Podcast appearances and mentions of willie james jennings

In this hundredth episode, I share the completion of my doctoral dissertation, reflecting on the impact of global and national issues on our well-being. Drawing inspiration from Willie James Jennings, I explore the concept of a new reality in belonging and its significance in our polarized world. As an introvert and Enneagram 4, I discuss the challenges of making video podcasts and the importance of feedback. I delve into themes of contemplation, justice, and our role in public theology, referencing Matthew 10:34-37 and Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl performance. As we approach Lent, I invite you to join me in deep soul formation and anti-racism work, aiming to create safe spaces for transformative conversations. Your feedback and support are invaluable on this journey.
 To watch this podcast: https://youtu.be/LMqNzLUZjcg Please complete this survey to help us develop the podcast. Thanks! https://tinyurl.com/kkhnz7yx 00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview 00:28 Rediscovering the Podcast's Purpose 03:02 Invitation to Feedback and Reflection 04:10 Contemplation and Justice 05:19 Exploring a New Reality in Belonging 07:10 Creating Safe Spaces for Hard Conversations 09:55 Public Theology and Social Justice 12:01 Meditation on Matthew 10:34-37 14:09 Looking Ahead and Final Thoughts To learn more about the Invitation Center: www.theinvitationcenter.org The Invitation Center is a 501c3. Tax deductible donations can be offered here: https://theinvitationcenter.org/donations

DEVOTED Devoted to the Gospel 2.2.25 Acts 2:41-42 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Willie James Jennings, Commentary on Acts… The church was being carried forward by the incredible power of the Holy Spirit, but now they had to commit themselves to the daily transforming practices of the Spirit. Just like the winds of the Holy Spirit were blowing through the house at Pentecost, now the wind of the Spirit was blowing through structured and settled ways of living – the ordinary – the everyday. Between the occasional spectacular moments in the church are many ordinary days that require steadfast devotion. Four pillars of devotion: 1) Apostles' Teaching (the gospel) 2) Fellowship – Life Together 3) Breaking of Bread 4) Prayer What does it mean to be a church DEVOTED to the GOSPEL? 1. Devotion to the gospel shapes every aspect of our lives around the life, death, resurrection, and lordship of Jesus Christ. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. What does it mean to be a church DEVOTED to the GOSPEL? 2. Devotion to the gospel confronts and uproots the false idols and deceptive ideas that fill our lives. False Idols & Gospel Responses: · Individualism – The gospel calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and live in humble submission to Christ and one another (Phil 2:3-4) · Consumerism – The gospel teaches us that our lives are not our own and we are called to lay ourselves down for the sake of God's kingdom (Gal 2:20) · Power and control – Jesus redefines greatness, calling us to a life of servanthood, humility, and trust in Him (Phil 2:5-8) · Relationships or family – While relationships are a gift from God, only Christ can satisfy the deepest longings of our souls and must be our first love · Comfort and pleasure – The gospel is not about the easy life but about faithfulness and obedience, embracing a life of sacrifice · World pursuits – Instead of chasing worldly success, we pursue holiness, knowing the fullness of life and joy are found in submitting ourselves to Christ's lordship What does it mean to be a church DEVOTED to the GOSPEL? 3. Devotion to the gospel transforms the way we relate to others and reshapes how we see the people around us.

What is church? In this debut episode of LOAM, co-pastors Tonetta Landis-Aina and Anthony Parrott explore the essence, tensions, and beauty of Christian community. From underground churches in Yemen to food pantries in Iowa, they unpack personal experiences that have shaped their understanding of what makes church...church. Key Conversations - The "isness" of church: Beyond programs and buildings - Church as a fellowship of difference - The power of marginality in Christian community - Tension between institutional structures and authentic relationships - Multi-generational community as "burning bushes" Featured Quotes & References - Eugene Peterson on the "ontological church" - C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters on the visible vs. invisible church - Dr. Willie James Jennings's commentary on Acts - Jamar Tisby on the Civil Rights Movement as America's third Great Awakening - Dallas Willard: "Your system is perfectly tuned to get the results you're getting" Scripture Referenced: - Ephesians 2 (God's household) - Acts 1-2 (Birth of the church) Questions for Reflection: 1. What experiences have shaped your understanding of church? 2. How do you navigate the tension between church as institution and church as community? 3. Where do you see "burning bushes" in your faith community? Follow LOAM: Instagram loam.fm Got thoughts or questions about this episode? We'd love to hear from you: podcast@loam.fm

Willie James Jennings is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. The disappointment is real! Early career colleagues report their disappointment after joining a faculty.  Many excel during the doctoral program only to feel deflated, marginalized, or overlooked as a “junior” scholar. Many feel invisible, duped, or overworked on a faculty. How do you separate from the doctoral experience and step into your own voice as a teacher? What does it take to feel the joy and exhilaration of teaching? How do you overcome your fears and trust your own worth?  

What is colonialism and how should white Western Christians think about their own involvement in it? How do we respond, whether Christian or not, to the trajectories of power laid down by our colonial past? Prof. Willie James Jennings is one of the leading voices in postcolonial theology. We are hono(u)red to have him join us in our first discussion on this thorny topic. Thanks to Jamie Maule for his sound editing!

Willie James Jennings is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Administrative duties are a work of care for the thriving of all in the community. Being a good administrator requires the ability to think organizationally, and the willingness to prioritize nurturing faculty, students, and staff. Effective leaders are capable of visioning for the future of the institution. Good leaders have a heart for their people, even those people who they do not agree with or like. Good leaders have an exit strategy.

This is the part two in a five-part series examining Lillian Smith's thoughts on religion in relation to issues of race, class, and gender. We are joined by Dr. Jennifer Morrison, Assistant Professor of English at Xavier University Louisiana, Rev. Dr. Benjamin Boswell, pastor of Myers Park Baptist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Rev. John Harrison, pastor of Nacoochee Presbyterian Church in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Morrison, Rev. Dr. Boswell and Rev. Harrison about Lillian Smith's essay "The White Christian and His Conscience" and Willie James Jennings' essay "Can White People Be Saved? Reflections of the Relationship of Missions and Whiteness." You can read "The White Christian and His Conscience" here: https://library.piedmont.edu/ld.php?content_id=55519594 You can find Jennings' essay in "Can 'White' People Be saved? edited by Love Sechrest, Johnny Ramírez-Johnson, and Amos Yong https://www.ivpress.com/can-white-people-be-saved

Willie James Jennings and Adrián Hernández-Acosta discuss leakage, control, chaos, and healing in Mark 5:21-43. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.More Yale Bible Study resources, including a transcript of this episode, at: https://YaleBibleStudy.org/podcastWillie James Jennings is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, and Adrián Hernández-Acosta, Assistant Professor of Religion and Literature at Yale Divinity School. Connect with Yale Bible Study: Facebook: @YDSCCE Twitter: @BibleYale YouTube: youtube.com/c/YaleBibleStudy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/yds-center-for-continuing-education Thank you for listening!

Willie James Jennings and Adrián Hernández-Acosta discuss steadfastness, alignment, and the depths opening inside repetition in Psalm 130. The text is appointed for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.More Yale Bible Study resources, including a transcript of this episode, at: https://YaleBibleStudy.org/podcastWillie James Jennings is Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, and Adrián Hernández-Acosta, Assistant Professor of Religion and Literature at Yale Divinity School. Connect with Yale Bible Study: Facebook: @YDSCCE Twitter: @BibleYale YouTube: youtube.com/c/YaleBibleStudy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/yds-center-for-continuing-education Thank you for listening!

"The modern world is impossible to narrate without the idea of land as property and the seizing of land as property." "Imagination is our gift in creating and building new worlds." In this episode, Amanda talks with Dr. Willie James Jennings about the profound impact of our conceptions of land on our world today. Our distorted understanding of land as a possession has led to a shallow sense of connectivity and belonging, impacting our relationship with the earth and each other. The conflicts around us are often centered in conflicts over land, and we need to restructure our communities to create shared living and press against how our communities have been shaped. Understanding the history, shape, and function of the land where we live is essential for deepening our connection to the earth and each other. Imagination plays a crucial role in anticipating the possibility of a lively life together, preparing us to receive the stranger and care for those who are different from us. GUEST: Dr. Willie James Jennings is an American theologian, known for his contributions on liberation theologies, cultural identities, and theological anthropology. He is an associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale Divinity School. Willie Jennings' book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.”  His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America.

Our Juneteenth Special features Fred Gray on being MLK's lawyer, Willie James Jennings on racism's origins, and James Lawson on non-violent protest in the civil rights movement.

Juneteenth celebrates the day that the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation was given in Texas, officially making slavery illegal in the U.S. But what factors led to the worldview that condoned slavery in the first place, and how might those factors still be affecting the country today?Martin Luther King Jr.'s attorney Fred Gray discusses his work against segregation in the South, particularly in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Yale professor Willie James Jennings describes the religious and cultural origins of racism. And James Lawson, considered by many as one of the architects of the civil rights movement, explains how he and other leaders came to believe that the only way to effectively desegregate the nation was through non-violent protest.Show Notes:Resources mentioned this episodeJames Lawson Full InterviewFred Gray Full InterviewWillie James Jennings Full InterviewThe Christian Imagination by Willie James JenningsBus Ride to Justice by Fred GrayPDF of Lee's Interview Notes - Willie James JenningsPDF of Lee's Interview Notes - James LawsonTranscription Link JOIN NSE+ Today! Our subscriber only community with bonus episodes, ad-free listening, and discounts on live showsSubscribe to episodes: Apple | Spotify | Amazon | Google | YouTubeFollow Us: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTubeFollow Lee: Instagram | TwitterJoin our Email List: nosmallendeavor.comSee Privacy Policy: Privacy PolicyAmazon Affiliate Disclosure: Tokens Media, LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

In this sermon we celebrate Pentecost, the arrival of the Holy Spirit on God's people and throughout the creation. With a little help from a scene in the film Arrival, a story about the time Derrida kept saying ‘cows' in a lecture, the Truth and Reconciliation commission in South Africa, and all things Willie James Jennings we find ourselves drawn into the good news of the Holy Spirit drawing up close to God and one another in Christ. 

Adrián Hernández-Acosta and Willie James Jennings discuss colonial wounds, prophecy, resurrection, and exile in Ezekiel 37:1-14. The text is appointed for the Day of Pentecost in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.More Yale Bible Study resources, including a transcript of this episode, at: https://YaleBibleStudy.org/podcastAdrián Hernández-Acosta is Assistant Professor of Religion and Literature at the Yale  Institute of Sacred Music. Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School.Connect with Yale Bible Study: Facebook: @YDSCCE Twitter: @BibleYale YouTube: youtube.com/c/YaleBibleStudy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/yds-center-for-continuing-education Thank you for listening!

Willie Jennings and Adrián Hernández-Acosta discuss wounds, tactility, and boiled fish in Luke 24:36b-48. The text is appointed for the Third Sunday of Easter, in Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary.More Yale Bible Study resources, including a transcript of this episode, at: https://YaleBibleStudy.org/podcastAdrián Hernández-Acosta is Assistant Professor of Religion and Literature at the Yale  Institute of Sacred Music. Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School.Connect with Yale Bible Study: Facebook: @YDSCCE Twitter: @BibleYale YouTube: youtube.com/c/YaleBibleStudy LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/yds-center-for-continuing-education Thank you for listening!

