had the same election that we're having this year [Jonathan laughs]. So it's still relevant at least, and we're really excited to bring you Dr. Randy Woodley today. Jonathan, why don't you tell everyone a bit about Dr. Woodley?Jonathan Walton: Yeah. So Dr. Woodley is a distinguished professor emeritus of faith and culture at George Fox Seminary in Portland, Oregon. His PhD is in intercultural studies. He's an activist, a farmer, a scholar, and active in ongoing conversations and concerns about racism, diversity, eco-justice, reconciliation ecumen… that's a good word.Sy Hoekstra: Ecumenism [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, mission, social justice and indigenous peoples. He's a Cherokee Indian descendant recognized by the Keetoowah Band. He is also a former pastor and a founding board member of the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies, or NAIITS, as we call it. Dr. Woodley and his wife Edith are co-founders and co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice situated on farmland in Oregon. Their Center focuses on developing, implementing and teaching sustainable and regenerative earth practices. Together, they have written a book called Journey to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Led Us to Harmony and Well-Being, which will come out in October. It's available for preorder now, you should definitely check it out. Dr. Woodley also released children's books called Harmony Tree.In our conversation, we talk about what he thinks is the key reason Western Christians have such a hard time following Jesus well, the centrality of love in everything we do as followers of Jesus, the importance of this year's elections to marginalize people, and Dr. Woodley's new books, and just a lot more.Sy Hoekstra: His essay in our book was originally published in Sojourners. It was one of the very few not original essays we had in the book, but it's called “The Fullness Thereof,” and that will be available in the show notes. I'll link to that along with a link to all the books that Jonathan just said and everything else. We're also going to be doing a new segment that we introduced in our bonus episodes, if you were listening to those, called Which Tab Is Still Open?, where we do a little bit of a deeper dive into one of the recommendations from our newsletter. So this week, it will be on The Attack on Black History in schools, a conversation with Jelani Cobb and Nikole Hannah-Jones. It was a really great thing to listen to. That'll be in the show notes to hear our thoughts on it after the interview.Jonathan Walton: Absolutely. And friends, we need your help. We're going into a new phase of KTF, and as you know, this is a listener supported show. So everything we do at KTF to help people leave the idols of America and seek Jesus and confront injustice is only possible because you are supporting us. And in this next phase, we need a lot more supporters. So we've been doing this show, and all of our work in KTF as kind of a side project for a few years, but we want to make it more sustainable. So if you've ever thought about subscribing and you can afford it, please go to and sign up now. And if you can't afford it, all you got to do is email us and we'll give you a free discounted subscription. No questions asked, because we want everyone to have access to our content, bonus episode, and the subscriber community features.So if you can afford it, please do go to www.ktfpress.com, subscribe and make sure these conversations can continue, and more conversations like it can be multiplied. Thanks in advance. Oh, also, because of your support, our newsletter is free right now. So if you can't be a paid subscriber, go and sign up for the free mailing list at www.ktfpress.com and get our media recommendations every week in your inbox, along with things that are helping us stay grounded and hopeful as we engage with such difficult topics at the intersection of church and politics, plus all the news and everything going on with us at KTF. So, thank you so, so much for the subscribers we already have. Thanks in advance for those five-star reviews, they really do help us out, and we hope to see you on www.ktfpress.com as subscribers. Thanks.Sy Hoekstra: Let's get into the interview, I have to issue an apology. I made a rookie podcasting mistake and my audio sucks. Fortunately, I'm not talking that much in this interview [laughter]. Randy Woodley is talking most of the time, and his recording comes to you from his home recording studio. So that's nice. I'll sound bad, but most of the time he's talking and he sounds great [Jonathan laughs]. So let's get right into it. Here's the interview.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]What Dualism Is, and How It's Infected the White ChurchJonathan Walton: So, Dr. Woodley, welcome to Shake The Dust. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much for contributing to our Anthology in the way that you contributed [laughs].Randy Woodley: I'm glad to be here. Thank you.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. Your essay, I mean, was really, really great. We're going to dive deep into it. But you wrote in the essay, the primary difference in the lens through which Western and indigenous Christians see the world is dualism. And so if you were able to just define what is dualism, and why is it a crucial thing for Western Christians to understand about our faith, that'd be great to kick us off.Randy Woodley: Yeah, except for I think I want to draw the line differently than the question you just asked.Jonathan Walton: Okay.Randy Woodley: When we say indigenous Christians, by and large, Christians who are Native Americans have been assimilated into a Western worldview. It's a battle, and there's lots of gradient, there's a gradient scale, so there's lots of degrees of that. But by and large, because of the assimilation efforts of missionaries and churches and Christianity in general, our Native American Christians would probably veer more towards a Western worldview. But so I want to draw that line at traditional indigenous understandings as opposed to indigenous Christian understandings. Okay. So, yeah, Platonic Dualism is just a sort of… I guess to make it more personal, I started asking the question a long time ago, like what's wrong with White people [Sy laughs]? So that's a really valid question, a lot of people ask it, right? But then I kind of got a little more sophisticated, and I started saying, well, then what is whiteness? What does that mean? And then tracing down whiteness, and a number of deep studies and research, and trying to understand where does whiteness really come from, I really ended up about 3000 years ago with the Platonic Dualism, and Western civilization and the Western worldview. And so Plato of course was the great dualist, and he privileged the ethereal over the material world, and then he taught his student, Aristotle. So just to be clear for anybody who, I don't want to throw people off with language. So the thing itself is not the thing, is what Plato said, it's the idea of what the thing is. And so what he's doing is splitting reality. So we've got a holistic reality of everything physical, everything ethereal, et cetera. So Plato basically split that and said, we privilege and we are mostly about what we think about things, not what actually exists an our physical eyes see, or any senses understand. So that split reality… and then he taught Aristotle, and I'm going to make this the five-minute crash course, or two minutes maybe would be better for this [laughs]. Aristotle actually, once you create hierarchies in reality, then everything becomes hierarchical. So men become over women, White people become over Black people. Humans become over the rest of creation. So now we live in this hierarchical world that continues to be added to by these philosophers.Aristotle is the instructor, the tutor to a young man named Alexander, whose last name was The Great. And Alexander basically spreads this Platonic Dualism, this Greek thinking around the whole world, at that time that he could figure out was the world. It goes as far as North Africa and just all over the known world at that time. Eventually, Rome becomes the inheritor of this, and then we get the Greco-Roman worldview. The Romans try to improve upon it, but basically, they continue to be dualist. It gets passed on, the next great kingdom is Britain, Great Britain. And then of course America is the inheritor of that. So Great Britain produces these movements.In fact, between the 14th and 17th century, they have the Renaissance, which is a revival of all this Greek thinking, Roman, Greco-Roman worldview, architecture, art, poetry, et cetera. And so these become what we call now the classics, classic civilization. When we look at what's the highest form of civilization, we look back to, the Western worldview looks back to Greek and Greece and Rome and all of these, and still that's what's taught today to all the scholars. So, during this 14th to 17th century, there's a couple pretty big movements that happen in terms of the West. One, you have the enlightenment. The enlightenment doubles down on this dualism. You get people like René Descartes, who says, “I am a mind, but I just have a body.” You get Francis Bacon, who basically put human beings over nature. You get all of this sort of doubling down, and then you also have the birth of another, what I would call the second of the evil twins, and that is the Reformation. [exaggerated sarcastic gasp] I'll give the audience time to respond [laughter]. The Reformation also doubles down on this dualism, and it becomes a thing of what we think about theology, instead of what we do about theology. So I think I've said before, Jesus didn't give a damn about doctrine. So it became not what we actually do, but what we think. And so the Europeans were so set in this dualistic mindset that they began to kill each other over what they consider to be correct doctrine. So we had the religious wars all throughout Europe, and then they brought them to the United States. And here we fought by denomination, so just like, “Well, I'm going to start another denomination. And I'm going to start another one from that, because I disagree with you about who gets baptized in what ways, and at what time,” and all of those kinds of things.So doctrine then, what we think about, and theology becomes what we're thinking about. And it becomes completely disembodied, to the point now where the church is just looked at mostly with disdain, because it doesn't backup the premises that it projects. So it talks about Jesus and love and all of these things. And yet it's not a reflection of that, it's all about having the correct beliefs, and we think that's what following Jesus is. So when I'm talking about Platonic Dualism, I'm talking about something deeply embedded in our worldview. Not just a thought, not just a philosophy, but a whole worldview. It's what we see as reality. And so my goal is to convert everyone from a Western worldview, which is not sustainable, and it will not project us into the future in a good way, to a more indigenous worldview.Dr. Woodley's Influences, and How He's Influenced OthersSy Hoekstra: So let's talk about that effort then, because you have spent effectively decades trying to do just that.Randy Woodley: Exactly.Sy Hoekstra: Working with both indigenous and non-indigenous people. So tell us what some of the good fruit that you see as you disciple people out of this dualistic thinking?Randy Woodley: I feel like that question is supposed to be answered by the people I effected at my memorial service, but…Sy Hoekstra: [laughter] Well, you can answer for yourself.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, I mean…Randy Woodley: Yeah, I mean, it's a bit braggadocious if I start naming names and all those kinds of things [Sy laughs]. I would just say that I've had influence in people's lives along with other influences. And now, I mean, first of all when I look back, I look and the most important thing to me is my children know I love them with all my heart and I did the best I could with them. And then secondly, the people who I taught became my friends. And the people I've mentored became my friends and I'm still in relationship with so many of them. That's extremely important to me. That's as important as anything else. And then now I look and I see there's people and they've got podcasts and they've got organizations and they've got denominations and they're... I guess overall, the best thing that I have done to help other people over the years is to help them to ask good questions in this decolonization effort and this indigenous effort. So yeah, I've done a little bit over the years.Sy Hoekstra: [laughs] How about for yourself? Because I don't think, I think one of the reasons you started asking these questions was to figure things out for yourself. What fruit have you seen in your own “walk,” as evangelicals might put it?Randy Woodley: Well, I think as you get older, you get clarity. And you also realize that people who have influenced you, and I think about a lot of people in my life. Some I've met, some I've never met. Some you've probably never heard of. People like Winkie Pratney, and John Mohawk and John Trudell, and public intellectuals like that. And then there's the sort of my some of my professors that helped me along the way like Ron Sider and Tony Campolo, and Samuel Escobar and Manfred Brauch. And just a whole lot of people I can look back, Jean [inaudible], who took the time to build a relationship and helped me sort of even in my ignorance, get out of that. And I think one of the first times this happened was when I was doing my MDiv, and someone said to me, one of my professors said to me, “You need to see this through your indigenous eyes.” And I was challenged. It was like, “Oh! Well then, what eyes am I seeing this through?” And then I began to think about that. The thing about decolonizing, is that once you start pulling on that thread the whole thing comes unraveled. So yeah.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, I think like, just to speak a little bit to your impact, I think something you said to someone that was said to me, was like we're all indigenous to somewhere. And the importance of looking upstream to see how we're influenced to be able to walk into the identity that God has called us to. Including the people who led me to faith being like Ashley Byrd, Native Hawaiian, being able to call me out of a dualist way of thinking and into something more holistic, and now having multi-ethnic children myself being able to speak to them in an indigenous way that connects them to a land and a people has been really transformative for me.Randy Woodley: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. See? Right there.Love and Vulnerability are Central to Christian LifeJonathan Walton: [laughs] Yeah. And with that, you make a point of saying that you're somebody who works hard to speak difficult truths in a way that is loving and acceptable to everybody. I would say that's like Jesus, right? To be able to speak hard truths and yet people are curious and want to know more even though they're challenged. And so why, I could guess, and I'm sure people would fill in the blanks. But like if you had to say why that's important to you, what would you say?Randy Woodley: Well, I mean, love's the bottom line of everything. If I'm not loving the people I'm with, then I'm a hypocrite. I'm not living up to what I'm speaking about. So the bottom line to all of this shalom, understanding dualism, changing worldviews, is love. And so love means relationship. It means being vulnerable. I always say God is the most vulnerable being who exists. And if I'm going to be the human that the creator made me to be, then I have to be vulnerable. I have to risk and I have to trust and I have to have courage and love, and part of that is building relationships with people. So I think, yeah, if… in the old days, we sort of had a group of Native guys that hung around together, me and Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, Ray Aldred, Adrian Jacobs. We all sort of had a role. Like, we called Richard our talking head. So he was the best communicator and funniest and he was out there doing speaking for all of us. And my role that was put on me was the angry Indian. So I was the one out there shouting it down and speaking truth to power and all that. And over the years, I realized that that's okay. I still do that. And I don't know that I made a conscious decision or if I just got older, but then people start coming up to me and saying things like, “Oh, you say some really hard things, but you say it with love.” And I'm like, “Oh, okay. Well, I'll take that.” So I just became this guy probably because of age, I don't know [laughs] and experience and seeing that people are worth taking the extra time to try and communicate in a way that doesn't necessarily ostracize them and make them feel rejected.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, that definitely makes sense. I think there's all these iterations of the last 50 years of people trying to say, “Hey, love across difference. Hey, love across difference.” And there's these iterations that come up. So I hope a lot of people get older faster to be able, you know [laughter].Randy Woodley: I think we're all getting older faster in this world we're in right now.Jonathan Walton: It's true. Go ahead Sy.The Importance of Voters' Choices to marginalized PeopleSy Hoekstra: Yeah. So we had another interview that we did, kind of about Middle East politics, as we're thinking about the election coming up. And one of the points we hit on that we've talked about before on this show is that to a lot of people in the Middle East or North Africa, whoever gets elected in the US, it doesn't necessarily make the biggest difference in the world. There's going to be drones firing missiles, there's going to be governments being manipulated by the US. America is going to do what America is going to do in the Middle East regardless. And I assume to a certain degree, tell me if I'm wrong, that that might be how a lot of indigenous people think about America. America is going to do what America is going to do regardless of who's in power, broadly speaking at least. What do you think about when you look at the choices in front of us this November? How do you feel about it? Like what is your perspective when you're actually thinking about voting?Randy Woodley: Yeah, that's a really good question. And I understand I think, how people in other countries might feel, because Americans foreign policy is pretty well based on America first and American exceptionalism, and gaining and maintaining power in the world. And I think that makes little difference. But in domestic affairs, I think it makes a whole lot of difference. Native Americans, much like Black Americans are predominantly Democrats and there's a reason for that. And that is because we're much more likely to not have our funding to Indian Health Service cut off in other things that we need, housing grants and those kinds of things. And there's just such a difference right now, especially in the domestic politics. So I mean, the Republicans have basically decided to abandon all morals and follow a narcissistic, masochistic, womanizing… I mean, how many—criminal, et cetera, and they've lost their minds.And not that they have ever had the best interest of the people at the bottom of the social ladder in mind. Because I mean, it was back in the turnaround when things changed a long time ago that there was any way of comparing the two. But ever since Reagan, which I watched, big business wins. And so right now, we live in a corporatocracy. And yes, there are Democrats and the Republicans involved in that corporatocracy, but you will find many more Democrats on the national scale who are for the poor and the disenfranchised. And that's exactly what Shalom is about. It's this Shalom-Sabbath-Jubilee construct that I call, that creates the safety nets. How do you know how sick a society is? How poor its safety nets are. So the better the safety nets, the more Shalom-oriented, Sabbath-Jubilee construct what I call it, which is exactly what Jesus came to teach.And look up four, that's his mission. Luke chapter four. And so, when we think about people who want to call themselves Christians, and they aren't concerned about safety nets, they are not following the life and words of Jesus. So you just have to look and say, yes, they'll always, as long as there's a two-party system, it's going to be the lesser of two evils. That's one of the things that's killing us, of course lobbyists are killing us and everything else. But this two-party system is really killing us. And as long as we have that, we're always going to have to choose the lesser of two evils. It's a very cynical view, I think, for people inside the United States to say, well, there's no difference. In fact, it's a ridiculous view. Because all you have to look at is policy and what's actually happened to understand that there's a large difference, especially if you're poor.And it's also a very privileged position of whiteness, of power, of privilege to be able to say, “Oh, it doesn't matter who you vote for.” No, it matters to the most disenfranchised and the most marginalized people in our country. But I don't have a strong opinion about that. [laughter]Jonathan Walton: I think there's going to be a lot of conversation about that very point. And I'm prayerful, I'm hopeful, like we tried to do with our Anthology like other groups are trying to do, is to make that point and make it as hard as possible that when we vote it matters, particularly for the most disenfranchised people. And so thank you for naming the “survival vote,” as black women in this country call it.Dr. Woodley's new books, and Where to Find His Work OnlineJonathan Walton: And so all of that, like we know you're doing work, we know things are still happening, especially with Eloheh and things like that. But I was doing a little Googling and I saw like you have a new book coming out [laughs]. So I would love to hear about the journey that… Oh, am I saying that right, Eloheh?Randy Woodley: It's Eloheh [pronounced like “ay-luh-hay”], yeah.Jonathan Walton: Eloheh. So I would love to hear more about your new book journey to Eloheh, as well as where you want people to just keep up with your stuff, follow you, because I mean, yes, the people downstream of you are pretty amazing, but the spigot is still running [laughter]. So can you point us to where we can find your stuff, be able to hang out and learn? That would be a wonderful thing for me, and for others listening.Randy Woodley: Well, first of all, I have good news for the children. I have three children's books that just today I posted on my Facebook and Insta, that are first time available. So this is The Harmony Tree Trilogy. So in these books are about not only relationships between host people and settler peoples, but each one is about sort of different aspects of dealing with climate change, clear cutting, wildfires, animal preservation, are the three that I deal with in this trilogy. And then each one has other separate things. Like the second one is more about empowering women. The third one is about children who we would call, autistic is a word that's used. But in the native way we look at people who are different differently than the West does: as they're specially gifted. And this is about a young man who pre-contact and his struggle to find his place in native society. And so yeah, there's a lot to learn in these books. But yeah, so my wife and I…Sy Hoekstra: What's the target age range for these books?Randy Woodley: So that'd be five to 11.Jonathan Walton: Okay, I will buy them, thank you [laughter]Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Randy Woodley: But adults seem to really love them too. So I mean, people have used them in church and sermons and all kinds of things. Then the book that Edith and I wrote is called Journey to Eloheh, how indigenous values bring harmony and well-being. And it's basically our story. The first two chapters really deal, the first chapter deals more in depth of this dualism construct. And the second one really deals with my views on climate change, which are unlike anybody else's I know. And then we get into our stories, but I wanted to set a stage of why it's so important. And then Edith's story, and then my story and then our story together. And then how we have tried to teach these 10 values as we live in the world and teach and mentor and other things and raise our children.So, yeah, the journey to Eloheh, that's all people have to remember. It's going to be out in October, eighth I think.Jonathan Walton: Okay.Randy Woodley: And we're really excited about it. I think it's the best thing I've written up to this date. And I know it's the best thing my wife's written because this is her first book [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Awesome.Sy Hoekstra: That's great.Randy Woodley: Yeah, so we're proud of that. And then yeah, people can go to www.eloheh.org. That's E-L-O-H-E-H.org and sign up for our newsletter. You can follow me on Instagram, both @randywoodley7 and @eloheh/eagleswings. And the same with Facebook. We all have Facebook pages and those kinds of things. So yeah, and then Twitter. I guess I do something on Twitter every now and then [laughter]. And I have some other books, just so you know.Sy Hoekstra: Just a couple.Jonathan Walton: I mean a few. A few pretty great ones. [laughs] Well on behalf of me and Sy, and the folks that we influence. Like I've got students that I've pointed toward you over the years through the different programs that we run,Randy Woodley: Thank you.Jonathan Walton: and one of them is… two of them actually want to start farms and so you'll be hearing from them.Randy Woodley: Oh, wow. That's good.Jonathan Walton: And so I'm just…Randy Woodley: We need more small farms.Jonathan Walton: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Places where stewardship is happening and it is taught. And so, super, super grateful for you. And thanks again for being on Shake the Dust. We are deeply grateful.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Randy Woodley: Yeah, thank you guys. Nice to be with you.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Sy's and Jonathan's Thoughts After the InterviewJonathan Walton: So, wow. That was amazing. Coming out of that time, I feel like I'm caring a lot. So Sy, why don't you go first [laughs], what's coming up for you?Sy Hoekstra: We sound a little starstruck when we were talking to him. It's kind of funny actually.Jonathan Walton: Absolutely.Sy Hoekstra: I don't know. Yeah, I don't know if people know, in our world, he's sort of a big deal [laughter]. And we have, neither of us have met him before so that was a lot of fun.Jonathan Walton: No, that's true.Sy Hoekstra: I think it was incredible how much like in the first five minutes, him summing up so much about Western theology and culture that I have taken like, I don't know, 15 years to learn [laughs]. And he just does it so casually and so naturally. There's just like a depth of wisdom and experience and thinking about this stuff there that I really, really appreciate. And it kind of reminded me of this thing that happened when Gabrielle and I were in law school. Gabrielle is my wife, you've heard her speak before if you listen to the show. She was going through law school, as she's talked about on the show from a Haitian-American, or Haitian-Canadian immigrant family, grew up relatively poor, undocumented.And just the reasons that she's gotten into the law are so different. And she comes from such a different background than anybody who's teaching her, or any of the judges whose cases she's reading. And she's finding people from her background just being like, “What are we doing here? Like how is this relevant to us, how does this make a difference?” And we went to this event one time that had Bryan Stevenson, the Capitol defense attorney who we've talked about before, civil rights attorney. And Sherrilyn Ifill, who at the time was the head of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund. And they were just, it was the complete opposite experience, like they were talking about all of her concerns. They were really like, I don't know, she was just resonating with everything that they were saying, and she came out of it, and she goes, “It's just so good to feel like we have leaders.” Like it's such a relief to feel like you actually have wiser people who have been doing this and thinking about this for a long time and actually have the same concerns that you do. And that is how I feel coming out of our conversation with Randy Woodley. Like in the church landscape that we face with all the crises and the scandals and the lack of faithfulness and the ridiculous politics and everything, it is just so good to sit down and talk to someone like him, where I feel like somebody went ahead of me. And he's talking about the people who went ahead of him, and it just it's relieving. It is relieving to feel like you're almost sort of part of a tradition [laughter], when you have been alienated from the tradition that you grew up in, which is not the same experience that you've had, but that's how I feel.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. I mean, I think for me, coming out of the interview, one of the things I realized is similar. I don't have very many conversations with people who are older than me, that are more knowledgeable than me, and have been doing this work longer than me all at the same time. I know people who are more knowledgeable, but they're not actively involved in the work. I know people that are actively involved in the work, but they've been in the silos for so long, they haven't stepped out of their box in ten years. But so to be at that intersection of somebody who is more knowledgeable about just the knowledge, like the historical aspects, theological aspect, and then that goes along with the practical applications, like how you do it in your life and in the lives of other people. He's like the spiritual grandfather to people that I follow.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: [laughter] So it's like, so I think you said it, like we were a little starstruck. I do think I was very conscious of being respectful, which I think is not new for me, but it is a space that I don't often inhabit. And I think that's something that has been frustrating for me, just honestly like the last few years, is that the pastoral aspect of the work that we do, is severely lacking.Sy Hoekstra: When you say the pastoral aspect of the work that we do, you mean like, in the kind of activist-y Christian space, there just aren't a ton of pastors [laughs]?Jonathan Walton: Yes. And, so for example, like I was in a cohort, and I was trying to be a participant. And so being a participant in the cohort, I expected a certain level of pastoring to happen for me. And that in hindsight was a disappointment. But I only realized that after sitting down with somebody like Randy, where it's like, I'm not translating anything. He knows all the words. He knows more words than me [Sy laughs]. I'm not contextualizing anything. So I think that was a reassuring conversation. I think I felt the same way similarly with Ron Sider, like when I met him. He's somebody who just knows, you know what and I mean? I feel that way talking with Lisa Sharon Harper. I feel that way talking with Brenda Salter McNeil. I feel that way talking with people who are just a little further down the road.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah. Lisa's not that much older than us [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Well, is she?Sy Hoekstra: You compared her to Ron Sider. I'm like, “That's a different age group, Jonathan” [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Well, I don't mean age. I do mean wisdom and experience.Sy Hoekstra: Right. Yeah, totally.Jonathan Walton: Yes, Ron Sider was very old [laughs]. And actually, Ron Sider is actually much older than Randy Woodley [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: That's also true. That's a good point.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, right. Ron Sider is, when the Anthology came out, he was legit 45 years older than us, I think.Sy Hoekstra: And he very kindly, endorsed, and then passed away not that long afterwards.Jonathan Walton: He did, he did.Sy Hoekstra: He was such an interesting giant in a lot of ways to people all over the political spectrum [laughs]…Jonathan Walton: Yes, right.Sy Hoekstra: …who just saw something really compelling in his work.Which Tab Is Still Open? Legislators Restricting Teaching about Race in SchoolsSy Hoekstra: So Jonathan, all right, from our recent newsletter recommendations. Here's the new segment, guys. Jonathan, which tab is still open?Jonathan Walton: Yes. So the tab that's still open is this article and podcast episode from The New Yorker, featuring a conversation with Columbia School of Journalism Dean, Jelani Cobb, and Nikole Hannah-Jones from Howard University and the 1619 project. They talked about the attack on Black history in schools. And so there's just two thoughts that I want to give. And one of them is that there are very few conversations where you can get a broad overview of what an organized, sustained resistance to accurate historical education looks like, and they do that. Like they go all the way back and they come all the way forward, and you're like “expletive, this is not okay.” [Sy laughs] Right? So, I really appreciated that. Like, yes, you could go and read Angela Crenshaw's like Opus work. Yes, you could go…Sy Hoekstra: You mean, Kimberlé Crenshaw [laughs]?Jonathan: Oh, I mixed, Angela Davis and Kimber… Well, if they were one person, that would be a powerful person [Sy laughs]. But I do mean Kimberlé Crenshaw, no offense to Angela Davis. I do mean Kimberlé Crenshaw. You could go get that book. You could go listen to Ta-Nehisi Coates testimony in front of Congress on reparations. Like these long things, but like this conversation pulls a lot of threads together in a really, really helpful, compelling way. And so that's one thing that stood out to me. The second thing is I think I have to acknowledge how fearful and how grateful it made me. I am afraid of what's going to happen in 20 years, when children do not know their history in these states. And I'm grateful that my daughter will know hers because she goes to my wife's school in New York.And so, I did not know that I would feel that sense of fear and anxiety around like, man, there's going to be generations of people. And this is how it continues. There's going to be another generation of people who are indoctrinated into the erasure of black people. And the erasure of native people in the erasure of just narratives that are contrary to race-based, class-based, gender-based environmental hierarchies. And that is something that I'm sad about. And with KTF and other things, just committed to making sure that doesn't happen as best as we possibly can, while also being exceptionally grateful that my children are not counted in that number of people that won't know. So I hold those two things together as I listened to just the wonderful wisdom and knowledge that they shared from. What about you Sy? What stood out for you?White People Should Take Responsibility for Their Feelings Instead of Banning Uncomfortable TruthsSy Hoekstra: Narrowly, I think one really interesting point that Jelani Cobb made was how some of these book bans and curriculum reshaping and everything that's happening are based on the opposite reasoning of the Supreme Court in Brown versus Board of Education [laughs]. So what he meant by that was, basically, we have to ban these books and we have to change this curriculum, because White kids are going to feel bad about being White kids. And what Brown versus Board of Education did was say we're going to end this idea of separate but equal in the segregated schools because there were they actually, Thurgood Marshall and the people who litigated the case brought in all this science or all the psychological research, about how Black children in segregated schools knew at a very young age that they were of lower status, and had already associated a bunch of negative ideas with the idea of blackness.And so this idea that there can be separate but equal doesn't hold any water, right? So he was just saying we're doing what he called the opposite, like the opposite of the thinking from Brown versus Board of Education at this point. But what I was thinking is like the odd similarity is that both these feelings of inferiority come from whiteness, it's just that like, one was imposed by the dominant group on to the minoritized group. Basically, one was imposed by White people on to Black people, and the other is White people kind of imposing something on themselves [laughs]. Like you are told that your country is good and great and the land of the free and the home of the brave. And so when you learn about history that might present a different narrative to you, then you become extremely uncomfortable.And you start to not just become extremely uncomfortable, but also feel bad about yourself as an individual. And White people, there are so many White people who believe that being told that the race to which you belong has done evil things, that means that you as an individual are a bad person, which is actually just a personal emotional reaction that not all white people are going to have. It's not like, it isn't a sure thing. And I know that because I'm a White person who does not have that reaction [laughter]. I know that with 100 percent certainty. So it's just interesting to me, because it really raised this point that Scott Hall talks about a lot. That people need to be responsible for our own feelings. We don't need to legislate a new reality of history for everybody else in order to keep ourselves comfortable.We need to say, “Why did I had that emotional reaction, and how can I reorient my sense of identity to being white?” And that is what I came out of this conversation with, is just White people need to take responsibility for our identity, our psychological identity with our own race. And it comes, it's sort of ironic, I think, that conservative people who do a lot of complaining about identity politics, or identitarianism, or whatever they call it, that's what's happening here. This is a complete inability to separate yourself psychologically from your White identity. That's what makes you feel so uncomfortable in these conversations. And so take responsibility for who you are White people [laughs].Just who you are as an individual, who you are as your feelings, take responsibility for yourself.There's a great book that my dad introduced me to a while back called A Race Is a Nice Thing to Have: A Guide to Being White or Understanding the White Persons in Your Life [laughter]. And it's written by this black, female psychologist named Janet Helms. It's H-E-L-M-S. But it's pronounced “Helmiss.” And she just has dedicated her career to understanding how White people shape their identities. And she has so, like such a wealth of knowledge about different stages of white identity formation, and has all these honestly kind of funny little quizzes in the book that she updates every few, there's like a bunch of editions of this book, that it's like asking you, “What do you think is best for America?” The campaign and ideas of this politician or this one or this one. And she asks you a bunch of questions and from there tells you where you are in your White identity formation [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Wow. That's amazing.Sy Hoekstra: It's really, “how would you feel if somebody said this about White people?” whatever. Tons of different questions, it's kind of like taking a personality test, but it's about you and your race [laughs]. That's just a resource that I would offer to people as a way to do what this conversation reminded me my people all very much need to do.Jonathan Walton: Amen.Sy Hoekstra: I just talked for a long time, Jonathan, we need to end. But do you have any thoughts [laughs]?Jonathan Walton: No. I was just going to say this podcast is a great 101 and a great 301.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: Like it spans the spectrum. So please do if you haven't, go listen to the podcast. Yeah, just check it out. It's very, very good.Outro and OuttakeSy Hoekstra: We will have that in the show notes along with all the other links of everything that we had today. Okay, that's our first full episode of season four. We're so glad that you could join us. This was a great one full of a lot of great stuff. Our theme song as always is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra. Our podcast art is by Robyn Burgess. The show is produced by all of you, our lovely subscribers, and our transcripts are by Joyce Ambale. Thank you all so much for listening, we will see you in two weeks with the great Brandi Miller.[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.]Randy Woodley: You know, I think I've said before Jesus didn't give a damn about doctrine. Excuse me. Jesus didn't give a darn about doctrine. I don't know if that'll go through or not.[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

