Executive Director Rick Barry shares a reflection on his favorite book of the Bible, and shares a prayer request for an unexpected challenge that came up in our work today.

A couple weeks before accidentally falling into a month-long social media fast, Rick Barry talked with Jeff Porter about the challenge of navigating social media in a Christlike manner and what secularization can teach us about White Supremacy. In the end, Rick leads us in praying through and praying in response to John 17.

A conversation about public shaming, private shaming, and growing in maturity turns into a conversation about race, repentance and shared responsibility.

Steve Park of Little Lights Urban Ministries joined us last week for what turned out to be a very different conversation than the one we expected.

Shownotes will be available at christiancivics.org on June 13.

In the first installment of The Christian Civics Book Club, we discuss Jonathan Haidt's "The Righteous Mind." Christian Civics co-founder and Executive Director Rick Barry is joined by Christian Civics teaching faculty Rev. Charles Drew and Executive Board members Nathan Leamer and Thomas Turner.

The next book club episode will cover Soong-Chan Rah's "Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times."

Our Executive Director shares a personal reflection on the protests that have sprung up over the past week, and leads a brief prayer for how we respond to them.

A full transcript of this episode and this prayer will be available at christiancivics.org beginning June 3.

Interview (1:55)

Small Group Bible Study Guide (25:07)

The Lord's Prayer Challenges Conservatives and Liberals (26:35)

Prayer Exercise (28:31)

Christian Civics Executive Director Rick Barry sits down for a revealing conversation with Rev. John Onwuchekwa, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and author of Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church. They talk about how prayer was modeled in Pastor Onwuchekwa's childhood home, how group prayer saved Rick's faith, and why prayer is an important part of outreach and church growth.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE (Links available in shownotes at christiancivics.org/podcast)

Prayer: How Praying Together Shapes the Church by John Onwuchekwa

Light to the World: Navigating Politics in Light of the Christian Story

Journey in Prayer: Learning to Pray with Jesus by John Smed and Justine Hwang

Christian Civics executive director Rick Barry's keynote address at the 2020 Montgomery County National Day of Prayer Virtual Prayer Breakfast.

The prayer and reflection exercise mentioned in the talk is available at: https://christiancivics.org/blog/getting-out-of-the-blame-game/

Rev. Charles Drew offers a homily and prayer for those of us worn out by news about the novel coronavirus and the effect it is having on our communities.

If you are in a position of formal or informal leadership, the Caring Connections Knowledge Base provides up-to-date, easy-to-use resources for navigating the new challenges presented by the COVID-19 emergency measures: https://trello.com/b/6SE4fiNG/caring-connections-knowledge-base

The first meeting of the Christian Civics Book Club is coming up soon! Get your copy of the book THE RIGHTEOUS MIND and submit your questions, comments and observations about the book here: https://christiancivics.org/blog/announcing-the-christian-civics-book-club/

Our guest this episode is Talitha Phillips, CEO of Claris Health, a women's and reproductive health clinic with multiple locations in Los Angeles, California. Talitha shares how the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding the difficulty of providing social services and medical care to a vulnerable community—and what it's like to try to do this work out of her bathroom instead of out of her office.

Visit our website, christiancivics.org, for a transcript of the prayer at the end of this episode, as well as more information on Claris Health and one small step you can take to use this episode to shape the way you and your church serve your neighbors.

Our guest for this minisode is Marian Hutchins, Executive Director of Father's Heart Ministries in New York City. Marian shares with us the effects COVID-19 emergency measures are having on soup kitchens, food pantries and programs that serve at-risk youth. She also shares some encouragement about how Christians who care about those issues can continue getting involved even in the face of emergency measures.

Visit our website for shownotes, including more information on Father's Heart and a transcript of the prayer offered at the end of the conversation.