Faith in a Fresh Vibe: Recent Episodes
Rohadi Nagassar
A podcast on decolonizing and deconstructing Christianity. Hosted by author/speaker/pastor, Rohadi. Recorded on Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Eye Witness Account on Gaza with Dr. Sarah LalondeThe ongoing genocide occurring in Gaza demands our attention and response. In this bonus episode, we share an interview with Dr. Sarah Lalonde, who worked in the European Gaza hospital in South Gaza in 2025. She shares an eye-witness account of the daily atrocities.
Over 50,000 Palestinians have perished, almost half are children. Sifting through all of the disinformation can be difficult, which is why we’ve brought a first hand account to the show to describe what is happening at ground level.
An especially important conversation for Christians to listen to, especially those formed, or who remain, in evangelicalism. Some Christian traditions justify the ongoing violence against Palestinians because they believe destroying Palestinians is connected to ushering in the return of Jesus sooner. This abhorrent worldview clearly sidesteps the command, ironically from Jesus, to stand in solidarity with the oppressed–the least of these.
This conversation may leave you feeling uncomfortable due to the content, which we make the disclaimer: some of the stories you hear, particularly about children caught in the crossfire, is hard to listen to. But stick with it. Your response to this ongoing genocide matters. Your voice counts when it comes to demanding action for a permanent ceasefire, a complete cancellation of arms sales, and the immediate expansion of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Contact your reps today.
You can find one script to use by copying this statement.
Bonus Episode Show Notes(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi(2:26) Rohadi shares some historical context about the region.(4:20) Interrogating malformed Christian theology that informs geopolitical opinion.(5:40) Historical overview of the region.(12:40) Introducing Dr Lalonde.(13:40) Dr Sarah Lalonde interview start.(14:38) What compelled Dr. Lalonde to go to Gaza.(18:32) Dr. Lalonde speaks to the idea of solidarity.(20:10) Discerning what is true. Speaking directly about what Dr. Lalonde saw at ground level.(23:50) But what about Hamas?(29:25) A direct eye-witness account of the atrocities committed by the IDF.(32:40) What is true about aid getting through into Gaza?(37:25) What can we do? Calls to Action from Dr. Lalonde responds.(41:00) A question for listeners.
Hosted by Rohadi Nagassar. Rohadi‘s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins, and his forthcoming title (Spring 2026) called Whole & Human. Forty Meditations for Liberating Body and Spirit. Find his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Dr Sara Lalonde – Author Dr Lalonde is an emergency and family physician specializing in community, rural, and remote emergency medicine, with a particular focus on Indigenous communities. She has gained extensive international experience, including work in Guinea with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as well as in Albania (working with Afghan refugees), Togo, and Chad. Dr. Lalonde is also recognized as the provincial physician expert on human trafficking in Quebec. Most recently, she returned from Gaza, where she served in the emergency department at the European Gaza Hospital. She can be found on IG @dr.sarah.lalonde
Additional resources courtesy of Dr. Lalonde.
https://imeu.org/article/quick-facts-the-palestinian-nakbaHere another reference for the 22 percent https://www.cjpme.org/history
Quick Facts: The Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) | IMEU Arabs from British Mandate Palestine during Israel’s creation.
Dr Lalonde’s presentation about Christ at the checkpoint : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWz25R3UAA and the ecumenical letter: https://kairoscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ecumenical-Statement-in-Solidarity-with-Palestinian-and-Israel-partners.pdf
CMP Anglican Church
Sarah Lalonde – Christ at the Checkpoint July 29 2024
IG accounts you can follow: https://www.instagram.com/jkhoury218/ https://www.instagram.com/danielbannoura/ https://www.instagram.com/munther.isaac/ https://www.instagram.com/tony.deik/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSqEzOPU5E&t=1550s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyufVi2mdsA
?Yousef Khoury ~ ???? ????? (@jkhoury218) • Instagram…
Daniel Bannoura (@danielbannoura) • Instagram profile
Munther Isaac (@munther.isaac) • Instagram profileTony E. Deik (@tony.deik) • Instagram profileChrist at The Checkpoint
In search for better, life-giving, community where all to be whole.Episode 12 arrives, the final episode in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism‘, designed to name problems in evangelical/conservative thought and belief to help folks leave, and when you exit, find the tools for your liberation.
This episode summarizes key problems in conservative Christian spaces. What dominates evangelical thought and belief? Then, I posed a question to each guest that went something like this, “what does better look like?” I included their thoughts in this episode. We are fortunate to hear from the voices of: Scott Coley, Jared Stacy, Marlena Graves, Robert Callahan, Kristian Smith, Cait West, Ed Ng, DL Mayfield, Celeste Irwin, Daniel Wheat, and me, your host, Rohadi Nagassar.
Episode 12 Final: Show Notes(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi and the final episode of Farewell Evangelicalism(4:00) Scott Coley summarizes core attributes that inform evangelical and fundamentalist beliefs.(11:42) Jared Stacy on apostasy as an act of faith.(21:00) Robert Callahan on Aslan…revealing the true nature of evangelicals.(23:45) Finding your people after your leave with DL Mayfield.(30:50) What does a better way look like? Love thy neighbor with Marlena Graves.(33:30) What does liberation and life giving community look like?(35:00) Cait West(40:48) Celeste Irwin(49:52) Examples of life giving community/churches doing things differently with Kristian A Smith.(1:03:05) Final reflections on steps to exit with Ed Ng.(1:10:22) Outro
Guests Including Your host: Rohadi Nagassar (he/him)Rohadi‘s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins, and his forthcoming title (Spring 2026) called Whole & Human. Forty Meditations for Liberating Body and Spirit. Find his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Scholar/Author – Scott ColeyScott Coley Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. His book is entitled, Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Theologian/Author – Jared C StacyJared Stacy is a theologian and ethicist and former pastor to evangelical churches. He received a PhD in moral & practical theology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His research focuses on the intersection of theology and politics. Specifically on ethics, extremism/conspiracy theory and US evangelicalism. Jared’s work & story has been featured on platforms like TIME, NPR, NBC News, the BBC, and Christianity Today.
Author/Attorney – Robert CallahanRobert Callahan is a writer and accomplished attorney, dedicated to his practice at Callahan & King in the heart of Waco, Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gonzaga University and a Juris Doctorate at Baylor University School of Law, where he now serves as adjunct professor of Integrating Faith and Legal Practice. His latest book is called, Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with white Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness.
Dr. Marlena Graves – Professor/AuthorMarlena received her PhD in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH where she is researching the influence American culture has on Evangelicals’ view of immigration, race, and poverty. Marlena’s book, “The Way Up Is Down” (with IVPress) released in July 2020.
Author/Podcaster – D.L. MayfieldD.L. Mayfield (they/them) is a podcaster and author. After a decade of writing for Christian spaces, they now write primarily about issues of neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. D.L. and their partner Krispin Mayfield are currently working on a multimedia publishing project entitled STRONGWILLED, which is available on Substack. You can read along here.
Kristian A Smith – Pastor and PodcasterFind Kristian on Instagram. Community Builder; Founder & Pastor @tfc.virtual; Host @holysmokesmovement; Curator of Greatest Commandment Theology. Find him over at kristianasmith.com
Psychologist – Dr. Ed NgEd Ng is a Registered Psychologist in private practice in Vancouver and is the founder and director of Eastgate Psychological Services. He is also the founder of the Eastgate Project and hosts its podcast, which focuses on the intersections of psychology, theology, and the experiences of the Asian diaspora.
Celeste Irwin (she/her) – Trans Activist and WriterCeleste is a transgender, lesbian woman. She is a writer and advocate for transgender rights and inclusion in Christian spaces. Having survived an abusive church, she also writes about spiritual abuse. Visit her website/Substack and find her on BlueSky.
Cait West – Author of Rift. A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian PatriarchyCait West has been published in The Revealer, Religion Dispatches, Fourth Genre, and Hawaii Pacific Review, among others. As an advocate and a survivor of the Christian patriarchy movement, she serves on the editorial board for Tears of Eden, a nonprofit providing resources for survivors of spiritual abuse, and cohosts the podcast Survivors Discuss. Find out more. Substack | Instagram | TikTok
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters
Featuring: Rohadi Nagassar, Sharifa Stevens, and Sarah E. WestfallEpisode 11 in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’, designed to name malformed pillars that shape evangelical/conservative Christian thought and beliefs.
One of the counters to evangelical community is to demonstrate the expansive nature of belonging and liberation. Where evangelicalism demands assimilation to specific morals and theological persuasions, catching a glimpse of what freedom and living out your whole self looks like goes a long way to help make the switch and ultimately leave life-taking church community. In this episode my guests discuss some of the impediments in church community such as fear, and where we can look to replace harmful demands. Freedom to be your whole self, liberation from malformed theological systems, and ultimately community where you can belong and live as your true self without the mask are all out there.
Sometimes it just takes a little nudge in search of belonging.
Episode 11 Show Notes(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi(5:24) Sarah Westfall intro and her story.(7:15) When belonging starts getting complicated….(10:44) A conversation on authenticity vs performance.(14:40) Leaving community behind and the loneliness it brings.(18:04) Resisting the attention economy.(25:00) Countering the tool of ‘fear’.(29:00) Interlude(29:44) Poetry Interlude with Sharifa(30:50) Intro Sharifa Steven and chatting about her latest book.(33:25) Holding the tension for liberation; seeking the ancestors.(37:15) The legacy of the ancestors and what it means to our liberation.(40:28) Naming the hope that is to come and what it looks like.(56:18) Outro
Featuring your host: Rohadi Nagassar (he/him)Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Sharifa StevensSharifa Stevens is a writer, poet, speaker, and singer. She is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised in New York, and currently resides with her family in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Columbia University in New York with a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies before earning a master’s in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Sharifa aspires to use writing as a vehicle that moves readers to intersect with the sacred and the honest. Her latest book is When We Talk to God: A Powerful New Book of Prayers and Poems for Black Women. SharifaStevens.com | IG: SharifaWrites
Sarah E. WestfallSarah Westfall’s lastest book is called The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate (available in both print, digital, and audio formats). Sign up for her Substack newsletter, Human Together, or check out her podcast (which happens to go by the same name). Sarah_Westfall on Instagram.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters
Featuring: Rohadi Nagassar (he/him), Celeste Irwin (she/her), and Dr. Roberto Espinoza (he/him)Episode 10 in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’, designed to name malformed pillars that shape evangelical/conservative Christian thought and beliefs. The hope is to catalyze pathways for folks to leave this faith tradition that does more harm than good. Sexuality and gender constructs are a significant pillars in evangelical identity. Any body that pushes against a white cis-gendered, straight able-bodied male gaze is a threat.
In this episode, we discuss trans identity and liberation. Featuring Celeste Irwin and Dr. Che Roberto, two voices speaking on trans identity, offering us a picture of a wide ethic of liberation.
Why should this conversation matter if you’re not trans? Because you’re a curious human! In this moment, 2025, trans folks are the primary target of conservative politicians and religious leaders, who better to learn from on what liberation looks like than the very folks furthest from the center? So through the example of Jesus where the last shall be first.
Episode 10 Show Notes(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi(05:34) Celeste Irwin and her story.(12:00) Finding liberation escaping religious community.(16:00) Finding her whole self.(18:40) Naming malformed policies in conservative ideology/Christian right.(34:24) Pivot to Dr. Roberto(35:12) Intro Dr. Roberto Espinoza and his story.(39:20) Finding home on the land.(42:00) Finding healing in the body.(47:20) A trans take on the resurrection and signals for future hope.(57:25) The threat to our democracy and the power of stories.(1:01:00) Where is the light?
Featuring your host: Rohadi Nagassar (he/him)Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Celeste Irwin (she/her) – Trans Activist and WriterCeleste is a transgender, lesbian woman. She is a writer and advocate for transgender rights and inclusion in Christian spaces. Having survived an abusive church, she also writes about spiritual abuse. Visit her website/Substack and find her on BlueSky.
Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza (he/him) – Public Theologian and AuthorDr. Roberto Che Espinoza is a Transgender & Latinx public scholar, using imaginative narrative to steward more ethical futures. Find more about his resources and exoertise on his website: https://robertoche.com/. Find his Substack and Instagram.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters
Featuring: Rohadi, Mandy Capehart and Meghan CrozierEpisode 9 in the serial season called ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’ is now live!
In this episode, we discuss the embodied work necessary after losing core elements in our life like faith. We name pathways to help process leaving church, including the loss of community, and the mountain of grief that follows.
Episode 9 Show Notes(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi on grief and loss.(04:24) Grief Coach – Mandy Capehart(32:00) Intro Meghan Crozier(46:00) Losing community after leaving church community.(56:20) Components that help grieve.(59:00) Cautions for folks entering the deconstruction space.
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com)Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Mandy Capehart – Grief Coach and Podcaster Mandy Capehart (she/her/hers) is the founder of the Restorative Grief model. Find more about Mandy and her coaching program at https://www.mandycapehart.com/. Find her latest podcast episodes and her publication on grief.
Meghan Crozier – Community Catalyst and Podcaster Visit Meghan over at The Pursuing Life! Meghan lives in the Pacific Northwest. Meghan curates space to help folks wrestle with questions on deconstruction and what spiritual growth looks like. She writes about topics like faith deconstruction, spirituality, equity, justice, race, mental health, and religion. She also explore the same themes and topics on the Thereafter Podcast with co-host, Cortland Coffey.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters Find Dr. Hillary McBride’s Holy Hurt podcast. Data on homicides and evangelicalism here.
Featuring: Rohadi Nagassar, Janice Lagata, LetGregLive, Kristian A. SmithThe term: Deconstruction defined in Rohadi’s book, When We Belong, is: the work to reclaim what gives life; discard what does not; and create beautiful stories. Welcome to Episode 8 where we venture through the land of religious deconstruction, only this time through the Black and brown church experiences.
In this episode we hear from Janice Lagata who shares her story about the eventual implosion of Hillsong New York. Followed by Greg, who provides some insight on the work of deconstruction and decolonization out of a Black church experience. Lastly, Kristian A Smith and Rohadi talk about what faith can look like beyond the gaze of white hegemony. All this and more in Episode 8.
Episode 8 Show Notes(00:00-04:00) Introduction with Rohadi(04:24) Janice Lagata(09:00) Broaching the Death of Hillsong New York(26:00) Interrogating the deconstruction space on socials.(29:40) Intro to Greg(31:00) Greg intro(34:00) Black Deconstruction(39:20) Christian supremacy(44:00) Intro Kristian A Smith(45:00) A different take on deconstruction.(53:20) The weird in Black and brown church traditions.(57:00) Reclamation project. Where to find life.(1:02:00) on decolonizing
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com)Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/
Janice Lagata – Musician and PodcasterFind more from Janice on her website. Stream her latest album “Toxic Empathy” on Spotify or AppleMusic.
Greg – Muscian and TeacherEducator. Baritenor. Musical Theatre Enthusiast. Sinfonian. B.M.Ed, M.S., Ed.S.
Kristian A Smith – Pastor and PodcasterFind him on Instagram. Community Builder; Founder & Pastor @tfc.virtual; Host @holysmokesmovement; Curator of Greatest Commandment Theology. Find him over at kristianasmith.com
Bumper music by Janice Lagata; Intro by Jesse Peters
Featuring the voices of: Rohadi, Scott Coley, Lamar Hardwick, and Robert G CallahanEpisode 7 on white supremacy, a crucial conversation for churchgoers, particularly white churchgoers, to generate awareness to the ways white supremacist thinking invades thought and beliefs. Indeed, white supremacist theology is in the DNA, a feature not an add-on, of nearly every denomination across the Americas. We’ll try to pinpoint some of the most egregious forms in this episode, with a hope that listeners will become alert to the ways you own formation/beliefs are filtered through racist understandings of the world around us.
