Sister Mary Therese Perez chooses her own religion! Mary is a member of my cohort at Harvard Divinity School and she came to share her journey to becoming a Catholic nun in the Dominican Order. We talk about faith as identity, calls to service, sacrifice, contemplative practice, and a new conception of sexuality.

Lindsay Sanwald aka Idgy Dean chooses her own religion! Lindsay is a classmate of mine at Harvard Divinity School who creates and performs amazing psychedelic spiritual surf rock, and she came on to share her musical, creative, and spiritual journey. We also muse on comparative theology, Christianity, and spiritually working with anger. Go to idgydean.com for more of her music!

This week’s guest on Choose Your Own Religion is none other than my dad! Rev. Dr. Jody Welker has been a Presbyterian minister for nearly 40 years, and I finally had him on the show to mark my beginning at Harvard Divinity School and my unlikely return to Christianity. We talk about our different takes on the Resurrection, the Holy Spirit, and the relationship between psychedelics and Christianity.

Jessica Michelle Singleton chooses her own religion again! She came back to the show to talk about a 10-day silent meditation retreat that spawned her one-woman show, “Codependent Arising” as seen on Edinburgh Fringe Festival. We talk about how meditation helps us with suffering, compassion, abandonment, helplessness, and dealing with ghosting! Recorded live from beautiful Debs Regional Park in Los Angeles, CA.

Check out her podcast Ignorance is #Blessed and check out her #1 iTunes album “Please. Don’t. Leave. Me.” and more at jmscomedy.com and on Twitter @jmscomedy!

Da’Jon James chooses his own religion! Da’Jon is the outgoing music director at Throop Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, CA, and on this episode we explored the relationship between music, emotions, and worship, as well as diving into a conversation on race--diversity initiatives, tokenism, and Da’Jon sharing his lived experience as we talked about how we can learn not to blend together, but to harmonize.

Check out Top Shelf Vocal at topshelfvocal.com and go to chooseyourownreligion.com for past episodes and future events where you can tell your own story!

Live stories told by three Los Angeles storytellers centering on finding comfort in unlikely places, from anxious Tarot readings, the loneliness of a New Mexico monestary, to a partner’s miraculous hospital experience. Featuring storytellers Erica Blumfield, Rex McDaniel, and Ashton Clarke. Recorded in March 2019 at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, CA.

Go to chooseyourownreligion.com for past episodes and future events where you can tell your own story.

Jonathan Levy chooses his own religion! Jonathan, aka “Zero Waste Guy” is a Zero Waste Project Manager and Green Building Council True Advisor, and on this episode we talked about environmentalism and spirituality. We also talked about the challenges of dating as an environmentalism, making others feel less guilty around you, environmental capitalism, transcendent moments with nature, community, and Unitarian Universalism. Episode includes hkis story from the live Choose Your Own Religion in January 2019. 

Check out more of Jonathan’s work at zerowasteguy.com and on Instagram @zerowasteguy, and come hear more stories and tell your own at the next live show on Friday, March 29th at 7:30pm at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena!