We all desire connection and deep friendship - but it seems so hard to find! So, we thought we would ask our friends who have a wonderful story of connection, vulnerability, and a deep love that has spanned 22 years.

We interview Rachel first and ask her about how she first met her best friend, Kristina, and their secret to a successful 22-year friendship love story. Then Kristina joins us and we get to celebrate lots of memories, tattoo ideas, cats, and fun tiktok challenges.

We all love a good love story. 

And typically that love story is a romantic one. 

But what happens when you use the phrase "love story" to describe a friendship that has lasted 22 years? Or a bond between a parent and  child? Love of country? or Love between a person and a place?

What happens is that our capacity to see and value all the love stories in our lives grows. We are able to celebrate more relationships, more  milestones! 

All throughout this season we will be sharing many of our friends' different love  stories. And we firmly believe that you will be as transformed by them  as we are! So, welcome to Season 3 of At the Rectory!

We end Season 2 At the Rectory with Erin, a dear friend of the Rectory, comes over for a movie night! Virtually of course. We talk about her time spent in China as an English teacher with the organization ELIC (English Language Institute/China) and of course chat about the uniquely American-ness of Minari and all our favorite characters! 

Nicole B is back At the Rectory in order to help us unpack some toxic aspects of American Evangelical culture, discuss the Atlanta Shootings, and our personal faith journeys and interactions with American Evangelical culture.

We welcome the delightful Nicole B to the Rectory to discuss her passion for design AND working to create sustainable change for people and systems. 

And as a result of some of Nicole's feedback, we reflect, as a podcast, on the kinds of guest we have and how we need community members to point out our blind spots so that we can grow and make this podcast a safe and relevant space. 

Charles is a dear friend and frequent visitor to the Rectory - we share stories and check in with Charles after a hard year. 

He calls us to make space for difficult conversations, to have a humble spirit, and also to not be afraid to put up healthy boundaries for yourself. 

Connect with Charles on FB: https://www.facebook.com/charlesddly

Katie, Emilie, and Anne discuss the tragic mass shooting that happened in their neighborhood on Sunday, February 28th.

Sources on the triple homicide in Evanston:

https://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/suspect-in-cincinnati-triple-homicide-died-friday-in-detroit-after-police-shooting?fbclid=IwAR2JLUTDAbH0wgzAF_98T9VbbRjCC9WWuXk1e7iMKBYafVCXEgQuBtklQGo

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/03/01/suspect-evanston-mass-shooting-injured-detroit-officer-involved-shooting/6869613002/

Poem read at the end of the Podcast: http://resident-theology.blogspot.com/2009/03/sunday-sabbath-poetry-walter.html

At the dawn By Walter Brueggemann

The Rectory welcomes our first overseas guest!  Nate Owens works as a missionary in the Philippines. We discuss what Cross-cultural work means to him, and how those lessons can apply as we negotiate different cultures/groups in the US. 

Nate shares his hope for the American church, as well as the global church, and reminds us all to just go and do the dishes as an act of faith that there will be a tomorrow.  

Connect with our Guest Nate Owens:

fb: https://www.facebook.com/f.nathan.owens

follow on twitter: @sanildefanso

Our dear friend and sociologist, (almost Dr.) Ayesha Casie Chetty, shares a bit of her research and experiences as part of the Sri Lankan diaspora in the US.

Want to know more about the book mentioned "The Race of Sound" and Nina Sun Eidsheim story: 

https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-race-of-sound

Want to know more about the Civil War in Sri Lanka?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/world/asia/sri-lanka-history-civil-war.html

Want to know more about Sri Lankan food?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=salEVVKMA_I

The ladies At the Rectory discuss the movie "All In: Fight for Democracy" and the history of voter suppression in America.

"All-In" website: 

https://www.allinforvoting.com/