MennoNerd April Yamaski joins the podcast to talk with host Steve Kimes about her life in pastoral care and continuing ministry in other ways after leaving pastoral ministry. Some topics include:

* The most satisfying part of being a pastor (1:10)

* Any regrets about leaving pastoral ministry (4:40)

* Recommendations on how to leave a church well (7:15): whenyouworkforthechurch.com

* What April is focussing on now (10:50)

* How April disciplines herself in writing (13:19)

* April’s latest book, Four Gifts, and the importance of self-care (19:30)

* A sacred pause and why that is important in self-care (23:25)

* Positive and negative uses of the Internet and social media (27:30)

* Keeping our minds healthy (31:23)

Watch the video embedded below from our YouTube, or listen to the audio embedded below or through your favourite podcast directory.

 

Robert Martin, one of the founders of MennoNerds, returns to the podcast to talk with Steve Kimes. Some of their topics includes:

* Robert’s departure from social media and recent partial return (1:52)* Social media interaction and real interactions (11:05)* Putting up a front or avatar on social who will generate likes and similarities to putting on a persona as a pastor (19:06)* Recapping the story of Heather’s cancer and death (21:53)* How Robert and Heather’s daughters have been processing (33:12)* Pastoral vulnerability, including on social media (34:58)* Where Robert goes for support (39:34)* Practical and emotional support (42:10)* Experiencing stages of grief (44:50)* What kind of media does Robert turn to when he needs a break (48:20)

Watch the video embedded from our YouTube below, or listen to the podcast below or through your favourite podcast directory.

Philip Gulley joins the podcast to discuss his latest book, Unlearning God, with Steve Kimes. The book is described this way:

With his trademark humor and gentle wisdom, Philip Gulley is a spiritual director any wayward pilgrim could warm to. In Unlearning God: HOW UNBELIEVING HELPED ME BELIEVE (Convergent; OSD: 9/25/2018), he invites readers into his own sometimes irreverent, sometimes daunting, but always refreshing journey of soul-deep reconstruction. In addition to lovers of Gulley’s works, this is a book for readers whose faith has been challenged by the world around them. Gulley teaches the reader to let go, or unlearn these burdensome obstacles in their faith so that they can forge a more authentic relationship with God.

Raised in small-town Indiana by a Catholic mother and a Baptist father, and proselytized by Jehovah’s Witness neighbors, young Gulley struggles with the absurdity of all three camps being utterly convinced the other two are doomed. To nearly everyone’s consternation, Phillip grows up to become a Quaker pastor. “Someone else’s faith,” he writes, “is a poor substitute for having our own.” Yet even his own tradition, he discovers, serves best as a way point in the serious, lifelong process of letting go of inherited certainties in order to flourish.

Driven by Gulley’s trademark storytelling and chapters bookmarked by small sections titled “Why this Matters,” Gulley identifies a number of tenants, dogma, and conventions in his religious journey that he has chosen to “unlearn” on his quest for an all-encompassing faith…

Writing in the tradition of Barbara Brown Taylor, Rob Bell and Rachel Held Evans, Gulley showcases his well-loved gift as a narrator of the American religious experience and his acute sensibilities as public theologian in conversations that will charm, provoke, encourage and inspire.

Philip Gulley is a Quaker pastor and popular author and speaker. He has written 21 books, including the Harmony fiction series, the Porch Talk series of inspirational essays, If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person (coauthored with James Mulholland), and The Evolution of Faith: How God Is Creating a Better Christianity. Gulley holds a master of divinity degree from Christian Theological Seminary. He is co-pastor of Fairfield Friends Meeting in Camby, Indiana.

For more information, please visit: https://www.philipgulley.com

Some subtopics covered on the podcast include:

* How Philip sees himself as a writer and folk theologian (1:16)

* Some of Philip’s history in different spiritual communities (4:31)

* The certainty of fundamentalism and how that is not the same thing as faith (13:36)

* Beginning to unlearn a god who is too small (19:45)

* Paths to Hell (23:01)

* Christian cliches we use so often we might think they’re from the Bible:

* Love the sinner, hate the sin (31:50)

* God has a wonderful plan for your life (38:30)

* The sacraments (42:03)

* How to learn more about Quakers, not quite Anabaptists but holding a lot in common (46:59)

Watch from YouTube embedded below, play the audio player embedded below, or play the audio from your favourite podcast directory.

 

Michelle Morrow joins the podcast to talk to Ryan about her own story coming to Anabaptism and her work now with supporting LGBTQ inclusion in the Church. Some questions covered include:

* Michelle’s religious background growing up (0:36)

* Finding her way to Anabaptism at Fresno Pacific University (1:27)

* Transitioning from seeing her future in biblical studies to being in student services and working for LGBTQ inclusion (5:38)

* What working for LGBTQ inclusion looks like for her (16:15)

* How Anabaptism helps inform what Michelle is doing (21:45)

* Whether a church can be loving toward LGBTQ people without being fully affirming (33:30)

* Church Clarity and the push for being clear about what a church practices, whether affirming or not (43:19)

* Practical tips for those wanting to better include LGBTQ people (52:44)

Links:

* Michelle’s website: www.michellefmorrow.com

* Anabaptist Collective Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MennoNerds

* Church Clarity: https://www.churchclarity.org/

Watch the YouTube video embedded below, or listen to the audio either embedded below or in your favourite podcast directory.

