Kuyper Collective

In this episode that he is dubbing "pop theology," Branson Parler has a conversation with his kids Eliana, Ruby, and Christian about their theology questions, including "Why doesn't God just kill Satan now?" and "Why doesn't God just replace evil people with new people, like when we break down our Legos and make something new?" and other deep questions (including ones about farts). 

In this episode, Chris Smith, Preston Sprinkle, and Branson Parler discuss Chris's book How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church. How can we as the church cultivate the spiritual discipline of conversation in a polarized world? What are obstacles to good conversation? What are the theological roots of conversation, and how can we develop this in our churches?

In this episode, we engage chapter 5 of From Lament to Advocacy, "Religious Education and Womanist Formation: Mothering and the Reinterpretation of Body Politics," by Nancy Lynne Westfield. Dr. Westfield is the director of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion. 

In this episode, we discuss chapter 4, "Religious Education in Response to Black Lives Matter: A Case for Critical Pedagogy," by Joseph V. Crockett. Joseph V. Crockett is chief executive officer, Friendship Press, Inc., and an elder in the United Methodist Church. Crockett asks, "What is involved in the statement 'Black lives matter' and the protest-centered BLM movement? What can religious educators learn from public protest and BLM?" 

In this episode, we continue our book discussion of From Lament to Advocacy. We discuss chapter 3, "Religious Education and Communities of Learning and Practice: Inspiring Advocacy in Public Ministry," by Mary H. Young, director of leadership education, Association of Theological Schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

In this episode, we continue our discussion of the book From Lament to Advocacy with a discussion of chapter 2, "Religious Educators as Public Ministry Leaders," by Nathaniel D. West. Dr. West is chair of the master of arts in Christian education program at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Virginia Union University, Richmond, Virginia. 

In this episode, we continue our series discussing the book From Lament to Advocacy: Black Religious Education and Public Ministry. Here, we discuss chapter one, Anne E. Streaty Wimberly's chapter entitled "Religious Education and Lament: Inviting Cries from the Heart, Guiding the Way Forward."

The Kuyper Collective is starting a new series engaging the book From Lament to Advocacy: Black Religious Education and Public Ministry, ed. Anne E Streaty Wimberly, Nathaniel D. West, and Annie Lockhart-Gilroy (Foundery Books, 2020). This book includes a chapter by Kuyper College Professor of Youth Ministry, Rev. Dr. Richelle White, which we'll discuss in due time. In this episode, we discuss the Preface and Introduction of the book. The conversation features Jeff Fisher, Marc Andreas, Libby Huizenga, and Michelle Norquist. 

In this episode, we talk about how interpreting literature in general and interpreting the Bible in particular are connected. How should we think about the task and challenge of interpreting well? 

In our view, the current model of seminary/ministry education does not serve the local church or individual pastors well. In this episode, we talk about what needs to change in ministry education in order to effectively serve the church and produce sustainable pastoral ministry.