We discuss biblical examples used to support white superiority and how common they are; learn how ableism is a precursor to white supremacy; and end with naming the weird in white evangelicalism, with a side of hopeful alternatives to find your way out.
Show Notes:(00:00) – Welcome(01:00) – Rohadi introduces to white supremacy and why it matters to interrogate our formation, from 2020, CRT, to DEI.(10:40) – Scott Coley describes one mechanism of malformed hermeneutics; how to twist the Bible to fit white supremacist narratives.(19:00) – Intro to Lamar Hardwick and how ableism fuels racist views.(24:00) – Intro to Robert G Callahan(25:40) – Robert Callahan speaks to his experience in Texas.(27:45) – Robert describes all of the ‘weird’ in white evangelical churches.(54:00) – Unpacking righteous anger.(1:00:00) – Outro
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com)Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.
Guests in Episode 7Scholar/Author – Scott ColeyScott Coley Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in philosophy and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. His book is entitled, Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Author/Pastor – Lamar HardwickDr. Hardwick is a father, husband, pastor, and author. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Emory University as well as a Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty University School of Divinity. He is a graduate of the Yale School of Divinity Clergy Scholar Program and a 2017 graduate of Georgia Forward’s Young Gamechangers Program, which included 50 of the state of Georgia’s top thinkers, innovators, and leaders under the age of 40. He is currently a PhD at Union Institute and University in Cincinatti, Ohio. Find him on Instagram
Author/Attorney – Robert CallahanRobert Callahan is a prolific writer and accomplished attorney, dedicated to his practice at Callahan & King in the heart of Waco, Texas. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Gonzaga University and a Juris Doctorate at Baylor University School of Law, where he now serves as adjunct professor of Integrating Faith and Legal Practice. His latest book is called, Fire in the Whole: Embracing Our Righteous Anger with white Christianity and Reclaiming Our Wholeness.
Bumper music by Rubix; Intro by Jesse Peters
Let’s settle in friends for some quiet time…. Just kidding. Episode 6 in this serial series interrogating the malformed pillars in evangelicalism is here. We examine one of the most important elements in evangelical belief systems–perhaps THE most important religious icon–the Bible.
Evangelicals claim the Bible has supreme authority in designing beliefs. It’s the “Bible alone”, used with complete disregard for malformed interpretations. You may be wondering why chat about the Bible mid-way through this series and not at the very start. After all, isn’t the Bible central to evangelicalism? It is, but not in the manner you might think. The Bible has been distorted to become a tool for religious propaganda that advances the interests of white evangelicalism. In other words, the Bible is used to define conservative and white supremacist worldviews, and believers stuck in the pew of these churches must adopt specific interpretations or risk being excommunicated (if evangelicals had such a thing.) Malformed beliefs like biblical inerrancy and literalism are not, ironically, biblical, yet are core attributes used to keep the faithful in line.
Let’s talk about it, Episode 6 is here.
Show Chapters(00:00-01:00) Introduction(02:30) Rohadi on why we’re interrogating the validity of biblical tradition in evangelicalism.(02:33-14:00) Quiet time. Just kidding. Unpacking the ways evangelicals twist the Bible to fit their own devices.(14:00-20:05) Unpacking one of the malformed pillars is used to justify: Patriarchy w/ Liz Jenkins.(20:05-22:00) Intro to Ryan Canty – Author of Deweaponize.(22:00-24:20) Naming malformed pillars including inerrancy and the Chicago Statement(24:20-33:00) Unpacking the Chicago Statement with Liz Grant(33:40) Ways evangelicals distort scripture using literalism wrong.(40:11) Rohadi and authoritarianism and the Bible.(43:40) Ryan on, What are the possibilities of change?(50:15) Possibilities of how we can reclaim biblical interpretation with Liz Grant.(59:50) Liz Jenkins with the final word on interpretation.(1:02:02) Outro
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com).Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.
Special Guests in Episode 6:Ryan Canty – Author of Deweaponize. Re-examining how we read the Bible in pursuit of a more Christlike interpretation Former Calvinist theology nerd on a journey to de-weaponize the Bible and love others like Jesus. Find him on Substack | Instagram
Liz Charlotte Grant – Author of KNOCK AT THE SKY: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible.Liz is an award-winning nonfiction writer based in Colorado, USA. She is also an online columnist for The Christian Century. Her essays and op-eds have also been published in outlets such as the Huffington Post, Religion News Service, the Revealer, Hippocampus Magazine, Brevity, Sojourners, Christianity Today, US Catholic, National Catholic Reporter, and elsewhere. Find Liz on Instagram and Threads
Liz Jenkins – Author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy.If you’d like to read more, check out her now-occasional blog, her Substack, and/or her book Nice Churchy Patriarchy. Find Liz via Instagram: @lizcoolj and @postevangelicalprayers.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
Featuring: Cait West, D.L. Mayfield, and Liz JenkinsFollowing Episode 4 on Propaganda, we take aim at a crucial evangelical pillar: patriarchy. Patriarchy designed specifically around religious convictions to ultimately control the bodies of women and children. It’s also a tool to support authoritarian leadership explaining the rationale behind why evangelicals overwhelmingly support authoritarian governments: it’s what they practice in their own churches.
Episode 5 welcomes three exciting guests. Cait West, author of Rift, opens our conversation by sharing her story growing up in the Christian Patriarchy Movement. CPM has developed an enterprise that pulls in billions of dollars in revenue from their materials overtly supporting the values of Christian patriarchy. Cait shares her journey escaping what she would ultimately describe as a cult, but in reality looks like a lot of conservative churches out there. How to attune to your bodies and trust your intuition are two important attributes for folks still stuck in the clutches of malformed churches.
Liz Cooledge Jenkins is my second guest. She is the author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy. We discuss how evangelical churches hide their patriarchy; how they might look ‘cool’ on the outside, but in fact operate with the same tools of patriarchy behind the veil.
Finally, DL Mayfield returns from Episode 4 to conclude a conversation about patriarchy and the intersections of white supremacy with eugenics.
“There is no finish line to healing even though we want to be in a place where you’re perfectly happy. And there is a lot of resources now to minimize symptoms and heal from it. What worked for me was trauma therapy, which is different than talk therapy….” Cait West
“[In patriarchy] there’s encouragement to not trust your gut, and encouragement not to talk to other women about unequal power structures.” Liz Jenkins
“America has this horrific history of white supremacist patriarchal aims including in the realm of eugenics.” D.L. Mayfield
Episode 5 – Chapters(00:00) – Introduction(04:40) – Introducing Cait West(09:20) – The size of Christian Patriarchy Movement including Goddard, IBL, Vision Form….(12:20) – How to notice all that ain’t right in churches that love patriarchy.(18:00) – Pathways of healing from religious patriarchy.(30:00) – Introducing Liz Jenkins(32:00) – Chatting about patriarchy that’s not so ‘in your face’.(36:30) – Culture problems in parachurch and socialization.(40:20) – Returning to a conversation with DL Mayfield.(42:00) – DL on eugenics.(46:00) – DL Mayfield teasing out aspects of liberation from malformed intersections of patriarchy.(54:30) – Outro
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com).Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.
Special guests in Episode 5:Cait West – Author of Rift. A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian PatriarchyCait West lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her work has been published in The Revealer, Religion Dispatches, Fourth Genre, and Hawaii Pacific Review, among others. As an advocate and a survivor of the Christian patriarchy movement, she serves on the editorial board for Tears of Eden, a nonprofit providing resources for survivors of spiritual abuse, and cohosts the podcast Survivors Discuss. Find out more. Substack | Instagram | TikTok
Liz Jenkins – Author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy.If you’d like to read more, check out her now-occasional blog, her Substack, and/or her book Nice Churchy Patriarchy. Find Liz via Instagram: @lizcoolj and @postevangelicalprayers.
Author/Podcaster – D.L. MayfieldD.L. Mayfield (they/them) is a podcaster and author. After a decade of writing for Christian spaces, they now write primarily about issues of neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. D.L. and their partner Krispin Mayfield are currently working on a multimedia publishing project entitled STRONGWILLED, which is available on Substack. You can read along here.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
This episode is about propaganda: the mechanisms by which evangelicals and conservative Christians are formed. Evangelicals are suckers for conspiracy (Ep. 3) and are easily swayed by propaganda. The propaganda machine has done masterful job inoculating conservatives from developing worldviews beyond their own enrichment.
In the first half, I invite Scott Coley to help unpack the how and why conservatives tend to accept damaging beliefs and theologies that harm vulnerable people and themselves. Connecting the dots between conservative political aspirations that seek power to preserve white supremacy and patriarchy, and the supprting belief systems in evangelicalism, opens a pathway for folks still in, leaving, or who have already left, to begin making sense of all the weird in the pursuit of freedom and liberation.
“Evangelicals favor morally problematic social arrangements and political policies because they just aren’t thinking about the moral salience of institutions. They tend to focus on individual piety. They tend to not think about institutional injustice. I’ve come to recognize that is an incomplete picture. It’s true, bad belief leads to bad practices, but it’s also true that bad practices lead to bad beliefs. This ‘feedback loop’ is called ideology.” Scott Coley
Later, DL Mayfield joins to discuss one of the most effective propaganda arms in evangelicalism: Focus on the Family. It, along with many others, are key reasons why evangelicals are harbingers of harm to the nation (and the world).
“If you grew up with Dr. Dobson or Focus on the Family parenting methods, then you are a child of a positive eugenics movement. The continuation of the white supremacist patriarchy was the entire goal and they used religion to spread their ideology.” D.L. Mayfield
Episode 4 – Show Notes(00:00) – Introduction(03:00) – Scott Coley on The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind(05:40) – Why do conservative evangelicals appear to inhabit an alternate reality?(08:40) – Ideology and legitimizing narratives that provide moral justification.(11:47) – Propaganda as mechanism to bring folks into sub-culutre..(14:30) – On fundamentalism and creation science example.(15:30) – Motivated reasoning and hermeneutics of legitimizing narratives.(21:30) – The pull of ideology, how do you know you’re on the ‘right’ side.(26:30) – Introducing DL Mayfield and Focus on the Family.(29:26) – The Strongwilled Child phenomenom.(31:00) – Focus on the Family is propaganada.(36:00) – Are folks leaving the church over the abuse they experienced as children?(40:38) – James ‘Fucking’ Dobson and white patriarchy.(47:30) – Speaking about estrangement.
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com).Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his most recent publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.
Special guests in Episode 4:Scholar/Author – Scott ColeyScott Coley Scott M. Coley holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Purdue University, a Master’s degree in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in philosophy and English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research interests include philosophy of religion, moral epistemology and political philosophy. His book is entitled, Ministers of Propaganda: Truth, Power, and the Ideology of the Religious Right from Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing.
Author/Podcaster – D.L. MayfieldD.L. Mayfield (they/them) is a podcaster and author. After a decade of writing for Christian spaces, they now write primarily about issues of neurodivergence and healing from high-control religion. D.L. and their partner Krispin Mayfield are currently working on a multimedia publishing project entitled STRONGWILLED, which is available on Substack. You can read along here.
Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
Episode 3 of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast serial series called, Farewell Evangelicalism. There’s an enormous chasm between evangelical thought and praxis, and the actual teachings of Jesus found in the Gospels. We name how evangelical traditions are swayed, methods they use to shape and form malformed belief, and what that does to their overall culture. The primary tool? The widespread application and belief in conspiracy theories. Jared Stacy joins us to share his insights on the ways conspiracy theories are entangled with evangelicalism. We then pivot to name how the reliance on conspiracy theories shapes eangelical culture with guest Dr. Ed Ng. We discuss how the religious right is shaped to stay rooted in fear as a key contributor to belif systems.
“…when it’s ancient we call it a legend, when it’s modern we call it a conspiracy theory. – Jared Stacy”
Episode 3 – Show Notes(00:00) – Introduction(05:30) – Jared Stacey on a history of conspiracy theory.(12:00) – Conspiracy theory in the 20th century.(19:00) – Naming some of the mechanism propogating conpsiracy in the 20th century.(25:17) – The use of media in consipracy.(29:00) – Introducing Dr. Ed Ng(30:00) – Dr. Ng on Terror Management Theory(37:30) – Describing contirbuting social conditions in the Religious Right.(44:00) – Rugged individualism and Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.(52:00) – Outro
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com). Special guests in Episode 3:Theologian/Author – Jared C StacyJared Stacy is a theologian and ethicist and former pastor to evangelical churches. He received a PhD in moral & practical theology from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. His research focuses on the intersection of theology and politics. Specifically on ethics, extremism/conspiracy theory and US evangelicalism. Jared’s work & story has been featured on platforms like TIME, NPR, NBC News, the BBC, and Christianity Today.
Psychologist – Dr. Ed NgEd Ng is a Registered Psychologist in private practice in Vancouver and is the founder and director of Eastgate Psychological Services. Ed has taught at Trinity Western University and Regent College in the areas of diversity and counselling. He is also the founder of the Eastgate Project and hosts its podcast, which focuses on the intersections of psychology, theology, and the experiences of the Asian diaspora.
Intro Music by Jesse Peters. Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
Episode 2 in this serial series called: Farewell Evangelicalism is here.
We begin to peel back the layers of evangelicalism to make sense of how it’s become the broken and malformed expression today. When did the wheels fall off? When did evangelicals turn into ‘Christian nationalists’? It hasn’t always been this way. To get to the ‘how’ evangelicals became associated with various monkers like white nationalism, we must develop cultural context, garnering information to begin naming specific components in the movement that produce harm to the neighborhood, city, and nation, and of course to those stuck within the confines of the four church walls.
The hope for this episode is to help give name to cultural moments when the evil and broken pieces in evangelicalism emerged so more folks can make connections to their own church or belief systems. We go back into time connect the dots between political movements, the use of fear to sway evangelicals, and ways evangelicals have casually sided with white supremacy to inform their beliefs.
Episode 2 – Show Notes(00:00) – Introduction(00:28) – Setting the Scenes(01:35) – When evangelicals lost the plot.(05:30) – Introducing Scott Okamoto including his time teaching at Aszuza Pacific.(09:00) – When evangelicals swung hard right.(10:20) – How white was APU? Explaining culture and culture shifts.(14:00) – From Bush to Obama and evangelical militancy.(19:45) – Unpacking MAGA.(26:00) – Outro and Intro to Dr. Marlena Graves(20:45) – Unpacking the connections between evangelicals, Republicanism, and white supremacy.(26:15) – History: Moments in the 20th century when evangelicals married Republicans.(39:00) – Connecting the Religious Right movement.(42:50) – Talking about the strategy behind preserving white supremacy.(54:00) – Outro and wrap.
Featuring your host Rohadi Nagassar (rohadi.com) and:Scott Okamoto – Writer/PodcasterR Scott Okamoto is a writer and musician from Los Angeles. He is passionate about AAPI identity and politics, fly fishing, sex and sexuality, cooking, and religious deconstruction. Scot is the creator and host of the Chapel Probation Podcast and the author of Asian American Apostate: Losing Religion and Finding Myself at an Evangelical University, published by Lake Drive Books.