Christopher Heuertz joins Steve on the podcast to discuss his book The Sacred Enneagram. The book is described as (via the Gravity Center page):

Move beyond type as mere caricature and learn how to work with the Enneagram for spiritual growth.

Christopher L. Heuertz was first introduced to the Enneagram in the slums of Cambodia. Since then he has trained under some of the great living Enneagram masters including Father Richard Rohr, Russ Hudson, Marion Gilbert, and Helen Palmer, and now teaches the Enneagram in workshops and retreats around the world. Chris is an International Enneagram Association Accredited Professional. He and his wife Phileena live in Omaha with their puppy Basil, and you can join him on Facebook and Twitter in his intentions to love on the margins.

Topics covered in this episode include:

* Richard Rohr’s impact on Chris (1:17)

* Introducing the theme of the book: finding your true self (5:00)

* Introducing the Enneagram itself, not just another personality test to put you in a box (13:49)

* Steve’s Enneagram type, Chris’ Enneagram type, and the centers of the Enneagram (24:17)

* How to best find out your type, the dangers of typing others, and the ease of being mistyped (33:14)

* Contemplative prayer and how that works together with the Enneagram (50:46)

Watch embedded from YouTube below, or listen to the audio podcast through the player embedded below or through any of the podcast directories.

Austin Channing joins the podcast to be interviewed by Katelin Hansen about her new book, I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness. Some of the topics covered include:

* Background for the book (1:38)

* Stories from Austin’s experiences in primarily white Christian spaces (4:25)

* The intersection of Christianity and white supremacy (20:00)

* The readership of the book being broader than anticipated and the pervasiveness of racism across different evolving systems over time (36:35)

(This interview was much more of a back and forth conversation naturally flowing from one idea to the next than most, so separating them into distinct topics was not nearly as easy)

Watch from our YouTube page embedded below, or listen through the audio link or through your favourite podcast directory.

Shelley Campagnola from Mennonite Coalition for Refugee Support joins the podcast to talk about their work and the current state of refugee acceptance in Canada and the United States. For more on MCRS, visit mcrs.ca.

Topics include:

* How MCRS supports refugee claimants and why these claimants are seeking help (1:15)

* The Mennonite roots of MCRS (4:06)

* Other help for refugees in the Kitchener-Waterloo area (5:30)

* The Christian/biblical basis for helping refugees (7:45)

* The general process for a refugee in Canada (10:12)

* Main differences between Canada and the U.S. and how they welcome refugees (20:40)

* The length of the refugee claim process (25:12)

* The safe third country agreement and how that impacts refugees to Canada and the U.S. (27:31)

* Increasing fear of the “other”, including refugees, in North America (31:26)

* How to help MCRS in their work (44:26)

Watch from YouTube embedded below, or listen to the audio podcast embedded below or through most podcast directories.

Ebony and Steve return for one more episode of Black Gal, White Guy to say farewell to the show as they move on to focus on other things. Some of the topics include:

* Steve’s recommendation: the podcast VS. (1:38)

* Ebony’s recommendation: Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown (3:55)

* Ebony and the Kinky Curly Theological Collective (8:20)

* Steve and Village of Hope leaving Portland (14:45)

* Ebony’s concerns (23:55)

* Steve giving space for other voices (27:50)

* Ebony’s parting words for listeners (31:25)

* Steve’s parting words for listeners (35:15)

Note: they did actually record this a while ago and I (Ryan, the editor and distributor) did not realize it until recently – I had stopped regularly checking after they told me they were wrapping up, so I didn’t realize they had recorded one more episode a few weeks later. Oops.

Watch from YouTube embedded below, or listen to the podcast through the play bar below or through your favourite podcast app.

 

Ebony and Steve return for an episode of Black Gal, White Guy where they talk about Ebony’s recent work with the Kinky Curly Theological Collective. Topics today include:

* Ebony’s recommendations: Black Panther (2018) and A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer (0:54)

* Steve’s recommendations: I Am Not Your Negro (2016) and A Time for Burning (1967) (3:21)

* An update from Steve on the Village of Hope (6:27)

* Introducing the Kinky Curly Theological Collective and why it is necessary (9:19)

* Creating a context where women and people of color can safely speak up (18:51)

* What about unity when only some voices are speaking in KCTC? (27:08)

* The technology behind KCTC: face-to-face meetings in Minnesota (34:34)

Watch from our YouTube channel embedded below, or listen through the audio embedded below or on one of the podcast directories listed below.