In this dialogue, Rebecca and Brandon delve into Christian history and ask the question: "What does the cross of Jesus say to us about violence, suffering, and sacrifice? "

Thanks to Adam Barnard for producing the episode.

Thanks to Ryan Newson and Mike Grigoni for the intro music.

Excerpts referred to in this dialogue:

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

-Isaiah 53:5

The suffering of the martyrs is the triumph of God.

-Jerome

We multiply when you reap us. The blood of Christians is seed.

-Tertullian

It cannot be forgotten that the historic Jesus sought for himself neither death nor resurrection but the proclamation of the Reign of God to the point of death.

-Ignacio Ellacuria

The fact that Jesus identifies with the oppressed is not a sanctification of oppression, as if it is only in being oppressed that one can find God…the cross is not the end, but a revelatory point on the way to new life, new reality.

-Kelly Brown Douglas

In which we spend Trinity Sunday marking several moments of passage in our common life—a return to in-person gatherings, Molly's return, Ben's departure—with an extended conversation among our three co-pastors. Ben, Molly, and Rebecca reflect on what's unique, what's shifting, and what's next for Emmaus Way after a long pandemic year. A glimpse into the inner life and outer limits of what EWay has and will become.

In which Emmaus Way commemorates a Covid-19 Easter under quarantine with a collaborative lyric video for Patty Griffin's "Love Throw A Line."

In which we open a Lenten season oriented around the practice of writing and the formation that's possible within "in-between" spaces and seasons. We kick off that conversation with Artist-in-Residence Joanna Penn Cooper, who invites us to consider writers as folks who support our deeply human need for permission to witness and be witnessed. As a writer, Joanna shares ways that writer, audience, and context interact to create energetic spaces that shape us. As a community, we begin asking what formative energy we might find in our Lenten engagement with a writer (Paul) and letter (Galatians) many of us have held at a distance.

In which we wrap up our season on the prophets wit ha look at the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13) and prophets of the #metoo movement. Molly invites us to consider what it means for Eway to be a community of prophetic proclamation in a world that isn't particularly ready to lean into critiques of power or the alternative futures of God. What does it mean to voice and embody prophetic witness in such a space? Sus Long and friends contribute a very 60s collection of music by Pete Seeger, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Beach Boys.

In which we trace our exploration of prophets a bit closer to home and ask: "What happens when prophecy gets personal?" That is, what does it really look like to change some aspect of our lives to more fully live into said alternative futures? Through circle practice, we open to space to notice what about prophets/prophecy opens us to respond, and what leaves us feeling resistant and closed. Sus Long and Rachel Kiel season our conversation with songs from Over the Rhine, The Beach Boys, Elton John, and Sara Groves.

In which we turn our consideration prophets to the role visions and dreams play in their work of critique and imagination. Molly curates a conversation around three prophetic visions (Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones, Hildegard of Bingen, Jean Vanier & L'Arche) for alternative living, thinking, and being. Artist-in-Residence Sus Long (and friends) come alongside with musical visions from The Beatles, Alexi Murdoch, Iron & Wine, Patty Griffin, and Harold Arlen.

In which we continue our examination of prophets by considering some of their strategies for critique and alternative imagination. Molly invites us to look specific sign/acts from the prophet Jeremiah as part of a dialogue around the lingering role of prophetic sign/acts among contemporary prophets such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Bree Newsome. Artist-in-Residence Sus Long contributes songs from The Avett Brothers, The Beatles, Nick Lowe, and Pete Seeger.

In which we open a six-week journey alongside the Hebrew prophets, and consider the presence and possibility of prophetic critique and imagination in our lives now. Molly opens the series with a historical overview of the biblical prophets, naming their role as figures who simultaneously criticize and energize. Sus Long—our Artist in Residence for this season—opens our musical conversation with offerings from Jackson Browne, Patty Griffin, and her own band Hardworker.