Myers Park Baptist Church: Theology Upstream Podcasts

In this final episode on Making Room we explore ways that we can begin to create for ourselves a rhythm of hospitality.  Beginning with gratitude, recognizing the culture of busy-ness, and continuing to share the stories of hospitality are three ways that we can resist mainstream culture that keeps us separated, blind, and estranged from one another.  Additionally, we have to recognize that we cannot host every stranger all the time.  We are humans and we need time for rest and renewal.   If we can structure our lives around these principles, we can begin to incorporate sacred hospitality into every area of life: in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches, in our workplaces, and yes, even in our politics.   Considering these final two chapters (8 & 9), we saw many opportunities for overlap in our own lives and in the congregation we serve, Myers Park Baptist.  Through our tactics on small groups and the Awakening to Immigrant Injustice series, we are already beginning to break down barriers that have been built over time.  How will you begin breaking down those barriers?  How is God calling you to do the next small thing to become more hospitable?  We’d love to know your thoughts! We hope you enjoy this last episode!  Stay tuned for our new series on Brene Brown’s newest book, Braving the Wilderness.  In-person small groups are welcoming new members now for this book study.  Check out the options here:  https://myersparkbaptist.org/event/braving-the-wilderness-group/

In this final episode on Making Room we explore ways that we can begin to create for ourselves a rhythm of hospitality.  Beginning with gratitude, recognizing the culture of busy-ness, and continuing to share the stories of hospitality are three ways that we can resist mainstream culture that keeps us separated, blind, and estranged from one another.  Additionally, we have to recognize that we cannot host every stranger all the time.  We are humans and we need time for rest and renewal.   If we can structure our lives around these principles, we can begin to incorporate sacred hospitality into every area of life: in our hearts, in our homes, in our churches, in our workplaces, and yes, even in our politics.   Considering these final two chapters (8 & 9), we saw many opportunities for overlap in our own lives and in the congregation we serve, Myers Park Baptist.  Through our tactics on small groups and the Awakening to Immigrant Injustice series, we are already beginning to break down barriers that have been built over time.  How will you begin breaking down those barriers?  How is God calling you to do the next small thing to become more hospitable?  We’d love to know your thoughts! We hope you enjoy this last episode!  Stay tuned for our new series on Brene Brown’s newest book, Braving the Wilderness.  In-person small groups are welcoming new members now for this book study.  Check out the options here:  https://myersparkbaptist.org/event/braving-the-wilderness-group/

Welcome back after a couple of weeks off for Christmas and New Years travel!  Did you all put your hospitality to the test in this season?  If so, we want to know all about it!  Add your story in the comments section!In this episode we’re doing a few things new. First, we’ve invited a guest to be on the podcast (isn’t that hospitable of us?).  His name is Daniel and he’s a new member at MPBC.   Next, we’ve moved into the realm of Disney Theme Songs with our musical selection.  To all of you who followed simply for the classic rock and grunge, I’m sorry.  To all those parents out there who have forgotten what decent music sounds like… this one is for you!  Really, though, I can’t believe we hadn’t thought about this song for our musical introduction yet!  Thanks Daniel for helping out with that one! And finally, we’re in a new section of the book called “Recovering the Practice.”  So we’re moving from history and information to practical stuff.  How do we begin to do this thing called hospitality?  Where are the limits and tensions?  In this episode, focusing on Chapter 7, we talk about tensions between scarcity and abundance, holy possibility and human limitation, arrogance and humility.  It’s clearly a jam-packed conversation.  As you listen and reflect on your own work with this chapter, consider what your own limits and boundaries might currently be.  How is God calling you to stretch those places and lean into something a little more vulnerable… a little more risky… and a little more welcoming?

Welcome back after a couple of weeks off for Christmas and New Years travel!  Did you all put your hospitality to the test in this season?  If so, we want to know all about it!  Add your story in the comments section!In this episode we’re doing a few things new. First, we’ve invited a guest to be on the podcast (isn’t that hospitable of us?).  His name is Daniel and he’s a new member at MPBC.   Next, we’ve moved into the realm of Disney Theme Songs with our musical selection.  To all of you who followed simply for the classic rock and grunge, I’m sorry.  To all those parents out there who have forgotten what decent music sounds like… this one is for you!  Really, though, I can’t believe we hadn’t thought about this song for our musical introduction yet!  Thanks Daniel for helping out with that one! And finally, we’re in a new section of the book called “Recovering the Practice.”  So we’re moving from history and information to practical stuff.  How do we begin to do this thing called hospitality?  Where are the limits and tensions?  In this episode, focusing on Chapter 7, we talk about tensions between scarcity and abundance, holy possibility and human limitation, arrogance and humility.  It’s clearly a jam-packed conversation.  As you listen and reflect on your own work with this chapter, consider what your own limits and boundaries might currently be.  How is God calling you to stretch those places and lean into something a little more vulnerable… a little more risky… and a little more welcoming?