Help the Yale Center for Faith & Culture meet a $10,000 matching challenge for podcast production; click here to donate today.Part 3 of 4 in our 2023 Advent Series. Stacey Floyd-Thomas presents a vision of Black joy—which the world can't give and the world can't take away. Looking into several depictions of female agency in the Gospels, she outlines a picture of joy that celebrates beauty, redemptive self-love, virtuous pride, and critical engagement with the world. Then Willie James Jennings offers a definition of joy as an act of resistance against despair and its forces that lead to death. He presents a creative, communal joy characterized by fullness, connected to but transcending grief and sorrow.Show NotesHelp the Yale Center for Faith & Culture meet a $10,000 matching challenge for podcast production; click here to donate today.Macie Bridge and Evan Rosa introduce the episodeStacey Floyd-Thomas explains Black joy"This Joy That I Have""The world didn't give it / the world can't take it away."Beauty and BlacknessToni Morrison's The Bluest EyeWomanist TheologyRadical subjectivityCommunitarian Redemptive self-loveCritical engagementFemale agency in the GospelsMary and Jesus at the Wedding in CanaMary and MarthaSyro-Phoenician WomanWillie James Jennings defines joy—"an act of resistance against despair""Resisting all the ways in which life can be strangled and presented to us as not worth living"Singing a song in a strange landMaking productive use of pain, suffering, and the absurd—taking them seriousHow does one cultivate joy? You have to have people who can show you how to sing a song in a strand land, laugh where all you want to do is cry, and how to ride the winds of chaos."In contexts where your energies have to be focused on survival, it doesn't leave a lot of energy for overt forms of complaint—you're spending a lot of energy just trying to hold it together."The commercialization of joy in the empire of advertising—contrasting that with the peoples serious work of joyThe work and skill of making something beautiful out of what has been thrown awaySegregated joy—joy in African diaspora communitiesJoy is always embedded in community logicsThe Christological center of joyPentecost joy—joy togetherGeographies of joy: Christians tend not to think spatially, but we shouldPublic rituals bound to real spaceHoping for joyous infection, where the space has claimed you as its ownWhere can joy be found? The church, the hospital room, the barber shop and beauty shops—“things are going to be better"Production NotesThis podcast featured Stacey Floyd-Thomas and Willie James JenningsEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie BridgeA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Does God transform us through travel? Jeremy Daggett, missionary in Peru and director of Harding University's Latin America international program thinks so. Join me and Jeremy as we talk about "intercultural spiritual formation" through travel, and how God uses these experiences to help us grow in love for others. In our episode, Jeremy mentioned the following resources: Michael Frost's book, Surprise the World: https://mikefrost.net/books/surprise-the-world/ Jonathan Sacks's book, The Dignity of Difference: https://www.rabbisacks.org/books/the-dignity-of-difference/ Willie James Jennings's commentary on Acts: https://a.co/d/dL7Syl5

This is such a rich conversation. Dr. Willie James Jennings is an incredible theologian who teaches Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Dr. Jennings has written influential books like, The Christian Imagination: Theology and Origins of Race, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, and a groundbreaking commentary on the book of Acts, among a number of other books. Dr. Jennings is a treasure to the church and we loved chatting with him. We spoke about theology, race, whiteness, the book of Acts, LGBTQ+ inclusion and much more. Enjoy!The whiskey we tasted in this episode is Old Fitzgerald Bottle in Bond 16 Year. Good luck finding that.To skip the alcohol tasting, skip to the 8:10 mark. You can find the transcript for this episode here.=====Want to support us?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 Follow us on social media at @PPWBPodcast Watch & comment on YouTube Email us at pastorandphilosopher@gmail.com Cheers!

Tyler Mark Nelson is an advanced student in the Masters of Divinity program at Yale Divinity School. He was raised on the northern banks of the Mississippi River, a stretch of the world that figured deeply in helping him come to know who he is. Tyler began his work life with several years in horticulture, supporting human resources and sales at a large Minnesota greenhouse, leading operations with a university vermiculture and compost program, and farming at an organic lavender farm in eastern Washington state. He's also spent a great deal of time in the wilderness, most recently with people new to time in wild nature. Tyler is a Christian. He is a writer and theologian. He's a climate activist and he's also a person who has lived with significant mental health challenges. Tyler finds eco-theology and his own experience in the natural world to be reliable supports for living well these days on Earth. In our conversation we weave childhood clarity with adult wisdom and consider how we may all reach out to the natural world for guidance when the going gets tough.You can learn more about Tyler by visiting the links below. In particular check out his recent article - Environmental Justice and the Religious Imagination - recently published in the Yale Divinity School Journal, Reflections. You'll also find below links for several resources Tyler mentioned today. Each of them helpful to considering how, religious or not, your way of making sense of the world is affected by listening to nature's wisdom and honoring that kinship. Tyler's work with the BTS Center in MaineGreenFaithDr. Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination.William Blake. 18th Century. "To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold Infinity in the palm of your hand and eternity in an hour."~MUSICThis episode included music by Gary Ferguson and these fine artists.Calm My Mind, Music by LesFM from PixabayRelaxing by Music for Videos from PixabayTouch and Sound by Juan Sanchez from Pixabay

Place-based watershed discipleship and the spiritual practice of reverence deepen our experience of kinship with all creation. Pastor Megan shares stories of learning to know mountains, learning to know neighbors and neighborhood, and learning to know our foremothers in the faith. To get more specific: she learns to love the contours of the Olympic Mountain range, the many neighbors who walk along 125th in Lake City, and the tent-making mother of teachers in Acts, Priscilla. In each of these cases, learning to know more fully nurtures loving more deeply, which may lead us to both honor and labor to protect all of our kin.Sermon begins at minute marker 6:03 Acts 18:24-27 ResourcesKnow Your Mothers project, by Cara Quinn: https://knowyourmothers.com/ “Know Your Mothers project returns after hiatus,” published in The Christian Century, May 4, 2022, from Emily McFarlan Miller, Religion News Service.“Reverence vs. Faith”, Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery Podcast, with Sarah Augustine and Sheri Hostetler, Season 1, Episode 5, August 2021. “We won't protect places we don't love. We can't love places we don't know. And we don't know places we haven't learned,” adapted from Baba Dioum, Senegalese environmentalistElizabeth Person, map artist & designer: https://elizabethperson.com/ A Woman's Lectionary for the Whole Church (Year W): A Multi-Gospel Single-Year Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing Incorporated (2021).The Women's Lectionary: Preaching the Women of the Bible Throughout the Year, Ashley M. Wilcox, Westminster John Knox Press (2021).Willie James Jennings, Commentary on Acts, Westminster John Knox Press (2017).Women's Bible Commentary, eds. Carol A. Newsom and Sharon H. Ringe, Westminster John Knox Press (1992).Image: Pastor Megan doing “office hours” in the alcove, taken by Dave SloneckerHymn: Voices Together, 115, Praise Be to God. Text: Nobuaki Hananoka, 1980. Music: Japanese traditional. Permission to podcast the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-726929. All rights reserved.

Interview with Willie James Jennings

The Second Sunday after the Epiphany | Isaiah 49:1-7 | Psalm 40:1-11 | 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 | John 1:29-32 | January 15th, 2023 | Rev. Danny Byant | St. Mary of Bethany Parish (Nashville, TN)  Readings and Resources: The Sabbath - Abraham Joshua Heschel | Walking in Wonder - John O'Donohue | The Gospels - Sarah Ruden | Schalom Ben-Chorin as quoted in Jesus Christ for Today's World - Jurgen Moltmann | Collected Sermons - Walter Brueggemann | The Christian Imagination - Willie James Jennings

"The challenge is to trust again the beauty of life together.” Professor and author Willie James Jennings talks with Amy Julia Becker about the beauty, promise, and hope of Christianity, especially if and as we are able to untether Christianity from whiteness and reimagine institutions and relationships built upon mutual dependence.__Guest Bio:“Willie James Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His book The Christian Imagination won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion. He has also published the book After Whiteness. He is an ordained Baptist minister and served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He received an undergraduate degree from Calvin University, his M.Div from Fuller Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D in religion and ethics from Duke.”__On the Podcast:Books by Willie James Jennings:Acts: A Theological Commentary on the BibleThe Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of RaceAfter Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Theological Education between the Times)Amy Julia's family trip to New HavenHope Heals Camp__For full show notes, transcript, and more, go to: https://amyjuliabecker.com/willie-james-jennings/__Season 6 of the Love Is Stronger Than Fear podcast connects to themes in my latest book, To Be Made Well, which you can order here! Learn more about my writing and speaking at amyjuliabecker.com.*A transcript of this episode will be available within one business day on my website, as well as a video with closed captions on my YouTube Channel.Connect with me: Instagram Facebook Twitter Website Thanks for listening!

In our day, few pastors are as globally influential as Tim Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, and author of the New York Times bestseller The Reason for God (2008). Less well-known is the important role played by neo-Calvinism in shaping Keller's thought and approach to pastoral ministry. Join us for a conversation with Tim, as we discuss his own journey towards neo-Calvinism, his views on the tradition's strengths and weaknesses, and its future in the United States and further afield. Sources: Timothy Keller, 'Neo-Calvinism and Pastoral Ministry,' in Cory Brock and Gray Sutanto, eds., The T&T Clark Handbook to Neo-Calvinism (forthcoming) Hans Rookmaaker, Modern Art and the Death of Culture (Crossway, 1994) Herman Bavinck, The Wonderful Works of God (Westminster Seminary Press, 2020) Herman Bavinck, Christian Worldview (Crossway, 2019) Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Eerdmans, 1932) Willie James Jennings, The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale University Press, 2010) Eric Kaufmann, Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth? Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century (Profile Books, 2010)

Proper 18 - the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost  | Jeremiah 18:1-11 | Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17 | Philemon 1:1-21 (all NT readings from First Nations Version) | Luke 14:25-33 | September 4th, 2022 | Rev. Danny Byant | St. Mary of Bethany Parish (Nashville, TN)  Readings and Resources: | Theology of Failure - Marika Rose | The Crucified God - Jürgen Moltmann | True to Our Native Land and Stony the Road We Trod - Lloyd A. Lewis | Children of Divorce - Andrew Root | Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible - Willie James Jennings 

When faced with something completely new, how will our theology help us to respond? Willie James Jennings helps us to look back into history at a time when colonialist settlers came into contact with new land and new people and found in their theology a justification to bring order to the world they found. Our theology today is built upon the idea that the hollow places of the earth are filled with treasures for our taking, rather than the idea that the earth is a hallowed place that glorifies God in all its treasures.  Join a conversation about this episode on the BioLogos Forum.