Dr. Marlena Graves – Professor/AuthorMarlena received her M.Div. from Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York and his pursuing her PhD in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH where she is researching the influence American culture has on Evangelicals’ view of immigration, race, and poverty. Marlena’s book, “The Way Up Is Down” (with IVPress) released in July 2020.
Intro Music by Jesse Peters. Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
“Find the Stories to Leave For Good.”
Welcome to the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast! There’s space for you at the table. Receive this invitation to listen and learn, bemoan and curse, celebrate and liberate, around ideas towards deconstructing and decolonizing the Christian faith. This is Episode 1 in a serial series called: Farewell Evangelicalism. In this series we will interrogate the main pillars of formation in the evangelical tradition to answer the question: is evangelicalism still a legitimate expression of the Christian faith? And if not, what would it take to see more people leave the tradition? We give the insight and the tools to interrogate the movement and identify its malformed formation.
It’s the first quarter of 2025, which is important to name, because depending on which side of the political spectrum you’re on, and which country you’re from, you’re either in shock of the political upheaval dumped on your country, or you everything is trending your way. Amidst waves of confusion is a simple truth: the current state wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t for the unwavering support from white evangelicals. We ask the question: would society be better off if more people left evangelicalism? If you’re on the fence about that, this series will help, as we offer tools and pathways for more folks to say, Farewell Evangelicalism!
Episode 1 – Show Notes(00:00) – Introduction(01:00) – Setting the Table(01:50) – Saying Farewell to Evangelicalism(02:40) – Who is this podcast for?(04:45) – Introducing your host, Rohadi!(07:20) – Why did we choose evangelicalism/conservative Christianity?(12:40) – Right Rev. Dr. Mariann Budde(15:00) – Evangelical violence(19:00) – Introducing Marla Taviano(20:45) – Marla’s introduction and story(26:15) – What catalyzed Marla’s deconstruction and exit from evangelicalism?(31:50) – Marla wrap, Mason’s introduction(33:00) – Mason Mennenga’s intro and growing up in evangelicalism.(36:47) – Mason’s deconstruction journey from purity culture and weirdness.(40:30) – Mason talks about the toxicity spewed by theobros.(42:25) – Talking about Exvangelicals and whiteness in deconstruction.(46:00) – Wrapping up with a glimpse of hope.(52:14) – Outro and wrap.
Featuring your host, Rohadi (from Rohadi.com). Special guests in Episode 1:Writer/Poet – Marla TavianoMarla Taviano (she/her/) is into: books, love, justice, globes, anti-racism, blue, gray, rainbows, poems (and a hundred other things). Reads and writes for a living (and a life). Wears her heart on her t-shirts. On a mission/quest/journey to live wholefarted (not a typo). (Big fan of parentheses—and em dashes.) She is mom to some freaking awesome kids and two cats and lives in South Carolina. Find more about Marla, including her trilogy of poetry on deconstruction, on her website.
Social Media Influencer – Mason MennengaMason Mennenga (he/him/his) is an aspiring theologian, podcaster, YouTuber, and the Internet’s youth pastor. He received his Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in 2020 and a Master of Arts in Theology from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in 2022. Find all of his links including his podcasts on his website.
Intro Music by Jesse Peters. Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.
It’s been written that the “scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is no evangelical mind…” A suggestion that evangelicals as a whole don’t stand for anything in particular when it comes to the Christian faith. That’s not to say today’s evangelicals (and conservative Christians in general) don’t have values. Rather, when evangelicals show up, it’s for themselves. A real, “I got mine and screw everyone else” attitude. Evangelicals, ironically, choose to ignore the teachings of Jesus in favour of personally enriching themselves while reaching to accumulate more social power in America and beyond. Does this sound accurate?
But don’t take my word for it.
Season 11 of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast is here. The most ambitious project to date: a serial podcast story where we bring all of the receipts behind the outlandish claims, with nearly 20 guests including experts in their field, to say: FAREWELL EVANGELICALISM.
Guests include: DL Mayfield, Robert J Callahan, Kristian A. Smith, Mason Mennenga, Marlena Graves, Jared Stacey, Scott Okomoto, Janice Lagata, and many more.
We ask tough questions including: is the evangelical/conservative Christian faith still legit? Do they faithfully follow the teachings of Jesus? Do they even care about Jesus? Cause if we take a look at those receipts along this podcast journey, we will discover that the current form of evangelicalism is not only making our neighborhoods, cities, and countries worse off, but if enough adherents leave, a lot of the systemic problems in our society ranging from rugged individualism, unfettered capitalism, racism, misogyny, queer and trans-phobia, violence, murders, the overall quality of life for everyone…would improve! Could it be? That a key component to what ails us in this moment is more folks sayin, FAREWELL EVANGELICALISM.
Find out more, Season 11, on the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast. Coming soon….
The FINAL episode of Season 10 arrives featuring Jenai Auman! Don’t forget to rate the show and share it widely! In this episode….
This conversation revolves around themes explored in Jenai’s book “Othered,” focusing on her experiences navigating toxic church environments and the subsequent journey toward healing and liberation. After introductions, Jenai and Rohadi dissect the dynamics of gaslighting and DARVO within toxic church environments, shedding light on the emotional turmoil and internal fractures caused by oppressive church systems. They delve into Jenai’s personal narrative of betrayal and resilience, emphasizing the profound cost of leaving toxic communities while highlighting the transformative power of reclaiming agency and identity. Throughout the conversation, they underscore the importance of boundaries and cultivating genuine belonging outside of oppressive structures, ultimately revealing the potential for liberation and renewal found in embracing one’s “otherness.”
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Prasanta Verma’s debut book, Beyond Ethnic Loneliness, is the topic for our conversation. If you’re not white then you have at some point or another, maybe even recently, have fielded the question, “so what are you?” or “where are you really from?” Trying to fit into community often means assimilating, or giving up a piece of yourself in order to find belonging. That posture leaves folks on the margins unseen, in a space of loneliness, and often causing loss of cultural identity. We talk about these realities and offer some solutions of what’s beyond–how to live out our whole selves.
Episode Summary Importance of Truth and Storytelling: We engage the importance and significance of sharing personal stories, especially among marginalized communities. This is seen as essential for fostering understanding and challenging societal norms. * Diverse Perspectives on Belonging: Belonging is complex and how it differs for individuals based on factors like race, ethnicity, and personal experiences . We highlight the need for diverse narratives that reject a single, homogenized perspective. * Generational Shifts and Hope: Our conversations touches upon generational shifts and attitudes towards social issues that express hope for progress. Despite recognizing ongoing challenges, there’s optimism about the potential for positive change, particularly among younger generations. * Emphasis on Connection and Community*: How do we get there? Connection, empathy, and community-building. We highlight the role of shared experiences and supportive networks in fostering a sense of belonging and personal growth.
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One of the top books for Christian non-fiction in 2024, Lamar Hardwick joins Rohadi on the show to talk about his latest book and the topic: How Ableism Fuels Racism. This eye opening connection between disability and racism will shift paradigms for listeners. This episode is released as full hour long conversation. We begin the conversation surrounding the historical formation of white supremacy in America, tied to the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and connect the dots to the root source of anti-Blackness: ableism. As soon as white supremacy becomes about bodies, something must be developed to build an understanding certain bodies (white) are more valuable than others (Black and Indigenous). What those factors are ranging from intellect to supposed inherent biological traits, are built on the ruse of “disability”. We interrogate not only historical formation but how the same factors remain at play in the present with the policing of Black bodies including other intersections like health and faith. This conversation ends with a cursory view on the theological underpinnings of ableist theology that not only look at contributing bodies of work from Black or brown traditions as inferior, but also how the disabled Christ is sanitized to accommodate white superiority and thought.
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Theologizin’ Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly. Title pique your interest? Pastor Trey returns to the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast for the second time. His first interview was so nice that we had to do it twice. We discuss expanding our imagination around the Bible. Many listeners have grown up in traditions where the treatment of scripture lacks humility. The Bible becomes a proof-text machine, applied to any sort of modern problem and often used to uphold malformed power structures. Is there a way to redeem it? That’s the bulk of our conversation as we meander way through some of the key features of Trey’s debut book.
If you’re curious about new ways of approaching faith and scripture, this episode is a good place to start.
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Forged: Following Jesus into a new kind of family. That’s TC Moore’s book title. We talk about what it looks like to redeem the language around family given so many have bad experiences in their own families, and in churches that use that type of language. You may be familiar with it, and how it can be used to harm rather than give life. We unpack what it looks like to build a new kind of chosen family with key features like sharing of your life; developing community rhythms; serving one another; and solidarity. Come through to meet T.C. learn about his story and ministry, and the possibilities of finding healthier community.
Episode Summary: (more…)
Season 10 continues with a season of authors and their (mostly new) books. Rohadi invites author Tasha Jun to the show to chat about, Tell me the Dream Again. Reflections on Family, Ethnicity & the Sacred Work of Belonging. This episode discusses themes from her book including:
- The Why behind, Tell me the dream again, and how writing projects span decades to produce.
- On dissociation and assimilation for BIPOC/Asian folks. We discuss when a racialized person thinks they fit, and when the veil comes down.
- What to do with feelings associated with assimilation. A talk about embodied characteristics of fitting in.
- Food as a way to reconnect to your roots and ancestors.
- Dismantling individualization of finding one’s self. (Yes, I bring up Brene Brown again.)
- Naming the grief with finding your community, but realizing what you’ve been missing for so long. Ways to bridge the gap when it comes to reclaiming yourself, your people and your culture.
- Why finding belong is sacred work.
Find Tasha’s book available wherever books are sold. Visit Tasha’s website, her Substack, and connect with her on Instagram and Facebook.
A little about “Tell me the dream again.”
Tasha Jun has always been caught between worlds: American and Korean, faith and doubt, family devotion and fierce independence. As a Korean American, she wandered between seemingly opposing worlds, struggling to find a voice to speak and a firm place for her feet to land.
The world taught Tasha that her Korean normal was a barrier to belonging—that assimilation was the only way she would ever be truly accepted. But if that were true, did that mean God had made a mistake in knitting her together?
Tell Me the Dream Again is a memoir-in-essays exploring
- what it means to be biracial in America today;
- the joy and healing that comes with embracing every part of who we are, and;
- how our identity in Christ is tightly woven with the unique colors, scents, and culture he’s given us.
We are not outsiders to God. When we let all the details of ourselves unfold—when we embrace who we were divinely knit together to be—this is when we’ll fully experience his perfect love.
The Blues and Advent
Advent is a rhythm of waiting. Waiting for deliverance from a darkness. That can mean different things for each of us meandering through various seasons and life. In the Christian tradition this observance awaits liberation ushered in by a Saviour. This idea, or notion in history, only means something if your faith tradition or worldview ties Jesus’ victory over death as the pronounced symbol that ultimately all “that ain’t right”, in our lives and in the world, will and can be reversed for goodness. We hold this tension, a now but not yet, of living out the fulness of our humanity versus struggling with the defeats. A continuous cycle that clings to the hope spoken through Advent that in the end, the former will win out now and forever.
Give Peace a Chance?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately following the violence in Gaza and Israel. What unique thought can I possibly add to the corpus of material and calls to action already online? Nothing really. I also think about how we ought to respond. Thought I suppose this makes an assumption–response. Christians should have a clear direction here. When Jesus shares his core teachings (Matt. 5 and Luke 6) peace making is explicit,
“Happy are people who make peace, because they will be called God’s children.” (Matt. 5:9)
If this were a sermon I might opt for a phrase that, “Jesus is calling us to act as peace MAKERS not peace TAKERS!” It sounds better in my head….
I’ve often wondered if noticing beauty is a practice. We often say some folks have, “an eye” for things that strike us as beautiful. I think we all have it. And it’s something we can cultivate–an intention to spot and create beauty. In fact, finding beauty is an act of repair. , This becomes more poignant when it’s finding beauty amidst the rubble. My partner has been sharing Palestinian artists/creators on socials during this time of upheaval. That’s beauty amidst the rubble for sure. A repair of brokenness in our midst, cultivated to pose as a form of resistance.
Beauty and joy are connected. One follows the other. How so?
Listen for more.
Hi Friends,
Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent. Grab a blanket and cup of something warm and hot and settle in…. This first Sunday of Advent will look at hope and annunciation.
Advent as a liturgical tradition does not necessarily follow the typical Advent wreath lighting of candles (symbols of hope, joy, peace, love). They are (I believe) distinct practices (same same but different). I’m going to swing between the two by using the themes but also influence from the lectionary ‘A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church’ by Dr Wilda Gafney. I invite you to use these reflections over the coming weeks in whichever way that fit your own traditions be it lighting an advent candle or something else.
I (Rohadi) have had the pleasure to endorse a number of books in 2023 and that includes Go Wide. Reimagining the Landscape of Theology. If we take seriously the notion of decolonizing and deconstructing Christianity, that journey needs signposts along the way to help guide us to a more life giving faith. This book by Matte Downey is going to help, and this podcast episode is a teaser of what’s inside.
Here’s my endorsement:
“Downey develops an expansive and relational hermeneutic adept for a more liberative and inclusive posture in our modern world. This wider theological imagination is indeed “dangerous”, as Downey concludes, because it subverts hegemonic power systems that describe a far too narrow view of who God is.”
A little more about Go Wide:
What happens when we sidestep the notions of hierarchy and verticality in how we think about God, the world, and all things theological? How does emphasizing the expansiveness and breadth of God affect how we read the Bible and engage with topics such as salvation and the church? Using the lens of latitude, Martha (Matte) Elias Downey reframes familiar biblical stories and reimagines theological concepts, purposefully circumventing the oppressive, top-down dynamics of hierarchy. This book encompasses a broad range of theology by combining biblical interpretation, systematic theology, practical theology, and a selection of personal anecdotes. Here is an accessible and inclusive foray into theology for anyone interested in a fresh take on an ancient course of study.
I have a PhD in dramatic theology and spend my time pondering the meanings of stories and texts, seeking wisdom in unexpected places, learning to ask better questions, labouring over my words, taking photographs of every little thing, feeling all the feelings, and drinking copious amounts of chai. This is where I share what I’m learning, thinking about, and seeing in the world. Nothing is final. All is in process.
Find her at https://mattedowney.wordpress.com/ and on Instagram.
Find Rohadi at www.rohadi.com and on Instagram. Please rate the podcast wherever you’re listening!
Leaders either become a scandal to those they lead or embrace the scandalous way of Christ.
Part 2 of 2 featuring JR Woodward. We discuss his latest book, an iteration of his recent dissertation, on the Powers and church leadership. The Scandal of Leadership is now available wherever books are sold. Those in church leadership of any kind will find this conversation a crucial component to diagnosing systemic problems in church leadership formation. Both episodes derive from a deeply theological understanding of leadership, and digs into spiritual formation as well. CW: we do discuss Power through a spiritual lens that includes topics of spiritual warfare ranging from Christ, Satan, and so forth.
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Part 1 of a 2 part interview featuring author, catalyst, and teacher, JR Woodward. JR recently released a book, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church. In an age where church leaders are hitting the news cycle for all the wrong reasons, JR details a theological outlook on WHY. If you’re connected to church leadership, church planting, or overall interested in diagnosing the deep systemic problems in church leadership, these two episodes will be for you. Both outline interesting theological insights (which is typically not the style of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast). Listen in to learn more, and check out the episode summary for a snapshot.