In Chapter 6, we move toward the margins.  Pohl brings us up to speed on the historical migration of Christian practice from the margins, where it emerged, to the center – thank you Constantine!  While the normalization of Christian practice is more complex than one post, one podcast, or one chapter can cover, Pohl helps us understand why the practice of sacred hospitality becomes more difficult when the practitioners are connected with social, political, and economic power.  In this chapter, we meet some model citizens who have used their social locations, their wealth, and their access to resources as a means of moving further into the margins and welcoming all kinds of strangers in the spirit of faithful hospitality.  Some of the most notable are Fabiola, Olympias, and a name more familiar to most of us… Dorothy Day.  Each of these faithful women took their own economic securities and used them to offer “home” to strangers, refugees, and anyone who came seeking welcome.  Their incredible stories cause us to wonder how we might use our lives and our resources to expand our welcome as a congregation and as individuals.  What resources do we have that we might use to love and welcome strangers in need of refuge? One additional (and necessary) piece of the chapter is that Pohl reminds us of the necessity to become marginal.  A host cannot fully welcome another I the host is unfamiliar with marginality.  Do you have any experiences of marginality or exclusion that might help you better host others?  To harken back to the previous chapter… How might we become “bridge people” who understand both the world of power and the world of disempowerment?  Connectivity and disconnection?  Centrality and marginality?  Participation and exclusion?

In Chapter 6, we move toward the margins.  Pohl brings us up to speed on the historical migration of Christian practice from the margins, where it emerged, to the center – thank you Constantine!  While the normalization of Christian practice is more complex than one post, one podcast, or one chapter can cover, Pohl helps us understand why the practice of sacred hospitality becomes more difficult when the practitioners are connected with social, political, and economic power.  In this chapter, we meet some model citizens who have used their social locations, their wealth, and their access to resources as a means of moving further into the margins and welcoming all kinds of strangers in the spirit of faithful hospitality.  Some of the most notable are Fabiola, Olympias, and a name more familiar to most of us… Dorothy Day.  Each of these faithful women took their own economic securities and used them to offer “home” to strangers, refugees, and anyone who came seeking welcome.  Their incredible stories cause us to wonder how we might use our lives and our resources to expand our welcome as a congregation and as individuals.  What resources do we have that we might use to love and welcome strangers in need of refuge? One additional (and necessary) piece of the chapter is that Pohl reminds us of the necessity to become marginal.  A host cannot fully welcome another I the host is unfamiliar with marginality.  Do you have any experiences of marginality or exclusion that might help you better host others?  To harken back to the previous chapter… How might we become “bridge people” who understand both the world of power and the world of disempowerment?  Connectivity and disconnection?  Centrality and marginality?  Participation and exclusion?

Who or what is a stranger?  In this chapter (5) Pohl defines “stranger” and then helps us understand different kinds of strangers. The chapter is a beautifully written piece that calls us to consider all types of outsiders and in that understanding, to begin to break down the magnitude of risk and vulnerability that keeps so many of us paralyzed when we think about becoming hosts… welcoming strangers.  The best part of the chapter, for me (Chrissy), is on the last page when Pohl reminds us that as we practice hospitality, we may start small, but our embrace of others will grow wider and wider.  We don’t have to do the hardest thing first!  But we do need to do something soon!​What will you do?

Who or what is a stranger?  In this chapter (5) Pohl defines “stranger” and then helps us understand different kinds of strangers. The chapter is a beautifully written piece that calls us to consider all types of outsiders and in that understanding, to begin to break down the magnitude of risk and vulnerability that keeps so many of us paralyzed when we think about becoming hosts… welcoming strangers.  The best part of the chapter, for me (Chrissy), is on the last page when Pohl reminds us that as we practice hospitality, we may start small, but our embrace of others will grow wider and wider.  We don’t have to do the hardest thing first!  But we do need to do something soon!​What will you do?

How’s everyone enjoying the book / study guide / podcast so far?  We’ve been hearing from a few of you and are so encouraged by your thoughts and comments – Keep them coming! This week is one of the best so far… in my opinion.  Pohl gets into some really interesting content about hospitality as resistance.  In this fourth chapter of the book She explains the importance of recognition, resect, and dignity as critical components of hospitality as a spiritual practice rather than an act of charity.  The chapter really gets good in the second half when Pohl names the “tensions” within the practice.  Some of those are things like: hospitality and human rights, hospitality and the deserving/undeserving, hospitality and security, and the problems with associating hospitality with belief.  This chapter was so good that we just couldn’t stop talking about it (which is why this episode is nearly 57 minutes long!).  At the end, we find ourselves wrestling with questions like these:  1- What are some of the barriers that are currently in place that keep some populations invisible?2- What is the difference between helping people and sharing our lives with them?3- What do meals mean in your household?  In your church?4- How do you feel about encountering God and knowing that you will be held accountable for the ways you have responded to strangers?Listen in as we discuss this chapter; and don’t forget to tell us what you’re thinking as you participate in the study!

How’s everyone enjoying the book / study guide / podcast so far?  We’ve been hearing from a few of you and are so encouraged by your thoughts and comments – Keep them coming! This week is one of the best so far… in my opinion.  Pohl gets into some really interesting content about hospitality as resistance.  In this fourth chapter of the book She explains the importance of recognition, resect, and dignity as critical components of hospitality as a spiritual practice rather than an act of charity.  The chapter really gets good in the second half when Pohl names the “tensions” within the practice.  Some of those are things like: hospitality and human rights, hospitality and the deserving/undeserving, hospitality and security, and the problems with associating hospitality with belief.  This chapter was so good that we just couldn’t stop talking about it (which is why this episode is nearly 57 minutes long!).  At the end, we find ourselves wrestling with questions like these:  1- What are some of the barriers that are currently in place that keep some populations invisible?2- What is the difference between helping people and sharing our lives with them?3- What do meals mean in your household?  In your church?4- How do you feel about encountering God and knowing that you will be held accountable for the ways you have responded to strangers?Listen in as we discuss this chapter; and don’t forget to tell us what you’re thinking as you participate in the study!