Our hosts are joined by Rev. Dr. Willie James Jennings, currently Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University Divinity School. Find out more about This is Crucial at ThisisCrucial.com

Dr Willie Jennings: Transforming Desire What do we want? What sort of conditioning has shaped our wanting? Dr Willie Jennings joins the podcast to explore how our desire has been shaped by the idea of "whiteness"; a way of being in the world that at its heart is about the vision of the self-sufficient man; self-possessed, in control, the master of all he surveys. This identity has its roots in the colonising history which sought to shape the "new world" in ways that were understandable and controllable, creating a way of being and meaning making that became intertwined with the mission and self-understanding of the Church. Willie suggests that as we respond to the pressing question, “Where does it hurt?” we will be able to reconnect with our own embodied lives, grounded in place, and deeply connected by the Spirit to the well-being of one another. Dr Peter Kline who joins the podcast team for this episode is the Academic Dean and lecturer in Systematic Theology at St Francis Theological College in Brisbane. Dr Willie James Jennings is a theologian, author and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His most recent book is “After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Death may not be the end of the story, but death is in the story. Like many of us, Mary is deeply feeling grief, loss and trauma after the loss of a beloved friend. She goes to the tomb, sad and disoriented and from the midst of those feelings, she encounters God. The resurrection joy she experiences does not take away her trauma but it does transform it. God is calling each of our names too, coming alongside and desiring joy and wholeness for all God's children even in the midst of our pain. John 20.1-18Image: SMC's Flower Cross, Easter 2022, Vija MerrillResources:ING Podcast from Menno Media: "Rejoicing" with Angela Williams Gorrell (mennomedia.org)Willie James Jennings in conversation with Miroslave Volv: Joy and the Act of Resistance Against Despair | YCFC (yale.edu)Bibleworm podcast on the empty tomb: Episode 338 Come to the Tomb (John 20:1-18)

Willie James Jennings (Yale Divinity School) joins Matt Croasmun for a conversation about the future of theology, addressing the Christian inability to hold complexity, public communication, and deep formation together in a way that shows how theology is for our very lives.Seven years ago the Yale Center for Faith and Culture interviewed a diverse array of theologians about the present woes and future potential of theology. Some five years and a pandemic later, the landscape of theological education seems like it's at a crossroads. The driving purpose of Christian higher education is in question as colleges, universities, and seminaries across denominations and around the world consider how they'll move forward in the wake of stark realities this pandemic laid bare. So it's worth revisiting the conversation to see what has changed, what holds true, and what hopes we're still holding on to. For today's episode, we're featuring a conversation between Matt Croasmun and Dr. Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, an ordained Baptist minister, and author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race, and more recently After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. Willie reminds us to be looking for the opportunities in the middle of crises of theological education; he worries about the inability to hold complexity, public communication, and deep formation together in a way that shows how theology is for our very lives; he speaks to the recent aversion to pastoral ministry, which is theology for the sake of the people; he touches on the role of Christian theology in a pluralistic world, asking how theologians might learn from comedians; and he encourages all Christians to take up the theological call to courage, the call to see, listen, and and alleviate suffering, and the call to a theology of life.About Willie JenningsWillie Jennings is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Africana Studies, and Religious Studies at Yale University; he is an ordained Baptist minister and is author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race,Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate, and most recently, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging.Other Episodes Featuring Willie JenningsJoy and the Act of Resistance Against Despair (with Miroslav Volf)My Anger, God's Righteous Indignation (A Response to the Murder of George Floyd)The Crowd Needs Faith: Control, Care, Economy, and Race (with Miroslav Volf)Production NotesThis podcast featured theologian Willie James Jennings and biblical scholar Matthew CroasmunEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Martin ChanA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

The First Sunday in Lent | Deuteronomy 26:1-11 | Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, 39-40 | Romans 10:8b-13 (all NT readings from First Nations Version) | Luke 4:1-13 | March 6, 2022 | Rev. Danny Bryant | St. Mary of Bethany Parish (Nashville, TN)  Readings & Resources: The Collected Sermons of Walter Brueggemann, Volume 2  - Walter Brueggemann | "...From Patriarchy and Purity Culture: The Problem of Patriarchy w/ Willie James Jennings " - the Reclaiming My Theology podcast | A Hidden Wholeness - Parker Palmer | Being Christian - Rowan Williams | Now and Then - Fredrick Buechner 

D.L. Mayfield and Peter Choi talk about our month of focusing on race and justice, discussing new books by Kelly Brown Douglas and Lisa Sharon Harper as well as texts that have been around a while by authors like Willie James Jennings and Robert Allen Warrior. They discuss the recent trend of opinion pieces in the mainstream media expressing nostalgia for better versions of Christianity in the past. Topics range from supersessionism to confederate monuments to epistemological privilege––all features of white supremacy that require closer examination if we are going to work for justice. A few resources mentioned (get the books from your local bookstore, library, or wherever you get your books!): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075572/ (Roots) miniseries https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781626984455 (Resurrection Hope: A Future Where Black Lives Matter) by Kelly Brown Douglas https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781587435270 (Fortune) by Lisa Sharon Harper https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780300171365 (The Christian Imagination) by Willie James Jennings https://www.broadleafbooks.com/store/product/9781506473598/ (Unruly Saint: Dorothy Day's Radical Vision and its Challenge for Our Times) by D.L. Mayfield (releases November 2022) https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781506480374 (The God Who Riots) by Damon Garcia (releases August 2022) We also want to note that the Faith and Justice Network is now available through a monthly or annual membership. If you want to join the conversation, we'd love to welcome you into our community! Learn more on our https://faithjustice.net/ (website).

After considering the fate of leeches in outer space in Leech Anatomy 101 (1:57), Aaron, Banks and Evan dive into Propsect's leechiest themes (8:35), scenes (15:12), and characters (25:57). Following a brief Leech on a Beech respite (35:34), they conclude by considering the film's medicinal qualities (40:13) and giving an overall rating -- from 1 to 4 -- of the film's leechiness (48:27).We're always looking to expand our pond -- please reach out!Series URL: www.theleechpodcast.comPublic email contact: theleechpodcast@gmail.comSocial Media:@leechpodcast on Twittertheleechpodcast on InstagramExternal Links:Victor Block, “Wallops Island Is Where the Monkeys and Leeches are Launched” [link]Marek Szcipanek, “Polish leeches could conquer space” [link]Willie James Jennings, After Whiteness [link]Credits:Hosted by Evan Cate, Banks Clark, and Aaron JonesEditing by Evan CateGraphic design by Banks ClarkOriginal music by Justin Klump of Podcast Sound and MusicProduction help by Lisa Gray of Sound Mind ProductionsEquipment help from Topher Thomas

Week FourDecember 22, 2021An Inclusive FaithEphesians 2:11-22He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near…. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household. Ephesians 2:17, 19As we near the culmination of the celebration of Advent, the juxtaposition of today's Hebrew and Christian lectionary texts provide an interesting meditation on the journey and transformation this Advent makes possible. Indeed, the incarnation demonstrates for us what Willie James Jennings in The Christian Imagination calls an “intimate joining” we are called to manifest in our own lives. As those who have been grafted into another's story, made fellow citizens and also members of God's household, one would think by now that Christians would be better witnesses to learning from others' varied experiences, reconciling and loving across differences. Instead, we too often use religion—whether Christianity broadly or denominations more specifically—to exclude. By contrast, today's Hebrew text from Micah reflects a monotheism, to be sure, but not a closed monotheism. Even in “the last days,” it allows that “all the nations may walk in the name of their gods.” Likewise, Revelation 21 surprises us with the mention of “nations” and “kings of the earth” in the New Jerusalem. Both Micah (4:2) and Revelation (21:24) speak to the nations seeking God's wisdom and coming to walk in God's paths.May this Advent season's example of humility and emptying inspire us anew to empty ourselves and open our hearts, eschewing our own “wisdom” that we may seek God's alone and walk in the ways set before us.Kaaryn McCallAlumna (2020) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode we start at the beginning by exploring how the process of development has deeply affected the neighbourhood of Shieldfield (and neighborhoods like it) and how these processes have caused not just physical displacement but also emotional and spiritual displacement. We also ask you to consider how the processes of development are affecting your community. What are the multiple effects of gentrification where you live ? How is it preventing certain communities from flourishing? How can you call attention to what is happening? Contributors to this episode include Shieldfield residents: Ken, Val, Sharon, Mahamat, Haley, Sheryl, John, Ronnie as well as contributions from Loretta Lees, Chris Jones, Willie James Jennings, Darren McGarvey, Alastair McIntosh, Julia Heslop, Hannah Marsden, Lydia Hiorns, Gemma Herries and Alison Wilkinson.More Real / Symbol Episode 1: Even the trees are being displaced

Isn't Acts just about the founding of the church? In this episode, Willie James Jennings joins Pete and Jared to discuss how the book of Acts reconstitutes what it means to be the people of God.Show Notes →Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-bible-for-normal-people/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

We are back! In this season launch, Brandi starts our new season on patriarchy and purity culture talking about the many problems of patriarchy.  They talk about the problems with centering couples and families, the brutality of masculinity, problems in theology, and more. We have also launched the *NEW* 2021 Advent devotional,  and it is available for purchase at shopRMT.com.If you like what you hear and want to support the work of Reclaiming My Theology, you can join on patreon at patreon.com/brandinico.Reclaiming My Theology is recorded, edited, and produced by Brandi Miller. Our music is "Let's Get High" by Sanchez Fair. 

This conversation, dappled with Dr. Jennings' readings of original poetry and prose, examines the destitution of faculty when the only legitimate expression of scholarship is to perform the values of being a white, self-sufficient, and male. Individualism, competition, and arcane merit standards have fundamentally distorted theological education. Jennings asserts that the generative aim of education ought to be belonging. He challenges us to muster the courage and creativity for the discovery of our genuine contributions to the production of knowledge. Without this risk we fail our students and one another. What is the collective sound of your faculty? When the faculty plays together - what is original tune? In what kinds of improvisation does your faculty revel? How does the music of the faculty inspire students to join in?  

Dr. Jennings is Associatet Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University and has written several books including The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010), which won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015 and the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018.In this episode, Dr. Jenning helps us understand how the book of Acts critiques empire and imperial values, and also how the early Christians in the book of Acts were wrestling with ethnic reconciliation and inclusion. Toward the end of the episode, we talk about the concept of “Whiteness”--what it means, what it doesn't mean, and how it can be a useful tool for people to use to think through the history and politics of race. Theology in the Raw Conference - Exiles in Babylon At the Theology in the Raw conference, we will be challenged to think like exiles about race, sexuality, gender, critical race theory, hell, transgender identities, climate change, creation care, American politics, and what it means to love your democratic or republican neighbor as yourself. Different views will be presented. No question is off limits. No political party will be praised. Everyone will be challenged to think. And Jesus will be upheld as supreme.Faith, Sexuality, and Gender Conference - Live in Boise or Stream OnlineIn the all-day conference, Dr. Preston Sprinkle dives deep into the theological, relational, and ministry-related questions that come up in the LGBTQ conversation.Support PrestonSupport Preston by going to patreon.comVenmo: @Preston-Sprinkle-1Connect with PrestonTwitter | @PrestonSprinkleInstagram | @preston.sprinkleYoutube | Preston SprinkleCheck out Dr. Sprinkle's website prestonsprinkle.comStay Up to Date with the PodcastTwitter | @RawTheologyInstagram | @TheologyintheRawIf you enjoy the podcast, be sure to leave a review.

Long influenced by Yale theology professor Willie James Jennings, Frank Scoffield Nellessen spoke about God creating home: a place of safety, of love, of belonging, where we could provide for and take care of one another, get to know one another: a place of life. For “to be a creature is fundamentally to be a homemaker." The Word became flesh and made his home among us. —John 1:14. The word made flesh continues to unfold home among us. And so God's home opens up to us, fully draws us in and is given away like Jesus' body. The post Creating Home appeared first on Pasadena Mennonite Church.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's message on Acts 17:16-34, as well as his preparation for the Lord's Table. In this sermon, we rest on Paul's speech at the Areopagus, and what it meant for someone like Paul to enter into the stories of the Athenians. Chuck used Willie James Jennings question—“What do you say to those radically outside yourself, radically different from you? What do you say to those whose religions and rituals you have been trained to loathe?”—to encourage us to consider what it might look like for us to enter into the stories of those around us, too.

Episode: Willie James Jennings joins Erin for a challenging conversation on theological education. Jennings brings a wealth of experience to the topic, drawing from his expertise as a theologian and the […] The post Willie James Jennings –– After Whiteness first appeared on OnScript.

Episode: Willie James Jennings joins Erin for a challenging conversation on theological education. Jennings brings a wealth of experience to the topic, drawing from his expertise as a theologian and the […] The post Willie James Jennings –– After Whiteness first appeared on OnScript.

Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world-renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology. Dr. Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr. Jennings’ book **The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race** (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the** Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate** (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. **** Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled** After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging** (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled **Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation **as well as finishing a book of poetry entitled **The Time of Possession**. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two-part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Follow Drew Hart on [Instagram](http://instagram.com/druhart) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/druhart) @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/jarrodmckenna) and [Twitter](http://jarrodmckenna) @jarrodmckenna. Brought to you by Jarrod McKenna & Drew Hart of Inverse Podcast

As we prepare for Season 6 of Inverse Podcast, we are going back in the archives to share some of our favorite episodes with you! Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world-renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings’ book **The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race** (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the** Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate** (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. **** Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled** After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging** (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled **Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation **as well as finishing a book of poetry entitled **The Time of Possession**. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two-part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released next week. Follow Drew Hart on [Instagram](http://instagram.com/druhart) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/druhart) @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/jarrodmckenna) and [Twitter](http://jarrodmckenna) @jarrodmckenna.

As we prepare for Season 6 of Inverse Podcast, we are going back in the archives to share some of our favorite episodes with you! Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world-renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings’ book **The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race** (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the** Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate** (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. **** Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled** After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging** (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled **Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation **as well as finishing a book of poetry entitled **The Time of Possession**. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two-part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released next week. Follow Drew Hart on [Instagram](http://instagram.com/druhart) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/druhart) @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/jarrodmckenna) and [Twitter](http://jarrodmckenna) @jarrodmckenna.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's sermon on Acts 16:1-8, as well as his preparation for the Lord's Table. Rather than looking at this passage through the eyes of Paul, Chuck, with the help of Dr. Willie James Jennings, encourages us to consider it through the story of Timothy. What does it mean for Timothy to be circumcised and join Paul on this journey, and how does that speak to us today?

Concluding our series on Cultural Identity, we are joined by Dr. Willie James Jennings, who is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, and the author of The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale University Press), and, more recently, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging (Eerdmans). Dr. Jennings begins by explaining what Whiteness is and isn't, and specifically how it has nothing to do with phenotype, cultural heritage, bodily characteristics, biology, etc, but rather is a particular way of seeing the world as revolving around the self and as something to be mastered. Over the course of our conversation we talk about how the church and theological education have been ensconced in Whiteness. Given that dynamic, Dr. Jennings relays to us how to call out its particularities, overcome internalized racism in the academy, and addresses what sort of “crucifixion” white evangelicalism might need to experience to be on the side of resurrection. Throughout his book, After Whiteness, Dr. Jennings interweaves anecdotes with poems that he's written. As a special treat for us, Dr. Jennings reads one of his unpublished poems that didn't make its way into the book. In the end, Dr. Jennings provide a beautiful vision of hope for the gathering of the multitudes together as the people of God after Whiteness. Team members on the episode from The Two Cities includes: Dr. Amber Bowen, Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Grace Sangalang Ng, Dr. Chris Porter, and Dr. Logan Williams.

Dr. Willie James Jennings (Yale Divinity School) is this week's guest on the Dialogue On Teaching podcast. Jennings and Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield discuss his upcoming book, “After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging,” which will be published in October 2020.

This episode is Part 2 of a conversation with Dean Emilie Townes of Vanderbilt Divinity School, Dean Kelly Brown Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary, and Associate Dean Karen Massey at Mercer University McAfee School of Theology on the state of theological education. Throughout the conversation, we have been using Willie James Jennings's book, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging, as a reference. Dr. Jennings is the former dean of Yale Divinity School. In Part 1, my guests told of their own experiences in theological education and in taking on leadership responsibility for an institution of theological education. They also provided their own assessment of the state of theological education. In this episode, Part 2, my guests describe how theological education is being done in each of their institutions in terms of curriculum design, in light of the decline of Christianity in the United States, and in the experience of the Covid pandemic. They conclude by offering their thoughts on what conversations still need to occur about theological education as we move forward into the future. The music for this episode is from a clip of a song called 'Father Let Your Kingdom Come' which is found on The Porter's Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter's Gate Worship Project. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

This podcast features Pastor Chuck's sermon on Acts 13:1-12, as well as his preparation for the Lord's Table. In this sermon, Chuck follows the guide of Willie James Jennings, who reads these verses and says, "Wherever women and men give themselves to the disciplines that attune the body to its hunger for the Spirit they will find themselves receptive to the voice of God, and they will hear the Spirit speaking and offering guidance … we have a communion-bearing, community-forming God who speaks in the midst of the multitude and makes known where we must go to follow the Spirit's movement."

All Christians should be interested in what is going on in institutions that train people for Christian ministry because what happens in those institutions--how people are trained and what they are taught--finds it way, for good or not, into churches. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s there was such dissatisfaction with theological education that the stirrings of an extensive and extended conversation about what was wrong and what needed to be done had begun. The first significant work of that conversation to appear in print was Vanderbilt theologian Edward Farley's Theologia: The Fragmentation and Unity of Theological Education, published in 1983. Farley's assessment of the problem was that because of the impact the modern sciences, theological schools had become places that trained people in the increasing number of Biblical, historical, theological/philosophical, and practical sciences. He urged the recovery of what he called theologia which he defined as the capacity for judgment and wisdom or a habitus--a habit of mind and sapiential knowledge that arises from the experiences of a devoted life of faith. Farleys research was deep, illuminating, and perceptive. His conclusions and proposal resonated across the conversation. However, Farley's contribution had a significant blind spot. Even though no reference was made to Farley and his contribution, that blind spot was revealed and named two years later, in 1985 by the Mud Flower Collective--a group of seven feminists scholars of different races and ethnicities--in their book, God's Fierce Whimsy: Christian Feminism and Theological Education. Their assessment of the problem is that it is due to the so-deeply-embedded-that-it-goes-unnoticed legacy of colonial imperialism and white male supremacy. Their proposal was to reveal this legacy, challenge it, and correct it. It could be argued that Farley's contribution is an example of how deep and unnoticed this legacy is because he fails to even be aware of it and thus to acknowledge it. As is often the case, initial prophetic voices goes unheeded. So it was with the Mud Flower Collective's contribution. Last year, nearly forty years since conversation of the 1980s, Willie James Jennings, former dean of Yale Divinity School, has both revived that conversation about the inadequacy of theological education and the Mud Flower Collective's critique in his book, After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging. The fact of his assessment that the inadequacy of theological education is still due to the legacy of colonial imperialism and white male supremacy reveals how little has changed in forty years and how deeply the legacy in embedded. In my mind, both The Mud Flower Collective's  and Jennings contributions in the accuracy of their assessments and in the way they demonstrated theological learning and inquiry, not only through critical analysis, but also the use of personal stories and poetry, are exceptional examples of the theologia Farley was seeking and proposing. To tell us of their own experiences in theological education, to provide their own assessment of state of theological education in conversation with Jennings's book, to provide us with a description of what is going on with theological education in their respective institutions, and to give us some sense of theological education's future, I have invited three deans of seminaries and divinity schools to be my guests for a two part conversation. Each are in positions to shape and guide theological programs in the schools where they are. In this episode, Part 1, we will focus on their experiences and assessments. In the next episode, Part 2, we will focus on what is happening in their institutions and the future of theological education. Dr. Emilie M. Townes is Dean of Vanderbilt University Divinity School and Distinguished Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society. The Reverend Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas is Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School at U...

