Gravity Commons Podcast

This week, we spoke with Dr. Emily Hunter McGowin about reimagining the definition of a "biblical" family and the ways that family can embody the work of the Kingdom. Her new book is Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God.

Dr. Emily Hunter McGowin is Associate Professor of Theology at Wheaton College. She is the author of Quivering Families (2018), Christmas (2023), and Households of Faith: Practicing Family in the Kingdom of God (2025), a practical theology of family framed by the church and the kingdom of God. Dr. McGowin and her husband, Ron, also a priest, live in Chicago with their three children. 

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.

Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with theologian Stephen Morrison about the anti-mammon witness of the Early Church and its relevance for today, which Stephen argues points toward anti-capitalism. Stephen explores these ideas in his new book All Riches Come from Injustice.

Stephen D. Morrison is a prolific American writer probably best known for his ongoing, mulit-volume "in Plain English" Series (as in: Karl Barth in Plain English). He's an ecumenical theologian drawing inspiration from Karl Barth, T. F. Torrance, Jürgen Moltmann, and James Cone among others. Recently he's been writing about political theology and joins us to day to talk about his book All Riches Come From Injustice: The Anti-Mammon Witness of the Early Church & Its Anti-capitalist Relevance.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with Tom Oord about open and relational theology and how it can help us trust God after tragedy, abuse, and evil. We talked about the ideas and implications of his book God Can't: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils.

Thomas Jay Oord is a theologian, philosopher, and scholar of multi-disciplinary studies. Oord is a best-selling and award-winning author, having written or edited more than thirty books. Academic Influence ranks him among the most influential theologians in the 21st century. Oord directs doctoral programs at Northwind Theological Seminary and directs the Center for Open and Relational Theology. He is known for his research and writing on love, open and relational theology, science and religion, evil and power, and the implications of freedom and relationships for transformation.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talk with author and mediator Cheryl Miller about how restorative justice practices can transform the lives of survivors of sexual violence. In her book Enough Silence: Creating Sacred Space for Survivors of Sexual Assault Through Restorative Justice, Cheryl outlines of these practices and offers a road map for implementing victim-offender dialogue, surrogate dialogue, circles, and more. Her book is a call to pastors, clergy, nonprofit professionals, and other leaders to dismantle patriarchal systems that perpetuate rape culture. By embracing restorative justice practices, faith communities can imitate Christ in ministering to survivors and those who love them.

Cheryl Miller has worked in mediation, restorative justice, and community development for over two decades. An experienced nonprofit leader, she is also the founder of Quantum Circles Consulting and Training, an organization that equips community groups to address homelessness, economic development, restoration, and reconciliation. You can connect with Cheryl and her work on her website.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with Dr. Andrew Bauman about the preponderance of sexism and abuse in the church, and what we can do to counteract and guard against it, which are the themes of his book Safe Church: How to Guard Against Sexism and Abuse in Christian Communities.

Dr. Andrew J. Bauman is the founder and director of the Christian Counseling Center: For Sexual Health & Trauma (CCC) and a licensed mental health counselor. A former pastor, Andrew now works with men and women to bring healing and wholeness to their sexual and spiritual lives. His mission is to use his unique position to elevate women's voices and expose a disease that desperately needs to be removed from the church's body. you can connect with Andrew and his work on his website.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with pastor and historian Malcolm Foley about the not-well-known-enough truth that racism is NOT about hate and ignorance; it's about greed. And it always has been.

Foley's new book The Anti-Greed Gospel: Why the Love of Money Is the Root of Racism and How the Church Can Create a New Way Forward explores how the desire for power and money causes violence and exploitation, rooted in racial ideology as its justification.

Malcom Foley is a pastor, historian, and speaker who serves as special adviser to the president for equity and campus engagement at Baylor University. He has written for Christianity Today, The Anxious Bench, and Mere Orthodoxy. Foley co-pastors Mosaic Waco, a multicultural church in Waco, TX, where he lives with his wife Desiree.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with podcaster and author Jonathan Foster about indigo: the color of grief, his book of poems that came from processing the painful loss of his daughter.

Jonathan is the partner of one and father of three, founder of lovehaiti.org, podcaster, and award-winning author with some degrees in open and relational theology who loves to hike. You can connect with Jonathan and his work at jonathanfosteronline.com.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

We talked with pastor and author Marc Alan Schelske about the practicalities of following Jesus on the path of other-centered, so-suffering love.

Marc's new book Walking Otherward is a forty-day devotional (just in time for Lent!) that follows the Gospel texts of Jesus' final weeks before his crucifixion. Each entry invites you to try on Jesus' attitude, setting aside self-centered, ego-defending ambition in exchange for other-centered, co-suffering love.

Marc Alan Schelske writes at the intersection of grace and growth. He hosts the Apprenticeship Way podcast and writes books about the inner life and the other-centered, co-suffering way of Jesus. He serves as the pastor of Bridge City Community Church and lives in Portland, Oregon. You can find out more about him and his work at marcalanschelske.com.

We've talked with Marc a couple times before on the podcast:

• Cultivating Spiritual Growth Through Journaling
• What Emotions Are For in the Life of the Leader

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Essayist Liz Charlotte seeks to “read life” into the Bible, a text long limited by rigid evangelical notions of biblical inerrancy. In her book Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible, rshe draws on a broad range of sources to unpack the first 32 chapters of Genesis in a remarkably fresh way.

Liz Charlotte Grant is an award-winning writer whose work has been published in The Revealer, Sojourners, Brevity, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Hippocampus, Religion News Service, US Catholic, Huffington Post, and elsewhere. Her essays have twice won a Jacques Maritain Nonfiction Prize. She also writes The Empathy List, a popular newsletter that has been nominated for a Webby two years running and garnered an honorable mention from the Associated Church Press Awards in 2023. Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis after Losing Faith in the Bible is her first book.

You can connect with Liz and her work on her website, and subscribe to her newsletter The Empathy List here.

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Matt and Ben continue reflecting on the process of leaving the white evangelical spaces they both came to faith in.

Show notes:

• Mako Nagasawa: Thinking More Clearly About Abortion
• On How I Left White Evangelicalism and How it Left Me
• Redefining the History and Historiography on American Evangelicalism in the Era of the Religious Right
• My Comments Last Night at the "Evangelicals for Harris" Online Event
• Trump has changed what it means to be evangelical

Connect with Gravity Commons:

• Leave us a message or ask a question about this or any other episode and we'll answer it on a future episode.
• Join the Gravity Community to interact with other listeners, and get our list of curated links each week to all things edifying and interesting.
• Are you interested in advertising on the Gravity Podcast? Contact us at [email protected].

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy