Chapel Chats

This episode tackles a topic everyone is familiar with, in good ways and bad: Money. More specifically, this conversation examines wealth, community, and disparities, all forces that have shaped neighborhoods and lives (whether we acknowledge them or not). To learn more about this topic and better understand how to practice mindful spending and community-building, Producer Erica Irish interviewed The Rev. Jamesetta Ferguson, a senior pastor at St. Peter's United Church of Christ in Louisville, Kentucky. For the last decade, Ferguson has lead the Molo Village CDC to revitalize the city's predominately Black and historically under invested West End. Ferguson explores the connection between faith and finance, as well as the power of getting out of comfort zones to learn about and uplift communities most in need. 

Step behind the scenes of religious life at Franklin College in this special episode featuring conversations with student leaders. Chaplain Hannah interviews Producer Erica Irish, currently a Franklin College senior studying multimedia journalism and political science, about her experiences in religious life and her role overseeing Chapel Chats in its first year. After that, you'll hear from Chapel Intern Reilly Jones. Reilly discusses her journey studying business, non-profits and religion and using her internship to serve the community while learning more about her call to ministry. 

If you're a Franklin College student interested in leadership through the Office of Religious Life, please contact Chaplain Hannah at
[email protected]. Producer Erica Irish and Chapel Intern Reilly Jones are also available to answer questions about their positions at [email protected] and [email protected]. 

Travel as a college student can be incredibly impactful and a way for young people to see the world in a new light. Jenny Cataldi, Franklin College alumna and now Office of Global Education director, knows the impacts of travel firsthand and now works to get more students abroad. She and Erica Irish, student producer and the host for today's episode, revisit the influence of her travels as a college student and how Franklin College pushes students beyond their boundaries on the road.

Note: Note: This episode is being published in two parts, a first for the Chapel Chats podcast. Be sure to start your listening journey right by visiting part one (available here) for the full story. 

Although it might be more difficult to do than ever because of the COVID-19 pandemic, travel is a powerful way for people to grow spiritually and learn more about humanity. But to grow, travel also often requires a degree of vulnerability and being open to experiences that push our boundaries. Producer Erica Irish explores this theme with two Franklin College professors teaching a special Intercultural Honors Experience course this semester called "Left Exposed:  Risk, Vulnerability, and Identities." Leading the course is English professor Dr. George Phillips and Dr. Lourdes Hurtado, history professor.

Note: This episode is being published in two parts, a first for the Chapel Chats podcast. Be sure to continue your listening journey by visiting part two (available here) for the full story. 

In this month's devotional, Chaplain Hannah looks at Isaiah 58:1-12 to prepare our hearts for the upcoming lent season. 

Link to the online Lent Devotional: http://bit.do/fclentdevo21. 

Welcome to the first day of spring semester at Franklin College—and the first episode in season two of the Chapel Chats podcast. Chaplain Hannah offers a short check-in and prayer for the new term as the community returns. She walks listeners through a centering exercise and invites them to answer the question, "How are you feeling today?"

We also have a favor to ask. To help our team prepare for the new season, please consider filling out our first listener survey. It's short, and many of the questions are optional. Please let us know how we're doing and what you want to see from us in the coming months. 

Chaplain Hannah and Producer Erica Irish revisit the last few episodes on rethinking New Year's resolutions in an informal (and somewhat vulnerable) chat. Their conversation touches on diet culture, health and fat phobia as explored by Rev. Heidi C. Heath in Episode 1.17 and the importance of using the winter slow-down to truly listen to ourselves. Listen again to Episode 1.16 to get more details from Caity Stuart, a Yale Divinity School student investigating where faith and the environment connect. Then, Chaplain Hannah introduces several ideas for how else we can spend our time this winter, including a campus-wide "star words" opportunity available through the Office of Religious Life this week and an upcoming Lenten devotional. 

Chaplain Hannah welcomes Rev. Heidi C. Heath for a discussion about how to sort through the overwhelming messages about our bodies that permeate the new year in part two of a special series on rethinking New Years' resolutions. Rev. Heidi is an ordained minister through the United Church of Christ, a spiritual director and a writer from New Hampshire working to dismantle diet culture in the church and within ourselves. She unpacks the influence of fat phobia and dieting on our culture and how to embrace our sacred worth in a Christian devotional and in a separate interview about her work with Chaplain Hannah (skip to 13:30 to listen).

Follow Rev. Heidi on Twitter @revfemme or on Facebook at Notes from the Chaplain.

Want to learn more? Read "The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love" by Sonya Renee Taylor, available wherever books are sold. 

In the first episode of a special series on rethinking New Year's resolutions, Chaplain Hannah interviews long-time friend Caity Stuart, a student at Yale Divinity School whose life journey is centered around understanding the environment, history and spirituality. Caity examines how our biology and the seasons compare to our culture's tendency to see January as a time of reinvention. She also explores the history of Celtic Christianity and the influence of indigenous traditions on our calendars. 

Chaplain Hannah Adams Ingram responds to unrest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, when violent demonstrators stormed Congress and disrupted the certification of the 2020 election. Her prayer reflects the worry and fear felt by the country and campus and seeks safe, fair participation in politics and in the pursuit of justice.