In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Jason Adam Miller about what it looks like to remain rooted in a tradition while being open to The More, the difference between being centered and bounded, and the beautiful invitation to an ever-expanding sense of Self and God.

Jason Miller is the founding and teaching pastor of South Bend City Church, an eclectic Christian community known for its thoughtful teaching, inclusive vision, and commitment to its city context. He is an artist for whom the sermon is his song, and a teacher who is asking a lot of questions. His first book, When The World Breaks, comes out August 1. 

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Dr. Cindy Lee about the impact of colonization on faith formation, cultivating a spirituality of uncertainty, and engaging practices that allow us to rest into God as Mystery. 

Cindy Lee is a spiritual director, aspiring mystic, and proudly Taiwanese-American. She is an adjunct professor and teaches in the areas of spirituality, mysticism, and spiritual direction. She also trains new spiritual directors with Liberated Together. She completed a PhD in the area of Christian spirituality from Claremont School of Theology and leads retreats on BIPOC centered spirituality. She is the author of Our Unforming: De-Westernizing Spiritual Formation.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Jason Petty, otherwise known as Propaganda. We explore the metaphor of God as Home and the ways our social location helps us access particular truths—about God, and about the world. We discuss joy as an act of resistance and an honoring of our ancestors, and what it looks like to move in ways that both celebrate the world and help repair it. 

Propaganda’s music and prose are about divergence and connection. Bred and raised in Los Angeles, Prop witnessed the intersection of all things and celebrates it in each song. With degrees in illustration and intercultural studies, he taught high school for six years before pursuing music full time and touring as a solo artist. Prop’s 2014 album, Crimson Cord, was released for free, but still managed to top several Billboard charts. His debut book, Terraform, was published in 2021 by Harper One, and he hosts the podcast “Hood Politics with Prop.” Prop is also a bonafide coffee nerd. He is an advisor to Miir and an official ambassador of Onyx Coffee Lab, one of the top 10 coffee roasters in the country. In all his work, Prop’s ideas stem from where he sits at the intersection, observing how cultures cross and inspire one another and how we are all connected.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Keri Ladouceur about practices that help us get into our bodies and access Wisdom Within, what it looks like to live from an interior orientation, and how indigenous teachings can help us reconnect with our own selves and everyone/everything else.

Keri Ladouceur is the founder of New Ground Network and co-creator of the Post-Evangelical Collective. She serves as a teaching pastor and the pastor of innovation at Community, as well as a coach and consultant to churches and denominations all over. As a Florida native frozen in the Midwest you can find her soaking up the sunshine whenever possible. Insatiably curious and a constant learner, Keri is wrapping up her thesis to complete a Master of Arts in New Testament at Northern Seminary. She is the host of A Third Way - a podcast exploring the tension of following Jesus out of a faith tradition that prefers black and white, cut and dry answers.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Rev. Becca Stevens about the healing power of community and what a trauma-informed theology looks like. We explore the image of God as sexual trauma survivor, and how God bears witness to our trauma, believes our stories, and says “Me too.” 

TW: In our conversation, we cover topics including sexual assault and rape, so please care for yourself well.

Becca Stevens is a speaker, justice entrepreneur, author, priest, and founder and President of Thistle Farms, a home for survivors of prostitution and exploitation to experience healing in community. She has been featured on PBS NewsHour, The Today Show, CNN, ABC World News, named a CNN Hero, and White House Champion of Change, holds five honorary doctorates, and raised over $75M in funding for justice initiatives. Drawn from 25 years of leadership in mission-driven work, Becca leads important conversations across the country with an inspiring message that love is the strongest force for change in the world. For more information, visit thistlefarms.org or follow Becca on social media @beccastevens.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Dr. Sara Barton about experiencing a gracious invitation from God as Hostess in the midst of a world full of stingy table practices. Sara shares about collaborative leadership and teaching models that reflect hospitality, and what she learned about this virtue from living in Uganda. We explore our respective calls to preaching and ministry and how as women we’ve navigated the challenges therein. 