Episode Summary (more…)
We interrupt Season 10 with this bonus episode responding to the war breaking out in Israel and Palestine and how Christians might respond.
This is a repeat of last week’s newsletter (sign up on the homepage). A important article to read is penned by: Rabbi Dayna Rattenburg.
Welcome to Episode #70 with author Mekdes Haddis. Her debut book is called “A Just Mission. Laying Down Power and Embracing Mutuality.” Listeners who have read Rohadi’s book, When We Belong, will know the nascent Ethiopian connection formative to his journey in deconstructing Christianity. We launch off from his story to draw into Mekdes and her formation as an evangelical Christian in Ethiopia, how her perspectives are different than western thought, and how that may inform the way the church can conduct missions, but more importantly, how we all can find life giving church community outside of white hegemony.
Episode Summary* Deconstructing Western missions and power systems. 0:00 * Identity, culture, and ministry. From Ethiopia to America. 4:15 * Christianity in Ethiopia and the role of missions. 9:51 * Missionary work and cultural context in Ethiopia. 15:15 * The introduction of evangelicalism in Ethiopia. 25:08 * Decoloniality and contextualization in Ethiopian evangelicalism. 29:44 * How contextual Ethiopian evangelicalism can inform mission in the West. 34:00 * Finding our humanity and through mutuality in our faith. 44:00
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How a Culture of White Supremacy Devalues Us and How We Can Reclaim Our Truth WorthA season on authors and their new books. In this episode I feature Caroline Sumlin. Here’s a brief synopsis of her debut.
BREAK UP WITH THE STANDARDSociety has told you that you’re not good enough unless you live up to the standard. Society lied to you.Our worth lies in our ability to measure up to the narrow, socially constructed standards rooted in colonization, racism, and white supremacy.
From believing that the pinnacle of beauty lies in blonde hair and blue eyes, to believing we must maintain 24/7 productivity, we receive the message from every corner of society that, in one way or another, we aren’t enough.
As a result…we chase. We chase perfectionism. We chase productivity. We ignore trauma. We change ourselves to mold to the status quo. We erase our cultural identities to subscribe to Western culture. Our mental health suffers in silence. Our feelings of unworthiness deepen. All because we live in a society that determined that there was one ideal version of a human and everyone else was inferior.
Your chase ends today.
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Season 10 already?!Hello friends, welcome to the Faith in a Fresh Vibe Podcast, where we journey through decolonizing and deconstructing the Christian faith. Season 9 just finished and this episode is the start of Season 10! It’s also a “bridge” episode. Since last season was one on embodiment and mental health, and this season is for authors and their new books, I thought an episode that covers both would be fitting. Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is someone I’ve been looking to invite on the podcast for sometime. You might remember her words if you’ve read my book, When We Belong. I reference, I Bring the Voices of My People, in my chapter on white supremacy. But this episode we talk more than reconciliation. We discuss Dr. Chanequa’s latest book, Scared Self-Care. We go deeper to address the systemic issues that impact self-care and how wholeness and liberation are tied to community and reconciliation. Dr. Chaenqua’s book is built to provide daily practices and strategies to survive what is often an unjust and hyper-individualized world. Listen in to this insightful and in-depth conversation to hear the expertise of a public theologian and clinical psychologist.
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The final Episode of Season 9, a season on mental health, embodiment, and in this episode we throw in change and some DEI (diversity equity and inclusion) as well. Recorded on Treaty 7 territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Change is hard, and harder still when it involves institutions filled with individuals who don't want to change. In this eye-opening and juicy conversation, Nkem Ndefo, founder of Lumos Transforms, joins Rohadi to discuss the pathways to embodying change. Change for both the self, and for organizations looking to become more equitable and inclusive spaces for all to work and thrive. I think in some ways it resilience has been weaponized. And as I've been teaching and working with people over the many years, I've seen a lot of people recoil from the word because it's been weaponized against folks in a very neoliberal context, in that we don't acknowledge the system's culpability in creating conditions of adversity. Instead, we look only at the individual and that unit, and we say that the individual must be more resilient, you must be strong, flexible to endure, whatever is going on, and that any resilience you build will then be extracted from you for greater production and consumption. - Nkem Episode Summary * Intro to this episode. 0:00 * Introduction to the show. 3:11 * Reciprocity and collaboration in leading organizational and individual change. 8:24 * The difficulty of existing in the liminal spaces that need to change. 15:08 * The way resiliency has been weaponized ad how to reclaim it. 21:25 * The importance of naming systemic problems. 30:55 * How do we bring awareness to embodiment? 37:14 * How do we build resilience in the face of privilege and fragility? 43:43
About Nkem: Nkem Ndefo, MSN, CNM, RN, is the founder of Lumos Transforms and creator of The Resilience Toolkit. She is a skilled practitioner, dynamic speaker, and valued strategist. She is known for her unique ability to connect with people of all types by holding powerful healing spaces, weaving complex concepts into accessible narratives, and creating synergistic and collaborative learning communities that nourish people’s innate capacity for healing, wellness, and connection.
Social Media Handles: Instagram: @lumos_transforms Threads: @lumos_transforms Facebook: @lumostransforms
This episode starts off with an "ah ha" moment for me. In this conversation we preview what decolonized pathways unto embodiment and mental health look like. Part 2 of a 2 part interview with Frances Elizabeth Moore. Frances speaks to worldview, and how our Western perceptions miss pathways of embodiment and healing. Frances Elizabeth Moore is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Timiskaming First Nations, Quebec residing in London, Ontario. Summary * Intro to this episode. 0:00 * Seven generations in the past, present, and future. * Why is healing at the family and community level so important? 3:47 + The definition of embodiment. 5:22 * Challenging Western thought around embodiment and healing. 9:31 * How not to systematize our healing. 10:53 * Reducing barriers to access to healing. 14:56 * The importance of listening to your audience. 19:08 * Pathways to healing; what do you need to heal? 21:04 * Bringing awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW). 25:46
About Frances Elizabeth Moore Frances Elizabeth holds a Legal Administration Diploma from Georgian College; Building Abundance in Indigenous Communities (BAIC), Advancing Women’s Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding for Community Development and Indigenous Women in Community Leadership certificates from the COADY Institute at St. Francis Xavier University; and an Indigenous Peoples Certificate in Indigegogy from Wilfred Laurier University where she currently pursuing a certificate in Wholistic Healing Practices and Colonial Trauma. Frances Elizabeth is currently a Program Manager with the Youth Opportunities Fund at Ontario Trillium Foundation and volunteers with LIFE*SPIN, Nii'kinaaganaa, Brescia University College, and Kings University College.
Find her on Linkedin; Instagram; or Twitter. Rohadi's connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok
You don't have to be a mental health professional or therapist to talk about mental health. And that goes for everybody! Come on through this two part series featuring Frances Elizabeth Moore. Frances Elizabeth Moore is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Timiskaming First Nations, Quebec residing in London, Ontario. She is a storyteller, community advocate, facilitator/educator, non-profit leader, and mother who is invested in promoting awareness for and healing in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Here is the summary of Part 1, which I highly recommend you listen to as it offers an important setup for Part 2. Summary * Introduction to Frances Elizabeth Moore. 1:21 * Learning from other Nations and cultures. 3:31 * About Frances' background. 5:14 * The responsibility Indigenous women in community. 6:56 * Holding grief and trauma well. 8:50 * The importance of talking about mental health. 10:30 * What could have been had we known more about ourselves? 12:54 * How the trauma shaped who we are today. 14:58 * Resiliency is a necessity, not a choice. 17:35 * Elders and knowledge keepers. 20:00 * Our education system is misinformed. 21:55 * What is land back? 23:55 * The role of indigenous people in the environment. 25:07 * Wokeness and double consciousness. 29:28 * The pathways to becoming more embodied. 31:23 * The divide and conquer approach. 33:25 * The seven generations, teaching of the seven generations. 37:39 * Mental health and embodiment.
About Frances Elizabeth Moore Frances Elizabeth holds a Legal Administration Diploma from Georgian College; Building Abundance in Indigenous Communities (BAIC), Advancing Women’s Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding for Community Development and Indigenous Women in Community Leadership certificates from the COADY Institute at St. Francis Xavier University; and an Indigenous Peoples Certificate in Indigegogy from Wilfred Laurier University where she currently pursuing a certificate in Wholistic Healing Practices and Colonial Trauma. Frances Elizabeth is currently a Program Manager with the Youth Opportunities Fund at Ontario Trillium Foundation and volunteers with LIFE*SPIN, Nii'kinaaganaa, Brescia University College, and Kings University College.
Find her on Linkedin.
Ever heard a phrase from the pulpit that made you cringe? But not only cringe, distinctly left you on the outside looking in in a community you're supposed to belong to? Let's talk about that. Let's talk about spiritual bypassing. Let's also talk about why mental health is still a touchy subject in churches. Dr. Peace Amadi visits the show to share her expertise on the pursuit of wholeness from spirit, body, and emotions. We've been given this body and our somatic experiences and our emotions by design, they're for our survival. They are part of us. There's no part of our selves that need to be cut off. And it takes skill to become more attuned to what our bodies need. - Dr Peace. We start with an intro and context for Dr. Peace and her work. We then transition to spiritual bypassing in the church and what it means to find belonging in full. Following that we interrogate the work marginalized folks need to do as we develop new skills around embodiment and mental health? We ask, what does a healthy response look like to systemic oppression? We end with glimpses, thoughts, previews of what a healthier, more liberated, community space (our context is the church) can look like, and what the key features might be and how leaders and those in power need to shift. Safety and belonging being two core attributes. That's it. The pursuit of safety and belonging, bringing our whole selves to the table. Let's go!
About Dr. Peace Amadi From leaders, content creators, and entrepreneurs, to pastors, parents, and teachers, Dr. Peace is a coach and cheerleader to the people in our lives that everyone goes to.
She is the Author of Why Do I Feel Like This? Understand Your Difficult Emotions and Find Grace to Move Through which hit #1 on Amazon’s New Releases for Mental Health during its launch.
In this book, she merges clinical insight and faith to encourage readers to listen to the hidden messages of their emotions rather than spiritually-bypass them.
She’s also the co-author of the highly anticipated ChiChi & Didi multi-book children’s book series, set to release in 2024.
She’s a Professor of Psychology (ie. social psych, media psych, child psych, trauma, psych and religion, psych and law) at Hope International University.
And she’s a recurring TV Host— her most recent work as a co-host on The Blend – a digital, medical talk show co-hosted by four Black doctors.
Her work is inspired by her own journey. As one example, she’s battled the enduring impacts of childhood bullying – and the depression and anxiety that came along with it – and thus speaks from both personal and professional experience about the importance of recognizing one’s pain, healing from it, and transforming it into personal power and influence. As a speaker, author + coach, Dr Peace has: * delivered a TEDx talk about the impact of social media on self-esteem and mental health * been invited to speak at UCLA, Yale, Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, Biola, and Azusa Pacific University among others. * panelled alongside Hollywood producers and A-list actors to discuss race, justice, racial trauma and other concerns uniquely Black & African peoples. * been published in the Journal of Psychology & Theology. * been featured live on ABC NEWS, CBN News, Newsy, as well as in Women’s Health, Essence, Blavity, Propel Women, Relevant Magazine, Mental Illness Happy Hour, numerous other podcasts, and top influencer blogs.
Season 9 continues with author and trauma therapist Aundi Kolber. Aundi recently celebrated 100,000 copies sold for her book Try Softer. She was also most recently featured on Good Morning America's segment on faith.
In this episode we discuss embodiment, what it means to be attuned to our bodies, holding trauma, and then preview some pathways towards deeper connection in community and self. When culture demands we act a certain way, even if it's unhealthy or destructive, unlearning those demands, and coming alongside new ways to be whole, takes time, energy, and insight. We discuss what a better way might look like, and how we can be attentive and offer care to our bodies. From mapping internal systems, to finding life giving community, we cover a lot of ground here. In your own pursuit of embodiment, find a piece in this episode that resonates with you, and go deeper.
Aundi's Full Bio: Aundi Kolber is a licensed professional counselor (MA, LPC) and author of the critically acclaimed Try Softer. She has received additional training in her specialization of trauma- and body-centered therapies and is passionate about the integration of faith and psychology. Aundi regularly speaks at local and national events, and she has appeared on podcasts such as The Lazy Genius with Kendra Adachi, Typology, Go and Tell Gals, and The Next Right Thing with Emily P. Freeman. As a survivor of trauma, Aundi brings hard-won knowledge about the work of change, the power of redemption, and the beauty of experiencing God with us in our pain. Find her on Instagram. Description for Try Softer: A Fresh Approach to Move Us out of Anxiety, Stress, and Survival Mode--and into a Life of Connection and Joy We don’t have to white-knuckle our way through life. In her debut book, Try Softer, shows us how God specifically designed our bodies and minds to work together to process our stories and work through obstacles. Through the latest psychology, practical clinical exercises, and her own personal story, Aundi equips and empowers us to connect us to our truest self and truly live. This is the “try softer” life.
In Try Softer, you’ll learn how to: * Know and set emotional and relational boundaries * Make sense of the difficult experiences you’ve had * Identify your attachment style—and how that affects your relationships today * Move through emotions rather than get stuck by them * Grow in self-compassion and talk back to your inner critic
Trying softer is sacred work. And while it won’t be perfect or easy, it will be worth it. Because this is what we were made for: a living, breathing, moving, feeling, connected, beautifully incarnational life. Description for Strong Like Water We’ve all heard the platitudes: “No pain, no gain.” “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” But if we spend our lives trying to be “the strong one,” we become exhausted, burned-out, and disconnected from our truest selves.
What if it were different?
Could there be a different way to be strong? Could strength mean more than pushing on and pushing through pain, bearing every heavy burden on our own? What if, instead, true strength were more like the tide: soft and bold, fierce and gentle, moving together as one powerful force?
In Strong like Water, Aundi offers a framework for true flourishing. With each page, you’ll:
• Learn how your nervous system shapes your experience so that we can move through pain instead of being stuck in it. • Explore various practices, rhythms, and resources to support you in challenging circumstances with compassion and hope. • Discover how to internalize connection, love, and safety?empowering you with greater resilience.
A different, more expansive way of healing, wholeness, and possibly?especially?strength is possible.
We were made to be strong like water.
It's with great pleasure to invite Dr. Hillary McBride to the show to kick-off Season 9, a season on embodiment and mental health. Formation in contemporary Christianity ignores the body, which is odd given the foundation of the faith is rooted in the mystery of incarnation. That God took on flesh. Why is that? Why do we compartmentalize the mind, body, and spirit, treating them as separate entities? What do we have to do to become more embodied? And what does power and trauma have to do with becoming more embodied? Enjoy this meaningful conversation from therapist, speaker, writer, researcher, Dr. Hillary McBride.
In this episode we begin by talking about Dr. McBride's practice and approach to therapy. We reflect on Christian formation and the loss of connectivity to our bodies. Following the break we speak to cultural factors that contribute to shaping our picture of our bodies, and then meander through ways of reclaiming a more embodied picture of ourselves. We conclude with discussing some practices that can act as a guide to becoming more embodied. You might know Dr. McBride from one of her publications including "The Wisdom of Your Body", available wherever books are sold. More about Dr. McBride:
I am a therapist, researcher, speaker and writer. I love to help see people grow, heal, change, and come into more fullness in themselves and their relationships. I am passionate about the well-being of all people, and want to make psychology and academic research accessible to a wide variety of people. Find her online on her website for more detail about her practice and expertise. Connect with her on social media including Instagram.
