Season 4 of 20 Minute Takes returns with a deeply insightful conversation with Dr. Carolyn Chen.  Dr. Chen is a sociologist and professor of ethnic studies at UC Berkeley and specializes in the study of religion.  Her most recent book "Work, Pray, Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley" looks into how tech corporations are bringing religiosity and spirituality into the work place. Nikki Toyama-Szeto and Dr. Chen talk about the consequences of this blurring of religion and work, how it affects faith communities, ethics, and society as a whole. They also talk about what it means to cultivate an atmosphere of hospitality amidst a religiously diverse community.

Listen in! And don't forget to rate, review, and share this podcast with your friends/

This is our final episode of season three, as well as our final Lenten reflection. This week, Andre Henry  shares his reflections on doubt, disappointment, and longing in this piece entitled "Why I'm A Holy Saturday Christian."

Andre Henry a musician, author of All the White Friends I Couldn’t Keep, and  the Program Manager of the Racial Justice Institute at Christians for Social Action.

20 Minute Takes will return for its fourth season after a short break. 

This week, Christine Aroney-Sine continues our Lenten series with a reflection on the story of Holy Week. From garden to garden, Christine contemplates the journey humanity, the story of Jesus' passion, and the longing for new creation.

Christine Aroney-Sine is a contemplative activist, passionate gardener, and author. She loves inspiring Jesus followers to dig in the dirt, laugh, and have fun creating spiritual practices that intertwine the sacred through all of life. She’s the founder and facilitator for the popular contemplative blog godspacelight.com, and her most recent book is The Gift of Wonder: Creative Practices for Delighting in God.

Find Christine online here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChristineSine
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/christine.sine
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christine.sine/

You can find the written version of this podcast here.

Our Lenten series continues with Rev. Dr. Letiah Fraser.  She reflects on Lent, and what it looks like for us to confess and repent of our ableism in this season. Rev. Dr. Fraser is an ordained pastor, an activist/organizer connected with the KS Poor People’s Campaign and A National Call for Moral Revival; she is a disability rights advocate, a hospital chaplain and focuses on spiritual formation and disability theolo­gy.

This reflection first appeared in Disabling Lent: An Anti-Ableist Lenten Devotional, produced by Unbound, an interactive journal on Christian social justice & ministry of the Presbyterian Church USA.

You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

This week, 20 Minute Takes producer David de Leon shares his Lenten reflection: Lent, Longing, and Transformation. Listen in as he reflects on how the process of transformation is a journey of partnership with the Divine.

You can find the written version of this podcast here.

This week, as we continue our Lenten mini-series, 20 Minute Takes host Nikki Toyama-Szeto reflects on embodiment, pilgrimage, and her own journey to Bethany beyond the Jordan. This piece is also on the CSA website under the title: Why Pilgrimage Has Become My Lenten Practice.

This Ash Wednesday marked the beginning of the Lent. To kick us off with our miniseries of Lenten reflections, Kristyn Komarnicki, Christians for Social Action's Director of Dialogue & Convening, and Program Manager for Oriented to Love, shares her reflection: "Confessions of a Total Lenten Failure." If you're someone that struggles with Lent, this episode and reflection is for you.

This week, Nikki Toyama-Szeto talks with Faitth Brooks—educator, activist, podcast host, and author of the recently released book "Remember Me Now: A Journey Back to Myself and a Love Letter to Black Women." They talk about her experience growing up in white evangelical spaces, and the significant moments that shaped her voice toward the advocacy, honoring, and encouragement of Black women, especially in their faith communities. Listen in.

You can learn more about Faitth and her work here.

This week, Nikki continues her conversation with Dr. Jacqueline Ogega. She is the Director of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) at World Vision US, and is the author of the book "Home Is Us: A Story About Hope & Resilience." They talk about gender equality and social inclusion, and how North Americans can learn from other international movements.

You can find part 1 of their conversation here.

You can learn more about Dr. Ogega, her work, and book, here.

This week, Nikki talks with Dr. Jacqueline Ogega. She is the Director of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) at World Vision US, and is the author of the book "Home Is Us: A Story About Hope & Resilience." They talk about Jacqueline's story and the importance of empowering survivors of gender violence to not only tell their stories, but contribute their expertise and solutions in the pursuit of gender justice and equality. This is part one of this two-part conversation.

You can learn more about Dr. Ogega, her work, and book, here.