In this episode, Angela talks with Sushama Austin-Connor about her research on joy and her book The Gravity of Joy: A Story of Being Lost and Found. They consider how we can study joy with a theological lens, how our emotions are always teaching us something, and how joy is a realization of relatedness and connection. Dr. Angela Williams Gorrell is an ordained pastor and assistant professor of practical theology at Baylor's George W. Truett Theological Seminary. Prior to joining the faculty at Baylor, she was an Associate Research Scholar at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, working on the Theology of Joy and the Good Life Project, and a lecturer in Divinity and Humanities at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. She received both her Ph.D. in Practical Theology and MDiv at Fuller Theological Seminary, and her BA in Youth Ministry at Azusa Pacific University. She is the author of a new book, The Gravity of Joy: A Story of Being Lost and Found, which shares findings of the joy project while addressing America's opioid and suicide crises. Intro (00:01): What is joy? What is the difference between joy and happiness? What's the relationship between despair and joy? Angela Williams Gorrell has been exploring these questions. Angela is Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary and an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA. In this episode. Sushama Austin-Connor talks with Angela about her work recently published in the book entitled, "The Gravity of Joy: The Story of Being Lost and Found". Together, they explore what it means to study joy with a theological lens and how joy can be sustained alongside sorrow. [light percussion music and the sound of a water droplet] You are listening to The Distillery at Princeton Theological Seminary.  Sushama (00:50): I was very interested in learning more stories and illustrations from your childhood and your background. Can you give us even a more full idea of your background and your childhood in life leading up to your academic career? Angela (01:04): Yeah, sure. Thank you so much for having me today. It's great to be talking with you. I grew up in Eastern Kentucky in Appalachia, in a little town called Pikeville, and it might -- actually in Appalachia though, like, it could be called a big town. [laughter] But I grew up there, spent the first seven and a half years of my life there and really grew up in church, went to church the first Sunday after I was born, as my parents like to tell the story. They like literally, you know -- back then, babies, they just, they didn't worry about them, you know, catching anything. I don't think [laughter]. Sushama (01:39): That's right. [laughter] Angela (01:39): They're like, "Hey, you were born three days ago, we're taking you to church and passing it around to everybody." [laughter] So that's me, and I've been going to church my entire life. The church has really been a sanctuary to me, a safe haven, which I know it hasn't been that way... I mean, and not, and not in every respect. And certainly there's been a lot of hard moments, being a part of Christian communities, but in many respects, I'm very grateful to say, especially youth group, I think was a really powerful safe haven for me and my life. But, anyhow, my parents got divorced when I was seven and a half, and that meant that my mom decided to move us to Lexington, which is in central Kentucky. And I, you know, I'm really grateful that that happened because of some opportunities that I got in Lexington. Mostly two things that I think are important for people to know about me. One is that I've been writing since I was like -- could write. Like basically when I could write things, I began to tell stories and to write poetry. And so it's interesting to look back at like my second-grade self and the kinds of poems that I wrote. But I've always been an observer of life, like someone who deeply... Like my friends like to say "Angela lives in the deep end of life." [laughter] Angela (02:56): So, yeah! So I, when I got to Lexington, one thing that was really important was that I got to attend The School for the Creative and Performing Arts. So, from fourth to eighth grade, every single day for two hours a day, I wrote, which many children can not say that. But, we all have -- we had to all different majors at our school. So some people did arts -- like did art for a couple hours. Some people did dance, singing, you know, violin, piano, whatever. But for me, it was creative writing. And so that was very formative for me and important. And then the second thing that happened was that I got a special speech pathologist to help me because, as I described in The Gravity of Joy, that I was born deaf. And so for several years, basically until I was in sixth grade, I had a really hard time communicating with other people. Unless you knew me really well, it was difficult to understand me because I had a really significant speech impediment. And so it actually made it hard to make friends in elementary school and to be myself, 'cause I constantly was fighting for my words, which is interesting because... I say that to say -- today too, that the two things that I am most known for other than teaching are writing and speaking, and until I was in middle school, I couldn't be understood by people very well. So, but in Lexington, you know, I had this, like this special speech pathologist who really invested in my life -- for three years, every week -- and then went to the school that was very formative and important for me. After high school, I went to school to become a youth minister. So I, you know, I went to school, college, I got my bachelor of arts is in youth ministry from Azusa Pacific University in Los Angeles, lived in LA for 13 years. And the whole time I was living in Los Angeles, I kind of... I kept one foot in the church. I was always in ministry, mostly in youth ministry, but on a lot of preaching teams as well and doing family ministry of course, and then one foot in the academy. So I was kind of like always getting a degree, but also hanging out in the church. And for me as a practical theologian, that's super important because it was like, you know, I would be in the church. I would be among Christians in community. And I would be seeing the sorts of things that were keeping people awake at night. And then I'd be like, okay, as a researcher, as you know, I'm a Ph.D. student, for example, I want to think more about that in relationship to their faith. But then as I was, you know -- when you're in the academy, when you're getting degrees and you're reading books, like you're like, okay, but what's going on in people's real lives? Sushama (05:31): Right, right. Angela (05:32): Like, how did this relate to people's everyday experiences? And so, for me as a practical theologian, it was very important to kind of always be in ministry and -- while learning in the academy. And I still to this day try to be a very grounded theologian. So while I was finishing up my PhD in Los Angeles is when I got an email about a job at Yale University, working at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. And I received that job in March of 20-- I accepted that job, excuse me, in March of 2016 and ended up moving to Connecticut. And that's how I'm... yeah. So I went from Kentucky to Los Angeles to Connecticut, and then I worked on the Theology of Joy and the Good Life Project. That's what I was recruited to Yale to be on that research team. And then, after the project ended, I applied for this job that I currently have at Baylor University. And so I moved to Waco, Texas in fall 2019 to become a professor of practical theology at Baylor University's Truett Seminary. Sushama (06:33): That's great. That's great. I wanted to jump right into the Life Worth Living course, but before I do that, I want to talk a little bit about what you mentioned about keeping one foot in the church and one foot in the academy. Because I know in our work in continuing education, where this podcast series is housed, that's kind of our work. That's what we hope we're doing well. So what do you feel that doing your work in both of those spheres, what does it offer to you when you're out and about talking to pastors and their congregations or to pastors and lay leadership? Angela (07:13): I think that, you know, for -- like, people ask me, you know, what are you an expert in, Angela? Like, what do you research? And, certainly I can say a few things that I think that over the years I've become more adept at talking about, like the ability to help people like make sense of like, like the meaning and purpose in their lives, joy, new media. Those are some of the things I've focused on a lot. But in general, I tell people that I feel called to research the things that matter to people and to shine the light of the gospel on them. And I think that as I hold both the experiences that I have in Christian communities and the research that I do together, like, the more that I hold those together, I think the more that pastors feel like, you know, "Yeah, Angela, the things that you're doing and talking about, they do relate to our congregants lives. They do relate to everyday Christians lives." And I think that there's something that feels to then pastors, like, very honest about it. Where they're like, "Okay, you're a theologian who does care about what's happening in people's lives every day. That's good." Sushama (08:22): Talk to me about the Life Worth Living course at Yale, because, in doing the research, I realized that it has a profound impact on people and is really well known. Yes. I would love to hear more about what that course is and what it entailed and how you got to be a part of that. Angela (08:39): Yeah. So, seven years ago, Miroslav Volf -- and that's whose research team that I was on and anybody who, you know, most people are familiar with -- if they know about Miroslav's work, they know about his very, very famous book *Exclusion and Embrace*, and he is just an extraordinary systematic theologian and person. And I'm very grateful that I had the privilege and the honor of being on his research team for the Theology of Joy the Good Life Project. Seven years ago, Miroslav and my colleague, our colleague, Ryan McAnnally-Linz, who still works at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, they read two books that were really pivotal to them. For them. One was "Education's End" by Anthony Kronman and another book is called "College: What It Was, What It Is, and What It Should Be". And both of these books argue that the meaning of life used to be central to the college experience, that the search, the examination of, and the articulation of meaning and purpose used to be not just a part of the college experience, but actually like fundamental to it. Angela (09:52): And so they wondered what would it look like to bring the meaning of life back to the classroom. So they created a course called Life Worth Living, and they pitched it to the humanities department. I mean, they're housed at the divinity school and Miroslav is a professor at the divinity school, but they wanted to do it with Yale undergraduates. So they reached out to the humanities department there. They said, sure, you can have 14 students for a semester and do Life Worth Living. And that's what they wanted. And then 60 students signed up for the class, and then every semester, no matter how many times, no matter how many sections of the course that we offered -- because we always want to keep it small, like 14 to 17 students, because it's a conversation, it's a dialogue; it's about helping young people to grow inarticulacy about the good life, the flourishing life. So we can't help them develop articulacy if they're not actually talking. So we want it to keep it small, but no matter how many sections we offer at Yale, every spring, we have way more students than we can accept. So the last time I taught it was spring of 2019, and I think we had 75 spots and about 235 students apply and they all wrote essays to get into the class. Sushama (11:08): Incredible. Angela (11:08): Pretty extraordinary. Yeah. And so what, we've -- what we're finding... And then the more that we tell people about this program... I've taught it in a prison with my colleague, Matt Crossman, who's the Director of Life Worth Living at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture. We have taught, done weekend retreats with people who are on the brink of retirement, weekend retreats with people who are in business and, you know, corporate leaders who just want to have this conversation. There are people who are doing this in all different types of settings, in high school settings, you know, those sorts of things. And so we're actually trying to figure out more how we can spread, like, basically our methodology to more and more people. And right now I've actually been training chaplains in the US army at multiple bases, all over the country in how to help soldiers articulate meaning and purpose. And so it's been really exciting. And then at Baylor, I teach a class on Mondays at Baylor called Jesus and the Meaning of Life. And in this class we are -- so whereas Life Worth Living in... Like when I'm training chaplains or when we're doing it in a prison or at Yale, we do it in a pluralistic way. You know, it's very, we look at how different people... So Life Worth Living has these key questions. Sushama (12:20): Mm hmm. Angela (12:22): What does it mean for life to go well? What should we hope for? What does it mean for life to feel well or to feel right? What does it mean for life to be led well? How should we live? What is the role of suffering in a good life and how should we respond to suffering? And what happens when we fail to live the life that we have that we hope for? And so those are the key questions. And when we ask them in a pluralistic setting, we look at how different people have answered these questions from religious and philosophical traditions throughout history. When I do it at Baylor on Monday afternoons, right now, we are thinking about these key questions in light of the life and teachings of Jesus specifically, and really at Baylor, in this class, we are looking at contested Christian visions of flourishing life, which I feel like has been, I mean, I think if you look over the last few years in the United States, we have contending visions of what it means to follow Jesus. And so on Monday afternoons at Baylor University, we are debating those visions. Sushama (13:35): Yeah. I feel like it's just an amazing career when you can study joy. That even the ability to study joy feels like it would be inherently a part of a good life for a scholar. Like, how do you study joy? What, what is the process for studying joy? Why joy? Angela (13:54): Joy is actually one of the most under- -- or before the joy project -- it was one of the most under-explored, positive emotions across multiple disciplines, actually. And many people conflate joy and happiness. And we wanted to try to understand the difference between the two as well. From a theological perspective, people like, for example, Thomas Aquinas say that joy is the culmination of all positive emotions, like, that sort of every positive emotion culminates in joy, it's the ultimate positive feeling. And so we wanted to explore what is joy from a theological perspective? What does it take to cultivate joy? What is the difference between joy and happiness? Why is joy important in our lives? If so, why, what does it do for human beings? And so we actually brought together 239 scholars from over 140 institutions on, I think, four continents and multiple countries from all different kinds of disciplines. Angela (15:02): We had psychologists, philosophers, literature professors, historians, all different kinds of professors come together and researchers and... Every consultation had a theme related to, so, you know, maybe the theme was, like, joy versus fear. And then people would submit papers from their academic discipline, like their perspective. And we had emerging scholars and senior scholars and we would read papers and we would debate. And then we would distill big ideas into bite-size pieces. And a lot of things were written over the last few years about joy. Many books were written, a lot of articles were submitted to journals. A lot of popular articles were submitted by scholars. And so we're really grateful and excited that over the last few years, there's been a lot more written and thought about in relation to joy that I think is going to be really helpful to people. Sushama (16:03): Why is it understudied? Why do you think that was? Angela (16:08): I don't know. It's a great question. I... my hunch is that it was so associated with happiness because happiness is not an underexplored phenomenon. Sushama (16:19): No, it's not. Yeah. Angela (16:20): Positive psychologists have contributed, have dedicated a lot of time to happiness over the last probably 20 years or so. And so positive psychology is such an interesting movement because for many years, psychologists studied and focused on pathology and how do we, you know, reduce depression? How do we reduce mental distress of all sorts? Um, how do we treat mental illness? Whereas positive psychology came along and they said, instead of focusing on pathology, like what if we focused on how do we nurture positive emotions and virtues in people's lives? So what if we focused on how do we cultivate happiness, for example? And so I just wonder if maybe the study of happiness... Sort of, like, people just assumed when they were studying happiness, that they were studying joy. Sushama (17:11): I mean, this seems like a good place to maybe give your definitions and ideas about the difference. So like what, what is joy versus happiness and how do they relate? Angela (17:23): Yeah, I think for me personally, like from a theological perspective, when you look at happiness and I think that Adam Potkay's book, *The Story of Joy* is very helpful for understanding the etymology of joy. So how did it come to be -- and happiness -- and like, what did they mean when people began to use these words? Joy is actually a much older word than happiness... In like, so it was used much more. But it really, and it really is a biblical word. It's actually, like, throughout the Hebrew scriptures and in the New Testament, joy is used quite frequently. And so Potkay talks a lot about that, but basically happiness became very popular in the 1800s, I believe, is when he was talking about it, as a way, a calculus of material conditions. So, generally happiness from my perspective is associated with people's sense that their lives are going well. Angela (18:23): People assess the circumstances or the conditions of their lives and they sit back and they think, yeah, my life is going well, I'm happy. I'm happy in this moment with the circumstances that I'm in, and I'm content with how my life is going. Whereas joy is a much more profound emotion and it is... and it, and it actually occurs less frequently,I think. I think happiness is easier to access for people than joy. But joy is -- so one thing about joy is that it's very modifiable in a way that few positive emotions are, I think, which makes it a strange emotion in the sense that joy... There is, there can be exuberant joy. And I think when we think about joy, most people associate it with like exuberant joy, like, oh my goodness. Sushama (19:12): Sure, yeah. Angela (19:12): So like, this is amazing. This is so great. Right. But joy, there's also quiet joy, sobering joy, healing joy, restorative, redemptive, joy. And actually from a theological perspective, I think that theologians and also in the, in the scriptures, what we see is that joy tends to be more like... For me, Luke 15 is the biblical ode to joy where... In Luke 15, what we see is the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son. And so what's lost is found. And so there's the sense that joy is often the result, the feeling of, like, reunion, of restoration, of redemption, of what is lost being found. And so in order to feel joy sometimes, I mean that kind of joy, I mean, you have to have lost something. So there seems to be for me... And what I explore a lot in *The Gravity of Joy* is that joy has this mysterious capacity to be held alongside of sorrow. Joy can sustain us and can be sustained even in suffering... Which I think is very helpful to all of us. And like, sort of in the moment that we're finding ourselves in. Sushama (20:34): [inaudible]. Yeah, yeah. This moment. And then just, the moments that you described in your book, too. Reading, especially the depth of the chapter about your father's dying. I was... I have to say I was really affected. I actually re-read a little last night of that particular part. Because it's, it's so clear. You almost feel as a reader that you're there, too. I have to admit I was teary. And it occurred to me, I remembered about, maybe longer than a decade ago, a student at Harvard Divinity School telling me that she had just gone through, like, a season of death and grief. She called it a season of death and grief. And she did like a, almost like a mini sermon about it for an introduction to a forum we were doing. And I'll never forget how she described that. But when I read yours, I thought this is a season of death and grief. And the implications of that, that you found in your work in joy and how much it mattered in your work in joy. So I wonder if you would give us some sense of what was happening for you in holding all of these things and holding all of these moments in this season of death and in grief for you. Angela (21:49): Yeah. Thank you so much for what you said about the chapter, about my dad's death. Sushama (21:53): Yeah. Angela (21:53): I think for me, it was very important in this book to honor the journey of grief, and to speak about it, to write about it very honestly and openly. I... And because I think I wanted to really -- and I do spend a good deal of time in chapter four, talking about how grief not only produces tears, but anger and fear, and that those are stages of grief that are really important, I think, for people to talk about. I think a lot of times people experience profound grief and then find themselves really angry like I was. And they don't, they haven't been told that the two are associated. And so then they feel a little bit like, "What's happening to me?" Like, "Why am I so like... Why am I waking up so mad every day?" But when you've experienced significant loss, especially sudden loss, or, for me in the case of my dad, you know, losing him after nearly 12 years of opioid use, there was so much anger about not just his death, obviously, but all of the years that were lost before that, like the death of the guy that I knew long before he actually died. And so for me, I wanted to describe in this book, I mean, it's called "The Gravity of Joy" for a reason. Sushama (23:22): Yeah. Angela (23:22): Because it is about the weightiness of joy. It is about the kind of joy that I found in the midst of suffering was more of what Alexander Schmemann, the priest, calls 'a bright sorrow' in one of his journals. He describes joy as 'a bright sorrow' in the sense that to give ourselves over to joy is to always, in any moment that we do that to allow for just a few minutes, the brokenness, the loss, the sadness, the sin of the world, to hang in the background and instead to focus on what is good, what the relationship we have with other people, what is meaningful, you know, and to give ourselves over to just that goodness for a moment, and to allow that -- the darkness to hang in the background, the loss, you know? And so, yeah, that's what I'm doing in this book, as I think I'm trying to describe what it was to hold both sorrow and joy together in my own soul. Sushama (24:24): Yeah. And in doing that, the fact that these deaths came pretty much one after another, did you try to pivot to joy? Or do you feel like joy is inherent in the grieving -- so you like have ebbs and flows of joy -- or are you thinking to yourself, you know what, this person had a wonderful life. I remember these memories with them. That makes me joyful. Like, I'm going to concentrate on the joy in this moment of this person's life. Angela (24:51): Not during those four weeks, not a year and a half after. No. Joy did not -- no. I think that it was not for about a year and a half that I really could allow joy in. I think that joy is a gift. I don't think we can manufacture the feeling of joy. I think that it finds us and then we open ourselves up to it. Or, you know, I think we can be postured for joy. We can get ready for joy. And then when it makes its way to us, we can give ourselves over to it. But yeah, even for that year and a half, I wasn't, I wouldn't say that I was someone who was postured for joy. I wasn't looking for joy. I was able, after I got into writing the book, to look at the weeks that -- those four weeks when I lost three people back to back in very sudden and very tragic ways each in their own, you know, suicide, senseless death of a young person, and then opioid use, like I was able to look back and to see a moment in each, after each person's death, when I experienced a kind of sobering, quiet joy or a healing joy. You know, I experienced some joy in thinking about them and what they meant to me. Sushama (25:56): Sure. Angela (25:57): And like, in moments that, like, God met me and my family in the midst of what was happening, which is what brought joy. Because I say in the book too, that joy is the very being and