Listen to a preview of what is to come in Season 9 AND Season 10 from the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast. Guests including: Dr. Hillary McBride, Aundi Kobler, Dr. Peace Amadi, Mekdes Haddis, Caroline Sumlin, and more!
Season 9 on Embodiment and Mental Health. Season 10 another round of authors and new books. Don't miss!
Biblical interpretation that does not result in love of God and neighbor is incorrect and compels you to go back and interpret again.Rohadi invites Karen Keen back for Part 2 of a small series on How to Read the Bible.
What do we do with the way we’ve been formed around the Bible and specifically any teachings we’ve come to realize are incongruent with the way of Jesus, or at worse, spiritually abusive? Do we just give it all up? I pose this question to Karen, as we centre the start of our conversation on how humility and community are key pieces to shape our approach and picture of what we read in the Bible. Some key quotes form this episode:
“One of the problems of [biblical] interpretation now is that we try to re-invent the wheel rathe than looking at ourselves as a piece in the history that has come before us and the history that is coming after us. We are intergenerational connected…and my interpretation will happen in this broader sense of community.
Remember, we have inside scripture itself interpretation of scripture. So how did they handle and navigate hermeneutics and interpretation? They didn’t throw out the old, they put it next to the new, so you can kind of see this evolution of thought and development. There wasn’t a throw away, but a respect for tradition for the community that has come before and now we build upon their shoulders.”
Christ as lens (resists proof texting); looking at salvation (Scripture) as a whole. What is the whole story trying to tell us?
It’s not the method as much as the disposition. How we go into interpretation is more important than the “right” interpretive method.
Karen R. Keen is a biblical scholar, author, and spiritual care provider. Through the Redwood Center for Spiritual Care and Education, she teaches classes on Scripture and facilitates groups on spiritual practices. Her books include Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibilities of Same-sex Relationships, and The Word of a Humble God. The Origins, Inspiration, and Interpretation of Scripture.
Do you have a complicated relationship with the Bible? This episode (in two parts) is for you.Are you struggling to figure out how to interpret scripture without past baggage? Wondering if there is a different way to move forward especially coming out of traditions that hold high importance for the Bible but often misuse it? Karen Keen is a biblical scholar and author who discusses what it's like to come from an evangelical context where women couldn't even teach the Bible, into a place that offers more humble approach to interpretation. Reclaim the Bible in this two part episode.Order:Intro: 1-2 minsKaren Intro: 3-10 minsHow to begin finding life in theology and scripture out of past traditions/formation. 10minsHow to build a renewed sense of vastness and humility with scripture. 19 minsKaren R. Keen is a biblical scholar, author, and spiritual care provider. Through the Redwood Center for Spiritual Care and Education, she teaches classes on Scripture and facilitates groups on spiritual practices. Her books include Scripture, Ethics, and the Possibilities of Same-sex Relationships, and The Word of a Humble God. The Origins, Inspiration, and Interpretation of Scripture.
Have a listen to the latest podcast episode for some hahas, a blast into the worship past, and insight on REVIVAL! One thing is for sure, you don't name a movement 'revival' before it even gets started.Yes. I went there, and a lot of white evangelicals ain't gonna be happy, cause they used to be being the boss of everything. Claims of 'revival' swept contemporary evangelical-land this past month. I think the so-called revival out of Asbury University in Kentucky (of all places) is done (cause the students stopped going to class :P). It in its wake I ask two questions: who gets to dictate what constitutes a revival? and how might we know a revival is underway? I talk white supremacy, patriarchy, marginalization, and the last shall be first.Find Rohadi online @rohadi in most places (@rohadi.nagassar on Instagram). Get his latest book, When We Belong, available wherever books are sold.
A short little Bible study in this episode on the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast. Stemming from regular occurrences of oft cited cultural events that conservative Christians decry for whatever moral reason, Rohadi ponders the question, "why do some (conservative) Christians seem to hate the world so much? It all comes down to how you read the Bible, and we discover how many verses leading modern Christians to "hate" the world have been misinterpreted. Learn why and how a more liberating understanding can help lead us forward in a modern world.Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Part 2 in our two part episode centers around Patty's latest book, Becoming Kin. I begin with the question about the way forward: what does a decolonized and liberating community look like? Patty responds by sharing a story she recounts in her book about the deer. The relationships we have with the land can help inform and change the ways we organize our society. We examine how the racialized church creates barriers to belonging, and how some traditions must pause to interrogate how we form community and relationships. That includes the church as a whole wrestling with their central calling--is it mission? If so, is that inherently colonial?We then switch gears to ask whether or not church institutions today can change. What would the institutional church re-orient towards if it was serious about ushering in change. Or is it more inclined towards self-preservation? Patty then introduces the "trickster" figure in various traditions, and how they operate as prophets who provoke change. Where are the tricksters today?If the kingdom of God is among us, if it is here, shouldn't the [institution] be looking for it rather than imposing it? Shouldn't they be wondering, "what has God been doing here before we came?" But they never asked those questions, it was just about imposing their version of the kingdom on us. So if [this] institution fails, that's OK.We close off about the talk of inclusion. Inclusion into what? Why would BIPOC folks want chairs at tables established by the western church? So what does a new thing look like? We spend the last third of our conversation adding language and features into the new thing. We can start by looking at the communities that we like....listen for more beautiful stories including a re-telling of the 'Good' Samaritan.About Patty Krawec: Through writing and podcasting Patty Krawec (Anishinaabe/Ukranian) explores how we might live differently in the relationships we inherit. She is a co-founder of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation and her book, Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future was published in September by Broadleaf Books. Krawec lives on Twitter as @gindaanis. Find her online at http://daanis.ca
Every episode begins with two questions: where are you situated (the traditional lands on which you dwell), and who are your people. Patty is located in the Niagara region which is Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee territory. Listen as she shares a marvellous story about finding her people. Her book Becoming Kin is part memoire describing her journey to find her people and what it means to be a good relative. From discovering her people--Ojibwae Anishinaabe--through on her father's side, to navigating her childhood brought up different in a 'typical' Canadian Ukrainian household.After the intro, our conversation takes a turn into making sense of identity as multi-ethnic/bi-racial human and what it means to be among your people. We then the process of growing up in white evangelicalism and growing out of old Christian formation. We touch on the legacy of Christian mission and colonization and why finding your people and your identity is important to press back against white hegemony. Even white folks! That will end part 1 before we join part 2 in progress that will discuss Patty's book in greater depth.About Patty: Through writing and podcasting Patty Krawec (Anishinaabe/Ukranian) explores how we might live differently in the relationships we inherit. She is a co-founder of the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation and her book, Becoming Kin: An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future was published in September by Broadleaf Books. Krawec lives on Twitter as @gindaanis. Find her online at http://daanis.ca
Have you ever heard of the Enneagram? From church groups to corporate development, the Enneagram is a tool used to help find your personality type. Increasingly, church groups are adopting the tool in their small groups and leadership development. But what if, like so many personality systems out there, the way we understand the type numbers are filtered through a particular gaze? Jessica D. Dickson joins me for this episode to discuss decentering white hegemony in the Enneagram, in search of a more embodied and holistic perspective of self. Jessica challenges the implicit bias and assumptions wrapped within "typing" individuals. Your community, environment, and who you even learn the Enneagram from will impact how you perceive yourself through the tool.Show excerpt:"...so the Type-8...the reason it's taught often like a white male with a lot of power, is because the Type-8's focus is about who has power, are they wielding it well, my autonomy, who to keep it, how to make sure I don't get it. There's a focus on me controlling my destiny and having an impact on the world. That wasn't really encouraged in community, especially white evangelical community...but you can serve. Twos (2) can serve. A lot of women who come to the Enneagram through white evangelicalism think they are a twos (2s) at first.The reason why I (Jessica) don't recommend tests is because often when we are testing there's an ideal we are holding of ourselves, and it takes a good amount of self-reflection and the ability to be real with our selves, to be vulnerable, that it takes to answer that binary test with a level of honesty. Test also have bias, so its description of Types will describe the people that they know."We end our discussion on the Enneagram as a tool unto anti-racism, and how we may wrap embodiment into our discovery of self. Enjoy!Jessica Denise Dickson is a life empowerment coach who teaches and coaches for the reclamation of our full humanity, equity, justice, and freedom through the intersections of the Enneagram, antiracism, and embodiment. She does this in one-on-one coaching, in groups and workshops, and with organizations. To this work, Jessica brings a Master’s degree in Counseling, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a career counseling certificate, and embodiment training with several teachers. She also has over 15 years of experience in diversity education; 9 years as an Enneagram student and teacher; years recruiting, training, and providing professional development for staff; and a commitment to her own personal and professional growth . . . and more. She believes when we do this work, we live more authentically with self-trust, self-safety, and fully-embodied freedom. When we do this, we change the world.Don't forget to rate and rank our podcast wherever you listen to this feed! You can support this podcast by visiting our podcast support page.
Season 8 continues with Episode #54 featuring the voice of Rose J. Percy. Listen in as the rain falls and the thunder hits in the background as Rose and I discuss all pieces decolonizing faith. We start off with a "get to know you" through a conversation on food, then quickly pivot to the importance of cultivating rest for imagination. We switch gears into identity, and how vocation is the work to uncover the things that make you you. Rose discusses some of her work helping others build strength through a 'ministry' of midwifery. We then trail off the second half discussing aspects of somatic (body) liberation and the wider connections to liberation. How might bodies on the margins find liberation through the stories of our families and beyond?Rose J. Percy, M.Div is a contemplative theopoet with a background in justice-oriented education and ministry. Rose writes affirmational prayers and poems for weary dreamers. Her work engages theopoetics, mysticism, identity, vocational discernment, trauma, and theology.
Rose started “Dear Soft Black Woman,” a podcast and community space for Black women+ to inspire and celebrate flourishing beyond the “Strong Black Woman” myth. She writes affirmational prayers, poems, and grounding reflections through a newsletter called “A Gentle Landing.”
Season 8 is here and this opening episode features Camille Hernandez. Currently located in California, Camille is a writer and public educator pursuing an abolitionist world by dismantling systems of oppression created by settler colonization. Her forthcoming debut book is entitled, "The Hero and the Whore. Reclaiming healing and liberation through stories of sexual exploitation in the Bible." Sound intriguing? It's more than that, it's a fresh and exciting way to give space for marginalized voices in the Bible to speak unto collective liberation.We discuss Camille's book and ideas surrounding decolonizing Christianity, healthy boundaries, healing, liberation, and more.Follow Camille on Substack, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram.Camille Hernandez is an abolitionist, community facilitator, and poet. She describes herself as a doula using care-centered leadership models to help survivors know their voice, be nourished in community, and develop self-compassion practices in order to birth new liberated realities into existence.
Welcome to another season of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast! Season 8 picks up where Season 7 leaves off--deconstructing and decolonizing Christianity. To do so, we include a number of different guests who offer important insight on the Christian faith that you may not usually hear from. Centering voices from the margins, authors and public theologians, is crucial to the formation of our podcast and we are so grateful for all guests. This season features the likes of Camille Hernandez, Rose J Percy, Jessica D Dickson, Patty Krawec, and two thematic episodes on somatic healing (embodiment) and the Pope's visit to Canada. A couple of new ideas, a few new voices, and a whole lot of curious and compelling storytelling for your listening ears. Enjoy!
Advent is countercultural to the typical pageantry of many contemporary church routines that crescendo into Christmas Day. Instead of skipping directly to stories of Jesus’ birth, Advent holds our attention to the way Jesus intercedes in the history of humanity and ushers in new possibilities of light overcoming all darkness—not merely a spiritual darkness, either; rather, a tangible material liberation from all powers that marginalize. This expansive form of deliverance is not initially announced by Jesus—after all, he’s just a babe. The countercultural rhythm of Advent is carried by the brave truth sung by the prophetic voice of Mary.We conclude this year's Advent with this final reflection. Enjoy.
Thank you for listening to this season's Advent reflections on resistance, decolonization, and lingering in the dark. Welcome new listeners too. Here is a short reflection on this week's Advent theme: love.Two curious things strike me when I think about love....
Questioning your faith is often about questioning malformed ideas someone added on top of the foundations Jesus built. A "crisis of faith" can happen when we notice the ways embodying expansive love and inclusion are rejected in thought, word, or deed. In this way, rejecting "faith" is not about "giving up", rather it's a devotion towards reclamation. (Whether or not someone does the work of reclamation is a different issue.) Listen in for this week's Advent reflection on Faith.
You ever notice whenever there's a protest of some kind that upsets the "norm", people tend to reply with, "I believe in protest, but not like that…." It's as if there's a certain threshold of "protest" that protest can't cross because it will be to "protesty". But isn't that the point of protest to begin with? To focus a (non-violent) disruption against power and system?
I think of protest as: Focussed disruption against powers and systems that oppress minority groups. (This is not a definition to don't quote me.) Listen to this week's reflection on hope....
Welcome to a last minute and surprising addition, an interlude of Advent reflections for the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast. Transcript is available exclusively in my newsletter. Advent is a season to linger in the darkness in expectation that the light will emerge and one day prevail. I enjoy the season of Advent for this reason and am happy to share these reflections on resistance to the dark. Enjoy and I hope this seasons offers you some respite.
BONUS: Marla Taviano Interviews Rohadi on His Writing Including His Latest Book, When We Belong
Check out this Bonus Episode! Season 7 opened with a cool interview where Gena Thomas hosted and I was the guest. We talked about my book, When We Belong. In this episode, my friend Marla Taviano, whose episode you can find here, asks me questions about the book and how the ideas flow into a renewed faith formation and the venture out of white religious hegemony. Topics we cover:
We talk about what books to read; what are some non-negotiables in the Christian faith?; on theodicy and why the resurrection; books for questions on atonement; on thinking in new ways; decolonizing Christianity; a conversation for budding authors - one writing.
Find Marla Taviano on: https://itsmemarla.com/; Instagram: Marla Taviano and White Girl Learning; Twitter: https://twitter.com/marlataviano
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Featuring Pastor and Author Jonny Rashid The oppressor would not be so strong if he did not have accomplices among the oppressed. Simone de Beauvoir
In this conversation, pastor and author Jonny Rashid, shares a wonderful cross-section of topics ranging from being brown in America, and church leadership in predominantly white spaces. We discuss spiritual formation as it intersects the racialized brown experience in North America. But that's not all, Jonny offers a vulnerable look inside pastoral leadership, and his latest book, Jesus Picks a Side. His book is a must-read particularly for those who are digging into aspects of justice and politics.
More Show Notes * Tapping into the brown experience. Jonny shares his experience growing up as an Egyptian American as the war on terror began to pick up speed; * Becoming conscious to the lived experience as an Arab American; * Developing awareness of systemic racism caught in the 'in-between'; * Navigating familial and generational differences along the political spectrum; * Jonny speaks to his faith formation in Anabaptism; * Moving forward into liberation (how?); * We take a step back and talk about the call to ministry for Jonny and a bit about his philosophy of ministry; * Leading white congregations into justice and the push back received when white supremacy rears in the home community; * How to not get discouraged, finding affirming voices in your ministry/community context; * What to do when the world is falling apart - God's faithfulness today; * How do you know when to leave unhealthy community, paying attention to your body; * 28mins Finding comfort making political stands as Christians, not to side with the oppressor but to stand with Jesus. We talk about Jonny's latest book, "Jesus takes a Side". * Talking about faux diversity; Christian diversity seeks to centre the margins where as bipartisanship upholds the status quo.... * How to be polarizing like Jesus rather than sanitizing Jesus. * 45mins Dropping the 'third-way' language and follow the Jesus who liberates. Engaging in a wider imagination. * Peacemaking vs Peacekeeping. We end with a story of liberation.
