Love in a Dangerous Time

Every summer, Christians from all over the US converge on the beautiful Appalachian village of Hot Springs, North Carolina for a weekend of Spirituality, Music, Art & Justice – The Wild Goose Festival.

You may have noticed that I’ve had a banner on the left side of every page of this website, leading to the Wild Goose website. I’m a regular at The Goose. This summer will be my fifth time (out of six). I work for The Goose, stage managing the main stage. Every year I have some of the most important experiences of my life and my faith, hanging out in what I sometimes call “a cross between Church Camp & Burning Man.”

This episode is an interview with Wild Goose’s executive director, Rosa Lee Harden. We talk about the history of the festival, the experience of being there, and the spirit that is unleashed every year. In this particular interview we also talk about the incredible music that will happen at this year’s Goose. (We’re planning another interview in May, to talk about the incredible list of speakers.)

If you would like to be immersed in a huge discussion of spirituality and responsibility, an enormous explosion of energy and joy, and an environment of inquiry and learning (and let’s not forget Beer & Hymns), please join us at The Wild Goose Festival this year.

SPECIAL OFFER:  Buy your tickets to Wild Goose 2015 within a week (by Wed. May 6, 2015) and use the offer code: LOVERS, and your ticket will be $165 (better than the Senior price).

 

Some links:

The Wild Goose Festival – www.WildGooseFestival.org

In the interview Rosa Lee and I mention two books by Sara Miles:

 

 

Click the covers to buy the books on Amazon and support Love In A Dangerous Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click the covers to buy the books on Amazon and support Love In A Dangerous Time

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Who wrote the book of Genesis? What did Adam & Eve actually lose by trying to “do better” than God? Was David really a great king? Was Solomon wise? Were the early Judeans following God by installing kings? What did Jesus think of the Temple?

According to Dr. Wes Howard-Brook, our guest today, it turns out that the Bible presents us two mutually exclusive religions: The religion of Creation, and the religion of Empire. His 2010 book, “Come Out, My People: God’s Call out of Empire in the Bible and Beyond,” starts with Genesis and takes us through to Revelation, showing how these two religions interact.

In our interview, he discusses how the two trends have shaped the religion of today, with the more dominant Empire religion constantly tempting us away from the religion of Creation. It’s a book that can have a big effect on how we practice our faith.

I was first introduced to “Come Out, My People” by Rev. Bob Brashear, of New York. Bob was the guest on the very first episode of Love in a Dangerous Time, back in September of 2014, and he, along with Rev. Steve Phelps, participated in an Open Ended Discussion in the #Church2B series on the podcast in March. I’ve invited Bob to co-host with me on this interview.

 

Here are some links:

Wes Howard Brook

At Seattle University

“Abide In Me” – a spiritual direction ministry Wes and his wife, Sue Ferguson Johnson

 Come Out My People – Click here to order from Amazon and support Love in a Dangerous Time

 

 

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In the summer of 2014 Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi passed away, just a few weeks from his ninetieth birthday. His legacy in the worlds of Judaism, Ecumenism, World Peace, Mystical Spirituality, and just plain Joy, will live on. In this episode, I talk with Cantor Richard Kaplan, of Oakland, California who was a student and friend of Reb Zalman and even received his ordination as a Cantor from him. We discuss Zalman’s history as well as his many contributions. We even hear some of the music he composed, performed by Richard, both live and recorded. Thousands of people around the world consider Reb Zalman to be the most important influence on their lives.

 

While we usually talk about issues in the Christian community, it’s important that we recognize and

learn from people of other faiths who make important contributions. Zalman is definitely one of them.

 

Cantor Richard Kaplan’s music

http://www.kaplanmusic.com/

Bate LeGani, the piece performed by Richard in the introduction, comes from his album, Life of the Worlds: Journeys in Jewish Sacred Music, which can be ordered from his site.

