A Matter of Faith: A Presby Podcast

Send us Fan Mail

This week we continue to stand with our trans siblings as more and more anti-trans legislation passes in the US, especially standing with Rep. Zooey Zephyr from Montana!

Special Guest:
Heather Beamish, Author, Artist, & Speaker (Author of Homecoming) (5:28)

Guest Question:
We hear sermons, hymns, and songs in church all the time. But aren’t there other ways to express our own faith and identity, such as through poetry? What makes this particular form such a unique and powerful expression of faith? Why don’t we hear poetry used as often as other art forms in our faith communities?

Heather's Website

Heather's Linktree

Homecoming

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

Question for the Week:
It's hard to make friends and new meaningful relationships as an adult. Do you have any thoughts on how to make friends as we get older? How does this relate to faith and opportunities for faith communities?

Special Guest:
Kendall Vanderslice, Founder, Edible Theology (23:50)

Guest Question:
How can food be theological? How is food important for both understanding and expressing faith? | Edible Theology

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

SENDING OUR PRAYERS AND CALLING FOR ACTIONS FOR OUR SIBLINGS KILLED BY GUN VIOLENCE.

Question for the Week:
Should worship services and sermons come with Trigger warnings?

Special Guest: Timestamp (8:07)
Tracey Michae’l Lewis-Giggetts, Author of Then They Came For Mine: Healing from the Trauma of Racial Violence, and Black Joy

Guest Question:
If we are to truly end racism and white supremacy, it requires work by all of us. It will require the work of dismantling, healing, and rebuilding. What is the work that white people will need to do for that to happen? What is that people of color, particularly Black and Brown people will need to do? And how do we all stay resilient and committed throughout the process?

New York Times: Should College Come With Trigger Warnings? At Cornell, It’s a ‘Hard No.
’Then They Came for Mine: Healing from the Trauma of Racial Violence
Black Joy

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

This week we continue to discuss the anti-trans bills in the US and continue to call for gun reform in our country!

Question of the Week:
What does Holy Week mean to you?

Special Guest:
Rev. Michiko Bown-Kai, Minister in The United Church of Canada

Guest Question:
We hear about people from marginalized communities reclaiming spaces and practices. But what does that actually look like? What are examples of prayers or spiritual practices that reclaim or decolonize? Or examples of practices that intentionally affirm queer identity? Can practices be “reclaimed” by a community even if they were originally constructed in a way that overlooked or even oppressed them? 

Rev. Michiko Bown-Kai's Website

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

The Advocacy offices of the Presbyterian Church USA come together each month to talk about the work that they are doing. This month, the Office of Public Witness of the Presbyterian Church USA discusses Ecumenical Advocacy Days! 

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

This week we have a serious talk about gun violence and gun reform because of our siblings who were murdered by gun violence this week in Nashville, TN. No child should be murdered. No child should be shot. No school staff person should be murdered. We must all do our part to end gun violence and ban assault weapons.

Question for the Week:
How do you maintain strength, hope, or resilience when there are so many bad things happening in the world? How do you not lose faith in God and/or humanity?

Special Guest:
Alyson Kung, Assistant Director for Education and Outreach for the Asian American Resource and Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Chicago

Guest Question:
What kinds of cultural and community resources are available to students of specific ethnic/racial identities while they are in college? What kinds of programming and services are available?

University of Illinois Chicago Asian American Resource and Cultural Center

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

Rev. Dr. Mariano Ávila

De cara a la Semana Santa, ¿qué es central en la predicación y enseñanzas de Jesús?, ¿cuál es el contexto en que Jesús vive y muere? ¿cuál el mensaje en su resurrección?
Celebramos la Semana Santa como un momento único, central en la vida de la comunidad de fe, pero desconectado del resto de la celebración del tiempo litúrgico del Reinado de Dios. ¿qué implicaciones tiene entender la Semana Santa como una celebración fundamental – cimiento para el tiempo litúrgico del Reino? 
¿cuáles las implicaciones del reino de Dios en las comunidades de fe y toda la creación ante la opresión, la pobreza, la injusticia?

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

Question of the Week:
Where have you experienced God during travel?

Special Guests:
Rev. Dr Ronald J. Allen & Rev. Dr. Robert D. Cornwall, Retired Disciples of Christ Ministers

Guest Question:
As Christians, what are we supposed to believe about “the end times”, “the rapture”, or “the end of the world?” It seems like some Christians focus on it a lot with a sense of doom and foreboding while others hardly ever talk about it. Is there a middle ground or more productive way to understand it?

Second Thoughts about the Second Coming: Understanding the End Times, Our Future, and Christian Hope 

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

This week we talk about the Oscars and the devastating anti-Drag and anti-Trans laws that are spreading across our country.

Question of the Week:
How do you know when God is answering your prayers?

Special Guests:
Dr. William Yoo, Associate Professor of American Religious and Cultural History, Columbia Theological Seminary

Guest Question:
What is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s complicity and historical role in perpetuating slavery and racism? How do we acknowledge it and work towards a just, equitable future, especially as we think about things like reparations?

What Kind of Christianity: 
A History of Slavery and Anti-Black Racism in the Presbyterian Church

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website

Send us Fan Mail

Drag Queens and Kings are the Beloved!

Question of the Week:
What is an acceptable level of "extra" noise during a worship service? People cough, babies cry, and some folks have their phones ringing. It can all add up. What is tolerable to some is not as tolerable to others. What do you think?

Special Guest:
Lydia Griffiths, Mythologist, Writer & Storyteller & Ph.D. Candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute

Guest Question:
What is the difference between mythology and religion? Why are some things considered a myth, legend or folktale and others are something that people believe as a part of their faith and religion? Can a myth become a part of a religion?

Lydia Griffiths' Website

Some of Lydia's Writings:
“Tumblr’s Reception of Webtoon Lore Olympus’ Apollo” - Mythological Studies Journal
“America’s Mythic Superheroes” - The Roaring Economist

Additional Reading Recommendations:
Rollo May- A Cry for Myth
Michael D. Nichols - Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Chris Knowles - Our Gods Wear Spandex
Lawrence Hatab - Myth and Philosophy
James Hillman - Revisioning Psychology

For Listening Guides, click here!
Got a question for us? Send them to [email protected]!
A Matter of Faith website