Season four starts next week! Hear Jonathan and Sy talk about:-            What to expect this year from the show during this election cycle-            A reintroduction to everything KTF does, and why we do it-            How we really, genuinely need your support right now, and ways you can helpCredits-        Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our newsletter and bonus episodes 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.-        Production, editing, and transcript by Sy Hoekstra.TranscriptWhat's Coming in Season Four[An acoustic guitar softly plays six notes, the first three ascending and the last three descending — F#, B, F#, 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.” After a brief pause, the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting injustice! I'm Sy HoekstraJonathan Walton: And I'm Jonathan Walton. Welcome to season 4!Sy Hoekstra: We are so excited to have you here. We're going to be doing something very special for this season during this presidential election cycleJonathan Walton: Yes, we're going back to our roots. The first thing we did with the company that makes this podcast, KTF Press, was publish an anthology in 2020 called Keeping the Faith. It had 36 authors writing political theology and personal stories to explain their opposition to Christian support for Donald Trump.Sy Hoekstra: We called it an anthology of dissent, a record of resistance toward the church's political witness in America. And our guests this season are going to be authors from that book, talking about what they wrote and how they're thinking about their faith and the political landscape now.Jonathan Walton: You've heard some of the writers from the book on this show before, like Dani Espiritu, Scott Hall, and Wissam Al-Saliby. And we're excited to bring you Dr. Randy Woodley, Brandi Miller, Mark Scandrette, Rasool Berry, and many more this season. The first episode is dropping this upcoming Friday, May 24, with Dr. Woodley.Sy Hoekstra: We've recorded some of these already, and we're really excited to get them to you in the coming months.What We Do at KTF, and WhySy Hoekstra: But before we jump into this season, we want to give you all a bit of a refresher on what exactly it is we do at KTF Press and why we do it. And the reason that we want to tell you all that is because we really need your support right now.Jonathan Walton: That's right. We do everything that we do to help people seek Jesus, confront injustice, and resist the idols of the American church that got us to the religious and political mess we're in right now. This show is all about hearing personal stories and informed discussions to help you do just that.Sy Hoekstra: And our weekly newsletter is where we curate media to help you in your discipleship and learning about politics and policy. You get commentary from us on issues important to our national discourse, and we also give you something each week to help you stay grounded and hopeful. Plus, you get news about what's going on with us at KTF, previews of this show, and a whole lot more.Jonathan Walton: We also write articles on similar subjects for our website, we have the anthology, and Tamice Spencer-Helms' incredible memoir we published last year, Faith Unleavened, about how White Jesus nearly destroyed her faith, and how she left him behind to find her way to liberation and the real Jesus.Sy Hoekstra: And we do all this with a couple things in mind. First, we always pay the most attention to marginalized voices, the people who our society oppresses and pushes to the side. We had a whole discussion on this in our very first episode, so if you want to learn more, you can always listen to that. But simply put, The opinions of people who a society favors get the most airtime, but people who a society harms and ignores actually have the clearest insight about the character of that society. And so if you want to understand the world around you better, you have to talk to marginalized people. Plus, God's ministry throughout the Bible is primarily directed toward the poor and oppressed, and his disciples primarily come from them. So you just have to train yourself to learn from people whose perspectives come from that angle on the world if you want to follow Jesus.Jonathan Walton: Another value of ours is trying to be both kind and humane toward people we disagree with, while remaining uncompromising about our own views. We believe, despite all the evidence on the internet to the contrary, that this is in fact possible [Sy chuckles]. But it requires a lot of intentional growth in the area of emotional health, so we talk a lot about that too.Sy Hoekstra: The good thing is, we've been practicing all this for a long time. We have been friends for 18 years now, talking and learning about these subjects together, and having our own sometimes very strong disagreements. We have had to learn how to talk across lines of difference with each other in real time as friends and followers of Jesus. Fortunately, we have been able to do that in communities with friends and mentors who are doing the same thing. On top of that, Jonathan has been doing justice ministry for well over a decade, and my career before this was in law and advocacy, and we want to just share all of this experience with you.We Need Your Support to Keep KTF RunningJonathan Walton: So, if all that sounds like something you can get behind, here is our ask of you. We need you to go to KTFPress.com and become a paid subscriber to our Substack. We have to get more subscribers if we're going to keep this going. So, if you can afford it, please subscribe. If you can't, just write to us at info@ktfpress.com and we'll give you a free or discounted subscription, whatever you want, no questions asked. Because we want as many people as possible to have access. But if you can, please go to KTFPress.com and sign up. On top of supporting what we do, you get access to all our many bonus episodes, and coming soon, monthly subscriber chats with me and Sy. Also, if you're already a paid subscriber, consider upgrading to our founding member tier, which will immediately get you a free book.Sy Hoekstra: We've been doing all this podcasting and writing and book publishing as a side project for a while now, and we have some incredible subscribers supporting what we do. And they are covering the costs of what it takes to produce this show, to keep the websites running, and pay a bunch of our regular business expenses. We actually would not be here without them. But we've kept those expenses very low. I don't know if you know, but we're not recording this from KTF Press Studios, right next door to NPR. This company is two people with some basic sound equipment that our subscribers paid for, and our laptops. We occasionally get help from other people with laptops. We work in whatever room is available in our homes that are full of other people. At least once, that room was my closet.Jonathan Walton: [laughs]The point is this might sometimes sound like an established operation, but it's a little scrappier than you think. And I think you would agree work like this should not be a side project.Sy Hoekstra: To be fully transparent, I cannot afford to keep doing this as a side project. Jonathan does this work around his full-time job, but if I'm going to keep putting as much time into this as I do, which is a lot, I'm going to have to stop working for free.Jonathan Walton: So here's what we're doing. We're leveling up our branding and designs. You may have seen that on our website and in our emails. We'll also be doing some advertising, and of course continuing to put our best work here. But we need you to do your part!Sy Hoekstra: Jonathan, how many paid subscribers do we have right now?Jonathan about 120.Sy Hoekstra: And how many do we want to have by the end of this year?Jonathan Walton: One thousand! [laughs]Sy Hoekstra: So we have just a few more to go. Please, please go to KTFPress.com and sign up. Don't wait.Jonathan Walton: And there are a few free things you can do apart from subscribing. That newsletter we mentioned is free, so sign up for our free mailing list if you can't become a paid subscriber, and forward that thing so many times. That's also at KTFPress.comSy Hoekstra: You can also give this show a five-star review on Apple or Spotify, and say something nice about us in a review if you're on Apple Podcasts. You can also like our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram and Threads. But to reiterate, the most important thing we need you to do is go to KTFPress.com and become a paid subscriber. By the way, cool new trick. If you're listening to this on Spotify, just go back to the bonus episode right before this one in the feed, click the button to unlock that episode, and it will take you right where you need to go to Subscribe.Outro and OuttakeJonathan Walton: Alright everyone, thank you so much for listening. Once again, we're starting season 4 this upcoming Friday, May 24, with Dr. Randy Woodley. We will see you then![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: Okay, [singing a made-up tune] let me hit the button to stop this recording.Jonathan Walton: [commanding, in an English accent] Cease recording. Immediately.Sy Hoekstra: [with fake dramatic anger] Cease it now! 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