 

Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi

Dialogues with Fr. Thomas Keating – Click Here

The Yesod Foundation’s Reb Zalman Legacy Project – Click Here

University of Colorado’s Zalman M. Shachter-

Shalomi Collection – Click Here

 

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I’m publishing this interview on a Saturday (instead of the usual Wednesday) because it’s almost Holy Week. I’m hoping that many will listen in the next few days and let this project help you participate in Holy Week with the determination of these folks. This year’s Holy Week will be driven, for many, by the movement against racism that’s growing so quickly in the US. Activists from the streets of Ferguson have come together to generate liturgy, protest and theology that looks at the death and resurrection of Jesus in light of the struggles he would be involved in today.

The movement is centered on the website, www.HolyWeekOfResistance.net, where you’ll find updates and writings about how serious activism is a natural part of Holy Week. They’re using the hashtag, #ReclaimHolyWeek to bring together Christian activists and to spread the activities across the land.

If you find this after Holy Week 2015, it’s full of important information and thinking about how to keep it going for years to come.

In the interview, I quote Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood saying that some of the clergy in Ferguson were playing the role of “Peacekeepers” and deliberately trying to hold people back from militant expression of their anger. Jeff said these things on an this podcast (THE VIOLENCE OF DEMANDING PEACEFUL PROTEST – LDT002). Of course, most of the clergy were there to help the protests be effective and to be a part of the fight for justice. Dozens of clergy, after all, were arrested all over the country, in demonstrations sparked by police killings of unarmed Black men this fall.

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#Church2B #1: an Open Ended Conversation with Rev. Bob Brashear & Rev. Steve Phelps 

Two Presbyterian ministers, in New York City, are the first to engage in this public open-ended conversation on the state and future possibility of The Church. There was no agenda, and really no rules. We had a wide-ranging discussion.

* We talked about mega churches

* The importance of and the over emphasis on community

* We examined how church relates to some of the principles of Liberation Theology

* We even established that the reproductive organ of the church is “The Tongue”

* What is going on with the “Spiritual but Not Religious” (the “Nones”)

* And we even got into a beginning of a discussion about church and empire.

In this round table, we came to no conclusions and solved no problems. We did the important work of exploring these big questions in an open-ended way.

There are lots of very interesting experiments going on right now. Check out previous episodes of Love in a Dangerous Time for interviews about some exciting projects. We’ll have more of these people on the program as we dig deeper into this important and fascinating subject.

 

 

 

 

Check out:

LDT01 – REBOOTING A CHURCH: Rev. Bob Brashear

LDT05 – PLANTING a CHURCH, with Rev. Sarah Buteux & Rev. Anna Woofenden

LDT09 – RADICAL LIVING, REPENTANCE, RESISTANCE, REVOLUTION – A conversation with Jason Storbakken

LDT13 – ECCLESIA MINISTRIES: Bringing Church to the Rejected – A conversation with Fr. Clyde Kuemmerle

LDT14 – THE SIMPLE WAY: a conversation with Shane Claiborne

LDT22 – Rev. Yolanda: We Are Angels

LDT23 – The Hatchery: Common Cause Community – a conversation with Spencer Burke

 

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Here are some links:

Rev. Stephen H. Phelps

http://www.StephenHPhelps.com – Steve’s website. It contains his blog, sermon archive, and most of his writings. You may also see his writings on Huffington Post, TruthOut.com, and Tikkun magazine.

“Shouldn’t We End the “Members Only” Club of Nuclear Arms by Destroying the Weapons?” an interesting article about nuclear weapons and world peace, from BuzzFlash/TruthOut

 

Rev. Robert L. Brashear

http://www.westparkpresbyterian.org/ – West-Park Presbyterian Church in New York.

http://west-parkpress.blogspot.com/ – Bob’s blog for the goings on at the church.

https://www.facebook.com/westparkpresbyterianchurch – West-Park’s Facebook page

 

Some books that were mentioned in the discussion:

(Click here and order through Amazon and Love In A Dangerous Time will receive a comission)

 

 

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Lovers! We have work to do:

At the beginning of Love in a Dangerous Time I used the subtitle, “A conversation about communities of f

aith, and how we change the world.” Full disclosure: that line just popped into my head while I was building my website. It has a nice ring, don’t you think? Now, I’m thinking that it really fits what I’m trying to do with the podcast very well.  Up until now, I’ve been inviting people who are doing experiments with church, some essentially makeovers – making Church more comfortable to people who find the traditional Sunday service hollow and/or tedious – and some who are working at it from a very radical perspective, like church in bars, or intentional communities, including the new monastics. I’ve also talked with some folks who are doing really great justice work, looking at the possible content of the Church that might be.

It’s clear that the standard model of (at least the American) church is crumbling to some extent. Urban churches are big empty buildings; the Catholic Church is shutting down parishes; clergy are less likely to be recognized as leaders in the community. Meanwhile, it does seem that the Black church is not crumbling, at least not as fast as the other European-originated denominations. And Southern anti-knowledge religiosity appears to be strong in its locale.

We expect our kids to go through an “atheist period,” but so many are not coming back to church when they have kids, like they used to. “Spiritual but Not Religious” (the “nones) is the new denomination of choice. It’s fine to listen to many wise and revered teachers (the more the better) but the personal spiritual quest is very individualistic.  What about building community where deep spirituality and communal hope inspires powerful action and a culture of love is incubated and supported?

 #Church2B <– This is a .pdf of these show notes. Email it to a friend. Talk about it with others.

Down to the Nitty Gritty

We need to be asking, “What, if any, is the particular function of religious community?” “What contribution does it make to the overall culture that we really can’t do without?” I think it’s an open question. Do we really need to have religious communities in our culture? What if we didn’t have them? Religion is less and less important in Europe and they seem to be doing ok. Maybe we need to create something new, not just revive the church. Maybe we shouldn’t even call our communities “Church.”

* I know some will disagree, but I see the way we have of expressing our faith (i.e. Church) as something that is anachronistic, misguided, and falling apart. Many churches are the exception to this of course. And some have so much momentum that they probably will go on for a long time. But the long term prognosis is that it’s falling apart.

What we’re missing is the open-ended, open-minded conversations that will take us as close to the roots as possible. If we want to build something new, we have to know why, and look at ways to reach the deepest goals we have. The Emergent movement has been doing this for a number of years, but that conversation seems to be somewhat stalled. If we are to continue being in the world as Christians, we have to dig into some serious issues.

 

Let’s Talk

So now, it’s time to take that conversation to a much deeper level. Starting in a couple of weeks, Love in a Dangerous Time will launch #Church2B, a series within a series (and a hashtag) of open conversations about the current state and the future of our communities of faith. I’ll have two or three guests in each of these episodes, and we’ll have no script. Every time we think we’ve come to a basic understanding, I’ll say,

Spencer Burke

Spencer Burke is a name quite familiar to progressive Christians. For 12 years he headed up the extremely popular website, “The Ooze,” which documented the evolving spirituality of the day.

Beginning this coming September, Spencer is launching The Hatchery LA, a very exciting project that will train and mentor people in the arts of creating new spiritual communities. This isn’t exactly church planting. Many things will stay the same: the focus on Jesus and the commitment to his vision as well as strong communities that will keep people focused ant fulfilled. But the teaching part of what we call Church today will be transformed by a “cause” that fulfills the needs of the greater community. On the website it says,

“We’re a hybrid of both a seminary and an MBA program. We’re holding the tension between the best of non-profit NGOs and the best of what church communities create. We’re blurring the line between ministries and churches. We are at the forefront of the transition from “teaching-centric” to “service-centric” church planting. If this resonates with you, learn more below or contact us soon!”

The Hatchery is a three-year program (plus seven years of mentorship), designed to train Innovators (students) to create service-based Common Cause Communities. Nine Innovators each year will be trained and mentored in the skills and practices needed for this new kind of church. In the second year they will launch their projects in the area of The Hatchery’s campus, Redondo Beach, California, and then they will grow and eventually duplicate the communities across the country.