Bio and Social
Jonny Rashid has been pastor of Circle of Hope in Philadelphia for more than 10 years. He is an abolitionist and a housing activist. He is an avid cook, who blogs at https://jonnyrashid.com and hosts Circle of Hope's "Resist and Restore" podcast. He studied journalism, education and history at Temple University and completed his masters of divinity at Palmer Theological Seminary. His book "Jesus Takes A Side" is out now."
- https://www.instagram.com/jonnyrashid/?hl=en and https://www.instagram.com/foodpastor/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonnyrashid/
Coming at you from Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Don't forget to rate and follow this podcast. Share it with your friends. Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Featuring Mandy Capehart We live in a world that's a barrage of grief, yet we lack the skills and communities to support through it all. Why is that? In this episode, Mandy and I meander our way through what it takes to cultivate life giving community where all can belong. Before that, Mandy shares her story walking through deconstruction and her own seasons of grief. As a grief coach, she has a few things to share. Check out the show notes below. Show Notes * A quick conversation about Oregon Trail; * Deconstructing worship and the industrial worship complex; * Mandy shares her recent journey through deconstructing evangelicalism; * How loss and grief spiralled and catalyzed something new; * Finding how contemporary church operates as self protective rather than walking in vulnerability in community; * The search of belonging and community; * Mandy shares about her story and experience with trauma and grief, her own journey, and holding space for others; * Dissecting why churches struggle with lament and sorrow; * The pursuit of wholeness walks through uncertainty yet through the human experience; * When does grieving end? When does healing happen? Grief in every aspect of life....and what does fully alive mean.
More about Mandy Capehart: Mandy Capehart is an author, speaker, and certified grief and life coach in the Pacific Northwest. She is the founder of The Restorative Grief Project, an online community of grievers and grief supporters looking for movement while they heal. Her own experience with grief left her searching for resources while offering empathetic, long-term support without minimizing the pain of the moment. When she found nothing, she created it for herself and for you.
Her first book is titled, “Restorative Grief: Embracing our losses without losing ourselves” released in 2021. This is a memoir and 31 day guidebook for managing grief and growth in the aftermath of loss, no matter how long it lasts.
You can hear more about her grief work on her podcast, Restorative Grief with Mandy Capehart. She also co-hosts The Uncomfortable Grace Podcast, where space is held for growth amid the messy middle-parts of life.
Mandy is a storyteller through and through, always in pursuit of adventure, grace, and opportunities to express gratitude. No matter the medium, her work revolves around learning how to honor our process of becoming. She currently lives in Southern Oregon with her husband, daughter, border collie rescue pup, and way too many houseplants.
Website: MandyCapehart.com Instagram: @MandyCapehart Twitter: @MandyCapehart
Coming at you from Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Don't forget to rate and follow this podcast. Share it with your friends. Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Stories of Racialized Experiences A deeply formative and reflective episode with Ms Micah Morgan. Where does one land when balancing the tensions between a fascination with theological questions surrounding body and suffering, and the lived experience in the church and beyond? Grappling with a sense of belonging and questions of sovereignty, Micah inserts joyful tones from her faith experience in the search for justice and wholeness. That brings us to her work today and what it means to be a Black reconstructing Christian. Show Notes * I come back yet again to the 'tiers of friends' in a discussion on friendships; * Micah describes the storied racialized experience and its history; * Reflections on Micah's experience with colorism; * Micah shares a little bit about her own story growing up in Ohio as a Black woman and her church formation; * Shaping a parallel 'deconstruction' experience emanating from a rich Black church experience in theological questions around suffering; * We balance theology with what we feel in our bodies; * Rather than 'deconstruction' we dive into Micah's journey through what she coins, the Black reconstruction experience; * Cultivating church spaces of belonging for all. Surprisingly, we start with worship.... * Influential thinkers to consider, and Micah's continued ministry. * We end with reflection on the question, what does belonging and belovedness look like today?
Find Micah Morgan Online and her Bio: “Micah Morgan (she/her/hers) is a trauma-informed licensed professional counsellor and bi-vocational pastor serving in the state of Ohio. She’s committed to helping others get connected with God, with each other, and with themselves. You can usually find her laughing with her husband and friends, sitting somewhere thinking deeply, reading, or enjoying the rain.” * Her writings: https://micahjmmorgan.medium.com/ * Twitter: https://twitter.com/jmariemorgan
Coming at you from Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Don't forget to rate and follow this podcast. Share it with your friends. Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Pastor Trey coming through! You might remember him from such places as Twitter.com and as one of the endorsers for my book When We Belong. In this episode, Trey shares wisdom from his context and tradition rooted within the Black church. Hearing and learning from voices who have different, yet vibrant, faith experiences, is crucial to help re-imagine faith in new ways. Here's what else is in store:
Show Notes * We start and end with a chat about Trey's podcast, "The New Living Treyslation" and the importance of understanding scripture; * Get to know Trey and a bit about his church experience growing up; * We dissect contemporary discipleship which might be of interest to church leaders out there; * How to promote healthy dialogue and questioning in faith communities; * Examples on re-imaging church traditions and gatherings. This is a beautiful segment on re-imagining Christian worship and gatherings; * Decolonizing Christianity in the bid to find wholeness.
Find Trey Online and his Bio: “Host of the New Living Treyslation and co-host of Three Black Men, Trey’s passions include building community, digital engagement, Black church history, and the University of Miami Hurricanes. His best feature is actually his wife, Jessica. When he’s not theologizing, he enjoys roasting people on twitter and maybe landing himself in hot water with the other elders at his church.”
- His website: https://rfxmovement.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pastortrey05/;
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PastorTrey05;
- The New Living Treyslation https://anchor.fm/treyslation;
- Find the links for the Three Black Men podcast here.
Coming at you from Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Don't forget to rate and follow this podcast. Share it with your friends. Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Featuring Sharifa Stevens "Daughter of the King, and Kingstonians. Schooled in the Ivy League, the Bible Belt, and the Boogie-Down."
Coming at you from Treaty 7 Territory in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Don't forget to rate and follow this podcast. Share it with your friends.
Have you had a conversation and in the middle of it you realize you've found a kindred soul? That's how I felt after this episode. Our discussion covered honest portrayals of our world today. What makes this episode special? It wasn't just the Eeyore jokes, naming how we collectively bathe in waters of unrest, or how we may share a prophetic voice when all is not right in the world.... It wasn't even our conversation that I didn't include on mangoes. Mangoes you say? Frankly, so many of the worl'd's problems would be solved by eating more mangoes. Amiright? As you listen you'll flow through our discussion like so:
Show Notes * Bathing in the waters of angst and unrest. The violence of Christian formation and resisting with vision for what is good. * Sharifa's story, journey through seminary, and growing up in a diverse church context. * Developing and insight into the prophetic voice; * Finding affirmations in all the right and wrong places; * Elevating women of color, resistance, and finding ultimate liberation. * What does liberative community look like? Going small. * Dispersing power, the Jesus way.
Sharifa is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised in New York, and currently residing with her family in Dallas, TX. She graduated from Columbia University in New York with a Bachelor in African American Studies before earning a master in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Sharifa is a conglomeration of intersections: Bronx wisdom and prep-school code-switching; smoke shop Now-and-Laters and church peppermints; hip-hop and hymns. Intersections can be a mash-up—rife with both tragedy and opportunity; places of pause within movement. Sharifa aspires to use writing as a vehicle that moves readers to intersect with the sacred and the honest. She contributed to the book Vindicating the Vixens: Revisiting Sexualized, Vilified, & Marginalized Women of the Bible and Rally: Communal Prayers for Lovers of Jesus and Justice. Sharifa is married to a Renaissance man, and mother to two lively boys.
Find Sharifa online: https://sharifastevens.com/; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharifawrites/; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sharifawrites; and her Substack https://sharifahstevens.substack.com/.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Episode #46 with author Marla Taviano
Marla shares a story about moving away from, and re-discovering, new roads of faith and spirituality. Making sense of Christianity after deconstructing takes time. The journey is fraught with loss, but there are pathways unto better. Here's what's in store.
Show Notes * We meet Marla and talk about her numerous books over the years. * Taking a look at her latest publication, "unbelieve. poems on the journey to becoming a heretic"; * Catalysts into deconstruction and becoming aware of the downfalls of white evangelicalism. Including books, relationships, political change, and taking the Bible seriously; * Challenging historical assumption of white hegemony; * On farts. Her book "What makes you fart?"; * Challenging assumptions that are canon in evangelicalism like abortion, immigration, and power. * What do you love and discussing freedom. * What's next, and new possibilities.
Marla Taviano is the author of a whole bunch of books (but just read her most recent, unbelieve, because it’s pretty much the only one she can still get behind). She’s a mom to some really awesome kids and loves books and justice and rainbows and poems. She wears her heart on her t-shirts and is on a mission to live wholefarted (not a typo).
Find Marla Taviano on: https://itsmemarla.com/; Instagram: Marla Taviano and White Girl Learning; Twitter: https://twitter.com/marlataviano
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
We end Season 6, a season devoted to the topic of deconstruction with Michiko Bown-Kai (they/them). Michiko is a minister with the United Church of Canada. They grew up in Ontario in the UCC, and later became a minister, currently serving in Cambridge, Ontario.
In Episode 43, we cover a lot of ground starting with an introduction and story of Michiko's path into ministry. We then detour to share stories about our Japanese ancestors during interment. The remainder of our conversation hovers around deconstruction, the importance of identity, and a critique of progressive Christian spaces. Show Notes
- Intro on Michiko, growing up in the UCC, and the call to ministry.
- A discussion on Japanese internment.
- Deconstruction
- whiteness, identity, and queerness.
- Reclaiming freedom and health in the body.
- What does institutional change look like beyond tokenization?
- Critique of progressive church denominations and deconstruction.
- Picture of what is to come
- Queer Sunday Project
- Mushrooms.
Find Michiko on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/queerkenosis/ and visit their website: https://michikobownkai.wixsite.com/ministry
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connections: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Intro and Outro are tracks courtesy Drew Brown's album, "Hymns for the Architect." http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/.
Episode 42 features David Hayward, a name you may not be familiar with, but whose art you certainly are. Found everywhere as the @nakedpastor, David has a wide array of tools to share his message. In this episode we cover a lot of ground starting with an introduction into David's art ranging from writing, water-colours, to his widely successful cartoons. As the #deconstruction picks up attention around social media, David recounts early moments engaging in deconstruction in thought and practice. We later discuss a shared connection from our pastor days in the Vineyard Church, and end with a hopeful picture for the future. Learn more about the man behind the illustrations. Show Notes
- Introduction David Hayward
- Examining art in writing and cartoons. The birth of the NakedPastor
- Deconstruction
- Writing on #deconstruction before it was 'cool';
- Examining Derrida and other early thinkers;
- What it looks like to enter a process of deconstruction, on open spaces;
- Questions for everything;
- Challenging religious foundations;
- Vineyard
- When you no longer fit the institution;
- Stories about LGBTQ affirming churches;
- art and themes
- Capturing wide spaciousness
- Freedom
- exploring the language of freedom connected to liberation
- What does community look like moving forward?
Find all of David's links at this website, including his store: https://nakedpastor.com/
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Intro and Outro are tracks from Drew Brown's album, "Hymns for the Architect." http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/.
Emotions of Deconstruction with Omar Reyes is here.
In this episode I invite my friend Omar Reyes to share about his journey through deconstruction. Originally form El Salvador, Omar grew up in the Pentecostal tradition and found himself a pastor for a decade. But then something didn't fit. Listen to Omar's story, his thoughts on deconstruction, moving away from works and shame based faith tradition, and how he thinks of deconstruction through an emotional and connective lens. We often spend a lot of time working out the "right" way to believe when in fact we should consider the right way to be in relationship with one another.
We end our conversation talking about ideas of how Christian gatherings look like in a pandemic age.
Find Omar on Twitter or Instagram. Show Notes
- Intro 1 mins
- Welcome Omar and start to Omar's story coming to Canada, joining a church, and call to ministry. 2-20mins.
- The catalyst shift and abuelita theology. 24 mins.
- When the wheels fall off 26 mins.
- Leaving pastorate 33 mins.
- On liberation and the emotional avenues of deconstructing Christianity 35 mins
- Deconstructing out of whiteness 45 mins
- On family and the impact of deconstructing on families 50 mins.
- Talking about new ideas on ways forward 60 mins.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Intro and Outro are tracks from Drew Brown's album, "Hymns for the Architect." http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/.
exvangelical and all that
Episode #40 welcomes Blake Chastain who coined the #exvangelical hashtag alongside the launch of the Exvangelical podcast in July 2016. Exvangelical conversations and communities have proliferated online across social networks like Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit. Blake Chastain is host of the Exvangelical and Powers & Principalities podcasts, and writer of The Post-Evangelical Post newsletter. He is also writing a book with Convergent, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
"Exvangelical" functions as both a way to find others who have left white evangelical beliefs and communities behind, as well as a helpful frame for criticizing white evangelical institutions and practices. It is not a wholesale replacement of evangelicalism, but a shared starting point--it acknowledges that we are rooted in similar experiences, and celebrates the new and diverse ways people find to flourish.
Show Notes * Rohadi's Intro * Welcome Blake and a brief history of #exvangelical (4:00 mins) * Story out of white evangelicalism. (13 mins) * Processing I.D. and leaving toxic church traditions (33 mins) * Giving new life to new ideas (37 mins) * Deconstruct where does Jesus fit? (43 mins) * Community in a deconstructed age (52 mins)
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Intro and Outro are tracks from Drew Brown's album, "Hymns for the Architect." http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/.
Drew and Rohadi conclude a three part series on deconstructing Christianity. In this episode they talk about their list of items from contemporary church traditions they would trash, keep, and reclaim. Listen in as both share their stories and paint a picture of what Christian community can look like moving forward.
Show Notes: * Intro of Part 3 - * Dealing with your hurts (6:00 mins) * Deconstruction catalyzed by the longing to belong (7:00 mins) * When things get weird for people on the margins. (16:00 mins) * What does reclaiming Christianity look like? (17:00 mins) * Rapid fire questions on deconstruction. * What would you trash? * What makes Christianity unique? (24 mins) * What would you keep? (25 mins) * Rohadi's turn, what do you reclaim, trash, and keep (35 mins) * What does wholeness look like; (46 mins) * What does reclaimed community look like? (54 mins) * Rohadi talks about giving up his pastoral credentials (59 mins) * You're not alone in this.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
All of Drew Brown's links on his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Intro and Outro are tracks from his album, "Hymns for the Architect."