In this episode, Bo reflects on his own deconstruction story, the pace of spiritual change in America, and drops a sweet audiological image. Tripp pitches his deconstruction typology and gets Bo to power rank 3 different theologians’ definition of theology. Check out Bo's webpage and his podcast with Randy Woodley, Peacing it All Together. Bo’s… Read more about What’s Your Theological Sample Rate?

Tripp and Bo nerd out and discuss preaching the atonement, liturgical frames, baking bread with kids, theological shoewear, and a Styper-themed show-and-tell. Check out Bo's webpage and his podcast with Randy Woodley, Peacing it All Together. Bo’s new podcast exploring the legacy of his Father Dr. Martin Sanders can be found here. JOIN our next class,… Read more about Reversing the Goat & Baking Bread on Theology Nerd Throwdown

Killers of the Flower Moon is getting a lot of attention in awards season - and a lot of praise for its depiction of Native Americans. But Dr. Randy Woodley, Indigenous screenwriter and activist, cautious us against rushing to heap praise upon Martin Scorsese's latest. We welcome Randy to share his experience in the film industry and how he has navigated the conversations around this film.  Connect with Dr. Randy Woodly:Eloheh.org randywoodley.com Sho-kee.com

Dr. Randy Woodley, professor, scholar, farmer, and indigenous American, speaks of indigenous ways of leading that seem, on the surface, to be counter-intuitive, and yet as we sit with them, we see how resonate with Jesus' teachings they are. We are so curious what you think as you listen. What do we have to learn from indigenous cultures about leading in this season? What old patterns do we need to let go of, and new postures embrace? Where are you finding yourself renewed in your leadership and in your spirit? As always, we pray this conversation will spark a new imagination for you and for your ministry and if it does, please share with a colleague and leave us a review.In this conversation, you'll hear:Difficult truths related to eco-justice, diversity, racial justice.The gifts of indigenous spirituality and indigenous worldview.Why becoming rooted in the earth is essential.A decolonized approach to Christianity and church leadership.About Randy WoodleyDr. Randy Woodley addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, race, our relationship with the earth, and Indigenous realities. He recently retired as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at Portland Seminary, Portland Oregon. His expertise has been sought in national venues as diverse as Time Magazine, The New York Times, Politifact, Christianity Today, The Huffington Post, and Planet Drum: A Voice for Bioregional, Sustainability, Education, and Culture.Dr. Woodley earned a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies and remains active in ongoing discussions in a variety of areas concerning spirituality, earth-care, racial and ethnic identity, diversity, peace, social justice, eco-justice, interreligious dialogue, Indigenous studies, agriculture, and spirituality. Randy and his wife Edith, are the founders of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds. Through Eloheh they invite people to a new relationship with Creation and model sustainable farming practices and Earth justice. You can learn more about their work here. And more about their Cultural Consultant work at Sho-Kee here.Randy's most recent book, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Earth is available here.To view videos of podcast episodes, please go to the Igniting Imagination YouTube.Subscribe to our Learning and Innovation emails here. We send emails about each episode and include additional related resources related to the episode's topic. We know your inbox is inundated these days, we aim to send you content that is inspiring, innovative, and impactful for your life and ministry.If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts / iTunes?