Spencer has a very exciting vision and it is making a serious contribution to the ongoing conversation about the future of Christianity.

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Some useful links:

Hatchery LA:  http://hatcheryla.com/

This site has info about Hatchery LA, the blog, and the podcast.

Particularly interesting blog posts:

Light of the World in an LED Culture

Are We Training Pastors for Jobs That No Longer Exist?

Evolution of the Church Service

 

The Ooze: http://www.spencerburke.com/theooze/

Twitter – @hatchery_la

Instagram – @hatchery_la

Making Sense of the Church (book)

 

 

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Rev. Yolanda (Roger Anthony Mapes) and his husband, Rev. Glen Ganaway (left)

Rev. Yolanda, aka Roger Antony Mapes, is an ordained interfaith minister whose ministry centers around a very musical and somewhat outrageous drag night club act called “Reverend Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour.” In addition to rousing versions of country gospel and spirituals, she also performs her own songs expressing love and acceptance.

Rev. Yolanda

Yolanda has been a major performer in the gay club scene for decades, but this the “Old Time Gospel Hour” is the center of her ministry, to the gay community and to all who respond to her work. She was a major hit at Wild Goose 2014.

Yolanda says she’s, “where the divine masculine and the divine feminine meet in the arms of love.”

This episode will feature three cuts from Rev. Yolanda’s new album, “Rev. Yolanda’s Country Gospel Kirtan.”

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Here are some links

 

Yolanda’s website:  www.yolanda.net

Yolanda’s Music – Click Here

Info on the upcoming film about Yolanda – www.goYolanda.com

Yolanda, and his husband, Glen’s workshops –  Click Here

Review of a recent (3/12/15) performance by Rev. Yolanda in New York – Click here

 

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With the increasing spread between the rich and the poor, a planet threatened with extinction, and a nation-wide and growing uprising against racism and police impunity, clergy and lay people in most cities are banding together to have more impact on public policy. In New York City, one of the most successful of these coalitions is The Micah Institute, which is under the umbrella of New York Theological Seminary.  Micah also has an academic side which gives Masters Degrees and PhDs through its parent organization, New York Theological Seminary. In fact, NYTS, through Micah, gives the nation’s only doctorate in Social Justice and Faith Rooted Organizing.

Our guest on this episode of Love in a Dangerous Time is Rev. Dr. Peter Heltzel. Peter teaches theology at NYTS and Union Seminary. He’s also an associate pastor at Park Avenue Christian Church and the founder/pastor of an informal church community in New York’s Hamilton Heights community called Freedom Fellowship.

In this episode we’ll talk about community organizing, the role of clergy, and the importance of justice work in church community

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Some useful links:

Peter Heltzel’s website, which includes his bio and information on his 8 books.

Twitter: @PeterHeltzel

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peter.heltzel

New York Theological Seminary

NYTS’s Micah Institute page

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Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood, of Denton, TX is good friend of  Love in a Dangerous Time. Not only is this the second time he’s been

Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood with death row inmate, Will Speer

interviewed on the program, he is the guy who hooked me up with Brandon Roberson (Evangelicals for Marriage Equality – LDT003) and last week’s interview, Justin Hancock (The Julian Way: Disability Theology – LDT017).

Jeff has several projects going, but one that is at the center of his ministry is to work to abolish the death penalty. He blogs about it often, often with profiles of prisoners who are about to be executed. He has developed a personal relationship with Will Speer, a Texas death row inmate.

In this interview, Jeff talks about how he got involved in death penalty work and what the theology is that keeps him at it.   (LDT018)

 

Here are some helpful links:

Follow Jeff on Twitter:  @revjeffhood

On Facebook: Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood

Jeff’s blog:  www.revjeffhood.com

A piece by Will Speer – On the Meaning of Evil

Jeff’s Books

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty – click here

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