In the final installment of our Sacred Secular Syncopated series, Emily Austin and theologian-writer Femi Olutade dive deep into the sacred undercurrents of hip-hop — from The Message to To Pimp a Butterfly. Drawing on scripture, Orthodox theology, and the language of transformation, they explore how artists like Tupac Shakur and Kendrick Lamar turn lived struggle into spiritual reflection.

What begins as a discussion of protest music becomes an invitation to rethink repentance (metanoia) — not as punishment, but as change of mind, heart, and being. Through examples from good kid, m.A.A.d city, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Femi unpacks how Lamar’s art embodies an ongoing conversion — personal, communal, and divine.

Femi Olutade is a theologian, writer, and father whose work explores the intersection of faith, art, and culture through an Orthodox Christian lens. He is best known for authoring the script of Season 5 of the Dissect podcast, a 20-episode analysis of Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. — winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Find Femi’s work:

🎟 “Sacred, Secular, Syncopated” with Femi Olutade
🗓 Thursday, November 6, 2025 at 7:00 p.m.
📍 Barth House Episcopal Center (Memphis, TN)
Join us for the Barth House Theological Society Fall Lecture, where Femi expands on these themes — exploring the theology of Kendrick Lamar and the spirituality of hip-hop.
Admission is free, but tickets are required. Get tickets here.

Glad Tidings is a podcast from the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee exploring the rhythm of faith in unexpected places — where art, theology, and culture overlap in surprising harmony.

When we hear the word secular, it’s often framed as the opposite of sacred—a divide that can leave us assuming anything “secular” is somehow lesser, or even bad. But what if that assumption is more habit than truth?

In this episode, Emily Austin continues her conversation with theologian, writer, and podcaster Femi Olutade. Together, they trace how the church has historically understood the relationship between the sacred and the secular—from the desert mothers and fathers of early Christianity, to the Orthodox idea of synergia between faith and governance, to the way hip hop speaks to the heartbeat of a generation.

Highlights include:

• Why “secular” originally meant “of an age” rather than “against God”

• How the Protestant Reformation reshaped the sacred/secular divide

• Hip hop as the “CNN of the ghetto” and a prophetic art form telling the truth of its time

• Tupac’s Changes as a lens for repentance, transformation, and even echoes of Lent

Emily shares her own journey of unlearning the reflex that “secular = bad,” and together, Femi and Emily reflect on how music, art, and culture carry the Divine.

🎟️ Don’t miss Femi live in Memphis: Get tickets to his Barth House Theological Society lecture here

What does it mean to call something sacred in a world that feels increasingly chaotic?

Emily Austin sits down with writer and theologian Femi Olutade—a Nigerian-American Millennial, husband, father, hip-hop head, and follower of Jesus in the Eastern Orthodox tradition—to wrestle with the idea of holiness. Femi is best known as the lead writer for the acclaimed Dissect Podcast season on Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. and for his thoughtful essays on spirituality, culture, and history on Medium.

Their conversation starts with a reflection on power, using The Lord of the Rings as a jumping-off point: who should hold the ring, and what happens when they do? From there, Emily and Femi trace the ways holiness has been understood across different traditions—evangelical, charismatic, liturgical, and Orthodox—and how each has shaped their lives. They talk about fasting and Lent as tools for clarity, why the Desert Mothers and Fathers still speak to us today, and what it means to see God’s presence not only in church but also in the ordinary rhythms of life.

In Memphis? Don’t miss Femi’s Barth House Theological Society Fall Lecture: Sacred, Secular, Syncopated: Theology & the Music of Kendrick Lamar on Thursday, November 6, 2025, at 7 p.m. in Memphis. Free tickets are available at tinyurl.com/BHTS2025.

Jazmin Miller is an informed theatre artist, filmmaker, and the executive director of the non-profit Carpenter Art Garden, and her passions include equity, youth development, and education. Next week, the Barth House will host Miller as she lectures on her documentary film Jonesland, but she's with us on Faithfully Memphis today talking with Emily Austin about how her faith informs her life and her art. 

Learn more about the artist talk on December 7, 2023 here: https://edwtn.org/event/artist-talk-with-jazmin-miller/

The theme of this Friday's Diocesan Convention - Do Good and Share What You Have - invites us to listen to the needs of our neighbors and give of ourselves to help share their load. Community Alliance for the Homeless (CAFTA), a 501c3 serving Memphis and Shelby County, does just that in their commitment to ending long-term homelessness and ensuring that future homelessness is rare, brief, and one-time. On this week's Faithfully Memphis, join Emily Austin for a discussion with CAFTA team members Errin Woods, Julie Meiman, and Kirsten Hipkins about the changing nature of housing insecurity and chronic homelessness in Memphis, and about what people of faith can do to help. 

Serving the same geographic footprint as the Episcopal Diocese of West Tennessee, Hannah's Hope provides adoption support and pregnancy counseling to all through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Tomorrow on Faithfully Memphis, the Rev. Trina Morrison, Executive Director of Hannah's Hope, will join Bishop Phoebe to talk about this important ministry.

Learn more about Hannah's Hope on their website, https://www.hannahs-hope.org/

On Friday, November 3 at 7 p.m., the Rev. Dr. Robert MacSwain will deliver the Barth House Theological Society's Fall Lecture "Saints As Evidence for God." On the faculty of The University of the South (Sewanee) since 2009, MacSwain's teaching and research combine philosophy, theology, ethics, literature, and spirituality with a particular focus on how these five disciplines interact within the Anglican tradition. 
On this week's Faithfully Memphis, Dr. MacSwain joins Bishop Phoebe for a conversation about the nature of those we consider to be saints.

Justin Brooks is a Jackson, Tennessee native who came to Memphis in 2013 and now serves at Christian Brothers University as the Director of the Center for Community Engagement, where he also leads the annual Memphis Reads literacy program. On this episode of Faithfully Memphis, Justin talks with Emily Austin about going where God leads us, creating community, learning from our neighbors, and seeing the spark of the Divine in everyone we meet.