My Faithful Ally: Recent Episodes
Barney Miles
The aim of the podcast is to provide and create a platform where Christians (from both the lgbt community and not) can have a positive discussion about how sexuality impacts people's faith, and their relationship with other Christians and non-Christians.
Including everyone takes a lot of grace, especially when people hurt you. Pam journey from and evangelical background to the Methodist church has allowed her to understand the importance of including everyone, even if that take forgiving someone who hurt you.
Have you got the community around you to support you? Have you got the fellow Christians to hold you accountable? Greg's journey amplifies how finding the right community to help you on your journey with God can help you flourish.
Exploring your faith with someone can bring you closer together as a couple. Despite Suzanne and Declan exploring their faiths in different way, it brought to a better understanding of God and of each other.
This episode contains some adult content with some mild sexual references.
Have you ever wondered the process of reconciling faith and identity from an agnostic's perspective?. Out of intrigue in the subject from his childhood; Luke's interest became the subject of his dissertation where he learnt about the stories of queer christians and their relationships with church.
Sometimes it's hard to make faith be active rather than passive, and hence finding fulfillment and grace in the everyday can be difficult. Nicky's exploration of applying faith and the bible has led her to a place where grace can be found anywhere.
Sometimes you can be an example to more than just fellow queer Christians. Karl's journey has shown that his ministry and experience has helped both queer Christians and those who want to support them on their journey.
Sometimes you just need a person to remind that whatever journey you are on; they are with you on your walk with God. Lex encourages us to hold onto what keeps us going, including those who encourage us on our path.
Sometimes its worth taking a look at things from a different perspective. Shannon's story and work encourages others to look at theology from a different perspective; making it accessible to those who feel like it historically it doesn't speak to them.
God's provisions can happen in unexpected ways. From a calling to provide for others, Kieran's journey has led him to working for the Open Table Network where God continues to provide not only for him, but for those that the network supports.
Have you ever felt that your sense of normality became a big issue for others? Sara's story of discovery and rejection by those who cannot relate to her shows that some conversations are still required' even if it takes a bit of gusts.
From one conversation sparked a personal project which later lead to a greater understanding of his faith and identity. From the Author of 'Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear; Mike describes not only untold stories from history, but also the personal journey they took him on.
Challenging people's values but questioning and living out your reality can sometimes allow people to explore their fears and theology. After many years of activism and research, Savi describes her journey and exploration for her book 'Sexuality, Struggle and Saintliness: Same-Sex Love and the Church' and how living her reality has impacted those around her.
Sometimes it's within the margins where you can see God do some amazing things. Luke tells the story of deconstruction and explorations of spirituality whilst always knowing that God is present.
Sometimes it might feel like there's always doors in the way; but maybe, like Augustine, God gives you a sledgehammer to destroy them. Augustine has had to smash his way through many doors however describes how he remains grounded by always remembering where he came from.
Have you ever felt like a space is queerly spiritual or spiritually queer? As the basis of Mel's research, the claiming and understanding of queer and religious spaces might make you see them a bit differently.
Being brave enough to ask the big questions might make you realise that there is more to God's plan than his plan for you. Meg embraces that idea after being able to ask the big questions and challenge herself to help others do the same.
Being a political statement is something that some people might be doing unintentionally? Nevertheless, Charlie embraces it and discusses the accountability he has purely by existing.
Having got this far, what else did God have planned for Jide? In the Part 2 he explains his journey to ordination and his work with The House of Rainbow.
Even when you get kicked out of your church, not once but twice, how do you keep going strong with your faith? Here's the first part of Jide's story from a place of passion, persistence and promise for what God can do for you.
Sometimes you can have may moments of sadness, but God will lead you on a journey regardless. Sarah discusses her faith, her coming out and her transition; which has led her to where she is today and her work with The Open Table network.
Living out a 'Traditional Sexual Ethic' might be different to what you may think. Pieter describes how his upbringing and experience with church has led him to a celibate life and his work at Equip.
Who's up for a fun journey? Jerry invites you to grab your backpack and go on the climb with God. His story involves integrating his queerness, faith and other aspects to be there for the people, from the church, the streets and now on social media.
Who knows where your philosophical journey will take you. From the Author of 'Living it Out' and other books, Sarah journey has taken her to many places and inspiring her to what strives for what she does today.
Maintaining you faith can be hard when your faced with pressures from social, political and religious communities. Frank tells his story about, how despite these pressures, the faith never lost him and through that he found his community.
Balancing many identities whilst belonging to multiple communities can be tough, however Maria tells her story about the journey she's been on to anchor faith in God and reconcile the pressures from the outside world.
Listening to one's calling can be hard, however for Nathanael there is a hope that he will see better things in the world and the church that he aspires to run following his call to ministry.
A simple chat with Yasmin and George on what it was like sharing their story and listening to other people's testimonies.
Be prepared to hear the honesty and personal story of Becky. Someone who thought they could never ever have what they now do and now loves and lives for the Lord being entirely themselves and an example to young people.
From a man who has been part of some of the big social changes from a Roman Catholic and LGBTQ+ perspective, we get to hear the story from Martin. He's sees his religious and sexuality identity as part of who he is and finds great joy in living it and teaching others about it.
Come have a place at the table and listen to the story of Gerard, the Chair of Quest. He discusses how is spiritual faith is what keeps him connected to the Catholic church, and how this impacts his relationship with the Church and the church.
An complete joy of a chat with Ruth. She describes her very positive journey, with great gratitude, she has taken with her faith and her identity that she is now using in her leadership role within the church.
An insightful and eye opening conversation with George; discussing and describing his journey of his identity and faith before coming to the realisation that the advice he once wrote to his younger self was remarkably beneficial.
A beautiful testimony full of highs and lows from Martin, once an Anglican priest and now a devoted Catholic. His story is one of hope as he discusses his journey of balancing his spirituality and sexuality.
The first conversation of the podcast is with Yasmin. A simple yet relatable story of someone growing up in a church and learning that the best thing you can do is to just keep being kind.
The first story and testimony from your host Barney. Welcome to My Faithful Ally, a place to share the experiences and testimonies from queer people of faith and where better to start than with your host Barney.