Inverse Podcast

Joash Thomas is an international speaker, theologian and human rights leader. Born and raised in India, Joash ran a political consulting and lobbying firm in the United States before joining the human rights advocacy space. Based in the Toronto area, Joash has a master’s degree in Political Management from The George Washington University and is a few months away from completing a dual master’s degree in Christian Leadership & Systematic Theology. A soon-to-be ordained Deacon in the Diocese of St. Anthony, Joash is also the author of ‘The Justice of Jesus’, a forthcoming book in partnership with Brazos Press to be published in September 2025.

If you need a space, come join us as we dialogue in our post-election roundtable with Lisa Sharon Harper and Dr. David Gushee. Together, we'll consider this moment, and what it means for our faith, democracy, and commitment to pursuing shalom and the common good.

Idris Elba in his introduction to Mick Sheldrick’s new book ‘FROM IDEAS TO IMPACT: A PLAYBOOK FOR INFLUENCING AND IMPLEMENTING CHANGE IN A DIVIDED WORLD‘ writes, “To say he’s has had an impact on our life would be an understatement.” Join us live this week to find out why and how you can contribute and learn from Mick’s work that has impacted millions of people in over a hundred and fifty countries and helped secure over *40 BILLION* in support for local and regional organizations working to provide access to essential resources such as healthcare, education, and climate resilience.

Michael Sheldrick is a driving force behind the efforts of Global Citizen to end extreme poverty. With a career that spans the world of pop and policy, Michael has worked with an impressive roster of international artists such as Beyoncé, Coldplay, Sabrina and Idris Elba, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Priyanka Chopra, Rihanna and Usher, as well as prominent political leaders including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and former Australian Prime Ministers Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd.

As a Co-Founder and Chief Policy, Impact, and Government Affairs Officer, he leads the organization's campaigns to mobilize support from governments, businesses, and foundations.

He has co-produced some of the world's most impactful social campaigns and events, including the annual Global Citizen Festival in New York, the Guinness World Record-winning virtual concert One World: Together At Home, and the Nelson Mandela 2018 centennial celebration. These initiatives have reached millions of people in over a hundred and fifty countries and helped secure over forty billion in support for local and regional organizations working to provide access to essential resources such as healthcare, education, and climate resilience.

Join us with Regent College’s Dr Mark Glanville as we discuss his new text, “Improvising Church”.

Dr Drew Hart wrote of Mark’s new book,

“Improvising Church is a harmony of scriptural insight and pastoral wisdom, soulfully explored. Drawing from the metaphors of jazz, Glanville calls Western churches in post-Christian contexts to embrace an improvisational journey shaped by the biblical narrative and the perception of artists within incarnational community that loves their place and its people. Like a musician in sync with our contextual rhythm, Glanville urges us to embrace our interconnectedness with creation, tying that to the need to confront the legacies of colonialism with courageous solidarity. This book resonates deeply, hits all the right notes, and will inspire you to embrace a new, transformative song to improvise with for our twenty-first-century witness."

Jarrod McKenna has said,

"Mark Glanville writes with a kind of humility, curiosity, creativity, and compassion that are not merely desired but required when learning from traditions that you've been graciously grafted into—be it from Moses or Miles Davis, Elijah or Ella Fitzgerald, Nathanael or Nina Simone, John Coltrane or Jesus, the Christ. Mark has experienced a 'love supreme' and is inviting us to take giant steps of communal improvisation and imagine somethin' else, an alternative to Christendom and its colonial legacy, something that looks like Jesus, something that is the shape of things to come."

Trey Ferguson is a minister, writer, and speaker, with an MDiv from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University. He is the author of Theologizin' Bigger: Homilies on Living Freely and Loving Wholly. His thoughts on faith in an evolving world can be found on the Three Black Men: Theology, Culture, and the World around Us and New Living Treyslation podcasts, in The Son Do Move newsletter, and @pastortrey05 on social media. He lives in South Florida with his wife and three children. Learn more at pastortrey05.com

Nya Abernathy is the founder and leader of The Dignity Effect, through which she focuses on adult social-emotional learning grounded in dignity. As a writer, Nya is known for exploring wonder and awe from the intersection of space and spirituality through her publication, "Of Earth & Of Stars." Her excellent debut book, "Welcome, Wonder," is a transformative journey into self-discovery and personal growth, and it is available now at nyasabernathy.com. Within the InVerse community, Nya is beloved, and known for spreading joy. If you spend enough time with her, be prepared because she will likely have you participating in full embodied karaoke – whether in person or over Zoom!

