Today, we are reflecting on the first year of the Imago Gei podcast. It’s been a little over a year since that defining moment of disclosing my bi identity, and today we are reflecting on the growth and journey this year has brought from the many wonderful guests who opened up an incredible world of theology, therapy, and hope for a more inclusive tomorrow. We also discuss the journey of learning to be comfortable with the uncomfortable, managing the anxiety of being different within our religious communities, and answering the big question of "when all our dragons are slayed, who am I now?" Our co-host for this week is Spiritual Care Provider Roxan Del Valle, M.Div. along with yours truly, Kendra Arsenault, M.Div. This week is our concluding podcast for this season of Imago Gei, which has been sponsored by two magnificent organizations that are so near and dear to my heart. I want to give a special thanks to Spectrum Magazine and Alexander Carpenter, in particular, along with SDA Kinship, and Floyd Poenitz, who have partnered with me to bring you this project to amplify LGBTQ voices and LGBTQ theology for a wider audience. If you as a listener are able, please be sure to support these incredible organizations @SDAKinship.org and @spectrummagazine.org

Spiritual Care Provider Roxan Del Valle and myself, Kendra Arsenault, discuss on a recent panel hosted by SDA Kinship the role of Spiritual Care amid a mental health crisis. As a Spiritual Care Provider for the psychiatric unit, Chaplain Del Valle works with a team of care providers and specializes in a particular set of interventions to de-escalate and establish a grounded connection. As one of our listeners asked, how do you continue to care for your mental and spiritual health when you’re doubting your faith? What happens when your deconstruction journey takes you down the road of isolation, and you’re looking for ways to connect with self, community, and God once again? Today’s sponsors are Spectrum magazine @spectrummagazine.org and SDA kinship international @sdakinship.org.

Gretchen Van Ness, Civil Rights Attorney and Executive Director at LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc., discusses how the LGBTQ affordable senior housing project took flight and why LGBTQ seniors are a particularly vulnerable population. The Pryde LGBTQ, affordable Senior housing project, is a model for how to support the marginalized, provide justice for the outcast, and begin the work of healing past traumas. You can find out more at LGBTQSeniorHousing.org. Today’s sponsors, Spectrum magazine and SDA kinship international can be found at spectrummagazine.org and sdakinship.org.

Gretchen Van Ness, Civil Rights Attorney and Executive Director at LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc. is the past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts and recognized as one of Boston's top LGBT leaders by Boston Magazine. Gretchen has decades of experience in community activism and representing and advocating for the LGBTQ community. She was part of the major movements in the LGBTQ community in the 90s and 2000s that lead to the Equal Marriage Act in 2015. Today, we’re listening in to her story along with the history of LGBTQ rights and the legislation that continues to impact LGBTQ people today. For those of you who would like to know more about our guest today, Civil Rights Attorney Gretchen Van Ness or about the LGBTQ Senior housing project, stay tuned for next week and check out their website, https://www.lgbtqseniorhousing.org/

This week we are making space to hear Nathon Hilton’s story of being disfellowshipped at his church due to the affirmation of himself and other gay Christians. We also discuss his work in which he looks at the Androgyny of Christ in Scripture, along with other ways that marginalized identities throughout history have made space for their existence by finding their own stories in the narrative of the Bible. Nathon holds a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the University of Salamanca in Spain, in addition to a BA in English and Theology from Andrews University. He is currently translating Alicia Johnston’s book “The Bible and LGBTQ Adventists" into Spanish and focusing his studies on the philosophical and theoretical intersections of literature, religion, and spirituality. I first met Nathon a few years ago back at Andrews, and I am excited to have him share his personal journey of faith through the LGBTQ lens as well as some of his contributions to the world of queer theology. I’m your host, Kendra Arsenault, M.Div. And our sponsors for today’s episode are Spectrum Magazine @spectrummagazine.org and SDA Kinship International @sdakinship.org.

This week on Imago Gei, we are talking about the importance of the "box," as well as the dangers of deconstruction, especially when done in isolation.  Imago Gei is a podcast dedicated to the value of Imago Dei, because equality and dignity of BIPOC and LGBTQ lives matter. I’m your host Spiritual Care Provider Roxan Del Valle, M.Div. along with Kendra Arsenault, M.Div. We will also be discussing some never before heard pieces of Ms. Arsenault’s journey to affirming as well as nuggets of our own deconstructive journey, the benefits as well as the perils. So stay tuned because this is an episode you do not want to miss! We want to shout out to our sponsors for today, Spectrum Magazine and SDA Kinship. This month Kinship has an incredible lineup of educational panels and opportunities for connection, so if you would like to be a member or are just curious about finding more ways to connect with the LGBTQ community, please check them out at SDAKinship.org. As always, Spectrum Magazine has some of the latest and greatest articles about what is happening in the academic world, so to keep up with some contemporary happenings, please sign up at Spectrum Magazine.org.

On Imago Gei Halloween Special we discuss superstition and the ways it shows up in our spirituality. How do we integrate our encounters with coincidence, intuition, and bad energy with our rational minds, and do we even need to? Spiritual Care Provider Roxan Del Valle, M.Div. is our co-host, along with yours truly, Kendra Arsenault, M.Div. In this episode, we continue our Redefine series creating bigger boxes for a bigger God. Today we explore the Salem Witch trials, the superstitious mind, and the bordering lines between spirituality and psychosis. And we end with how connection with Self, God, and Community, are helpful bridges to cross the chasm of belief and how compassion is the tie to what makes us truly human.