Special Guest:Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, Author of Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred EarthGuest Question:In the modern day of technology, how do we connect with the Earth? How do we encourage people to connect to the Earth who might not have regular access to nature such as people living in urban areas or those who have grown up exclusively in the digital age? Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred EarthJourney to Eloheh: How Indigenous Values Lead Us to Harmony and Well-BeingFor Listening Guides, click here!Got a question for us? Send them to faithpodcast@pcusa.org! A Matter of Faith website

Becca De Souza and Carolyn Meers return for their podcast hat-trick and a rich and wide conversation around the questions emerging while trying to raise kids with faith....while trying to minimise the baggage. Resources mentioned at the end of this episode:'Telling God's Story, Pete Enns: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8432252-telling-god-s-story'Jesus Showed Us!' Brad Jersak: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1927512069?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_dp_8XH1009Q7C8KKA1HA3F4'Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints' https://www.holytroublemakers.com/Meredith Ann Miller: https://meredithannemiller.com/'Becoming Rooted: 100 days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth' Randy Woodley https://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Rooted-Hundred-Reconnecting-Sacred/dp/150647117XSign up to receive the Sunday Message:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/Join our online Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/spiritualmisfitspodcastSupport the pod:https://spiritualmisfits.com.au/support-us/Reach out to us by email: spiritualmisfits@outlook.com 

This episode of A People's Theology is sponsored by United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Receive a $1,000 scholarship when you apply and are admitted: unitedseminary.edu/apeoplestheology Mason chats with Randy Woodley about how to reconnect with sacred Earth. They chat about how our understanding of the Earth has been colonized, practices to reconnect with sacred Earth, and much more. Guest Bio/Info: Randy Woodley is an Indigenous theologian, activist, and author of many books including most recently Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth. Find Randy here: randywoodley.com Instagram: eloheheagleswings Facebook: facebook.com/RandyWoodleyAuthor Get connected to Mason: masonmennenga.com Patreon: patreon.com/masonmennenga Twitter: @masonmennenga Facebook: facebook.com/mason.mennenga Instagram: masonmennenga Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Randy S. Woodley is a Native American theologian, community builder, and seed farmer, and sees little difference between those vocations. We speak with him about the relationship between Christianity, Judaism, and Native American religion, the contrasts and similarities between indigenous and Western worldviews, why he thinks the Bible shouldn't have been translated into indigenous languages, and what a sweat lodge is like. He's a prolific author with a podcast of his own, as well as a down to earth guy (literally and theologically). The books discussed or mentioned in the episode are:Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview – Randy WoodleyShalom and the Community of Creation – Randy WoodleyMission and the Cultural Other – Randy WoodleyHealing the Soul Wound – Eduardo DuranThe bourbon we sampled in this episode is a New Riff Single Barrel Barrel Select store pick from Story Hill BKC.The beverage tasting is at 1:11. To skip to the main segment, go to 5:03.=====We need your help.If you value what we're doing and want us to continue, please consider supporting us through our winter giving campaign. The best way is to subscribe to our Patreon. Annual memberships are available for a 10% discount.If you'd rather make a one-time donation, you can contribute through our PayPal. Other important info: Rate & review us on Apple & Spotify Tweet us at @PPWBPodcast, @robertkwhitaker, and @RandyKnie Follow & message us on Facebook & Instagram Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Dr. Randy Woodley, author and teacher, has said: Jesus, properly understood as shalom, coming into the world from the shalom community of the Trinity, is the intention of God's once for-all mission. That is, the mission of birthing and restoring shalom to the world is in Christ, by Christ, and for the honor of Christ. That first Christmas marked the arrival of the Prince of Peace! Each subsequent one we commemorate and celebrate that arrival.

In this episode Forrest talks with Dr. Randy Woodley who, with his wife Edith, leads Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice. They'll be talking about that work, and about Randy's recent book, Indigenous Theology and the Western World View: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine.  Randy challenges mainstream Western churches to embrace and be changed by diverse perspectives; indigenous theology in particular challenges people to redefine the role of humankind as co-sustainers—not masters—of creation. Guest: Dr. Randy Woodley, Professor of Faith and Culture, Portland Seminary; Cofounder, Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & SeedsAuthor, Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian Doctrine, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred EarthMentions: Previous interviews with Dr. Woodley: Ep. 15 - Indigenizing Our Worldviews, Ep. 43 – Becoming Rooted Boarding schools/stolen generation of Indigenous children: articles from Universityof Nebraska-Lincoln and High Country News Hayward Lectures, Dr. Woodley's series Scripture reference: Genesis 2:15 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA Keywords: indigenous, theology, culture, decolonizing, indigenizing, western, worldview, colonial, equity, equality, agriculture, education, learning, center, faith, healing, land, church, climate change, stability, chaos, change, unity, diversity, story, creation, nature, earth, justice Circlewood.Donate. Join the Stand.

Book interview with Randy Woodley – “Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth”

We are excited to welcome back Dr. Randy Woodley. Randy's work addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, race, our relationship with the earth, and Indigenous realities. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at Portland Seminary, Portland Oregon. His expertise has been sought in national venues as diverse as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, The Huffington Post, and Planet Drum: A Voice for Bioregional, Sustainability, Education, and Culture. Randy identifies strongly with issues of eco-justice, diversity, and racial justice. He has found the sweet spot of sharing difficult truths, in the spirit of love and acceptance through his teaching. Randy's authentic and timely messages dig to the root of our own imbalanced and unjust systems in an effort to restore us all to ways of harmony. His new book is titled MISSION AND THE CULTURAL OTHER.This podcast was recorded on November 17th, 2022.

In this episode of Henri Nouwen, Now & Then, activist, scholar and Cherokee descendant Randy Woodley shares the good news of Indigenous Theology as a prescription to our modern, chaotic and self-centered world. * EPISODE PAGE: https://henrinouwen.org/listen/randy-woodley/ To PURCHASE "Becoming Rooted" by Randy Woodley Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/3rH8gIG Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3yq9vQ8 To PURCHASE "Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview" by Randy Woodley Amazon USA: https://amzn.to/3VaSsv9 Amazon Canada: https://amzn.to/3SOYxvG * For more books and references, go to the episode page above. ____________ * TO WATCH FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY "Journey of the Heart: The Life of Henri Nouwen": www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U8M1gx5Rk4&t=1808s * LISTEN on iTUNES: podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/henr…ty/id1468489942 * LISTEN on SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/show/2Cxu6BwtNHlzFT7RzlixWJ * WATCH the PODCAST on YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBQq1v0xQgQ&list=PLq385qyR7NY55D9LhJK5NW-5ERuN2XAH0 * TO SIGN-UP FOR FREE DAILY E-MEDITATIONS: henrinouwen.org/meditation/ * FOR HENRI NOUWEN SOCIETY CAREGIVING RESOURCES: henrinouwen.org/caregiving/ * MORE FREE RESOURCES: www.henrinouwen.org * READ HENRI NOUWEN BOOKS: henrinouwen.org/read/

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, Ph.D., is a farmer, activist/scholar, distinguished speaker, teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith/spirituality, justice, race/diversity, regenerative farming, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. He graduated from Asbury Seminary with a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies in 2010. His expertise has been sought in national venues such as Time Magazine, The Huffington Post and Christianity Today. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at Portland Seminary. Dr. Woodley was raised near Detroit, Michigan and is a Cherokee descendent recognized by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. He co-hosts the Peacing it all Together podcast with Bo Sanders. Dr. Woodley and his wife are co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds, a regenerative teaching center and farm in Yamhill, Oregon. The Woodleys have been innovators and activists for over three decades. They have four grown children and six grandchildren. He has authored nine books, all of which we'll link to in the show notes, in case you want to grab a copy. In today's conversation we talk about how he came to know Jesus, Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm and Seeds. We talk about his books and what we can learn from indigenous wisdom. Let's listen!

This episode is from November 2021's  Faith Forum on Creation Care & Colonization with special guests Randy Woodley, Sarah Augustine, Nicole Taylor Morris, and Avery Davis Lamb! To help sustain our work, you can donate here To check out what RLC is up to, please visit us www.redletterchristians.org  Follow us on Twitter: @RedLetterXians Instagram: @RedLetterXians Follow Shane on Instagram: @shane.claiborne Twitter: @ShaneClaiborne Common Hymnal information: https://commonhymnal.com/ 

"Mission and the Cultural Other is a decolonial critique of a too often failed missionary enterprise. Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, a former missionary and missiologist, writes both as an insider and an outsider. As an Indigenous person, a missionary among Native Americans, and a decolonial theologian with over thirty years of experience in various missionary movements, he has seen the best and worst that American mission has to offer. Before change can be made in a guarded system such as Christian mission, the critique must be pervasive and cut to the core of the problem. To truly understand the weakness of modern mission, we need to hear from those who have been its casualties." - From WIPF and Stock Publishers Use promo code TRUTH40  for 40% off your book purchase in the month of AUGUST.

Danielle's Fall Story Groups:  https://wayfindingtherapy.com/groupsEmail or Call for more information (danielle@wayfindingtherapy.com)Spiritual Abuse Story Group (with Kali Jensen)Women of Color CoHort (With Abby Wong-Heffter/Jen Oyama Murphy)Race and Story (with Kali Jensen)The Art of Living Narrative Training.https://artoflivingcounseling.com///trauma-focused-narrative-group-therapy/Participants will have an opportunity to further their skills and develop their unique artistry in engaging stories of trauma. Participant will be taught how to structure and run story groups in the context of therapy offices, church settings or small groups.To give towards the scholarship fund, contact Cyndi Mesmer at artofliving2@me.com . The Allender CenterOur professional trainings include conferences that grow your capacity to help clients pursue trauma recovery, consultation weekends to receive insight regarding your work with clients, or our full certificate program, which is designed to provide foundational teaching and training in The Allender Theory and experiential personal story work.To find out more, click here . Impact MovementThe Impact Movement equips Black students to become disciples of Jesus Christ who integrate their faith into every aspect of their life.Maggie's Fall Story Group: https://www.storiedlifecoaching.com/story-groupshttps://www.storiedlifecoaching.comMental Health Resources:Mental health crisis linesWashington Recovery Help Line: 1-866-789-1511 (24/7)https://www.hca.wa.gov/health-care-services-supports/behavioral-health-recovery/mental-health-crisis-linesNAMI HelpLinehttps://www.nami.org/helpMaggie is reading: Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story) by Daniel Nayeri. CORRECTION: He lived in Oklahoma, not Kansas.Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Maggie is listening to: Brené Brown's Audio book of Atlas of the Heart. Silence when possible.Maggie is inspired by: Flowers, especially peonies and roses grown locally.  Danielle is reading: What My Bones Know by Stephanie FooDanielle is listening to: Early 90's Rap, Silence and an occasional podcastDanielle is inspired by:  her kids  

Dr. Oord discusses Randy Woodley's book Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview.

How has colonization impacted the way we see God and salvation? Josh is joined by Dr. Randy Woodley to talk about his experiences as a Native American who has been actively decolonizing his faith for many years and teaching others to do so. He explains how, in many ways, Jesus was decolonial.

Spiritually Inspired show with Randy Woodley, author, activist, farmer.Randy was raised near Detroit, Michigan in a section of Ypsilanti called Willow Run. Randy is first generation college taught and maternally, a first generation non-coal miner. He earned a PhD in Intercultural Studies.  Dr. Woodley addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, race, and our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary.He and his wife Edith are the founders of ay-luh-HAY  Eloheh - Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Seeds. Through Eloheh they invite people to a new relationship with Creation and model sustainable farming practices and earth justice.https://www.randywoodley.com/Resources:www.claudiumurgan.comwww.patreon.com/claudiumurganclaudiu@claudiumurgan.comSubscribe for more videos! youtube.com/channel/UC6RlLkzUK_LdyRSV7DE6obQ

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley looks at Luke's story of Jesus' parents losing him on a trip to the Temple in Jerusalem. He reflects on the ways that we can find hope in our younger generations. We may not understand them, but, they are evidencing all kinds of changes in our usual way of being in the world and in religion. Dr. Woodley reflects on what it would mean for The Church to work at being open to the ways that they are already "about their Father's business".  They might not frame it that way.  Jesus did.Luke 2:41-52Image: Randy Woodley Resources:https://www.randywoodley.com/Interview about Randy's book  Becoming Rooted Interview about Randy's book that was read in the service  Harmony Tree 

Christine Valters Paintner is joined by author Claudia Love Mair for a series of video conversations. Each month they take up a new book by or about a voice of color. The community is invited to purchase and read the books in advance and participate actively in this journey of deepening, discovery, and transformation. What does it mean to become rooted in the land? How can we become better relatives to our greatest teacher, the Earth? Becoming Rooted invites us to live out a deeply spiritual relationship with the whole community of creation and with Creator. Through meditations and ideas for reflection and action, Randy Woodley, an activist, author, scholar, and Cherokee descendant, recognized by the Keetoowah Band, guides us on a one-hundred-day journey to reconnect with the Earth. Woodley invites us to come away from the American dream–otherwise known as an Indigenous nightmare–and get in touch with the water, land, plants, and creatures around us, with the people who lived on that land for thousands of years prior to Europeans' arrival, and with ourselves. In walking toward the harmony way, we honor balance, wholeness, and connection. Creation is always teaching us. Our task is to look, and to listen, and to live well. She is teaching us now. www.AbbeyOfTheArts.com

Connect with Jana through her website:  janalgpeterson.comNAIITS - North American Institute for Indigenous Theological StudiesHere are some resources:A great conversation on the Syrophoenician Woman from Dr. Mitzi Smith and her colleagues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVy-kp-3jDY&t=4994sThe book referenced by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is Reconstructing the Gospel: Finding Freedom from Slaveholder ReligionDr. Angela Parker's book If God Still Breathes, Why Can't I?Here are some pages from Mark and Method: New Approaches in Biblical Studies, edited by Janice Capel Anderson and Stephen D. Moore.  It's where Jana first read about the particular interpretations of Salome's dance. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vr93lcqlr7eq31a/Mark%20and%20Method%2C%20121-135.pdf?dl=0Lisa Sharon Harper and Randy Woodley on Closing the Narrative Gap - Peacing It All Together PodcastJana is reading Shoutin' in the Fire: An American Epistle by Danté Stewart. Jana is listening to: Paul Cardall's piano music. Jana is inspired by her children, the earth, Spring bringing new life and Lisa Sharon Harper

Doug Pagitt and Dan Deitrich sit down with author, scholar, activist, wisdom-keeper, and Cherokee descendant Randy Woodley to talk about his new book 100 Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth and why indigenous wisdom is needed to literally save the world.   Doug Pagitt is the Executive Director and one of the founders of Vote Common Good. He is also a pastor, author, and social activist.  @pagitt   The Common Good Podcast is produced and edited by Daniel Deitrich. @danieldeitrich Our theme music is composed by Ben Grace. @bengracemusic   votecommongood.com votecommongood.com/podcast facebook.com/votecommongood twitter.com/votecommon

On today's special episode, Cherokee descendant Dr. Randy Woodley, renowned author and scholar in the realms of culture, justice, theology, indigenous traditions and earth-care, joins Pilgrim Lost to share his encouragements on how we can engage and transform through connecting with the non-human world: plants, creatures and the soil. Our conversation covers numerous topics from walking practices, our non-human neighbors, earth greetings, mystical encounters and he even gives his perspectives on the historically problematic term "pilgrim". Listen and then follow Dr. Woodley through any of these life-impacting outlets: Buy his new book, "Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth" Peacing It All Together Podcast RandyWoodley.com Eloheh: Indigenous Center for Earth Justice Elohehseeds.com

Joshua Grace and friends Dimitri and Rufo painted and presented a mural to PMC, representing the land that we at PMC meet on: the unceded territory of the Hahamong'na tribe of the Tongva people who have lived in and stewarded the land of the Los Angeles basin for thousands of years. Joshua has been working on a parallel project — a lenten daily reader — in collaboration with Randy Woodley of Eloheh, a Cherokee descendent. The reader is an introduction to settler colonialist Christians new to issues of the environmental, political and relational impact of colonialism that indigenous people are still experiencing. The post Creation Speaks appeared first on Pasadena Mennonite Church.