presence of God, ministering to you. And so I was able in, very much in hindsight to see where God was and that brought me joy, but like, I would not describe those four weeks as joyful whatsoever. And I also would say that it took me a good year and a half to actually start to write about joy. Again, like I had written, I was writing about it a lot, reading everything I could get my hands on in the first eight months, even outside of the consultations we were doing. And then it was just hard to go to work. And I lived in the fog of grief and then I became this chaplain at a maximum-security prison for women on suicide watch. Angela (26:47): And that's when -- and then, so I become this chaplain. I decided to volunteer, which was such a strange thing to surrender to because I was at the end of myself, I did not think that I had anything to offer anyone. And yet I felt the tug of the Spirit in church one night when they were asking for more volunteers and I just decided to do it. And then a few weeks into it, I realized I'd been assigned the building, like, with women on suicide watch. I realized that the overwhelming majority of women in my Bible study were in prison for heroin or crack. And then I realized that... So basically my, like my study of joy, my family suffering, and the suffering of these incarcerated women collided in that prison. And I began to wonder, like, what could our research on joy and visions of the good life and contemporary culture, like what might it say to my family suffering, to these women's suffering, to America's crises of despair, both suicide and death by opioids have been called deaths of despair. So I began to wonder like, what's going on in the larger picture of what's happening in America today? You know what I mean? And then finally I'll say that my friend, Willie James Jennings, who was a colleague of mine at Yale Divinity School, he gave this lecture about a month and a half after I started being a chaplain at the prison on joy. And he said two things that absolutely changed my life in this lecture. One was that he said, we can make our pain productive without glorifying or justifying suffering. And that, because that was the last thing I wanted to do. I did not want to write about my family suffering as some sort of like way of saying that like, God had this happened, that I could write a book about joy amid suffering. Angela (28:38): You know, I don't, I don't claim that to this day. I don't think that God does stuff like that in our lives. I don't make sense of my family suffering in that way. And so this book is not an attempt to justify or to glorify what happened to my family or to the women that I met in prison. It is an attempt simply to make pain productive, to say that, you know, I can take what I went through, what these women have gone through are still going through. And I can try to be a part of the groundswell of people who are addressing America's crisis of despair. Like, you know, and then the second thing he said was joy is a work of resistance against despair. Like, he channeled Habakkuk 3 and he was just like, you know, this is, this joy is a work of resistance against despair. And so as I, you know, it like all came together in this moment, in this lecture where I was like, oh wow, we have a crisis of despair in American culture. My family has experienced it. I'm meeting with women every Wednesday who experienced this. And then joy is a work of resistance against despair. I'm writing about that. And that is what *The Gravity of Joy* is, that is the thesis of this book. That joy is a counter agent to despair. Interlude (29:56): [sound of water droplet] Sushama (29:58): You talk about this counter agency of despair. Give more illustrations of how that joy, like if it's from the women's prison or in your own life, but how is it that joy might serve as this great counter agent to despair? Angela (30:12): Well, if despair is the feeling that many people I think have... When I think about despair, I describe it as a theologian. So that's important. I'm not a psychologist. You know, I keep saying that throughout the thing, but I just want to [laughter] -- like, I'm thinking about despair and joy and suicide and the opioid crisis from a theological perspective. And when I think about despair from a theological perspective, what I see is that people begin to feel that even though they can see others, that people cannot reach them. People cannot connect with them. People don't see them, understand them, truly hear them. Also despair tends to give us the feeling that... Nothing will heal or bring us relief from our pain. And so we've become hopeless about the idea that, like, healing is possible for us. Despair also tends to come from the sense that our life has become ineffective, that we've failed massively, and we can't recover from it. That we've lost our sense of self, that we don't know who we are or where we're going or where we've been. That we're not a part of some sort of larger story that's being told, you know? And so joy is the opposite of all of that. Joy is the feeling that we get when we recognize and feel connected to meaning, to truth, to beauty, to goodness, and to other people. Joy is a realization of relatedness, to these sorts of things, right? And so the more that we can help people to have realizations of connection, to meaning truth, beauty, goodness, to one another, the more we help people to resist despair in their lives. Sushama (32:01): Yeah. You're making me think about kind of the moment that we're in also as a country, I feel in some way, we're in a -- it feels like collective grief, collective despair on all fronts, in every way that you can think about it. And it could be anything from racial injustice to, you know, like the reshaping and kind of like, degradation of like our democratic ideals, like, and anywhere in between all, all these ideas in between. But there's kind of a collective grief happening, a collective despair. But I don't, I'm not finding there's room for much collective joy right now and how we, we get people to some joy or to some joyfulness or to looking at some of our, of these issues in a more hopeful way. What are you, what are you thinking about like collective joy? Angela (33:03): No, it is a thing. I think the best example, and Brene Brown has pointed this out in her work, is in sports. Sports really demonstrate collective sorrow and collective joy in a very powerful way. I mean, we saw it at the national championship game two Monday nights ago. And you know, I gotta give a shout out to the Baylor men's basketball team. You know, but it's so interesting. I actually preached about this last Sunday that, you know, at the national championship game, it's just, you see right at the end of that game, this collective sorrow and collective joy just collide. And it's, you know, because Jalen Suggs is crying and Mark Vital is crying. They're both crying for very different reasons. One is weeping. One is rejoicing. You know, and so we see collective joy and sorrow in sports. And I think that's why sports are so powerful in people's lives, because it's this space that we have to feel like I'm with these other people in what I'm feeling. Angela (34:04): So we feel very, very connected to other people, and we feel permission to feel deeply in sports. I don't know that there's any place that people feel such exuberant joy or such profound sadness, so publicly, right? Sushama (34:20): Yes! Angela (34:20): And so sports are interesting. And the Sports Institute at Baylor, they're doing some really interesting work in thinking theologically about sports, so I just want to give a shout out to them as well. But basically what you're saying about collective despair, collective sorrow. I absolutely feel it too. I literally, I woke up to the news headlines this morning of this young, 13-year-old boy being shot in Chicago by police. And I literally, I just, and I'm looking -- I follow black liturgies on Instagram. I commend them to everyone. And it's just literally all they can like post this morning is like -- inhale. Like, we are sad, you know, something to the effect of like, we're sad -- exhale, please, like, help us not to give over to despair. Angela (35:05): I, you know, it's like when George Floyd's trial is going on, and then we hear about Dante Wright. And now we hear about this young 13 year old. It's like, I don't -- it's so hard for me to have any hope going forward for policing in the United States. It is. It's like, and I want to believe that there's hope, but I can understand why so many people would say like, there is no hope for redeeming this, you know? There is no hope for, like... All we can imagine is that we have to rethink the whole thing because like, how can this be redeemed? You know? And so, yeah, it's very -- there are certain aspects of American life right now that it's very hard to not just say like, this is irredeemable. Like this is lost, and nothing can be found. Right. You know what I mean? Sushama (35:57): Nothing. And when you think about, you know, a 13-year-old boy, and I have a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old, and it's like, now I won't go, I won't be too dramatic. It's not all joy, but most of it, of their childhood is joy. It is pure joy. That's what we're aiming for. That's what they're aiming for. That mostly, it's a lot of joy. So for a 13-year-old to be gone out of our lives, because of a collective crisis is really, really painful. And I appreciate you naming that. It's really painful. Angela (36:32): Yeah. Well, and what I was going to say about it too, is like, when it comes to joy, it's like, we can't rush joy. And I do, I do think that in the case of the kind of week that we're having with [inaudible], you know, with this trial going on, and I mean, I think for me, George Floyd's trial is just so representative of the fact that, like the fact that we have to have this, like, very long trial, about a murder that everyone saw is so, so painful and disorienting. Sushama (37:06): I'm with you. Yes. Angela (37:06): It's like, we all watched it. Everyone watched it. Sushama (37:12): We saw it! [crosstalk] Angela (37:12): Everyone saw it! Like, everyone saw it. And so I think it's very important for me to say today that there are obstacles to joy, but not that -- in that they're bad, but like one is anger, especially righteous anger, and fear. Where fear resides, it's difficult for joy to make its way to us. When anger resides, like where anger resides, it's difficult for joy to make its way to us. And that's not a bad thing. Anger and fear are emotions that teach us. That -- if there's anything I've learned over the last four and a half years, it's that emotions are not -- I don't really like using the words 'negative emotions and positive emotions' actually. I mean, I have been saying positive, like, about joy, but I don't really think that there are bad emotions. I think every emotion is a teacher, if we let it, right? That there's wisdom there. Anger, especially righteous anger says there's something wrong. There's something broken that needs to be fixed. And so there, like, we have to work through anger and fear in constructive ways and saying, what are you teaching me? What do I need to do in response to this emotion? You know, we have to listen to them, you know? And so I don't, and I think that's for us to get to collective joy. We have to first, like, constructively work through our anger, our lament, our fear. Sushama (38:35): Yeah, yeah, yes. To all of that. I want to talk about the women's prison for a little bit too, because I wanted to hear some of your stories. That feels like that was a place of some healing, working with these women, that it was a place of some healing for you. And I want to know who (again without naming names, but just illustrations), who were some of the women? What did they offer you during that time that felt therapeutic or felt like it helps you along in your own healing coming off of this season? Angela (39:07): Yes, absolutely. These women got me on the road to healing. No doubt about it. There is... the second part of the title of the book, the subtitle is 'a story of being lost and found,' I'm the person who was lost, who was found. And I was found in this, strangely enough... I found myself and my sense of faith. And I found that I could hold my faith and doubt together with these women in this Bible study. I came alive for the first time after -- I felt, I think I felt numb. And I felt like I was dead for like a year and a half. And then they like, awoke -- and they awakened something in me. And I say very clearly in both the dedication of the book, and then in the last chapter, that I don't claim that the joy that they brought me was also present in them. But it's important for me, like, to say, you know, I hope that the joy that they brought me at some point is theirs, too. But these women were so critical in my own healing journey. One, because they had been through so much. These women had been, almost all of them, sexually abused. Almost all of them had grown up in foster care at some point in their life. They had spent time in foster care in a group home. Almost all of them were caught up in cycles of poverty. Almost all of them had parents who were caught up in cycles of substance use. And yet these women would cling to God. They prayed the most honest prayers that I've ever heard. And in that room, there was, like, such respect for one another. If you were over 45 or 50, they called you Miss, like Miss Aliyah, for example, as a sign of respect among each other. Angela (41:12): And so all of us, the Bible study co-leaders, we followed them. We called particular women Miss, like Miss Aliyah, just following their lead, but this was not something we did. It was something that they did. Their ability to humanize one another in such a dehumanizing situation, after all that they had been through, was remarkable to me. And specifically like, when I think about Miss Aliyah and one of those, like, you know, on the last day that I was in the prison, I said that she was like, "Angela, I want to sing a song for you." And, you know, and so then she just like stands up in the room, and she starts singing Amazing Grace, off-pitch, and then a few sentences in, she forgets what she's saying, and she sits down and it's like, "I'm so sorry. I forgot the words." And yet, after spending a year in that prison, it was so perfect because I had realized that to live... To live exposed, vulnerable, honest, without shame, is to be truly human. And that's the only way to actually live well. In this room, there was no shame, which is why we sang so loudly and we danced and we told bold stories. Angela (42:39): You know, I tell another story in the book. I mean, there was a moment when Vanessa was trying to help a young woman who was being bullied on her tier, get off a different, her tier and get into another part of the prison. And so Vanessa like, "Hey, grab -- like, we need a piece of paper. And so she rips out a piece of paper of her notebook, and she gives it to her and she's like, "Millie, like here, just start writing a letter to this person." Because Vanessa had been in prison for about nine years. And so she knew what was going on and she knew the places of power in the prison. Angela (43:10): And so she's like "Here, like, write down, you're going to write to this person." And Millie's like, "I can't write." You know, and she's like 22 years old, but the education system has failed her. Right. And so she cannot write, and Vanessa then says, "Oh, it's okay, I'll write it. And then you just sign it, and give it to this person." And it was like, you know, there's so many moments, I feel like, outside of that room where somebody realizes somebody else can't write, or they sing off-pitch, or they forget something. And there's like this moment of like, ugh -- like, where you kind of look at someone, and you're like, what? Like you can't -- what? You know, and you have this reaction to each other that then induces immediately, like, shame and a sense of like, "Oh, wow. I just told you something. I shared something. I made a mistake in front of you. Like, and now I feel vulnerable and exposed and it's not good." No, in this room when you were vulnerable and exposed and real, it was welcomed and accepted. And it was like, you're deeply human. Welcome. [laughs] Oh my God, it's the most refreshing thing in the world. Sushama (44:17): I was just thinking, where does that happen? That's so refreshing! Angela (44:21): I mean, I say in *The Gravity of Joy* in chapter five, that nothing is half-baked in prison. That's why I felt so alive there. And that's my great hope and prayer that these women leave prison and then are able to cultivate these kinds of spaces in their own lives. You know, because I just, I don't, like, I don't want it to have to be prison that gets people, people to that place. You know? Interlude (44:45): [sound of water droplet] Sushama (44:45): That's beautiful. I mean, so authentic and I don't know -- you're right, where... What other spaces that that would happen. There's so much, and I'm looking at our time. I want to get maybe two quick, two last quick questions. And if you're willing, one is to ask you about, as people read this, as they look at your interviews, as they're kind of Googling around who you are and what your work is. What do you want people to get from this book, of course, but also from your research and your life's journey of talking and thinking about joy? Angela (45:21): So there are several things that I want people to get. And one thing I want to mention is that my website www.angelagorrell.com (and Gorell is G-O-R-R-E-L-L) -- so angelagorrell.com -- you can have, there's a free discussion, story prompt, and activity guide that goes with *The Gravity of Joy*. And the whole point of creating that guide is that I want this, this book to cultivate conversation about every emotion that people experience in their lives. So, this guide is a guide to talking about the grief of your own life, the losses you've experienced, it's a guide to sharing stories about your own righteous anger and fear, but also of course, your own experiences of joy. It's a guide that all the activities are what I call 'gateways to joy.' And so we can't make it, but we can posture ourselves for it, and we can be open to it. And so, these are all ways to become more open to joy in your life. And so the whole idea of my book is, number one -- I want people to understand joy more and to become more open to it in their lives. And two -- I would love for people to feel like that in telling my story that they have permission to tell theirs. And third, I would love for more people to become part of the groundswell of people who are working to address suicide rates, the opioid crisis, or mass incarceration in the United States, and the epilogue describes each of these three things that are going on and resources for learning more about how to join the groundswell of people working so hard to address these very critical issues. Sushama (47:05): I downloaded the discussion guide. So, it's really great. So thanks for that. Last question for you. And it's... I think it's personal, but it doesn't have to be, I want to know how you're doing, how your life is, how you have grieved and come to some redemptive joy. How's your sister and your family, and where are people in their lives? They really live as characters and real people for me. And I'm sure for many, many, many people who have read the powerful book. So how's everybody doing? How are you doing? Angela (47:38): You know, what's so fascinating about this question is that I think I've done upwards of 25-plus interviews in the last month about this book. I mean, maybe, maybe more. You're the first person to ask that question. So thank you for asking it. Wow. I, you know, I definitely am someone who continues to hold together joy and sorrow. I described in chapter 8 Ezra being at the temple. And like, there are all these people watching the temple be rebuilt, and there's a lot of people weeping because they remember the old house and the way that things used to be. And then there's a lot of people rejoicing because they're seeing the temple be rebuilt and they're excited about it. And I feel so, like the -- I feel like both people that are watching the temple. I am incredibly grateful; this book is being received in the way that it is. The emails, the DMs that I'm getting on Instagram, on Facebook, the texts, it has been so beautiful to see people receive this book. And many people just say to me, you know, Angela, I feel so resonated with like, "I lost a parent a few years ago and I just feel like, wow, you described it in a way that was so, like, 'Yes, you get it.'" You know what I mean? Or "I have felt powerless to help someone that I love, and that I really get it. I have lost someone I love to suicide, and I feel like you honored the experience," you know? And so, that's been so beautiful, but then, you know, it's sobering that, you know, my book was, for example, like in, for the first week, it was the number one new release in Christian death and grief. Angela (49:14): And it was like, wow. I'm so grateful that, wow... This book cost my family so much to write. This book, you know, and then I'm thinking constantly about these women in prison. I prayed for them every Monday through Friday morning. And I'm constantly thinking, I wish I could tell you because now I'm in Texas, so I don't get to see them anymore. I'm going to be, I'm going to actually be a volunteer at a new prison. I'm so looking forward to it, and be investing in, investing in the lives of women who are going to be eight months out from reintegration in the next couple of years, I'm so excited about this work. But I... Even as someone who really is about prison abolition, but so I'll -- I just want to say that. I'm really not, I'm not really about prison reform. I'm more about prison abolition. And yet it's very important to me that as we're on the way to that, that I am with women who are in prison and continue to do this work anyways, I wish that I could tell these women what was happening, that their stories are being told, and that they were not for nothing. [emotional] You know, and that their pain is being made productive. And that, I'm just so grateful to them. You know, it's so funny though, because I say in the book and it's true to this day, to this day, they don't know who I am. They don't know that I have a Ph.D. or that I'm a professor or that I'm an author or anything like that. And it was important because it helped, like, I think our relationship would have been so different if they knew those things. But, so we were just human beings in a room together. Angela (50:54): But my family, you know, my sister Steph, who lost her son, to this day is having a very hard time. She misses him every single day. She doesn't wake up one day without having it, like, at the forefront of her mind. And it's hard. It's hard for her. She's like, you know, I don't know, like, like she -- she knows she'll never entirely like heal from it. And she's like, so she just tries to do her life realizing that, you know, that she just, she has this backpack. That's what she describes it as. Like, every day I put on my backpack of, like, grief and I just carry it with me everywhere I go. And she's like, you know, that's just her reality now. My little sister and my older sister, Alison, I mean, all of us, you know, we just... [sigh] we have ups. It's just like, there are days when we really think, you know, we're going to be okay and everything, you know, and we're making the best of this. And, you know, we're -- I don't know, we lean on each other. And then days when we just all kind of, like, text about it or call each other, we like Zoom or FaceTime about it. And we're just like, damn, like, it's still so hard. You know? So that's the honest, raw answer, is like, on many days, especially particular holidays and birthdays. And, you know, it's very hard for us still. Sushama (52:19): Yeah. Angela (52:19): And obviously like my book brought all of that back for everybody, right? And so I have to also, I guess, close this by just saying I am indebted to the women who I met in prison. I am indebted to all of my sisters, to my family, my extended family, for their willingness to allow their stories, to be implicated in the telling of mine. I'm grateful to them for giving me the consent to use their names, to tell their story as well. Interlude (52:54): [background percussion music] Angela (52:54): And just, yeah, it's -- so, and they're all -- a lot of them, they're leading their own groups about this book. They're doing a book club on the book, [crosstalk] and I think that's really good for them. Sushama (53:07): That's wonderful. Well, we're grateful for your story and for your work, your gift to the church, your gifts. This book is a gift. I really appreciate your honesty and just all that you have offered today and all that you offered in the book. So thank you so, so very much, Angela. Dayle (53:26): [background percussion music] You've been listening to The Distillery. Interviews are conducted by me, Dayle Rounds, and me, Sushama Austin-Connor, and I'm Shari Oosting. I'm Amar Peterman and I am in charge of production. Like what you're hearing? Subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast app. The Distillery is a production of PrincetonTheological Seminary's Office of Continuing Education. You can find out more at thedistillery.ptsem.edu. Thanks for listening. [sound of water droplet]  