Deconstructing the Christian Worship Industrial Complex with Rohadi and Drew Brown (Part 2). Continuing our series on deconstruction, Drew and Rohadi discuss major pillars in deconstruction. In this episode they tackle worship, or Christian music, and the ways it has formed Christian churches in good and bad ways. They discuss their experience, how they determined mainstream Christian music wasn't going to work, and end with some ideas for deeper/better. Show Notes
3:oo - Intro, up-to-speed on the world. Discussing anti-vaxx people and the church response. Pastoral implications and the weirdness of COVID-19. 10:00 - What are the pillars of deconstruction that you keep, discard, or reclaim? 12:00 - Drew intros Christian worship as the catalyst to his own deconstruction. Worship, music, and running up against the massive engine we call Bethel. 23:00 - Rohadi shares his ideas on deconstruction, what has to go from Christian worship. Chats on 1990s and 2000s worship market. 26:00 - What does it look like for people on the margins to see themselves reflected in worship and in church? Where are the laments? 32:00 - What does deeper look like? Both share new ideas on re-imagining worship in a modern context.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
All of Drew Brown's links on his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Intro and Outro are tracks from his creation, "Hymns for the Architect."
Have you heard about deconstruction?! It's all the rage. Season 6 will include multiple episodes on deconstruction.
Drew and Rohadi challenge white hegemony in the realm of Christian deconstruction by offering their take. Part 1 examines the root cause of the deconstruction movement that's not always obvious--white supremacy. Both share their stories growing up in different churches, making sense of a Christianity that pushes certain bodies to the margins, and outline their own journeys through deconstruction.
Divesting from institutional whiteness needs different voices speaking to new realities--a new imagination--surrounding faith and belonging. Here are two.
Show Notes * Intro [1:00-3:00mins] * Have you heard about deconstruction? Discussing current contemporary trend rooted in whiteness and white supremacy. [3:00-6:00 mins] * Summarizing experiences in deconstruction. [6:00-13:30mins] * Defining deconstruction in our own words. [13:30-23:00mins] * Interrogating white church formation and contribution to deconstruction. Divesting from whiteness. [24:00-33mins] * Other intersections of deconstruction. [33:00-36:00mins] * Deconstruction as an absence of full belonging in white churches. * Coming full circle. [43mins]
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
All of Drew Brown's links on his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Intro and Outro are tracks from his creation, "Hymns for the Architect."
We BACK! Get yourself prepared for SEASON 6 of Faith in a Fresh Vibe Podcast on DECONSTRUCTION.
Bringing the often excluded marginalized voices to the centre, we take a deep dive into the past, present, and future chase in deconstruction. Who's we? From the Prairies to the Great Lakes, Rohadi and Drew Brown combine for bulk of episodes in this season. Check in on this intro and sneak peak on what's in store.
This season also features the brilliance of Drew Brown's, Hymns for the Architect, available wherever fine music is sold.
Episode #36 Featuring Pastor and Author, Melissa Florer-Bixler In the final episode of the summer season 5 edition of Faith in a Fresh Vibe, we welcome pastor Melissa. This insightful episode offers a number of interesting and pragmatic ways to re-think Christian formation. Ranging from leadership formation for predominantly white congregations seeking racialized justice, to to tangible ways to access and unlock scripture in new and exciting ways. Find Melissa online at her website: https://www.melissaflorerbixler.com/. Also her social media links on Twitter and Instagram. Here's a bio: Melissa is the pastor of Raleigh Mennonite Church, and a graduate of Duke University and Princeton Theological Seminary. She spent times studying in Israel/Palestine, Kenya, and England. Much of her formation took place in the L'Arche community of Portland, OR. Now she prefers the Eno River and her garden in Raleigh, NC. She is the chair of L'Arche North Carolina and a steering committee member in broad-based organizing in her county. Melissa's writing has appeared in Christian Century, Sojourners, Geez, Anabaptist Witness, The Bias, Faith&Leadership, and Anabaptist Vision. From time to time she publishes academic writing. She and her spouse parent three children.
Show Notes * Intro (4 mins) * A bit about Melissa's vocation in the Mennonite church (7 mins) * Building communities of argument (10 mins) * Forms of narrative justice (8 mins) * How majority white congregations do work of racialized justice (12 mins) * Formative practices to dismantle whiteness in congregations (15 mins) * How to embody practices of appreciation vs. appropriation (19 mins) * On 'Fire by Night', what do we do with violence in the OT? (23 mins) * Ways to read scripture in new ways (32 mins) * On 'How to have an Enemy' (37 mins) * Imagining pathways to healing and justice in the here and now (48 mins)
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
On deconstruction and picturing what is to come.... It's often challenging to picture a world after deconstruction and following old formation from institutional Christianity. In this episode, Starlette paints a picture of what is to come. An idea, a vision, the possibilities, of rooting our faith in the Kingdom coming. "There's another way things are supposed to be!" Starlette also reframes identity outside of racialized distinctions. Here's more about Starlette Thomas: Starlette Thomas is an author, activist, visual artist and race abolitionist. She is the founder and director of The Raceless Gospel, LLC, a non-profit para-church teaching ministry dedicated to leading didactic dialogues on race and its progeny, which empower Christian believers, leaders and thinkers to passionately, pastorally and prophetically speak about the sociopolitical construct of race and the myriad injustices that intersect in their churches, communities and country.
A womanist in ministry, Starlette is graduate of both Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and Buffalo State College. She has served as an associate and interim pastor as well as a denominational leader. She regularly preaches and teaches in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region and her sermons have been featured by Sojourners.
She has written for Herald, a publication of Baptist News Global, Baptists Together, a publication of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Formations, a publication of Smyth & Helwys Publishing Company. She is a contributing correspondent with Good Faith Media and writes on the intersections of race, faith and politics. Starlette is a contributing author for the book Faith Forward: A Dialogue on Children, Youth & a New Kind of Christianity.
An unrepentant academician and bibliophile, she is presently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., studying ecclesiology, the intersections of gender, politics and race and their interplay for a transformative spirituality. Find her online at her website: https://racelessgospel.com/; Twitter; Instagram; and her links.
Show Notes * Welcome * Intro about Starlette Thomas (4 mins) * Growing up in the African American church * Pushing back on patriarchy and cultural malaise * Theological gigolos * On unhealthy church leadership and consumer culture * Who are your people? What does community look like in a deconstructed universe? * Deconstructing whiteness and race towards the 'raceless' Gospel (20 mins) * Cultural gaslighting, abuse, and the preservation of power * White Jesus (24mins) * Dropping racialized identity for ethnic identity (26 mins) * On kinship and reconciliation (29 mins) * Can the institution steeped in whiteness change? (33 mins) * Pathways of deconstruction and imagining something better (37 mins) * Race creates a mask vs. dying to self (40 mins) * Race as conversion--dying to your cultural identities in exchange for power. * Anti-race discipleship (42 mins) * Living into regeneration * The challenge of living it all out in community.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Part 2 of this 2 part series. We dig into Chandra Crane's book, Mixed Blessing. Embracing the Fullness of Your Multi-Ethnic Identity. To the multi-ethnic listeners out there, you're up, you're not a mistake!, your time is now.
About Chandra: "So what are you?" Chandra Crane knows what it's like to get that question. She has a Thai birth father, an European American mother, and an African American father who adopted her when she was five. With this mixed multiethnic and multicultural background, she has keenly felt the otherness of never quite fitting in. Where do people of mixed ethnicity belong?
Those of us who have multiethnic backgrounds may have pain surrounding our mixed heritage. But we also have the privilege and potential to serve the Lord through our unique experiences, if we root ourselves in him. Crane explores what Scripture and history can teach us about ethnicity and how we can bring all of ourselves to our sense of identity and calling.
You can discover the fullness of who you are. Find out how your mixed identity can be a blessing to yourself and to the world around you. Find Chandra on Twitter, where you will find her links to more about her work. Her debut book is called, Mixed Blessing. Embracing the Fullness of Your Multi-Ethnic Identity. Available wherever books are sold. Show Notes * Cartoons, comedies, cooking, and race neutral TV * Multi-ethnic Jesus (5 mins) and mixed existence * Multi-ethnic leaders set to lead * invitation to participate in God's unfolding hope * multi-ethnic people have prophetic eyes (15 mins) and a super power * What do multi-ethnic people bring to the church today? * On superheros (22 mins) * Knowing the struggle of belonging (26 mins) * Matthew's lineage (29 mins) and welcoming to the nations * Monoethnicity and white normativity
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
So what are you? Ya, that's a question I've grown up fielding. Chandra Crane has a thing or two to say about that. Two fantastic episodes you don't want to miss. Devoted to multi-ethnic people, we dig into identity and the superpowers we have. Most often overlooked, multi-ethnic/multi-racialized people are finally coming to the forefront. As we learn to live and own our bodies and beliefs, great things can happen. Everyone can enjoy this episode, but we keep that focus on folks like us. Check out the show notes for details about this episode. Chandra Crane has a Thai birth father, a European American mother, and an African American father who adopted her when she was five. With this mixed multiethnic and multicultural background, she has keenly felt the otherness of never quite fitting in. Where do people of mixed ethnicity belong?
Those of us who have multiethnic backgrounds may have pain surrounding our mixed heritage. But we also have the privilege and potential to serve the Lord through our unique experiences, if we root ourselves in him. Crane explores what Scripture and history can teach us about ethnicity and how we can bring all of ourselves to our sense of identity and calling.
You can discover the fullness of who you are. Find out how your mixed identity can be a blessing to yourself and to the world around you. Find Chandra on Twitter, where you will find her links to more about her work. Her debut book is called, Mixed Blessing. Embracing the Fullness of Your Multi-Ethnic Identity. Available wherever books are sold.
Show Notes * Intro and place * First Thanksgiving and the multi-ethnic home church experience * Who has formed you? Unpacking growing up as a multi-ethnic person (13 mins) * The tensions of bi-racial identity in today's world (25 mins) * Being enough in my own skin * Filling in the blanks of our unknown people (36 mins) * Church formation, assimilation, code switching, and challenges of white church experiences * Becoming alert to whiteness in church (48 mins) * Resources/experiences of deconstruction (52 mins)
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
In this edition, deconstruction at its finest. A story about coming out of fundamentalism, and into a journey of deconstruction. We mark pathways out of white supremacy and white evangelicalism. My guest, @the_decolonized_Christian from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_decolonized_christian/. This account exposes the church's colonial past from an anti-colonial perspective; amplifying postcolonial voices. He is a guest on St??:lo?--Coast Salish territory. You can find more link details here: https://linktr.ee/TheDecolonizedChristian
Show Notes * Intro of the_decolonized_christian * Unpacking shared stories on deconstruction. * Noticing and experiencing the cracks in religious formation (11 mins) * Facing the crossroads; to leave or stay in church and faith (13 mins) * Unpacking the white evangelical church experience and power (18 mins) * Marking points along the journey of deconstruction (22 mins) * Catalysts to deconstruction (25 mins) * Tools and ideas on re-learning and re-imagining (30 mins) * Crisis of faith (32 mins) * Dismantling white supremacy for white people (35 mins) * Critique to the institutional church (37 mins) * Tensions of staying in the church (44 mins) * Good News for all creation (47 mins) * Link to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. * Indictment on white evangelicalism (53 mins) * Intro and Outro courtesy of Jon Corbin. Interlude courtesy of Dru Bex.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Episode #31 Featuring Terence Lester SPEAKER, ACTIVIST, AUTHOR, AND THOUGHT LEADER IN THE REALM OF SYSTEMIC POVERTY. Find him online @imTerenceLester (Twitter) and https://linktr.ee/imterencelester.
He's known for nationwide campaigns that bring awareness to issues surrounding homelessness, poverty, and economic inequality. His awareness campaigns have been featured on MLK50, CNN, Good Morning America, TVONE, Creative Mornings, USA Today, NBC, AJC, Black Enterprise, Rolling Out, Upworthy, and have been viewed by millions of people worldwide.
In 2013, Terence founded the non-profit Love Beyond Walls and has helped hundreds of individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty rebuild their lives. In 2019, Terence launched the first museum in the U.S. representing homelessness out of a shipping container called Dignity Museum.
Terence has written six books, and his new book, When We Stand: The Power Of Seeking Justice Together, was released May 18, 2021. We also talk about his other book with IVP, "I See You. How love opens our eyes to invisible people." He holds four degrees and is working towards his Ph.D. at Union Institute & University in Public Policy & Social Change. Show Notes
- Intro
- A bit on PhD and public policy
- Challenging narratives on the poor
- Forms of narrative justice (8 mins)
- Hidden power dynamics in public policy making (10 mins)
- Anti-racist public policy making (12 mins); public policy in justice making
- Is public policy a tool unto liberation? (16 mins)
- How to upend power systems (18 mins)
- Motivations for change: life or death (21 mins)
- On insurrections
- Where's the church in all of this? (23 mins)
- More about Terence, his books, and his work with LoveBeyondWalls (28 mins)
- Hostile architecture (33 mins)
- Ways to stand in solidarity with the community and those without an address (39 mins)
- Intro and Outro courtesy of Jon Corbin. Interlude courtesy of Dru Bex.
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Welcome to Season 5! How about a quick intro into the latest season of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast? Guests include Terence Lester, Starlette Thomas, the_decolonized_christian, Melissa Florer-Bixler, and Chandra Crane. I open this season, however, with an inside look at my forthcoming book, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. You get an exclusive preview inside as I share direction and the heart of why I am writing a story on deconstruction and decolonizing Christianity. It's part my story, and part a pathway forward unto liberation. Don't miss out on this short episode!
Faith in a Fresh Vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Rohadi interviews author and spiritual formation director Lisa Colón DeLay in this hour long episode. The two venture through a conversation on spirituality and where the church fits in a modern world in formation. They spend time unpacking some features in the first book from Lisa Delay, "The Wild Lands Within". The landscape around culture, religion, and spirituality is shifting, and how we can engage in our own formation changes with it. Learn new insight on ways to grow personally and spiritually. The Wild Land Within is an invitation to explore your own flyover country. This book serves as a companion to search the inner and unseen but very real territory of yourself. As we attend to this land within, our journey will involve some issues you may know little or nothing about. There are places of rough and even terrifying terrain. We will learn what makes spiritual growth unnecessarily difficult or extra confusing. To explore this land within means encountering climate and storms, negotiating treacherous topography, and finding creatures both wounded and wild. Explore the secluded territory of the inner life with a gentle and trained companion. In The Wild Land Within, spiritual guide and podcast host Lisa Colón DeLay prepares us to better understand the terrain that changes when we undergo spiritual practices in hopes of spiritual growth. This book: Now available wherever books are sold.
Sign up for some cool interactive points upcoming with Lisa Delay. Find her on Twitter and Facebook as well.
May 5 learn about Evagrius https://www.crowdcast.io/e/desert-father-evagrius-/register
June 2 book club - https://www.crowdcast.io/e/spark-my-muse-book-club--2
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
On Centering Marginalized People: Might from the Margins with Rev Dr. Dennis Edwards. Dr. Edwards is Professor of NT at Northpark Theological Seminary. He's also an ordained minister with the Evangelical Covenant Church. In this episode, Rohadi interviews Dr. Edwards and his early days church planting and leading multi-ethnic churches. We ask, can white evangelicalism become more inclusive and multi-ethnic? We then transition to talk about his book, Might from the Margins. Dr. Edwards shares his insight on diaspora people from his work in the NT. Listen as we unpack his teaching around justice, church planting, and building new spaces of faith for tomorrow.
