Kindred Podcast

A fresh look at the Tower of Babel—not as a story of pride, but of fear. Al explores how our drive for control and security can pull us away from trust, and how the invitation of God is toward vulnerability instead of self-protection. 

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

Rob Griffin explores the reality of rising and receding waters—those overwhelming seasons that don’t last forever, and how to stay steady while you’re in them.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this message, Rob Griffin explores a different way of thinking about God’s power in the world. Drawing from open and relational theology, he asks a difficult but important question: if God is loving and powerful, why does suffering exist?

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

Rob Griffin takes a fresh look at the story of Noah and the flood, exploring how ancient cultures interpreted catastrophic events and how similar flood stories appear across the ancient world. The conversation asks a deeper question: what happens when we read these texts through the character of Jesus and his way of peace?

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

We look at original sin, total depravity, and the instinct to assign blame. Jesus rejects that framework entirely. Instead of asking who deserves what, he heals, restores, and calls people back to trust. This teaching explores how faith shifts when goodness is the starting point and not something we earn.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

This week looks at the Cain and Abel story through the lens of relationship instead of condemnation. It wrestles with rejection, suffering, and the idea that goodness may be more foundational than we were taught. The focus is less on explaining everything and more on noticing how God responds to people. It’s an honest look at grace, freedom, and responsibility.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

Genesis 3 has shaped how many people understand humanity, failure, and distance from the divine. But what if the story is less about perfection lost and more about connection strained? In this conversation, we explore the difference between “good” and “perfect,” the role of freedom in relationship, and why risk may be essential to love. This episode reflects on vulnerability, organic consequences, and the possibility that the deepest spiritual longing is not to return to paradise, but to restore nearness. 

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this message, Ron Toft continues Kindred’s journey through Genesis 1–2, highlighting two core themes: unity and the earth as God’s dwelling place. Ron challenges the common “God is far away” framing and invites listeners to see creation as God’s home, which reshapes how we view ourselves, our neighbors, and even our enemies.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

We continue our Genesis series with Ron Toft exploring Genesis 1–2 as an origin story of relationship, not a battleground between sides. Ron reframes the creation narrative as a story of unity: one God over all things, one humanity formed from the ground, and a call to partnership rather than hierarchy. Along the way, he invites us to recover the delight and nearness in the text, and to resist using Scripture as a tool for division.

Ron also offers a powerful lens: the earth as God’s home, God’s temple, God’s kingdom. If God is already here, then following God looks like becoming a people of connection, courage, and healing unity in a fractured world.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.

In this week’s teaching, Ron Toft invites us into the ancient world of Genesis 1–2 and asks a different question than many of us grew up with — not how God made the world, but why this story was told in the first place.

We explore the worldview of the early Israelites, the fragility of life in the “little strip of green” they called home, and how the creation story speaks about order, chaos, belonging, partnership with God, and what it means to be human.

Rather than a science lesson, Genesis becomes a story about purpose, relationship, and the kind of world we’re invited to help create together.

Kindred Church is a Christian community gathering in Reno, Nevada.

We are a 501c3 non-profit organization. If you believe in the ministry of Kindred Church and would like to support our efforts, visit kindredchurchreno.com/donate to make a contribution.

If you'd like to join us for a gathering, please visit kindredchurchreno.com/gatherings for our location and service times.

Thanks for listening.