Sara Barton is the University Chaplain at Pepperdine University where she teaches preaching and ministry courses. She is part of the preaching team at Camarillo Church of Christ in Camarillo, California, and is a peer reviewer for the ministry journal Discernment. She holds a Doctor of Ministry in Missional and Spiritual Formation, and authored a memoir, A Woman Called. 

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Jonathan Merritt about his deeply painful experience of being outed by a colleague and friend. We discuss the generative capacity of pain to birth new life within and through us, and we explore how the simple phrase “and also” helps us integrate trauma and re-narrate our stories.

TW: In our conversation, we touch on the topics of physical and sexual abuse, so please care for yourself well.

Jonathan Merritt is one of America’s most trusted and popular writers on religion, culture, and politics. He is an award-winning contributor for The Atlantic, a contributing editor for The Week, and is author of several critically-acclaimed books including Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing—and How We Can Revive Them. Jonathan has published more than 3500 articles in respected outlets such as The New York Times, USA Today, Buzzfeed, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. As a respected voice, he regularly contributes commentary to television, print, and radio news outlets. As a collaborator or ghostwriter, Jonathan has worked on more than 50 books, with several titles landing on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. Jonathan currently resides in New York City where he is an aspiring dog dad and college football fan.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with my friend, Manda Carpenter, about the ways we both reflect and experience the image of God as Mother. We explore some of the different forms that mothering takes, discuss an expanded view of foster care, and dream about museums that would tell the stories of motherhood across time and culture. 

TW: In our conversation, we touch on the topic of domestic violence, so please care for yourself well.

Manda is a writer, a speaker, and an advocate helping people grow in their faith and improve their relationships. She is a neighbor, question-asker, and cheerleader of the underdog. Manda is the host of A Longer Table Podcast and spills the tea on everything in her latest book, Soul Care to Save Your Life. She and her husband, Eric, are foster parents and have one biological son, Shia. They live in Los Angeles, California where they aim to build longer tables rather than higher fences. For more, check out @mandacarpenter on Instagram and www.mandacarpenter.com

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove about reclaiming a biblical sense of justice as the healing of all things, how cycles of trauma show up in the prison industrial complex, and how a narrowed conception of God diminishes all of us.

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a spiritual writer, preacher, and community-cultivator. He serves as Assistant Director for Partnerships and Fellowships at Yale University’s Center for Public Theology and Public Policy. In 2003, Jonathan and his wife Leah founded the Rutba House, a house of hospitality where the formerly homeless share community with the formerly housed. Jonathan also founded the School for Conversion, a popular education center that works to make “surprising friendships possible” in Durham, North Carolina. He is an Associate Minister at the historically black St. Johns Missionary Baptist Church. He is the author of numerous books including Reconstructing the Gospel and The Wisdom of Stability, and is a co-compiler of the celebrated Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals. He is also co-author, with Reverend Dr. William Barber II, of The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement. A Baptist who draws on the broad Christian tradition and its monastic witnesses, Jonathan is a leader in the Red Letter Christian movement and the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. 

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.

In this episode of In The Waves, I talk with Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart about a Creator who is not threatened by an expanding creation, what it’s like for Naomi to see her queerness/blackness reflected in God-language and imagery, and why Queer Eye episodes are my favorite sermons. 

Rev. Naomi Washington-Leapheart, a daughter of Detroit, is a Black-queer preacher, teacher, and activist. Naomi currently serves as the Director for Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs for the city of Philadelphia. In this role, she serves as a public-facing leader, liaison, and subject matter expert for the Mayor’s Office on local and national matters that impact diverse communities of faith. Naomi is an Intergroup Relations Facilitator and Adjunct Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Villanova University. She was recently appointed as the Religion and Public Life Government Fellow in the Religious Literacy and the Professions Initiative (RLPI) at Harvard Divinity School for the 2022-2023 academic year.

As you listen to this and other episodes, be sure to send questions and comments to [email protected], so we can explore them together in the final episode.