What do indigenous traditions have to teach us? And what do we Westerners need to unlearn in order to be receptive to indigenous wisdom?Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist, theologian, wisdom-keeper, and Cherokee descendant. He spends much of his time sharing indigenous traditions through his teaching and his Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, Eloheh. Eloheh is a Cherokee word for harmony, abundance, wholeness, and peace. Join us for a conversation about “making relatives”--whether of land or trees or people different from us; the key components of the “Harmonious Way,” or what Randy calls humanity's “original instructions” for how to live, which are common to all indigenous peoples; and how the lineage of trauma has hurt both those in the margins and those who caused the harm.We'll also explore what it means to decolonize our spirituality and learn from each others' stories.Randy's books include Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, and the upcoming book of reflections and practices, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth. He and his wife, Edith, co-sustain Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds outside Portland, Oregon. Learn more about their programs at www.eloheh.org and www.randywoodley.com. _______________________WELCOME TO SPIRITUAL WANDERLUST.Contemplation. Embodiment. Mysticism. Mischief. Join former nun and neuroscience aficionado Kelly Deutsch as she interviews contemplative teachers, embodiment experts, psychologists, and mystics about the untamed frontiers of interior life. Each episode is jam packed with life-changing stories, spiritual practices, and powerful insight to support your journey toward wholeness and divine intimacy.Hungry for more? Check out our new course, the Women Mystics School! For all genders hungry to learn from the wise women who were brazen enough to be fully themselves.

The Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is a public intellectual, author, activist, farmer, scholar, speaker, and wisdom keeper. He is a recognized leader in the fields of Indigenous and Intercultural Studies, Ecology, Spirituality, Race, Theology, and Missiology.  Through his teaching and leadership, he invites Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to decolonize and Indigenize their worldview and practices so they can learn to walk on this earth in a good way.  Randy and his wife Edith are co-creators and co-sustainers of Eloheh  Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds. Through an Eloheh experience, they invite people to a deeper spirituality and new relationship with creation while modelling regenerative Earth-tending practices and Earth justice. Randy has penned numerous books, chapters, and articles in his long writing career. He is most well-known for his connection to The Harmony Way as original Indigenous teachings and how they might apply as common values today, in order to build a better world. Today we discuss his latest book BECOMING ROOTED : ONE HUNDRED DAYS OF RECONNECTING WITH SACRED EARTHThis podcast was recorded on February 4th, 2022.

What would it be like to not just admire nature from a distance, but treat creation as a relative, a teacher, and an expression of the love of the Creator? On this week's episode, I talk with Randy and Edith Woodley. Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an author, activist, farmer, scholar, speaker, wisdom keeper, and a Cherokee descendant recognized by the Keetoowah Band. In his work, Dr. Woodley addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, race, and our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. Randy has written numerous books, including his most recent title, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth. His expertise has been sought in national venues such as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, and The Huffington Post. Edith Woodley is a mentor/speaker on issues concerning Indigenous Spirituality and Creation. She is a full-time mother, grandmother and farmer, and has developed a unique relationship with the land and insights concerning how to raise a family on a small farm. Edith is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member and enjoys carrying on the tradition in her family of Native American beadwork with her jewelry. Together, Randy and Edith are co-creators and co-sustainers of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and Eloheh Farm & Seeds. Through an Eloheh experience, they invite people to a deeper spirituality and new relationship with creation while modeling regenerative Earth-tending practices and Earth justice. In this episode, Randy and Edith, invite me to see beauty and creation through a completely new, counter-cultural lens. What if true beauty has nothing to do with being flawless and everything to do with what indigenous cultures call the Harmony Way? What if we laid down our striving and rested in a more beautiful reality, one that says that we are loved by the great Creator just as we are, that we have each been created with a unique beauty and identity, and that we are a part of something much bigger than we are.

In this episode, Forrest and James do some looking back at the last six months, talking about the need to stay hopeful even when confronted with the hard facts of climate change—and also about the possibility that a little bit of 'guilty conscience' can drive us to make changes in the way we live. They consider some of the themes they heard and the lessons they learned from the last six months of episodes, and talk about where the podcast will be going in the new year. Got ideas for future guests? Leave a voice mail at www.circlewood.online/earthkeepers or email us at earthkeepers@circlewood.onlineKeywords:Indigeneity, indigenous, Randy Woodley, Katherine Hayhoe, Vidhya Chintala, Sashi Chintala, Mary Dejong, Ridwell, Jay Matenga, Courtney Christenson, Casa Adobe, Johann Ruiz, Erika Alvarez, Santa Rosa, Costa Rica, Eloheh, Sparks and Matches, Waymarkers, Alex Bailey, Black Outside, Celtic worldview, Celtic Christianity, COVID

Randy Woodley, activist, scholar, author, teacher, wisdom-keeper, and Cherokee descendant, joins Ruah Space to discuss his new book Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth. Randy takes us into a better understanding of our interconnectedness with all things, especially the creation, and what this means for our lives and relationships, including our relationship […]

There are some episodes that defy description, that cover so much ground that it is difficult to describe. This conversation with theologian, poet, activist, and historian Randy Woodley is one such episode. We've said it before and we'll say it again for those in the back: evangelicalism is a dominator religion. It seeks to dominate the earth, women, black and brown bodies, those on the fringes of faith, and anything or anyone that falls outside of its white supremacist worldview, and the consequences have been deadly. Dr. Woodley points us to a wilder, freer faith rooted in our Sacred Earth and the Divine relationship we have with the planet and every living creature. In an attempt to find Shalom, Dr. Woodley dismantles dominator religion by inviting us to tap into our ancestral heritage, become one with Nature, and free ourselves from participating in systems of oppression. And just for grins, we also talk about Critical Race Theory, COVID-19, and white supremacy. This is a deep and meaningful conversation for anyone looking to decolonize their faith.Guest Bio:Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley (PhD, Asbury Theological Seminary) is recognized as a Cherokee descendent by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. He is a teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. Woodley received his baccalaureate degree from Rockmont College in Denver. He was ordained to the ministry through the American Baptist Churches in the USA in Oklahoma after graduating with a Masters of Divinity degree from Eastern Seminary (now Palmer Seminary) in Philadelphia. Randy's PhD is in intercultural studies from Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at Portland Seminary. Woodley's books include Decolonizing Evangelicalism: An 11:59pm Conversation, The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision, and Living in Color: Embracing God's Passion for Ethnic Diversity. He has authored numerous book chapters and contributed essays and articles in compilations such as the Dictionary of Scripture and Ethics, Poverty and the Poor in the World ' s Religions, Evangelic al Post-colonial Conversations, and The Global Dictionary of Theology. Professor Woodley is active in the ongoing discussions concerning new church movements, racial and ethnic diversity, peace, racism, earth justice, Indigenous spirituality, interreligious dialogue and mission. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and a review

            In this episode we talk with Randy Woodley about his new book, Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth.  Randy and his wife Edith lead Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice, and their work touches the lives of Native people and non-Native people alike. As Randy points out, everyone has indigenous connections to some place in the world. One of the core purposes of his new book is to help people to discover their own indigenous roots, even as they seek to learn from the Native people wherever they now live. Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred Earth            You can order this book anywhere, but we suggest that you do so at www.randywoodley.com and click on new books. There you'll find an option to order the book in such a way that a percentage of purchase goes to support Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice. You can pre-order your copy now to receive it right away when it is released on January 4th. If you are interested in reading the book in a group guided by Randy, find out how to join it on his Facebook page called Randy Woodley Author.Guest:Randy Woodley - author, speaker, activist, scholarNew Book: Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred EarthHighly recommended by and for all Earthkeepers: Shalom and the Community of CreationEloheh Indigenous Center for Earth JusticeRandy's author page on FacebookThe Harmony Tree - Randy's children's book Mentions:James Baldwin quote: "history trapped in people" is from Notes of a Native Son (1955)Celtic spirituality Keywords: Indigenous, Native American, First Nations, earth-centered spirituality, Celtic, kindom, harmony way, eloheh

In this episode, Randy Woodley joins Pete and Jared to discuss the impact of dualistic thinking on theology and how Jesus can be accessed outside of scripture.Show Notes →Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

D.L. Mayfield and Randy Woodley talk about spiritual practices, touching on a variety of topics: what it means to be a theologian, Platonic dualism, the ministry of the sweat lodge, passing on spiritual practices to our children, nature spirituality, and much more.  Randy Woodley is a public theologian, author, activist, farmer, scholar, and wisdom keeper. He is a recognized leader in the fields of Indigenous and Intercultural Studies, Ecology, Spirituality, Theology, and Missiology. Through his teaching and leadership, he invites Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to decolonize and Indigenize their theology, worldview, and practices so they can learn to walk on this earth in a good way. Randy is a Cherokee descendant recognized by the Keetoowah Band. Learn more at: https://randywoodley.com (https://randywoodley.com) 

