Faith in a Fresh Vibe

The ongoing genocide occurring in Gaza demands our attention and response. In this bonus episode, we share an interview with Dr. Sarah Lalonde, who worked in the European Gaza hospital in South Gaza in 2025. She shares an eye-witness account of the daily atrocities.

Over 50,000 Palestinians have perished, almost half are children. Sifting through all of the disinformation can be difficult, which is why we’ve brought a first hand account to the show to describe what is happening at ground level.

An especially important conversation for Christians to listen to, especially those formed, or who remain, in evangelicalism. Some Christian traditions justify the ongoing violence against Palestinians because they believe destroying Palestinians is connected to ushering in the return of Jesus sooner. This abhorrent worldview clearly sidesteps the command, ironically from Jesus, to stand in solidarity with the oppressed–the least of these.

This conversation may leave you feeling uncomfortable due to the content, which we make the disclaimer: some of the stories you hear, particularly about children caught in the crossfire, is hard to listen to. But stick with it. Your response to this ongoing genocide matters. Your voice counts when it comes to demanding action for a permanent ceasefire, a complete cancellation of arms sales, and the immediate expansion of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Contact your reps today.

You can find one script to use by copying this statement.

(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi

Hosted by Rohadi Nagassar. Rohadi‘s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins, and his forthcoming title (Spring 2026) called Whole & Human. Forty Meditations for Liberating Body and Spirit. Find his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Dr Sara Lalonde – Author 

Additional resources courtesy of Dr. Lalonde.

https://imeu.org/article/quick-facts-the-palestinian-nakba

Quick Facts: The Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) | IMEU Arabs from British Mandate Palestine during Israel’s creation.

Dr Lalonde’s presentation about Christ at the checkpoint : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWz25R3UAA and the ecumenical letter: https://kairoscanada.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Ecumenical-Statement-in-Solidarity-with-Palestinian-and-Israel-partners.pdf

CMP Anglican Church

Sarah Lalonde – Christ at the Checkpoint July 29 2024

IG accounts you can follow: https://www.instagram.com/jkhoury218/ https://www.instagram.com/danielbannoura/ https://www.instagram.com/munther.isaac/ https://www.instagram.com/tony.deik/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njSqEzOPU5E&t=1550s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyufVi2mdsA

?Yousef Khoury ~ ???? ????? (@jkhoury218) • Instagram…

Daniel Bannoura (@danielbannoura) • Instagram profile

Munther Isaac (@munther.isaac) • Instagram profile

Episode 12 arrives, the final episode in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism‘, designed to name problems in evangelical/conservative thought and belief to help folks leave, and when you exit, find the tools for your liberation.

This episode summarizes key problems in conservative Christian spaces. What dominates evangelical thought and belief? Then, I posed a question to each guest that went something like this, “what does better look like?” I included their thoughts in this episode. We are fortunate to hear from the voices of: Scott Coley, Jared Stacy, Marlena Graves, Robert Callahan, Kristian Smith, Cait West, Ed Ng, DL Mayfield, Celeste Irwin, Daniel Wheat, and me, your host, Rohadi Nagassar.

(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi and the final episode of Farewell Evangelicalism

Rohadi‘s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins, and his forthcoming title (Spring 2026) called Whole & Human. Forty Meditations for Liberating Body and Spirit. Find his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Scholar/Author – Scott Coley

Theologian/Author – Jared C Stacy

Author/Attorney – Robert Callahan

Dr. Marlena Graves – Professor/Author

Author/Podcaster – D.L. Mayfield

Kristian A Smith – Pastor and Podcaster

Psychologist – Dr. Ed Ng

Celeste Irwin (she/her) – Trans Activist and Writer

Cait West – Author of Rift. A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters

Episode 11 in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’, designed to name malformed pillars that shape evangelical/conservative Christian thought and beliefs.

One of the counters to evangelical community is to demonstrate the expansive nature of belonging and liberation. Where evangelicalism demands assimilation to specific morals and theological persuasions, catching a glimpse of what freedom and living out your whole self looks like goes a long way to help make the switch and ultimately leave life-taking church community. In this episode my guests discuss some of the impediments in church community such as fear, and where we can look to replace harmful demands. Freedom to be your whole self, liberation from malformed theological systems, and ultimately community where you can belong and live as your true self without the mask are all out there.

Sometimes it just takes a little nudge in search of belonging.