This episode was created in collaboration with Freedom Road Podcast, hosted by Lisa Sharon Harper.
The Freedom Road podcast is a forum for experiences that build common understanding, common commitment and common action. It is produced each month by FreedomRoad.us.

A very special deep dive into the theo-ethical questions arising in the context of the genocide in Gaza. Join us as we hear from three leading Palestinian Christian theologians as they approach Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the context of genocide.

Lisa Sharon Harper is a prolific speaker, award-winning author and internationally respected activist. Ms. Harper is the founder and president of FreedomRoad.us, a consulting group dedicated to shrinking the narrative gap in our nation by designing forums and experiences that bring common understanding, common commitment and common action.

Rev. Dr Mitri Raheb is Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem. The most widely published Palestinian theologian to date, Dr. Raheb is the author and editor of 50 books including: Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, The People, The Bible; In the Eye of the Storm: Middle Eastern Christians in an Age of Empire and Faith in the Face of Empire: The Bible through Palestinian Eyes—among many, many others.

Rev. Dr. Muther Isaac is Pastor of the Christmas Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem and Dean of Bethlehem Bible College. Rev. Dr. Munther is the author of The Other Side of the Wall: A Palestinian Christian Narrative of Lament and Hope.

Omar Haramy, is an Arab, Palestinian, Jerusalemite, Christian, and Greek Orthodox. Since 2017, Omar has served as the director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. Sabeel is a Palestinian ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement that deepens the faith of Palestinian Christians, promotes unity among them, and guides them to engage for justice and peace. Omar also serves on the Kairos Palestine steering committee.

On every continent (yes! Including Antarctica! ) across 145 cities the GazaCeasefirePilgrimage.com movement continues to grow in prayerful solidarity with Palestinian people during this genocide.

Join us with two of Philadelphia’s leaders, Lisa Sharon Harper and Shane Claiborne to discuss what the next stage of the movement looks like.

As the genocidal war on Gaza continues we are thankful for the generosity of friends, old and new, who continue to share their work and witness, even at tremendous personal cost.

Join us as we create a space to listen to theologian, Marah Sarji.
Marah Sarji is a PhD student of theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Born and raised in Nazareth, she became passionate about justice and peace in Palestine and is active among young Palestinian Christians working on decolonizing Palestinian Christianity. Marah’s research interests include womanist theology, Palestinian liberation theology, anthropology of theology, coloniality and decolonization.

Join us as we hear from Dr Drew Hart’s co-editor of their new book 'Reparations and the Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair', Dr Michael Barram.

Click here to purchase Reparations and the 'Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair' in Hardback and E-Book format:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666922462/Reparations-and-the-Theological-Disciplines-Prophetic-Voices-for-Remembrance-Reckoning-and-Repair
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Dr Michael Barram earned his PhD in New Testament at Union Theological Seminary-PSCE (Richmond, VA), and since 2001 has been a professor in the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at Saint Mary’s College of California. He is a member of and regularly teaches at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley. As a biblical scholar, Barram’s work focuses on the formative function of biblical texts for moral and economic reasoning—and on the emerging subfield of biblical interpretation known as missional hermeneutics. He is the author of Mission and Moral Reflection in Paul (Lang, 2006); Missional Economics: Biblical Justice and Christian Formation (Eerdmans, 2018); co-editor (with Drew Hart, Gimbiya Kettering, and Michael Rhodes) of the recently-released anthology, Reparations and the Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair (Lexington, 2023); and co-author (with John R. Franke) of the forthcoming Liberating Scripture: An Invitation to Missional Hermeneutics (Cascade, 2024). Michael is married to Kelli; they have two daughters, aged 24 and 21.