Connect and find more info about Dr. Edwards online. Visit his bio at Northpark: https://www.northpark.edu/faculty-staff-directory/dennis-edwards/ and follow him on social media including: Twitter and Instagram. His latest book, "Might from the Margins: The Gospel's Power to Turn the Tables on Injustice " is now available.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Recorded days after the 2020 American inauguration, Rohadi welcomes author and spiritual formation director, Charlotte Donlon. In this part two, Charlotte unpacks her book and her story. "The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other" offers vignettes on facing loneliness and vulnerability in the bid for freedom and belonging. I value her story as she shares her own journey with fragmentation, depression, and the search for safe space to be. Welcome, settle in for a time of storytelling.
Connect and find more about Charlotte online Visit her website: https://charlottedonlon.com/ and follow her on social media including: Twitter and Instagram. Her latest book, "The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other" is now available.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Recorded days after the 2020 American inauguration, Rohadi chats with author and spiritual formation director, Charlotte Donlon. This two part series begins with Charlotte's introduction, a bit about her people, and then what it's like to live Birmingham, Alabama. The heart of white Christian evangelicalism and its cultural grip on the region comes with challenges. We discuss bearing witness in a time of disconnection and start to unpack the question of vulnerability in faith.
Connect and find more about Charlotte online Visit her website: https://charlottedonlon.com/ and follow her on social media including: Twitter and Instagram. Her latest book, "The Great Belonging: How Loneliness Leads Us to Each Other" is now available.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Recorded days after the 2020 American election, Rohadi chats with musician, author, activist and advocate Robert Monson. We share a conversation about decentering whiteness in faith and practice. What does radical revival in the church look like and what does that shift look like? What does decolonizing and faith look like individually and collectively? Who do you read? Who informs your life? What does a renewed Christian ethic look like? We discuss new metrics, new ways of gathering, and embracing the marginal voice at the centre.
Go find Robert online. You can find his book online at: https://www.subcultureinc.org/product-page/subversive-stillness-1. Follow him on social media including Twitter and Instagram.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Musician, author, advocate, meet Robert Monson. Currently in Colorado and sharing wisdom from his latest book, "Subversive Stillness". Rohadi and Robert talk about Robert's work in a form of campus ministry, and then talk about his book--a devotional that directly engages the practices of decolonizing the Christian faith. Well worth the listen in this Part 1 as we build towards a renewed reality for the Christian faith.
Find Robert's book online at: https://www.subcultureinc.org/product-page/subversive-stillness-1. Follow him on social media including Twitter and Instagram.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
In this episode, Dr. Drew Hart, a professor of theology at Messiah University in PA, joins Rohadi to talk about his two books including, Trouble I've Seen, and the latest, Who Will be a Witness? In part two of a two-part series they discuss:
- Dive into his latest book, "Who Will be a Witness? Igniting Activism for God’s Justice, Love, and Deliverance";
- Decolonizing white Christianity and white supremacy;
- Rejecting domesticated white Jesus;
- Unpack what the church of the future can look like for marginalized people and all.
Find Dr Hart online at this website: https://drewgihart.com/. Follow him on social media including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
In this episode Rohadi introduces Dr. Drew Hart who is a professor of theology at Messiah University in PA. He is the author of two books including, Trouble I've Seen, and the latest, Who Will be a Witness? In part one of a two-part series we discuss:
- His work at a predominantly white institution;
- Decentering whiteness in institutions;
- Power analysis and ushering in change for white institutions;
- The white blessing
- Chasing justice and upsetting systems and economies;
- Organizing and activism in our present age.
This is a must listen to learn new formation on Christian ethics and spirituality. Don't miss it!
Find Dr. Hart online at this website: https://drewgihart.com/. Follow him on social media including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Welcome to Season 4 of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe podcast! This is the AUTHOR'S EDITION, where I invite my friends to come and share the books they have authored in the past year. To open the season, Rohadi invites fellow Canadian Jonathan Puddle to chat about his book, "You Are Enough". In this episode we take a dive into spiritual formation, why contemporary Christianity has struggled to deal with emotions, and practices of contemplative spirituality.
Here's a look at Jonathan's book:
Featuring 30 daily readings that are easy to understand, with practical exercises and guided audio and video meditations to help readers:
Love their body and embrace the space they take up. Discern God’s presence and feel safe with their creator. Get to know their emotions and inner life. Encounter love in the most scarred, scared, and sacred places of their hearts. Love their whole self the way God does, with gentleness and compassion.
Visit Jonathan online at Jonathanpuddle.com and follow on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook at @jonathanpuddle.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
We close Season 3 with this final episode centering the voices of BIPOC Christians and other marginalized people too. Rohadi talks about assimilation as the typical way marginalized people can belong in contemporary churches. In search of a better path, Rohadi unpacks his book project coming out in 2021. Live out the fulness of your humanity by embodying your gifts and abilities in your own skin. Finding your liberation is tied to belonging to community that sees you for you. Don't give up on Jesus, belonging is out there.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
We close Season 3 with a final two part series. Part 1 discusses the work behind justice and becoming (more) anti-racist. Rohadi shares two pathways to consider in the lifelong journey of reconciliation. Building off of the free 6 chapter e-book, "Change the Story, A Small Resource on Dismantling Racism in Canada and the Church", available on www.rohadi.com. 2020 is a year of profound change and movements towards justice. What do we need to sustain the efforts? This intro episode will help white people and those just starting the work of anti-racism.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Canada has slavery? Yes. Learn your history. Chad Lucas is an 8th generation Nova Scotian and provides us a glimpse into the rich history of Nova Scotia courtesy of the Black community. We talk about history, current white supremacy activity, and then switch gears into what it takes to belong. Chad left his church of 20 years after the denomination (same one I left) made a final statement to preserve the traditional definition of marriage. Listen in.
Find Chad Lucas for all his book announcements on Twitter.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Drew and I continue our conversation deconstructing white evangelicalism and contemporary worship by describing our own experiences and when we determined white churches have no space for BIPOC folks. Listen in for an honest and vulnerable talk on race trauma, doubt, and why you're not alone in the search to belong in your own skin.
Find Drew Brown in all locations. That includes his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Social media including SPOTIFY, Twitter and Instagram.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Drew and I continue our conversation deconstructing white evangelicalism and contemporary worship by describing our own experiences and when we determined white churches have no space for BIPOC folks. Listen in for an honest and vulnerable talk on race trauma, doubt, and why you're not alone in the search to belong in your own skin.
Find Drew Brown in all locations. That includes his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Social media including SPOTIFY, Twitter and Instagram.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Braaap. Episode 15 begins with the first of THREE parts with 12-time Dove Award winner, Drew Brown. (How many times can we say 12 time Dove Award winner?!?! LOL). In this episode we talk about living a Christian faith in the local parish context. Neighbourhoods rule and you need to listen to discover why. We then pivot to talk about defunding white churches (also LOL), and more importantly we start a conversation on re-imagining the lacklustre world of contemporary Christian music. Get on in!
Find Drew Brown in all locations. That includes his website: http://www.drewbrownmusic.com/. Social media including SPOTIFY, Twitter and Instagram.
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Listen in to Part 2 as we discuss powerful metaphors to describe and explain white supremacy in white institutions. This is part 2 of 2 with Bernadette Arthur (she/her). We discuss her recent work in a predominantly white denomination, justice, the work of anti-racism in white institutions, and whether or not the institution can be saved. We also discuss the recent calls for justice surrounding anti-Blackness, and pave a sense of hope for BIPOC folk moving forward. About Bernadette Bernadette Arthur spent over 15 years studying and working in the social services sector. She took a leap of faith and shifted into doing work that more aligned with her values and practices. She stumbled upon the work of John McKnight and grassroot practitioner like Dr. John M. Perkins, which lead her to embark on a self-directed journey to learn more about Asset Based Community Development (ABCD).
One of the results of that journey was her becoming a vetted Community Advancement Coach for a North American network of ABCD coaches and practitioners. Fuelled with the knowledge and lived experience of the effects of systemic oppression, Bernadette has spent half of the last decade engaging more directly in racial equity, justice and re-conciliation work. She has worked mainly within the non-profit sector designing and facilitating innovative learning opportunities for community and organizational groups.
Bernadette specializes in designing, curating and facilitating transformational learning events that offer saf(er) space for people to listen, unpack, explore, create and heal. She is a proud Afro-Caribbean Canadian who was born and raised in Scarborough, ON, but who is Trini to the bone. When she’s not crafting new ways to creatively bring people together, she loves exploring new restaurants that feature authentic cultural cuisine, being in the presence of majestic things (like mountains, water, and forests), and dancing awkwardly on a dance floor. Find her over at https://www.asharedtable.ca/ and https://linktr.ee/asharedtable.ca
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
WELCOME TO SEASON 3!
This season is the BIPOC edition with voices from across Canada. To launch things off I welcome a fellow Trini into the mix, Bernadette Arthur, in a two part series. In this first edition, Bernadette shares about her journey of faith, what it looked to deconstruct her experience in both Black Caribbean and Seventh Day Adventist traditions, and putting together the pieces into a new way forward.
About Bernadette Bernadette Arthur spent over 15 years studying and working in the social services sector. She took a leap of faith and shifted into doing work that more aligned with her values and practices. She stumbled upon the work of John McKnight and grassroot practitioner like Dr. John M. Perkins, which lead her to embark on a self-directed journey to learn more about Asset Based Community Development (ABCD).
One of the results of that journey was her becoming a vetted Community Advancement Coach for a North American network of ABCD coaches and practitioners. Fuelled with the knowledge and lived experience of the effects of systemic oppression, Bernadette has spent half of the last decade engaging more directly in racial equity, justice and re-conciliation work. She has worked mainly within the non-profit sector designing and facilitating innovative learning opportunities for community and organizational groups.
Bernadette specializes in designing, curating and facilitating transformational learning events that offer saf(er) space for people to listen, unpack, explore, create and heal. She is a proud Afro-Caribbean Canadian who was born and raised in Scarborough, ON, but who is Trini to the bone. When she’s not crafting new ways to creatively bring people together, she loves exploring new restaurants that feature authentic cultural cuisine, being in the presence of majestic things (like mountains, water, and forests), and dancing awkwardly on a dance floor. Find her over at https://www.asharedtable.ca/ and https://linktr.ee/asharedtable.ca
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
We cap off Season 2 with this episode where Dr. Monetta Bailey, professor of sociology at Ambrose University, and I share our thoughts on racialized trauma and protest. We also ask, is there hope for change in the face of anti-racist protests? Is justice available to all? We drill down on the issue of cultural and corporate prejudice and share a candid conversation about our experience with racism, why we're hopeful (or not), and where that leaves us going forward.
Dr. Bailey can be found on Twitter at: @baileymonetta
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
In this episode Dr. Monetta Bailey, professor of sociology at Ambrose University, speaks on the topic of critical race theory. What is it, why is it useful, and how can it inform our perspectives and cultural narratives? We then consider how re-imagining our worldview goes through a process of deconstruction when we encounter new ideas or problems. The waves of anti-Blackness protests, along with COVID, have pulled society into a moment of introspection where both trauma and change are happening at a rapid pace. Navigate the shift and the work of de-centering whiteness with this conversation.
Dr. Bailey can be found on Twitter at: @baileymonetta
Faith in a Fresh vibe connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
In this episode a closer look at reconciliation. It's a word that's thrown around a lot but what does it mean to embody it in practice? I invite my guest Tony Snow to share his wisdom from an Indigenous perspective, to offer us concrete direction in the search for racialized justice and wholeness for the people, nation, and land.
Tony Snow is the Rights Relations lead at Hillhurst United Church in Calgary, and a member of the Stoney Tribe located East of Banff. He shares some of his work and challenges in the church in the pursuit of reconciliation.
Note: This episode was recorded in the Summer of 2019.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
A re-education to the land is one of the strategies towards a decolonized theology and history. Did you know that on Treaty 7 Lands, before it was Treaty 7, the Stoney people had a positive relationship--initially--with the first missionaries to the region. Listen in for the story and deeper insight on the role indigenous spirituality has with the Christian faith.
Tony Snow is the Rights Relations lead at Hillhurst United Church in Calgary, and a member of the Stoney Tribe located East of Banff.
Note: This episode was recorded in the Summer of 2019 and completed in May 2020.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Why do many Christians and churches have difficulty lamenting? Just look at the songs. Corporate lament is absent in many churches in a time when we desperately need the honestly. Lament is in fact a way to truth tell about what we see and feel in the world around us, and what a world it is. Anti-Blackness protests, pandemic, chaos, the list goes on. Do you feel it in your body? Let's talk about the need for lament.
Here are the links to the additional articles on lament: https://sojo.net/articles/lamentation-over-individualism and https://www.asianamericanchristiancollaborative.com/article/truth-telling-in-corporate-lament
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Season Two of the Faith in a Fresh Vibe Podcast launches with Episode #7 featuring Deborah Mebude. Her experience is in public policy and she is an entrepreneur working primarily in non-profits. In this episode we discuss anti-Blackness, protest, public policy, and re-imagining community. We also start with a conversation about names and identity. Have a listen and welcome to Season Two!
You can find Deborah and her work online. Twitter @deborahmeb. She is on the Advisory Board for Leading in Colour, and just launched a magazine called Trad.
Other connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Episode 6 features Tony Snow. Tony comes from the line of hereditary chiefs from the Stoney Nakoda Nation. Tony is now a pastor with the United Church of Canada, and completing his Master at the Vancouver School of Theology. In this episode we talk about indigenous spirituality, the unique story of the Stoney people and their relationship with the early missionaries to the land, and the work of decolonizing the Christian faith. It's a longer episode, but well worth the listen.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram
Episode #5 - FAITH IN FRESH VIBE PODCAST featuring Riley Rossmo. Riley is a professional illustrator who is currently working with DC Comics on such projects as Batman, Wonder Woman, and Martian Man. In Part II we start to track the exploration of faith. What's interesting about Riley's journey and inquiry is how little the church played a role. Faith is out there, and it will find you in the most unusual places.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Riley Rossmo
Episode #4 - FAITH IN FRESH VIBE PODCAST featuring Riley Rossmo. Riley is a professional illustrator who is currently working with DC Comics on such projects as Batman, Harley Quinn, Wonder Woman, and Martian Man. It's easier if you just visit the DC page to see how many books he's recently completed. His past projects with Image Comics include Green Wake, Rebel Blood, Proof, Drumhellar, and Cowboy Ninja Viking. The last one is the movie option we talk about mid-way.
In this episode we begin by tracking the career of Riley and analyze the process of making it big.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Riley Rossmo
Pastor and professor Nikayla Reize joins me on the FAITH IN FRESH VIBE PODCAST. In this episode we smash the patriarchy, ask some tough questions about scripture, and track her story through conservative evangelicalism. If you know anything about conservative Christianity, women aren't not permitted to hold the same positions as men. Listen to how Nikayla navigated the minefield. Follow Nikayla on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NikaylaReize
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Episode #2 - FAITH IN FRESH VIBE PODCAST featuring Rohadi. In this episode we continue to work though all of the weird of COVID19. The world has changed and it's never going back to the way things were. What makes matters worse is how we used to cope, by being busy, is no longer at our disposal. When it comes to identity, we often wrap ourselves around our work. But what happens when that's taken away? When you're defined more by your doing rather than your being?
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church
Welcome, the inaugural episode of the FAITH IN FRESH VIBE PODCAST! It's been a long time coming but let's get started with the topic du jour--COVID19. Life has altered and many of us are hanging by a thread in more ways than one. In this episode I say hi, introduce the podcast and myself (Rohadi), and talk about balancing grief with the new life we all have before us. Stay safe out there.
Connect points: Rohadi.com | Twitter | Instagram | Cypher Church