(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Sharifa Stevens is a writer, poet, speaker, and singer. She is the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, born and raised in New York, and currently resides with her family in Dallas, Texas. She graduated from Columbia University in New York with a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies before earning a master’s in theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. Sharifa aspires to use writing as a vehicle that moves readers to intersect with the sacred and the honest. Her latest book is When We Talk to God: A Powerful New Book of Prayers and Poems for Black Women. SharifaStevens.com | IG: SharifaWrites

Sarah Westfall’s lastest book is called The Way of Belonging: Reimagining Who We Are and How We Relate (available in both print, digital, and audio formats). Sign up for her Substack newsletter, Human Together, or check out her podcast (which happens to go by the same name). Sarah_Westfall on Instagram.

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters

Episode 10 in the serial series ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’, designed to name malformed pillars that shape evangelical/conservative Christian thought and beliefs. The hope is to catalyze pathways for folks to leave this faith tradition that does more harm than good. Sexuality and gender constructs are a significant pillars in evangelical identity. Any body that pushes against a white cis-gendered, straight able-bodied male gaze is a threat.

In this episode, we discuss trans identity and liberation. Featuring Celeste Irwin and Dr. Che Roberto, two voices speaking on trans identity, offering us a picture of a wide ethic of liberation.

Why should this conversation matter if you’re not trans? Because you’re a curious human! In this moment, 2025, trans folks are the primary target of conservative politicians and religious leaders, who better to learn from on what liberation looks like than the very folks furthest from the center? So through the example of Jesus where the last shall be first.

(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Celeste is a transgender, lesbian woman. She is a writer and advocate for transgender rights and inclusion in Christian spaces. Having survived an abusive church, she also writes about spiritual abuse. Visit her website/Substack and find her on BlueSky.

Dr. Roberto Che Espinoza is a Transgender & Latinx public scholar, using imaginative narrative to steward more ethical futures. Find more about his resources and exoertise on his website: https://robertoche.com/. Find his Substack and Instagram.

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters

Episode 9 in the serial season called ‘Farewell Evangelicalism’ is now live!

In this episode, we discuss the embodied work necessary after losing core elements in our life like faith. We name pathways to help process leaving church, including the loss of community, and the mountain of grief that follows.

(00:00) Introduction with Rohadi on grief and loss.

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Mandy Capehart – Grief Coach and Podcaster Mandy Capehart (she/her/hers) is the founder of the Restorative Grief model. Find more about Mandy and her coaching program at https://www.mandycapehart.com/. Find her latest podcast episodes and her publication on grief.

Meghan Crozier – Community Catalyst and Podcaster Visit Meghan over at The Pursuing Life! Meghan lives in the Pacific Northwest. Meghan curates space to help folks wrestle with questions on deconstruction and what spiritual growth looks like. She writes about topics like faith deconstruction, spirituality, equity, justice, race, mental health, and religion. She also explore the same themes and topics on the Thereafter Podcast with co-host, Cortland Coffey.

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat; Intro by Jesse Peters Find Dr. Hillary McBride’s Holy Hurt podcast. Data on homicides and evangelicalism here.

The term: Deconstruction defined in Rohadi’s book, When We Belong, is: the work to reclaim what gives life; discard what does not; and create beautiful stories. Welcome to Episode 8 where we venture through the land of religious deconstruction, only this time through the Black and brown church experiences.

In this episode we hear from Janice Lagata who shares her story about the eventual implosion of Hillsong New York. Followed by Greg, who provides some insight on the work of deconstruction and decolonization out of a Black church experience. Lastly, Kristian A Smith and Rohadi talk about what faith can look like beyond the gaze of white hegemony. All this and more in Episode 8.

(00:00-04:00) Introduction with Rohadi

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins. Visit his online church community: https://abeautifultable.ca/

Janice Lagata – Musician and Podcaster

Greg – Muscian and Teacher

Kristian A Smith – Pastor and Podcaster

Bumper music by Janice Lagata; Intro by Jesse Peters

Episode 7 on white supremacy, a crucial conversation for churchgoers, particularly white churchgoers, to generate awareness to the ways white supremacist thinking invades thought and beliefs. Indeed, white supremacist theology is in the DNA, a feature not an add-on, of nearly every denomination across the Americas. We’ll try to pinpoint some of the most egregious forms in this episode, with a hope that listeners will become alert to the ways you own formation/beliefs are filtered through racist understandings of the world around us.

We discuss biblical examples used to support white superiority and how common they are; learn how ableism is a precursor to white supremacy; and end with naming the weird in white evangelicalism, with a side of hopeful alternatives to find your way out.

(00:00) – Welcome

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.

Scholar/Author – Scott Coley

Author/Pastor – Lamar Hardwick

Author/Attorney – Robert Callahan

Bumper music by Rubix; Intro by Jesse Peters

Let’s settle in friends for some quiet time…. Just kidding. Episode 6 in this serial series interrogating the malformed pillars in evangelicalism is here. We examine one of the most important elements in evangelical belief systems–perhaps THE most important religious icon–the Bible.