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley, PhD is an activist/scholar, distinguished teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith/spirituality, justice, race/diversity, regenerative farming, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. His expertise has been sought in national venues such as Time Magazine, The Huffington Post and Christianity Today. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at Portland Seminary. He served for several years on the Oregon Dept. of Education, American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Council. Randy was raised near Detroit, Michigan and is a Cherokee descendent recognized by the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Randy co-hosts the Peacing it all Together  podcast with Bo Sanders.  Author of several books include "Decolonizing Evangelicalism" which we discuss in this episode. Connect and support the work that Randy is doing: www.randywoodley.comwww.eloheh.org www.elohehseeds.comRandy lives south of Portland in Yam Hill, Oregon where he and his wife have a 10-acre farm where they house the Eloheh Center for Earth Justice. He said it is on the illegally and unethically seated land the Kalapuya People, particularly the Yamhill and Tualatin bands. The Woodleys have been in the area since 2008 and are just “enjoying climate change in Oregon” which is teaching them how to do regenerative farming under stressful conditions. “We're learning all the time.”Maggie asked Randy how he has seen the major cultural shift and what he thinks is happening and we're seeing the response to Breonna Taylor's murder, the many other lynchings [of men and women of color], and all that is going with people battling against Critical Race Theory. The book he wrote “Decolonizing Evangelicalism” with his podcast partner Bo Sanders and it came out during COVID so it hasn't really been publicized or promoted. It's written in like a conversation, and they've been taking theology and social issues ever since Bo was a seminary student of his back in 2008. They wrote the book this way both because that is how their relationship is (conversation) and in the style of one of his favorite books; “We Make the Road by Walking: Conversations on Education and Social Change” by Myles Horton and Paulo Freire. We talk about Critical Race Theory in the book; Randy says “I do it” and Bo explains it. Our book would now be banned from a number of seminaries and institutions around the country, it will not be allowed to use the book as a reference [because it uses Critical Race Theory to examine theology].Randy says Critical Race Theory is the current “bugaboo” and it is endemic of all the other right wing, white supremacist reactions to People of Color coming into their own and the popularization of the unjust deaths of members of the BIPOC community. Social media has done a lot to inform people but in our [BIPOC] communities, people have been dying unjustly for hundreds of years. “There's nothing different it's just people are finding out about it now.” It's important, Randy believes, that as we are learning [about the unjust deaths], that what we are finding is that all the systems and our country were founded in white supremacy. Randy acknowledges that there are other things behind that, including the Western worldview and patriarchy, but he says the white supremacy that founded the systems in our country—education, economic and social systems—are all bent towards the benefit and privilege of white males. “So the system itself has not really changed a lot; it looks a little more kinder than it used to under enslavement or genocide but the idea is still the same: People of color, and oftentimes women and others—the cultural or racial or gender other—are [seen as] a subcategory of humanity as opposed to white folks, especially white males of prominence.” Randy says Critical Race Theory gets at the heart of that; it says, there is a systemic problem that we have to deal with. “And a systemic problem means that all of us have to deal with it together. It's not just up to white folks or People of Color, it's like we all have to do this together in order change this system.” Randy believes that what the Right has done is taken away the ability for us to talk about that in a systemic way. “America by the way is, and we could go into the history of this as well, is one of the most individualistic nations that has probably ever existed in the history of humanity.”Randy says everyone wants to talk about whether this one person is a racist or not. “I don't even deal with that... I'm more interested in dismantling the systems that are corrupt with racism.” Randy believes that this Right reaction to everything that is going on is actually a way to stop us from talking about systemic racism. It's very akin, Randy says, to the 1840 Gag Rules when they wouldn't allow congress to talk about slavery. “It's that: you're not going to fix the problem if you can't talk about it.” It keeps the homeostasis, security and benefits for those in power. Danielle finds herself in the system. She is a licensed Mental Health therapist in the state of Washington, and she believes it's a system that is created for someone unlike her. When she is caring for a person of color and she expands her care to include the culture and community, because she is located in community, it is a threat to her profession. The psychological structure of the system…. is not created to deal with more than just the individual. She asks, “what do you do when the individual presents symptomology and harm that is happening from the system? How do I move in the world and not address the system and yet say I am caring for my client? And yet to address the system from my position its often say that you've stepped out the bounds of therapy.” She feels the bind and it's excoriating to find paths forward and to know who is safe to talk to and engage. “Being present with my clients is also, I believe for me and my location, is fighting the system that is also harming them.”Randy adds, “It's not set up to deal with intergenerational trauma.” He says, some estimate that 100% of Native folks have intergenerational trauma or post-colonial stress syndrome. African American folks have intergenerational trauma from enslavement. “It's not like these are one-time things; It is the residual from them keeps coming at us time after time after time.” Randy said it's through people like Danielle, People of Color, who are getting into places of influence and be innovative and can begin to change the system. Maggie asks what does it look like to bridge the gap between working with individuals and working with systems? She mentions she thought one interesting and thought-provoking part of his book (Decolonizing Evangelicalism) was about the idea that we have to start with “re-verbaging” some of the terms that we think we are sharing a mutual definition or understanding about, when in fact are not. She was surprised at some of the words on his list. When we thinking about the word Evangelicalism, it encompasses a long history of shifting beliefs. She asks Randy to explore and explain what he means by deconstructing and reconstructing, which he has as almost two sides to the same coin. Randy says, “I'm not going to assume anyone's age here. I wouldn't do that out of fear. But I will tell you where I'm at: I'm a baby boomer. And my generation has a lot of culpability in some of the things that are going wrong right now. But one of the things that was different in my generations, I'm on one of the younger baby boomers, is that we said we don't want our parent's paradigm. That's a bad paradigm … We were good at critiquing it but we just were very good at fixing it.” He believes one exciting thing we are seeing right now, and one of the other influences in this reaction and why we are seeing so much happen, is how the millennials are giving him a lot of hope. He said they are the first ones to come along and say, “We want a different paradigm! We don't want what was handed to us by our parents and grandparents! We don't want racism! We don't want homophobia! We don't want women to have 73 cents on the dollar and men to be paid a dollar for their wages. We don't want a dirty nasty climate changing earth.” He believes that Millennials have the communication tools to actually communicate and critique, they are great at critiquing—maybe sometimes are too cynical but I guess if that's what it takes to get there that's okay—but question is; “Are they going be able to fix it?” He does see a lot of activism coming out of millennials and it excites him because he believes that is one of the reasons we are seeing the wide-spread reaction and it's pulling those Gen Xers and Baby Boomers back in to have hope again. “Our future is depending on that. The government is not going to fix this unless we make the government fix it. And the generation that is the impetus behind this, the catalyst, is the Millennials. Maggie says it is easy to sit on one side and criticize but then not offer anything to replace it and grow it. It is the reconstructing after deconstructing then how helpful is that going to be. Randy says, “So basically we have to deconstruct everything. We have to look at every system that was created basically by—and I'm simplifying to its simplest terms—white males who sat at the table and said here's the way it's going to be for everybody. And now we need to basically over turn the table, build a new table together, and have everybody represented at that table and decide what these systems are going to be.” That reconstruction comes after the critique (deconstruction) and we see resistance to the critique in the like the resistance to critical race theory. Until we can really critique and understand it, listen to the those who have been oppressed etc., we can't move forward. “It's not something we can start from the same DNA and end up with a different child. That's not going to happen. It has to start from a new DNA.” There's no formula, and this is the scary part. Structures want formulas. They want to know what are the steps. Every step, every community, every law and every system has to become what Randy calls “organizing chaos.” He sees that chaos as a way of moving things that are out there, all the moving parts back together, and it will look different in different places with different people involved. One of the pitfalls, Randy says, is people's demand to have a basis for reconstruction. That is the scariest part and the part you have to take by faith and say, “If we're all moving together in the right direction, we're going to end up with the right thing.” But, Randy says, it's going to take everyone: insiders and outsiders, lots of diversity, so that we end up with something that is good for all of us, the common good. Danielle has been thinking from a psychological perspective about whiteness and what it takes to create the bent towards the “standard,” speaking very generally about the system that is bent towards white male privilege. She recalls a training/immersion program that she attended in the South on the subject of race. She heard a story of a lynching that was after church where entire families were in attendance. She saw a picture of a father with a hat on holding his young child, maybe 2 years old, and then with his other hand attached to another small child on the ground. Knowing from the way we are created, the way that the Creator created us, that those children would know that they were witnessing horror. And in the moment of witnessing horror, to have a caregiver who is celebrating there would be a deep sense of fragmentation and create a legacy that would be enforced in the schools with teaching around race and segregation. Or to have the horror reenforced at church. That fragmentation is then passed down.With this fragmentation in mind, Danielle wonders about deconstruction. When everything is already so fragmented, what has actually been constructed? Danielle feels like she witnesses lights come on and she sees the fragmentation and asks “how do we welcome those fragments back home? How do we rebuild something that's so fragmented?” She says it's the ability to hold things in the air while not knowing how they will land and to wait and see how they will land. It's that faith component that Randy is talking about. Randy says as a nation we have myths about our identity, who we are. Those myths need to be taken apart and deconstructed. He says truth must be interjected into them. Sometimes these myths are partially true, and sometimes they aren't true at all. But they all fit into our national mythos. When we allow those things to be taught and spread, it does something to our souls. “If you are not in the myth as the winning character, it grinds on your soul.” He believes it will also grind on the winners because it dehumanizes them: It creates in them the sense that others are less than human, and that dehumanizes the person who sees others that way as well. We all need to be freed from those myths. In the midst of all this, Randy says he holds on to his faith. “I believe there is a Creator who is ultimately wanting the best for everyone. And while we may disagree about all the theologies and who that is and everything else, I'm still looking at the Creator in faith to say, ‘There is a force beyond humanity that is rooting, if nothing else, for use to treat each as equals and kindly.'” This he says is helpful to him personally.Maggie says what he is saying harkens back to an idea from his book about hospitality. She was struck by a part in the book where he says hate isn't the opposite of love; the opposite of love is more like indifference or apathy or disconnection. The Creator that he just talked about wants us to belong to each other, to have a sense of togetherness, and Maggie asked Randy to talk more about the idea of hospitality and what that looks like.Randy says the Northwest is an interesting place to think about hospitality. He's heard of “Seattle nice” or “Portland nice.” The saying goes, “People will give you directions to anywhere except for their own home.” Randy believes that it is in our own homes where we reveal ourselves to others and allow them the comfort to reveal themselves to us. Homes are the places where we can build those kinds of relationships that are necessary for us to treat each other as humans. Hospitality, he talks about the Indigenous “Harmony Way,” in the Biblical way it would be called “Shalom.” It is the ethos among Indigenous people all over the world is this sense of hospitality. Randy says there are many cultures in the world [geographically and historically] where you have to feed your enemy: You have to give them a day's ration and help them on their way. This is the case with Native America as well. The strangers were taken in and feed, given a night's sleep and sent on their way so they could live another day. Randy thinks it is a really bad sign when we start to see hospitality disappearing out of a culture. He says we really need to get back in each other's homes again. We all live inside each other's home. Randy mentions one of the crazy theologies that came out of the passage where Jesus said [in Matthew 19:29], Anyone who leaves their father and mother for my sake, will inherit 100-fold mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers and houses and homes. The faith people in the 80s turned that into a “name it and claim it.” But he says all that is talking about is hospitality: we become family when we come into each other's homes. “The whole New Testament is based on that Shalom principle of hospitality and being there for another and loving one another.” Randy mentions 1 Peter 4:8-9 as one of the best places that talks about this: It says above all love because love covers a multitude of sins. But it's the next line after this shotgun blast of love is: and don't neglect to be hospitable to one another. And when you invite people in your home, don't complain. Everyone has gifts they were given from Creator, share them with one another. He says we see this over and over again in various passage throughout the New Testament. Certainly, he says, followers of Jesus should be practicing this kind of hospitality, but really this is what all human beings should be doing as well. Danielle says her husband is Mexican and if you show up, you're going to get food. They are going to cook if you show up; you will not leave without food. If you say no, that's not going to be good for you. Randy says there's no such thing as Indians gathering without food. That's s unheard of. He says, “I know the same is true for many cultures. And we always laugh when we go to a White people's event because there will be some sort of small hors d'oeuvre or a bunch of desserts.” He laughs and says “You know, people actually get along better when you eat with each other, and actually eat good food. That's known all over the world except for some cultures in America that's not the case.” He expands to say that is not true of all ethnic cultures that are white cultures—he has some Italian friends where that is not true. Food and hospitality, Randy believes, are a part of loving one another and building relationships. Danielle says there is so much hope in the idea of coming together around a meal. Her family has lived in a lot of tension around identity and she says, “so being familiar with the tension, from ethnicities that hold a lot of tension, we have a lot to offer in leading forward because we have lived a long time in that chaos.” Randy said there was a meme going around Native America a year or two ago that said, if we have intergenerational trauma, and we do, then we also hold within our DNA intergenerational hope and survival. We've survived and there are reasons we have survived. Randy believes that any persecuted or oppressed minority that has survived has things to teach everyone else and some of those are about hospitality.Maggie adds there is a vulnerability to having someone in your home, or being in someone else's home. She recalls in Randy's book that he mentions that hospitality is not about just having the same people in your homes, the people you like to have meals with. There's an additional piece—are we going to take in the strangers and feed them so they can live another day? And are we going to have conversations with people that are different than us, that think differently and look differently? Hospitality then is engaging people that are different than us and are we willing to do it in our homes?Randy says because we are all colonized to one degree or another, there are plenty of people who look differently than us but think exactly like us. And that's always the challenge and Randy names higher education as one of the major culprits of hiring brown people who think white because it looks like diversity. “That's not people who think differently than us. Again, if you start with the same DNA you end up with the same kids.”Danielle says we need to keep having the conversations, keep doing the work, and keep having people in our homes. She says it has to be practical in her own life, it has to be an embodied place that we can pass down. It can't be paper activism or screen activism. Besides all the death and sickness, Randy says the worse part about COVID is that we can't really be in each other's homes the way we want to be. For all his married life, and he's been married for 31 years, he and his wife Edith have had an open home. He said it was always unusual if a month goes by and they've not had people in their home eating with them. When people ask him what they do at Eloheh, he replies we just provide hospitality to people. It's been difficult during COVID but for the first time they gathered people, with masks and distancing, and he and his wife remarked at how nice it was to have people there to visit. He says he can't wait until COVID is over and there can be a return to some form of normality, though he acknowledges it seems like it won't ever go back to the way things always have been. Maggie adds that while we have the desire to do these things—have people over again—but we need to reimagine what they look like under our current circumstance. And right now that looks like gathering outside or with masks on. We must still be activity seeking to be people, places and homes that are open and hospitable in this season. Randy says, I miss that. Danielle does too; “I felt that acutely.”Randy says it was horrible that in the beginning they went months without seeing their own grandkids. Danielle adds, yes that is horrible. There's a sense of not know whether your body or their bodies are a source of danger. And knowing that you need one another. As we wrap up, Danielle asked about Randy's new books and how can people get in touch with him:To find out more about what Randy and his wife Edith are doing at the Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice you can visit: www.eloheh.org If you would like to order seeds from them, all organic, open pollinated seeds, you can visit:www.elohehseeds.comIf you want to book Randy to speak at your event you can go to: www.randywoodley.comOr connect via email: eloheh@gmail.com If you haven't read his most recent book that came out: Decolonizing EvangelicalismNew books coming out:January 4th, 2022: Becoming Rooted: One Hundred Days of Reconnecting with Sacred EarthApril 19th, 2022: Indigenous Theology and the Western Worldview: A Decolonized Approach to Christian DoctrineNo date: Mission and the Cultural Other: A Closer View“Peaching It All Together” Podcast with Randy Woodley and Bo SandersRandy is reading: "Jesus and Non-Violence" by Walter Wink, "Open and Relational Theology" by Thomas Jay Oord, "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents" by Margaret Kimberley, "Mycelium Running: How mushrooms can save the world" by Paul StametsRandy is listening to: All My Relations Podcast hosted by Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) and Adrienne Keene (Cherokee Nation), "Medicine for the Resistance" Podcast hosted by an Anishnaabe kwe and an Afro mysticRandy is inspired by: Millennials who are giving him hope and his Elders who are passing down shared wisdom. 

In this episode we talk with Rev. Ray Simpson about his latest book called Celtic Christianity and Climate Crisis: Twelve Keys for the Future of the Church. Ray is also a founder of a new monastic order called the Community of Aidan and Hilda. Though Ray helped to start this community in the United Kingdom, it now includes people from all over the world—people who believe that values and practices of the ancient Celtic Church have particular relevance for contemporary Christ followers. The community draws on these ancient ways to create an order of life, or Waymarks as they are called. Among other things, this Way of Life recommends learning how to truly listen.Feedback to Earthkeepers: earthkeepers@circlewood.onlineVoicemail ("We want to hear from you")Guest:  Rev. Ray SimpsonDaily Prayer Tweet: Twitter@praycelticdailyResources, e-studies,weekly blog:  www.raysimpson.orgFacebook:  http://www.facebook.com/revd.ray.simpsonLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-simpson-5b311b2b/To receive daily Pilgrimage for Life: www.waymarksoflife.comRay's books mentioned in podcast: Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith Brendan's Return Voyage: A New American Dream: Indigenous, Post-Colonial, and Celtic Theology Celtic Christianity and Climate Crisis: Twelve Keys for the Future of the ChurchLinks to details from this episode:The international Community of Aidan and HildaAnamchara (soul friend)St. ColumbanusHopi TribeDesert Fathers and MothersRandy Woodley's book Shalom and the Community of CreationIan BradleyBible SocietyHoly Island of LindisfarneKey words: Celtic Church, Saint Patrick, Saint Brennan, indigenous, Native American, Maori, Hopi, New Monastic, New Monasticism, creation care, community garden, environmental justice, social justice, minimalism, Greta Thunberg, anamchara, Columbana, Desert Fathers and Mothers, Brendan, Randy Woodley

In this episode, cohosts Forrest and James look ahead to our second season. They discuss exciting new directions for 2021, even as they draw key lessons from recent episodes from 2020. Keywords: Debisi Araba, African Green Revolution Forum, East Africa Energy Solutions, Randy Woodley, indigenous theology, Paris Climate Accord, solar panels, electric vehicle, permaculture, rewilding landscape, bobcat, Covid 19, Hannah Anderson, Bonnie Cretton, Forest Schools, federal land management

Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist/scholar, distinguished speaker, teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. His expertise has been sought in national venues as diverse as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, Moody Radio and The Huffington Post. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. His books include: Decolonizing Evangelicalism: An 11:59pm Conversation, The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community, Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision and Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. Dr. Woodley’s chapter writings are in dozens of books and in many magazines and journals. His Podcast, “Peacing it all Together” www.PeacingItAllTogether.com  Randy was raised near Detroit, Michigan. He is a legal descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. Randy has served as a member of the Oregon Dept. of Education American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Board. Edith Woodley is a speaker/mentor on issues concerning Native American Spirituality and Creation. As a full-time mother, grandmother and farmer, she has developed a unique relationship with the land and insights concerning how to raise a family on a small farm. Edith is an Eastern Shoshone tribal member who was raised on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. She graduated from Bacone Indian College in Muskogee, Oklahoma and is co-founder of several organizations with Randy Woodley including Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice www.eloheh.org and Eloheh Farm & Seeds www.elohehseeds.com They served together on the Greater Portland Native Climate Council. Together, the Woodleys have been involved in mentoring Indigenous leaders and others, for almost three decades. Their service for over 30 years to the most disenfranchised people in America led them to become serious about important issues such as peace, racism and eco-justice. @eloheheagleswings @laurendeleary @officialadamfrost