On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Willie James Jennings to discuss a vision for the church “After Whiteness.” We ask questions about the assimilation tendencies of the church and theological education, the desire by many black and brown church folk to separate entirely, and a vision for the full communion between God's people.Support the Mestizo Podcast by giving today.Have a question you want answered on the podcast? Leave us a message at 312-725-2995. Leave us a 30 second voicemail with your name, city, y pregunta and we'll discuss it on the last episode of the season. You can also submit a question using the form on this page.

On today's episode, ing host Rev. Dr. Dennis Edwards sits down with Dr. Willie James Jennings, award winning author and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Their conversation will focus on how conversations about racial justice fit in with this current political and religious moment in the current American context. Today's episode was brought to you by Mosaic Mennonite Conference, a community of congregations and non-profit ministries committed to living like Jesus together in our broken and beautiful world. Find out more at MosaicMennonites.org We are grateful for the continued support of Everence, a faith-based financial services organization who believe it's possible to incorporate your faith and values with your decisions about money. To take a closer look at the difference it makes when your financial services company is rooted in something more than making a profit visit Everence.com. Securities offered through ProEquities Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. ~ing Podcast is a production of MennoMedia, a nonprofit Publisher that creates thoughtful, Anabaptist resources to enrich faith in a complex world. To find out more, visit us online at MennoMedia.org --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ing-pod/message

