Texas Impact's Weekly Witness

Texas Impact
  • 4.7 (13)
  • Religion
  • Updated Weekly

Weekly Witness is a weekly opportunity for Texans of faith to learn about important public policy issues through a faith lens, and find out timely opportunities to participate in the public policy process. Host Scott Atnip is Texas Impact's Director of Public Witness. His guests come from a wide assortment of policy disciplines and faith traditions.

  1. Weekly Witness Ep.514 Nurturing Hope with Rev. Tamika Nelson

    May 27

    Weekly Witness Ep.514 Nurturing Hope with Rev. Tamika Nelson

    This week, Scott was joined by Rev Tamika Nelson, executive director of United Campus Ministries of Greater Houston. Rev. Nelson was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); has served a United Methodist Church; and now works in a campus ministry affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Church of Christ. United Campus Ministry serves the UT School of Medicine, HCC locations, Texas Southern University, UHD, and Rice University.   Tamika has also participated in Houston Faith Votes, so Scott and Tamika discussed her ministry with young adults and how they are talking about our current policy climate, their leadership in the civic engagement space, and their barriers to participation.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

    33 min
  2. Weekly Witness Ep.513 Healthy Faith Language with Rev. Becky Fox

    May 21

    Weekly Witness Ep.513 Healthy Faith Language with Rev. Becky Fox

    This week, Scott was joined by The Rev Becky Fox, pastor and head of staff at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Lubbock. Covenant has a long history of engaging in justice ministries and advocacy in Lubbock and beyond. Scott and Becky discussed the important role churches like Covenant play in rural Texas and the role faith communities and faith leaders play in responding to the current political moment. With faith being in focus this election season, Becky discussed what it is like to have her denomination and mainline faith communities being discussed in mainstream culture. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

    28 min
  3. Weekly Witness Ep.512 Noise with a Purpose with Sister Denise LaRock

    May 13

    Weekly Witness Ep.512 Noise with a Purpose with Sister Denise LaRock

    This week, Scott was joined by Sister Denise LaRock, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, who has been working in the San Antonio area in ministries related to immigration for the last decade.  Sr. Denise discussed her religious order and their focus on justice and compassion ministries. She also talked about her work in the immigration space and the role the faith community plays in advocating for our immigrant neighbors.  Also, spoiler: Sister Denise has not met Pope Leo, but she and Scott talked about the impact the "American Pope" is having on our current culture and climate.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

    39 min
  4. Weekly Witness Ep.511 Homecoming with Rev. Brooke Dooley

    May 7

    Weekly Witness Ep.511 Homecoming with Rev. Brooke Dooley

    This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Brooke Dooley, associate pastor of youth and young adults at Friends Congregational Church in College Station. Brooke also serves as the youth director for the South Central Conference of the United Church of Christ.    Brooke discussed her call to ministry, from a closeted youth trying to find a space in College Station to a liberal activist; then, her journey to seminary and serving as a pastor back in the town she grew up in, where she is now able to provide hope and guidance for the next generation of kids needing a safe space.    Scott and Brooke talked about the current political landscape, the questions young people are asking, and how faith communities can support younger generations.    We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us!   To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.

    42 min
  5. Weekly Witness Ep.510 A Journey in Faith with Rev. Jody Harrison

    Apr 29

    Weekly Witness Ep.510 A Journey in Faith with Rev. Jody Harrison

    This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Jody Harrison, a Baptist minister, member of the Baptist Women in Ministry Board, and a former chaplain and Capitol staffer. Jody is a member of several Texas Impact teams as well as a veteran of numerous political campaigns. Jody joined the pod for a fascinating conversation about her path from policy and campaign staffer to Baptist minister, reflecting on both her faith and policy journey. As a leader in the fight against Christian Nationalism, she discussed her advocacy work in the public education and reproductive health spaces and talked about how listeners could be effective advocates in our current political climate. We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.     Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.

    45 min
  6. Weekly Witness Ep.509 A Life of Faithful Advocacy with Mel Caraway

    Apr 22

    Weekly Witness Ep.509 A Life of Faithful Advocacy with Mel Caraway

    This week, Scott was joined by Rev. Mel Caraway, a retired United Methodist pastor and long-time Texas Impact Board Member. Mel is a leader in the faith-based climate advocacy space at the denominational level and international level as a long-time COP attendee.  Rev. Caraway joined the conversation to talk about his faith journey and how climate advocacy became his area of focus.  He also talked about the work listeners could take to engage their community and congregation in effective climate work—a perfect conversation for this Earth Day.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

    34 min
  7. Weekly Witness Ep.508 Pluralism and Faithful Dialogues with Almas Muscatwalla

    Apr 15

    Weekly Witness Ep.508 Pluralism and Faithful Dialogues with Almas Muscatwalla

    This week, Scott was joined by Almas Muscatwalla, co-founder of Faith Forward Dallas at Thanksgiving Square. Almas provides leadership in a number of North Texas faith spaces and is a leader in encouraging pluralism and interfaith dialogue.  Almas talked about her Ismaili Muslim faith tradition and how it encourages a commitment to community. She also discussed challenges facing our communities in our current political climate.  She challenged listeners to work to connect with those with whom we disagree, even discussing a recent encounter with a January 6 leader at the Dallas No Kings Rally.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org. Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

    45 min
  8. Weekly Witness Ep.507 Ramadan Reflections with Imaad Khan

    Apr 8

    Weekly Witness Ep.507 Ramadan Reflections with Imaad Khan

    This week, Scott was joined by Imaad Khan, a former policy analyst with Texas Impact who made numerous appearances back in the early days of the podcast. Imaad talked about his faith and advocacy journey pre-Texas Impact, including how his faith and family shaped his desire to study and work in the public policy space. He also offered reflections on his work post-Texas Impact and how he views our current challenges here in Texas and throughout the world through his faith lens.  This conversation was well-timed, because the three major Abrahamic faith traditions (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam) recently celebrated significant holy days/seasons—and Imaad offers reflections from his Ramadan journey.  But, coming out of the holy days/seasons, we are once again seeing an increase in anti-Muslim rhetoric, so Scott and Imaad reflected on that and the role people of faith play in creating a more supportive and inclusive community.  We hope you enjoy this episode and invite a friend to listen along. If you share it in your social media, make sure to tag us! To learn more or get involved, check out Texas Impact's Action Center at texasimpact.org.  Weekly Witness is hosted by Scott Atnip and engineered and produced by David Vassallo. Our executive producer is Bee Moorhead. Theme music by Kimberly Zielnicki, Hayden Havard and Andres Garcia-Bonilla. The opinions expressed on Weekly Witness are those of Texas Impact and our guests, and they do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Weekly Witness is a product of Texas Impact. Visit us online at texasimpact.org.  Get full access to Texas Impact at texasimpact.substack.com/subscribe

    32 min
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4.7
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Weekly Witness is a weekly opportunity for Texans of faith to learn about important public policy issues through a faith lens, and find out timely opportunities to participate in the public policy process. Host Scott Atnip is Texas Impact's Director of Public Witness. His guests come from a wide assortment of policy disciplines and faith traditions.

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