Jr. Lilly is a Native American, part of the Tachii’nii (Red Running Into Water), and born for the Tsenjikini (Cliff Dwelling People). He is a bridge person and by bridge person what I mean is- he is a connector of others and someone who supports the beautiful work of other indigenous people all over the world and in this country. He also works for Portland city government, Portland Indigenous Market Place, and is on the board of the Portland Parks Foundation just to name a few of the things he is involved in.  We talked about the beauty and responsibility found within tribal relationships and the non-dualistic way most Native Americans live. One in which they are not just an individual but a part of the whole, a part of something bigger themselves. We talk spirituality and the role of nature in both of our spiritual practices. We also touch on what I like to call the colonizing of spiritual practices, something that we white Americans have a horrible track record of participating in, not only for our own spiritual absorption but to monetize what doesn't belong to us. We also get into how we can do better and what we can do differently.  Jr. was so generous with his time, life, and experience, as well as stories to help us connect back to the earth, those we care for, and help get us through this time.  Please give it a listen, share it, and subscribe.  Music by Todd Fadel Jr. mentions Randy Woodley and the late Richard Twiss --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In this episode we’ll be talking to Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley—Keetoowah Cherokee teacher, theologian, activist, farmer, and the author of several books. In our conversation today, we focus on a Native theology of land and environment—a subject of particular interest to Earthkeepers, who have come to understand the Western world’s desperate need for new ways of being in and with creation.Notes:Free webinar: Signs of Hope for a Troubled Planet Oct. 29 7-8 pm PSTEarthkeepers financial support optionGuest: Dr. Randy WoodleyEloheh Indigenous Center for JusticeEloheh SeedsDr. Woodley's book: Shalom and the Community of CreationDr. Woodley’s most recent book: Decolonizing EvangelicalismDr. Woodley's article - The Fullness ThereofEarthkeepers' interview with Tri RobertsonRichard Twiss - author & teacherKeywords: Indigenous theology, indigenized, indigenization, decolonizing, evangelicalism, empire, dualism, dualistic thinking, Native, Native American, Randy Woodley, Richard Twiss, Terry LeBlanc, Tri Robinson, colonization, Eloheh, George Fox University, creation care, kinship theology, ecotheology, intercultural studies, environmental justice, Native theology

Randy Woodley brings Christian and indigenous worldviews into instructive conversation, describing his quest to establish Eloheh Farm, a place where people can reconnect with land and recover indigenous farming practices. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/refugia/message

In this episode, I sit down with Suzie Lahoud, and Sy Hoekstra , editors of the book, Keeping the Fatih: Reflections on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond. For more information visit: https://www.keepingthefaithbook.com/Purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/30M7nRZAs the 2020 election approaches, a group of Christians are making it clear that the Trump Administration and its policies are not representative of their own beliefs and values.In the new book Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond leaders like Alexia Salvatierra, Andy Crouch, Greg Coles, Randy Woodley, David French, Brandi Miller and numerous others are putting their beliefs to paper in essays that elaborate on what it means to stand as a Christian in our rapidly changing world.Editors Jonathan P. Walton, Suzie Lahoud, and Sy Hoekstra explain the need for this collection and the validity of the voices within: “If you are a Christian who is struggling to discern how to cast your own vote in November, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who has been searching for a sense of political belonging within the church, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who is looking for brothers and sisters who will stand with you as allies, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who has been in mourning and lament since 2016, this book is for you.”Follow Me:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embracing_y...Website: https://www.embracingyourvirtue.com/

In this episode, I continue the discussion with Suzie Lahoud, and Sy Hoekstra , editors of the book, Keeping the Fatih: Reflections on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond. We discuss important topics such as abortion and religious rights.For more information visit: https://www.keepingthefaithbook.com/Purchase on Amazon: https://amzn.to/30M7nRZAs the 2020 election approaches, a group of Christians are making it clear that the Trump Administration and its policies are not representative of their own beliefs and values.In the new book Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics & Christianity in the Era of Trump and Beyond leaders like Alexia Salvatierra, Andy Crouch, Greg Coles, Randy Woodley, David French, Brandi Miller and numerous others are putting their beliefs to paper in essays that elaborate on what it means to stand as a Christian in our rapidly changing world.Editors Jonathan P. Walton, Suzie Lahoud, and Sy Hoekstra explain the need for this collection and the validity of the voices within: “If you are a Christian who is struggling to discern how to cast your own vote in November, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who has been searching for a sense of political belonging within the church, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who is looking for brothers and sisters who will stand with you as allies, this book is for you. If you are a Christian who has been in mourning and lament since 2016, this book is for you.”Follow Me:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embracing_y...Website: https://www.embracingyourvirtue.com/

In this episode, Brandi talks with Dr. Randy Woodley. Randy and Edith are the founders of Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice and together, they have shaped much fo the decolonizing and indigenizing of both Brandi and previous guests. This conversation highlights some of the many issues with the western worldview and its role in confusing our understanding of how we interact with God, the earth and each other. The Woodley's work is core to much of the journey of this podcast, so if you are able to join the sustaining work of Eloheh, please do at: patreon.com/https://www.patreon.com/RandyWoodley/or a one-time gift at https://www.paypal.com/fundraiser/charity/2191196As always if you like what you see on Reclaiming My Theology, join us on patreon at patreon.com/brandinico. It just takes $5 to get started and goes a long way to make this all possible. We are getting ready to send out the first round fo perks, so get excited!

Theologian Dr Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee First Nations elder, University professor, author and leader. He generously invites us to decolonise our Christology by seeing Christ as Creator, decolonise our understanding of the ‘kingdom' by seeing it as the healing of the ‘community of creation', and to decolonise our economics by taking Jesus' Jubilee program seriously.

Theologian Dr Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee First Nations elder, University professor, author and leader. He generously invites us to decolonise our Christology by seeing Christ as Creator, decolonise our understanding of the ‘kingdom’ by seeing it as the healing of the ‘community of creation’, and to decolonise our economics by taking Jesus’ Jubilee program seriously.

Lenore Three Stars is a member of the board for Circlewood—the larger creation care community to which the Earthkeepers belongs. In many ways, Lenore has had a shaping influence on the priorities and values of this podcast. In particular, as a member of the Lakota people, she has helped us to understand and embrace elements of an indigenous world view. In this episode we discuss a kinship model of creation care, as a corrective to a dominant Western worldview that views people as separate from, and dominant over, creation. Notes:Lenore Three Starshttps://www.circlewood.online/peopleNorth American Institute of Indigenous Theological Studieshttps://www.naiits.com/Richard Twiss. One Church, ManyTribes https://bookshop.org/books/one-church-many-tribes/9780800797256Wendell Berry: "There are no unsacred places, only sacred and desecrated places."Given https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/146152.Given Standing Rock Water Protectors https://psmag.com/magazine/standing-rock-still-risinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Access_Pipeline_protestsAlbert White Hat https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_White_HatDr. Randy Woodley. Shalom and the Community of Creation https://bookshop.org/books/shalom-and-the-community-of-creation-an-indigenous-vision/9780802866783Key words: Native American, First Nations, creation care, ecology, environment, Lakota, environmental justice, kinship, dualism, indigenous world view, Richard Twiss, Randy Woodley, Standing Rock

On Kindreds Picks, we discuss some of our favorite recommendations that we didn’t have time to get to in our regular episode. Ashley’s Pick: Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice After studying the Lenten guide Drawing Closer to Creator and Creation: And Indigenous Journey Through Lent, Ashley shares about the Eloheh Center, co-founded by Edith and Randy Woodley in 1999 out of concern that neither the government nor the church was addressing the many needs in Native American communities. The Woodleys believe that our response to climate change should be rooted in learning from those who have long practiced a value for creation and listened to the voice of Creator in this area. For decades, Randy and Edith Woodley have cultivated Eloheh as a community, farm, seed bank, and learning center. For over 30 years, the Woodleys have been teaching Native and non-Native peoples to deepen their commitment to preserving humanity’s role as good earth-keepers by understanding Creator’s invitation to harmony and shalom. Through their summits, camps, ceremony, conferences and teachings, the Woodleys offer an opportunity for all to learn a new way to live on the land and respond to the climate crisis. Learn more at eloheh.org. Katey’s Pick: The Intuitive Way by Penney Pierce Similar in style to The Artist's Way, The Intuitive Way is a workbook with lessons and exercises designed to help you hone in in on and develop your inner wisdom. It has questions to journal, meditations to practice, and free writing prompts all around how we experience that sense of knowing. For example, the book asks you to think about the way that you recall one of your favorite experiences in the past. Do you hear it most? See it? Feel it? Even smell it? If you’re looking for something to help you tune into your inner guide, pick up The Intuitive Way.

Still social distancing.Kyle and Bobby are Classmates of Danielle's from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. All three were in the Counseling program together.Danielle met Bobby and Kyle in a Spirit and Trauma Class and shared a research project together.Checking in with Bobby about how he's doing and how COVID is affecting his life:Bobby says truthfully, “We don't actually know how COVID-19 is effecting us and we probably won't know for a long time.”What he's noticed in his counseling internship is that the gap between the haves and have-nots has is becoming increasingly larger.As a therapist, Bobby find himself entering sessions with a different mindset – “there's a lot more case management” happening rather than actual therapy. It's become more difficult right now to engage past trauma, while living in a current trauma. He finds his sessions are less about trauma and more about just surviving.With 9 people in his household, Bobby is watching how each kid is navigating the lack of community, social support and social interaction. And when you magnify that with the population of people you work with, there is a diverse reaction to what's happening.Bobby says he's not sure he can do anything more than just sit with people and listen to how their day/week/month has been and not really give much input. It allows them space to share what's happening in their daily routine, what is lacking. Danielle noted that the longer COVID goes on, the larger the gap. Bobby had hopes that there would be a hiatus on crime during this season. In the past weeks there's been an uptick in violence. The media is showing there's not just more violence on a whole but also more violence being inflicted by law enforcement. Bobby is trying to work and everyone should also work on taking a collective deep breathe and try to figure out what the next move is. He's had a young person that he's close to that was killed three weeks ago and there is no place for lament or gathering together. The gap is widening from economic and racial. The luxury he is given: the ability to lament and give space to lament. For many people that space is decreasing when it should be increasing. Bobby says, when you don't allow yourself space to lament, it bottles up and manifest in someway other way, shape or form.Maggie acknowledges that the collective tension is so tight. She empathizes with not getting more space and wishes she has space to lament, not just for herself but also for her kids who hate school online and miss their friends. She says in this COVID environment our friends have become threats and that is not the way she wants her kids to live. Bobby says we need to remember that the tension we feel will manifest itself in some way and law enforcement is not immune to that. Kyle mentions a book they read for class [My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa Menakem] that deals with racialized trauma in our country and addressed police bodies. Kyle watched a recent interaction with an African American man who was intoxicated at a Walgrens. Kyle found himself watching to make sure the man was treated fairly by law enforcement all the while his therapy training running in his head, is he a risk to himself? Is he a risk to others? Then adding to that Menakem's work he began to wonder, “How is the officer working to deescalate this guy? And if the officer is stressed he's not going to have that to give.” Kyle thinks Menakem's work needs to be apart of the conversation on how we take care of the police so that they can practice law. The police is working with new stress, just like the rest of us. Danielle mentions that Shaun King, an Activist, has been showing video clips of African American men getting tazzed and tackled by Police just standing there, not practicing social distancing, brutally arrested and charged with police assault. Contrasted to images of white people in a park in New York, not social distancing, and cops were rolling throw handing out masks. The contrast is so stark. Individual police are responsible for their actions. But who is above them telling them to carry out an agenda and a policy like that?A friend made masks for Danielle's family and the one for her husband didn't fit. Instead he wore a bandana. But it was as they were going on with him wearing the bandana on his face that she thought, “Oh you better not wear that… to other people you are looking really dangerous” as a Mexican man. So he went into the store without a mask and people gave him dirty looks. It's like a bind, “What do you want him to do? Where is he going to fit?” It's like not having the space to exist. Danielle says that communities need more opportunities to lament, space to lament. And white spaces are still crowding that space.Bobby was reminded of something that happened at the Seattle School during a practicum: It was a heated conversation about race shortly after Trump was elected and there were white folks saying there were no race issues, especially in Seattle. The facilitator decided it was needed for the class to take a break. Bobby, who's wife Samoan, finds he's more aware of racial tension situations and he asks himself, “What's my role right now?” Tension comes up in their family dynamic and within the community he and his lives in, but in that moment at the Seattle School he went, for the first time up to the chapel room. Outside the room there is a chalkboard wall where someone had written, “there will be peace in the valley for me.” For a second, he took solace in that. And then he asked himself why he feels that and it is because he is a white heterosexual man. That's why he could feel that there would be peace in the valley, he will be protected and he doesn't live with the racial tension and oppression. He walked away thinking that he doesn't want that peace because of white privilege. He doesn't know how to handle the fact that he could walk away from this situation and have peace for himself but he would still know that others could not have that peace.“What's my role as a white person combating the structures that exist and uphold that feeling of peace for me but creates a feeling of conflict and violence for so many people in my life that I love and care about. “Even though the event at school happened over three years ago, he thinks about it a lot. Kyle wonders what makes it hard for white men to hear this and have conversations around these topics. What are the barriers? Bobby thinks that it is exposing: The conversation around race creates vulnerability, not a threat, but a place for white people to admit that the only reason they have their place or standing is because of white privilege. Not their brain, heart, work ethic… but everything to do with the color or their skin. Bobby says, “It's unnerving.” Bobby recognizes and sees his white privilege more clearly now. Bobby quotes Portland Seminary Professor Randy Woodley, “If there is one person without shalom, then no one has shalom.” This is the work of white people: we must claim peace no only for themselves but for all people. Everyone should experience God's fullness. Danielle notices that there is a fatigue among white leaders right now as they are working a marathon against the virus. The work of deconstructing whiteness and recognizing privilege, can't be solved by just reading Robin DiAngelo's book [White Fragility]. It is a long grueling process, and that's okay! It's okay to battle with it everyday… It's almost a blessing because it won't equal what others have been through and do go through. There needs to be a sense of suffering the ways we have been raised that shaped our mindset that has caused harm to others. We need to battle with ourselves and we need the endurance to do it. Kyle remembers looking at some case studies so school and many were done by white male therapists. It didn't bother him and he almost didn't notice it. He was numb to it. When it was brought up he found himself defensive, like this is the way it is in this field, as if it was an excuse. Kyle was able, with the help of his classmates, do his own work to recognize this micro-aggression that he never has to think about and others do. He said it's a part of his brain he doesn't' have to use because of the privilege he's had his whole life. “It's growing that muscle and having patience with myself as I do. Yeah I can start to see these things and advocate for them.” “It's a mental slog … to do the work to wake up.” Kyle said it's not easy work to look in the mirror after reading Robin DiAngelo's book when the whole system as worked for you for a long time. But the work of acknowledging white privilege is worth our energy and time. White people need to overcome laziness and the unwillingness to put the work in. Bobby says we need to consider what we're tied to: Individualistic White American perspective. We can navigate COVID-19 like any other social issue on our own or we can choose to navigate in community. Movements in racial equity, social issues, oppression, Medicare, etc…. From a communal perspective it takes longer, but that's the way we're supposed to move: Collectively. It's not about individuals at all, it's about doing it together. Bobby was working with young African American men moving things out of a truck and a police came and started questioning them, even to the point of getting violent. But as soon as he [Bobby] came around from the front of the truck to talk to the police officer, that's when he backs down.Bobby things people tend to not believe things until they've seen it with their own eyes. He also saw the post that Shawn King made contrasting police interaction with whites vs. African Americans… He thought, “is it really that bad?” Kyle said it is a programmed first thought to think they aren't really doing that.  It's like a veil of ignorance that we have to shut that part of our brain off: the part that connects with someone else's suffering. We say, “Well it's not real, it's just on instagram” when the reality is “that is actually someone's body being tortured.”Maggie asks, “How do we collectively engage what we are experiencing?” She said she believes the violence against African Americans is happening. Maggie says that the closer the violence is to our actual location, the more we feel it in our bodies physically. Feeling in our bodies moves us to action. When we are not feeling it than it's very easy to detach and remain disengaged. How do we find shalom collectively? Bobby said the veil of ignorance is to seek shalom individually. Movement towards peace is not individual, it's communal. Danielle was writing about greed used 1 Timothy 6:9 in the French going after a debt on Cinco de Mayo. She says, “we've been lulled into sleep…We're plunged into our desire for greed. And greed leads to harm and destruction for us. This is not a free pass.” Shalom for majority culture that does not trickle down to others, is not Shalom at all. How do we engage these idols of greed and power in our society, as dominate culture and do more than talk? It has to have some tangible action. Theoretical process doesn't do anything.Kyle mentions desegregation and drastic action that seemed to help. But we've undone that with redlining and we end up isolating ourselves from each other. Kyle asks what we need is radical policies? Radical actions? Kyle used to be a 4th grade teacher and when he taught about Martin Luther King, Jr. he  started with America being founded on slavery. He wanted to widen the students perceptive because there is this false belief that racial issues were resolved in the 60s with MLK.  He admits he was under that veil. But it doesn't feel like it serves our kids to perpetuate this false reality that racial issues have been resolved—what he believes we really need is to teach a different history. The systems disrupt truth! He wants to know: How do we have real radical action?Bobby compared his own life with a friend of his of the same age but a different race. He friend has been in and out of the system and Bobby said he would really fit in at the Seattle School with the way his mind works and his knowledge and experiences. But his great grandfather wasn't able to get a home loan, and Bobby's great grandfather was. Bobby was able to buy his home by buying against the equity of his great grandfather… His friend was never able to do that. Bobby mentions reparations – The question he asks is where is the gap? It is a knowledge gap? The equity gap can be traced back to the GI bill and redlining. And how do we right those wrongs?Danielle says individuals need to take action. Systems are made up of people. ON our own we're insignificant. But together we can do more. Her friend had a stimulus check and used it to pick up chrome books for Danielle's kids and another family so they could have tablets to work on for school at home. That's someone creating equity in a system!A really practical thing for listeners to do is to donate their stimulus check to someone who doesn't have access to technology or internet. And to not superimpose with restrictions, a gift free and clear.---Kyle is reading: Boys in the Boat by Daniel James BrownKyle is listening to: Hilary McBride's Other People's ProblemsKyle is inspired by: This conversation.  Bobby is reading: Love in a Fearful Land by Henri NouwenBobby is listening to: Randy Woodley, Mark Charles, any people who talking about CommunityBobby is inspired by: Stories of resilience Resource to process whiteness: PLEASE READ IN COMMUNITY My Grandmother's Hands by Resmaa MenakemUnsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan RahMirror to the Church: Resurrecting Faith After Genocide in Rwanda by Emmanuel Katongole and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove

Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley is an activist/scholar and distinguished speaker, teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American history and culture, postcolonial theology, community-building, faith, social-justice, diversity, regenerative farming, climate-change and our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. Randy's books include: "An Introduction to Postcolonial Theologies"; "The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community"; and "Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision." Randy is a legal descendant of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. He is a member of the Oregon Dept. of Education American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Board, Greater Portland Native American Climate Council and other service organizations. Randy and his wife are co-sustainers and co-hosts of the Eloheh Indigenous Center For Earth Justice. Randy and I spoke on March 23, 2020. We started with the subject of his PhD dissertation, "The Harmony Way," and this led to a wide-ranging discussion of issues that are rarely mentioned in western society. Every time I talk to Randy, it stretches my brain--and my heart. I hope this interview does the same for listeners. Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice https://www.eloheh.org/ Eloheh Seeds https://elohehseeds.com/index.html Support Voices for Nature & Peace by donating to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/voices-for-nature-and-peace Find out more at https://voices-for-nature-and-peace.pinecast.co This podcast is powered by Pinecast.

Dr. Randy Woodley by Acadia Divinity College Podcast

Dr. Woodley addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, race, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. His expertise has been sought in national venues as diverse as Time Magazine, Christianity Today, The Huffington Post and Planet Drum: A Voice for Bioregional, Sustainability, Education and Culture. Dr. Woodley currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. Some of his books include: The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community (Friesen, 2016) Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision(Eerdmans, 2012) Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity(Intervarsity, 2004). For more info please check for him at: His website: https://randywoodley.com/randy-woodley.html Twitter: https://twitter.com/randywoodley7 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/randywoodley7 Podcast: https://www.peacingitalltogether.com/podcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/situppodcast/message

A conversation with Native American farmer, pastor, and professor Randy Woodley causes us to reflect on our role in creation while processing the recent IPCC report.

Join host, Lisa Sharon Harper, in this mind-blowing conversation with East Harlem pastor and author Jose Humphreys, indigenous scholar Dr. Randy Woodley, South African activist Rene' August and white Evangelical consultant Alexei Laushkin. Run and get pen and paper and #takenotes as these four Freedom Road Consultants consider the nature of justice, what justice will require of the church and share their #JusticeAgenda2019!

My guest today is Kaitlin Curtice, Native American Christian author and speaker, and a mother of two boys. Kaitlyn shares with us how she embodies race, religion, & resistance in her identity and her work. I ask Kaitlin: - how to raise our children with a decolonized faith how Native American traditions provide a much needed perspective to our parenting via cultivating a relationship with the land, place, and mysticism. Kaitlyn’s boys both started school and she talks about all her feels Kaitlyn tells parents of white kids how we can partner together for a more inclusive world We talk more about children and activism (popular Parenting Forward subject!) …and lastly, how we can find the Divine in our everyday parenting.   I’m so grateful for this conversation. Tag us both on social media if you tune in and let us know what you think!   Links (affiliates included):   CBS News - https://www.cbsnews.com/video/race-religion-resistance/ Peacing All Together Podcast by Randy Woodley and Bo Sanders - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/peacing-it-all-together/id1403549692?mt=2 Eloheh Seeds - http://elohehseeds.com/index.html Orca Whale Carrying Deceased Baby - https://www.npr.org/2018/08/12/638047095/after-17-days-and-1-000-miles-a-mother-orcas-tour-of-grief-is-over To My Boys on Their First Day of School - https://kaitlincurtice.com/2018/08/06/to-my-boys-on-their-first-day-of-school/ Bowwow Powwow - https://amzn.to/2KN0y7O Glory Happening: Finding the Divine in Everyday Places - https://amzn.to/2KNlR9e Kaitlyn Curtice Website - https://kaitlincurtice.com Evolving Faith Webcast Registration - https://www.evolvingfaithconference.com/webcast/     Join the Parenting Forward Patreon Team to help sustain the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/cindywangbrandt

Dr. Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee teacher, songwriter, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. He is a lover of plants and lives with his wife, Edith, co-sustaining the Elohah farm in the Willemette Valley in Newberg, Oregon where they utilize and teach principles of Permaculture, Biomimicry and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge (TIK). Eloheh Farm seeks to be a model of regenerative agricultural and animal husbandry systems that support human needs while improving the earth and all creation inhabiting the web of life. We desire to live in harmony with the land. "Eloheh" is a Cherokee Indian word representing "harmony, balance, well-being and abundance. Those are just a few of the attributes of the Indigenous Worldview, which Randy says is a necessary worldview for getting where we want to go in this time of ecological disaster.

Doug talks with professor, author and indigenous leader Randy Woodley about his Children's book The Harmony Tree.

Doug talks with professor, author and indigenous leader Randy Woodley about his Children's book The Harmony Tree.

The Rev. Dr. Randy Woodley and his wife Edith are co-sustainers of Eloheh Farm, a permaculture, regenerative teaching farm, school and community in Newberg, Oregon. Dr. Woodley, a legal descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, is an activist/scholar, distinguished speaker, teacher and wisdom keeper who addresses a variety of issues concerning American culture, faith, justice, diversity, racism, our relationship with the earth and Indigenous realities. His work has been featured nationally in diverse venues such as Christianity Today, The Huffington Post, Moody Radio and Time Magazine. He currently serves as Distinguished Professor of Faith and Culture and Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox University/Portland Seminary. His books include: The Harmony Tree: A Story of Healing and Community (a children’s book), Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision and Living in Color: Embracing God’s Passion for Ethnic Diversity. In this episode of RePlacing Church, Randy joins me to discuss: What white missionaries and pastors need to do to minister to native people today The complexities of ministry in native american contexts What self-theologizing is and why it is so critical for gospel contextualization How Christian missionaries separated native people from God A brief history native communities and whiteness in Oregon’s Willamette Valley Shalom as “The Harmony Way,” and how native communities practice it Why we need another term for the “kingdom of God” What America’s true original sin is   Get your free RePlacing Church Resource List, a guide to being and becoming the church in the neighborhood. Subscribe, rate, and review the RePlacing Church Podcast on iTunes, or listen on Stitcher, Google Play, or Podbean. Support RePlacing Church on Patreon. I need your support to offset production costs so that I can continue to offer quality content and insightful interviews that will help you grow in your faith and practice. Visit www.patreon.com/benkatt, become a RePlacing Church Patron for as little as a $1/month and receive access to bonus podcast episodes, additional blog posts and more exclusive content! More information here. Sign up for RePlacing Church updates at www.replacingchurch.org. Like on Facebook, Follow on Instagram. Episode Song Credits: "Another Wrong to Right" and "You Won't Walk Alone" by Mercir. "Closed" by Zadok Wartes. Used with Permission. Production Assistance by Nate Tubbs.

Randy Woodley & Graham Hill discuss embracing ethnic diversity & learning from Native American, First Nations, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander, and Indigenous Christians. The GlobalChurch Project, podcast episode 7.Randy Woodley is a descendent of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians. He and his wife Edith lead a local Native American gathering at their home. They’ve developed a holistic model of service among Native Americans, out of which grew a 50 acre sustainable farm and Christian community. In this community, the Woodleys taught sustainability, eco-justice, microeconomics, leadership, and mission. In 2008 they gave up their farm and were forced to disband the community due to violence from local White Supremacists.Randy Woodley is a founding member of the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies. He’s passionate about emerging faith expressions, diversity, eco-justice, reconciliation, mission, and Indigenous peoples.

For many Americans, our thoughts drift to North American’s original people only once or twice a year. But thanks to the Cleveland Indians’ World Series appearance and the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, you may have thought about Native Americans at some point before our national holiday. Thanksgiving offers a critical time for many of us to reflect on our nation’s history, says Randy Woodley, a Keetoowah Cherokee and professor of faith and culture at George Fox University. “Thanksgiving is a deep mythology within the American psyche,” said Woodley, who suggests that many of us have sanitized the holiday. “For three days they had this festival and no one questions what happens after,” he said. “The story is so treacherous and ugly that our mythology only includes what we want to feel good about.” For decades and later centuries after this peaceful and celebratory meal between the Pilgrims and Native Americans, settlers clashed violently with Indians and forcibly converted them to Christianity and “civilized” them. There was little understanding from Americans that Natives had something to offer them and their culture. They still do, says Woodley: the values of generosity and consensus. Woodley joined Morgan and guest-host Richard Clark to discuss why he himself chooses to celebrate Thanksgiving, how he learned to love Jesus despite the religion’s ugly impact on his ancestors, and the uncomfortable conditions it took for settlers to share their faith with Native Americans.

The Rev. Randy Woodley, Ph.D., presents a Native American Heritage Month lecture, "America Before Columbus and Now." Woodley, a legal descendant of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians, is a teacher, poet, activist, former pastor, missiologist and historian. Woodley is active in ongoing discussions concerning new church movements, racial and ethnic diversity, peace, social justice, interreligious dialogue and mission.

Randy Woodley is back on the podcast - this time for HomeGrown episode 4!  You can listen to Randy's first visit when we talked about his book or his second (at Wild Goose West) where Tripp snuck up on him with some 'concerns'. Randy's Book "Shalom and the Community of Creation" is available on Amazon and Kindle   He is the Distinguished Associate Professor of Faith and Culture and the Director of Intercultural and Indigenous Studies at George Fox Seminary in Portland Oregon. He is also the author of Living In Color: Embracing God's Passion for Ethnic Diversity. Edith and Randy run Eagle's Wings Ministries. Randy is also a part of the North American Institute for Indigenous Theological Studies (NAIITS). Randy is also a member of  Evangelicals for Justice  (along with Lisa Sharon-Harper and Peter Heltzel ). Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Clapp-Wesche Lecture Series....A Native American View of the Land with Randy Woodley

Moberg Lecture Series

In this wild & wooly hour, Bo and Tripp cover 4 diverse topics. The first is a blog-post by Bo's mentor Randy Woodley over at Patheos . They also cover Tripp's post at PoMoMusings(@adamw) In between, the topic of  Zombies (via the Walking Dead) and the Hunger Games is introduced by a call from Tripp's brother, Steven Fuller Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Theologian Dr Randy Woodley is a Keetoowah Cherokee First Nations elder, University professor, author and leader. He generously invites us to decolonise our Christology by seeing Christ as Creator, decolonise our understanding of the ‘kingdom' by seeing it as the healing of the ‘community of creation', and to decolonise our economics by taking Jesus' Jubilee program seriously.