The Evolving Faith Podcast

Evolving Faith
  • 4.9 (899)
  • CHRISTIANITY
The Evolving Faith Podcast

This is a podcast for the wounded, the misfits, and the spiritual refugees to let you know you are not alone. We're here to cultivate love and hope in the wilderness. We believe the story of God is bigger, wider, more inclusive and welcoming, filled with more love, than we could ever imagine. There's room here for everyone. There's room here for you.

  1. 08/02/2023

    "Doubt can be the thing that pulls you closer to home" with Eric Thomas

    We just couldn’t help ourselves. Even though our team is busy behind the scenes preparing for Evolving Faith 2023, we just had to drop one more bonus episode featuring R. Eric Thomas’s talk from the 2022 conference. Eric is one of the funniest writers you’ll find on the internet, but he’s also incredibly thoughtful and genuine as he explores his own relationship to faith, blackness, and queerness. Even as he wrestles with the faith he grew up with, he’s a self proclaimed “big old church queen” who hasn’t stopped considering what it means to be fully at home in himself and in the world. This is a good one, friends. We’re glad you’re here.   Show Notes 2023 Evolving Faith Conference

    28 min

  2. 06/28/2023

    Patchworks of Meaning: Stitching Together Our Stories with Scripture

    Surprise! Another bonus episode featuring Barbara Brown Taylor from our 2022 Evolving Faith conference. Barbara skillfully walks us through how to own our ever evolving relationship with scripture. She reminds us that just as the text has stood the scrutiny of our ancestors, it can also handle ours. Barbara challenges us to see our own relationship with scripture as a quilt, with no two being the same. “Working on your quilt isn't the same as designing your own Bible, though we do that too. It's a matter of taking responsibility for how you read it and why along with the honor of putting your fingerprints on it as generations before you have done.” You don’t want to miss this episode, and you’ll most definitely want to share it with anyone in your quilt making circle.  Show Notes 2023 Evolving Faith Conference

    27 min

  3. 05/10/2023

    Blessings Reimagined

    In this special episode, Kate Bowler joins host Sarah Bessey for a conversation about the search for spiritual language around blessing and praying without certainty. Kate also fields questions from the Evolving Faith community about her own faith journey and how that has shaped her thoughts about hope, “un-spiritual” feelings, and the character of God. They also chat about Kate’s latest book, which she co-authored with Jessica Richie, The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days, and the process of writing blessings for our honest, human, everyday existence.  Show Notes 2023 Evolving Faith Conference

    52 min

  4. 09/07/2022

    Benediction

    Jeff and Sarah offer a benediction that reminds us of all we’ve learned from our guests through this season of the podcast. They leave us with the blessing that God loves us, and that with God’s Spirit and the community of fellow wanderers, we are never alone in the wilderness. Show Notes Evolving Faith Conference Podcast After Party (Community Discussion)

    14 min

  5. 08/31/2022

    Ask Us Anything

    Jeff and Sarah answer questions from the Evolving Faith online community. They discuss their stories of “deconstruction” and shifts in their faith practices, as well as how to walk through faith evolution when loved ones aren’t on board. They also share books that have shaped them along the journey and discuss reading the Bible with room for lament and doubt. Plus Jeff shares his fried rice guidelines, Sarah answers knitting questions, and they both give some comfort TV recommendations. Show Notes Evolving Faith Conference Podcast After Party (Community Discussion)

    55 min

  6. 08/17/2022

    "We Could Use Some Resurrection" with Nadia Bolz-Weber

    Nadia Bolz-Weber talks about how we’ve used the phrase “the Lord” in ways that often paint a very different picture than who Jesus was and is. She tells us that in the time that Jesus was on earth, “Lord” was a term used for Caesar. Lords were dictatorial and made people’s lives miserable. But Luke tells us of a different God entirely, God as baby, as friend, as Jesus. And Luke waits to call Jesus “Lord” until this story in Luke 7: The widow is leaving the city to go and bury her child. Jesus sees her and has compassion on her. In Greek, this term is more visceral—his guts turned, his insides lurched toward this woman in grief. Jesus is not the Lord of empire or institution or domination; Jesus is the Lord of compassion. Jesus saw grief and wasn’t afraid to touch it. She concludes with a prayer for the Lord of compassion to enter into our grief, bless the things we think are dead, and give us back to one another. Following Nadia’s talk, Jeff and Sarah discuss the names they have used for God, the need for resurrection in our daily lives, and the hard work of compassion.   Show Notes Evolving Faith Conference Podcast After Party (Community Discussion)

    34 min

  7. 08/10/2022

    Are You Prepared to Die? with William Matthews

    William Matthews opens by asking a powerful question: Are you prepared to die? He describes the nature of horror films and draws parallels to the experience of being Black in America. He then takes us to the story of Mary of Bethany, who publicly challenged patriarchy and social norms by publicly mourning Jesus before his death. William tells listeners that power, whether religious or political, does not reward you for doing the right thing, only for reinforcing its system of violence against marginalized bodies. So when we do the work of dismantling these systems, we need to be prepared to die. William concludes by saying that America is living in a collective horror story, and he challenges us to name the beast among us. To do this, we have to have radical compassion for the marginalized and vehemently oppose dehumanizing rhetoric. And remember that Jesus, the liberator, was anointed to die. Following William’s talk, Jeff and Sarah discuss America’s true original sin, listening to narratives besides our own, and what comes next once we’ve heard them.   Show Notes Evolving Faith Conference Podcast After Party (Community Discussion)

    40 min

  8. 08/03/2022

    Habitual Gratitude, with B.T. Harman

    B.T. opens by acknowledging all of the understandable reasons we have to be angry—racism, homophobia, misogyny, the damage caused by nonaffirming Christians, and so much pain all around us. But B.T. realized that there came a time where his anger turned into what he calls “doom rehearsal,” which is the habitual consumption of presumed despair based on the assumption that everything is only getting worse and love won’t win in the end. To combat the toil that doom rehearsal was taking on himself and his art, B.T. decided to reinvest his emotional energy with the discipline of habitual gratitude. He reminds listeners that the call for gratitude is pervasive in Scripture and is correlated with greater happiness, improved health, and better relationships, and it is an antidote to materialism and negative emotions. After sharing some of his own practices of gratitude, B.T. concludes with this encouragement: “As you work through your pain, leave some room for gratitude.” Following B.T.’s talk, Jeff and Sarah discuss healthy and unhealthy forms of gratitude practice and what they are grateful for in their own lives.    Show Notes Evolving Faith Conference Podcast After Party (Community Discussion)

    41 min
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    4.9
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    About

    This is a podcast for the wounded, the misfits, and the spiritual refugees to let you know you are not alone. We're here to cultivate love and hope in the wilderness. We believe the story of God is bigger, wider, more inclusive and welcoming, filled with more love, than we could ever imagine. There's room here for everyone. There's room here for you.

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