Evangelicals claim the Bible has supreme authority in designing beliefs. It’s the “Bible alone”, used with complete disregard for malformed interpretations. You may be wondering why chat about the Bible mid-way through this series and not at the very start. After all, isn’t the Bible central to evangelicalism? It is, but not in the manner you might think. The Bible has been distorted to become a tool for religious propaganda that advances the interests of white evangelicalism. In other words, the Bible is used to define conservative and white supremacist worldviews, and believers stuck in the pew of these churches must adopt specific interpretations or risk being excommunicated (if evangelicals had such a thing.) Malformed beliefs like biblical inerrancy and literalism are not, ironically, biblical, yet are core attributes used to keep the faithful in line.

Let’s talk about it, Episode 6 is here.

(00:00-01:00) Introduction

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.

Ryan Canty – Author of Deweaponize. Re-examining how we read the Bible in pursuit of a more Christlike interpretation 

Liz Charlotte Grant – Author of KNOCK AT THE SKY: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible.

Liz Jenkins – Author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy.

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.

Following Episode 4 on Propaganda, we take aim at a crucial evangelical pillar: patriarchy. Patriarchy designed specifically around religious convictions to ultimately control the bodies of women and children. It’s also a tool to support authoritarian leadership explaining the rationale behind why evangelicals overwhelmingly support authoritarian governments: it’s what they practice in their own churches.

Episode 5 welcomes three exciting guests. Cait West, author of Rift, opens our conversation by sharing her story growing up in the Christian Patriarchy Movement. CPM has developed an enterprise that pulls in billions of dollars in revenue from their materials overtly supporting the values of Christian patriarchy. Cait shares her journey escaping what she would ultimately describe as a cult, but in reality looks like a lot of conservative churches out there. How to attune to your bodies and trust your intuition are two important attributes for folks still stuck in the clutches of malformed churches.

Liz Cooledge Jenkins is my second guest. She is the author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy. We discuss how evangelical churches hide their patriarchy; how they might look ‘cool’ on the outside, but in fact operate with the same tools of patriarchy behind the veil.

Finally, DL Mayfield returns from Episode 4 to conclude a conversation about patriarchy and the intersections of white supremacy with eugenics.

“There is no finish line to healing even though we want to be in a place where you’re perfectly happy. And there is a lot of resources now to minimize symptoms and heal from it. What worked for me was trauma therapy, which is different than talk therapy….” Cait West

“[In patriarchy] there’s encouragement to not trust your gut, and encouragement not to talk to other women about unequal power structures.” Liz Jenkins

“America has this horrific history of white supremacist patriarchal aims including in the realm of eugenics.” D.L. Mayfield

(00:00) – Introduction

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his latest publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.

Cait West – Author of Rift. A Memoir of Breaking Away from Christian Patriarchy

Liz Jenkins – Author of Nice Churchy Patriarchy.

Author/Podcaster – D.L. Mayfield

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.

This episode is about propaganda: the mechanisms by which evangelicals and conservative Christians are formed. Evangelicals are suckers for conspiracy (Ep. 3) and are easily swayed by propaganda. The propaganda machine has done masterful job inoculating conservatives from developing worldviews beyond their own enrichment.

In the first half, I invite Scott Coley to help unpack the how and why conservatives tend to accept damaging beliefs and theologies that harm vulnerable people and themselves. Connecting the dots between conservative political aspirations that seek power to preserve white supremacy and patriarchy, and the supprting belief systems in evangelicalism, opens a pathway for folks still in, leaving, or who have already left, to begin making sense of all the weird in the pursuit of freedom and liberation.

“Evangelicals favor morally problematic social arrangements and political policies because they just aren’t thinking about the moral salience of institutions. They tend to focus on individual piety. They tend to not think about institutional injustice. I’ve come to recognize that is an incomplete picture. It’s true, bad belief leads to bad practices, but it’s also true that bad practices lead to bad beliefs. This ‘feedback loop’ is called ideology.” Scott Coley

Later, DL Mayfield joins to discuss one of the most effective propaganda arms in evangelicalism: Focus on the Family. It, along with many others, are key reasons why evangelicals are harbingers of harm to the nation (and the world).

“If you grew up with Dr. Dobson or Focus on the Family parenting methods, then you are a child of a positive eugenics movement. The continuation of the white supremacist patriarchy was the entire goal and they used religion to spread their ideology.” D.L. Mayfield

(00:00) – Introduction

Rohadi’s books can be found here, including his most recent publication, When We Belong. Reclaiming Christianity on the Margins.

Scholar/Author – Scott Coley

Author/Podcaster – D.L. Mayfield

Bumper music by Daniel Wheat.