Today we look at the theme of "nationalism" as it appears in the Book of Acts. Probably not a theme you have associated with this book before. Willie James Jennings, in the chapter "The Death of Nationalist Fantasy" helps us understand that the earlier Jewish Christians were nationalists whose perspective had to change in the light of the Lordship of Jesus. How could that apply to us in 21st century America? 

Ahora si que se complica la cosa! Familia! Welcome back for a second season of the Mestizo Podcast, the show for the mixed people of the mixed church. I'm your host, Emanuel Padilla, and along with la Dra. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier, World Outspoken, and the Association for Hispanic Theological Education les invito a explorar the complicated racial and cultural challenges of being part of, serving in, and growing a migrant church en el ciglo 21. As the second and third generation step into leadership in the church, the racial dynamics get complicated. How does a mestizo church reflect the multicultural realities of Latinos en la diaspora? Afro-Latin@s and their rich heritage? The interracial marriages so common en la Iglesia today? These questions and more are what we explore together with your hosts, Emanuel Padilla y la Dra. Elizabeth Conde-Frazier. Your hosts are Puerto Rican, so you are going to hear some Spanglish de ves en cuando on The Mestizo Podcast; it's part of who we are.We will have guests like Willie James Jennings, Sandra Maria Van Opstal, Charlie Dates, and so many more join us to discuss issues of language, culture, and identity and how they affect the changing church. Espera el primer episodio el 3 de Marzo. Expect the first episode March 3rd! Follow World Outspoken on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram so you don't miss the release of lo Bueno que viene en esta temporada. Ta to dicho. Hablamos pronto.

Episode 43: Drew Hart In this episode, we have a conversation with Dr. Drew Hart, Assistant Professor of Theology at Messiah University, Mechanicsburg PA. Drew has written two books which both tell his own story as an African American in predominantly white spaces, as well as provide directions for discipleship to dismantle racism. Our conversation is wide ranging and covers Drew’s personal story as well as the direction of his professional work as a theologian, researcher, anti-racism leader, and social change practitioner. Find Drew’s books here:Trouble I've Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views RacismWho Will Be a Witness? Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, and DeliveranceOne of the projects Drew is participating in is the Inverse Podcast. Inverse describes itself this way, “Inverse Podcast belongs to the ones who are dissatisfied with the Bible being used to justify hatred.” One of the books mentioned in the conversation is After Whiteness, by Willie James Jennings. Stay in touch with Drew on social media, and through his personal website:https://drewgihart.com/ and on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings' book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the* Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate* (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled* After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging* (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation *as well as a finishing a book of poetry entitled *The Time of Possession. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released Monday 7 December, 2020. Follow Drew Hart on Instagram and Twitter @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on Instagram and Twitter @jarrodmckenna.

This episode is #Zesty. Ever since I first started reading Dr. Jennings' work I have wanted to get him on the podcast and it did not disappoint. We discuss Christian animism, the nature of whiteness, the hidden supersessionism in the Religion-Science dialogue, theological education, and more. Enjoy. Dr.Willie James Jennings is the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale University. His book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging   Awesome Books We Discuss in the Conversation Beyond Nature and Culture by Philippe Descola How Forests Think: Toward an Anthropology Beyond the Human by Eduardo Kohn The Hebrew Bible and Environmental Ethics: Humans, NonHumans, and the Living Landscape by Mari Joerstad The Relative Native: Essays on Indigenous Conceptual Worlds by Eduardo Viveiros de Castro 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

Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings' book The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the* Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate* (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled* After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging* (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation *as well as a finishing a book of poetry entitled *The Time of Possession. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released Monday 7 December, 2020. Follow Drew Hart on Instagram and Twitter @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on Instagram and Twitter @jarrodmckenna.

Dr. Jennings is an Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. He is an author of multiple works, including the 2010 book, “The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race.” In this, Dr. Jennings poses the question: Why has Christianity, a religion premised upon neighborly love, failed in its attempts to heal social divisions? Today, Dr. Jennings and Eddie discuss that question. Links from the Interview - More info for Dr. Jennings: https://divinity.yale.edu/faculty-and-research/yds-faculty/willie-james-jennings -  The New Activist is presented by IJM: https://www.ijm.org/ - The New Activist is scored by Propaganda: https://www.prophiphop.com/ The New Activist Social T - https://twitter.com/NewActivistIs FB - https://www.facebook.com/newactivistis/ IG - https://www.instagram.com/newactivistis/ web - http://www.newactivist.is Eddie Kaufholz, Host - https://twitter.com/edwardoreddie  

This podcast features an interview and dialogue with Dr. Willie James Jennings, esteemed associate professor of systematic theology and Africana studies at Yale University. His insights on the theological and anthropological issues surrounding race are essential to the current conversation. Pastor Gricel Medina and I engage him in conversation.

An article from Myanmar: The Golden Land, Billions magazine May-August 2020 For more Billions content visit billions.omf.org References in this article: 1 Eddie Arthur, ‘They Taught Me More Than I Taught Them' bit.ly/teachingme (accessed 9/03/2020). 2 Willie James Jennings, Theological Commentary on Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Westminster John Knox Press, 2017) p.31 3 Ibid, p.88 4 Carlos F. Cardoza-Orlandi and Justo L Gonzalez, To All Nations From All Nations: A History of the Christian Missionary Movement (Abingdon Press, 2013), p.2-3.

Dr. Willie James Jennings (Yale Divinity School) is this week's guest on the Dialogue On Teaching podcast. Jennings and Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield discuss his upcoming book, “After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging,” which will be published in October 2020.

Episode: In this episode, Willie James Jennings joins host Amy Hughes to talk about his The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race ten years after its publication. This compelling work […] The post Willie Jennings – Race and Christian Theology first appeared on OnScript.

In Part 12 of Redlining & White Noise, our friend Jonathan Russell joins us for a conversation about whiteness and land domination. Using his recent article, the ‘white lie' connecting President Trump's pardon of arsonists, current immigration policy, and Charlottesville as a launch point, this episode focuses on the historical and contemporary linkage between racial identity and property ownership. Jonathan Russell is the Vice President of Programs at Bay Area Rescue Mission in Richmond, California. He is also a Contributing Fellow at the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture and is an Adjunct Instructor of Philosophy and Religion at Chaffey College. We discuss the ideas of two additional writers in this episode: George Lipsitz-   https://architecturesofspatialjustice.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/w05_lipsitz_race.pdf   https://www.amazon.com/Racism-Takes-Place-George-Lipsitz/dp/1439902569   Willie James Jennings-   https://www.amazon.com/Christian-Imagination-Theology-Origins-Race/dp/0300171366/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538720518&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=the+christian+imagination+theology+and+the+origins+of+race&dpPl=1&dpID=51h5UW5zf8L&ref=plSrch

Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings' book **The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race** (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the** Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate** (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. **** Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled** After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging** (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled **Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation **as well as a finishing a book of poetry entitled **The Time of Possession**. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released Monday 7 December, 2020. Follow Drew Hart on [Instagram](http://instagram.com/druhart) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/druhart) @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/jarrodmckenna) and [Twitter](http://jarrodmckenna) @jarrodmckenna.

Doctor Willie Jennings is a pastor, theologian, speaker, and world renowned author, and the Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School. Writing in the areas of liberation theologies, cultural identities, and anthropology, Dr Jennings has authored more than 40 scholarly essays and nearly two-dozen reviews, as well as essays on academic administration and blog posts for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Jennings is an ordained Baptist minister and has served as interim pastor for several North Carolina churches. He is in high demand as a speaker and is widely recognized as a major figure in theological education across North America. Dr Jennings' book **The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race** (Yale 2010) won the American Academy of Religion Award of Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Constructive-Reflective category the year after it appeared and, in 2015, the Grawemeyer Award in Religion, the largest prize for a theological work in North America. Englewood Review of Books called the work a “theological masterpiece.” His commentary on the** Book of Acts, titled Acts: A Commentary, The Revolution of the Intimate** (for the Belief Series, Westminster/John Knox) received the Reference Book of the Year Award from The Academy of Parish Clergy in 2018. **** Dr. Jennings has also recently published a book that examines the problems of theological education within western education, entitled** After Whiteness: An Education in Belonging** (Eerdmans, 2020). Dr. Jennings is now working on a major monograph provisionally entitled **Unfolding the World: Recasting a Christian Doctrine of Creation **as well as a finishing a book of poetry entitled **The Time of Possession**. A Calvin College graduate, Jennings received his M.Div. from Fuller Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. in religion and ethics from Duke. This is part one of a two part conversation recorded in community with friends from all over the world. Part two will be released Monday 7 December, 2020. Follow Drew Hart on [Instagram](http://instagram.com/druhart) and [Twitter](http://twitter.com/druhart) @druhart. Follow Jarrod McKenna on [Instagram](http://www.instagram.com/jarrodmckenna) and [Twitter](http://jarrodmckenna) @jarrodmckenna.