New Way

Pastor Zac Morton grew up hanging out among the blackberry brambles of rural West Virginia and Pennsylvania accompanying his grandparents to bluegrass festivals. While they played, he played among the wild earth. He has since returned to the region, where he pastors First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown in West Virginia. 

Part two of this conversation is all about trails: off-trail, on-trail, following a map, getting lost, finding the scenic vista, and - for some of us - wondering why we agreed to hike in the first place. Zac unpacks this hiking metaphor for us and offers some stirring questions as we thoughtfully consider what kind of church and world can emerge in the months and years to come.

Pastor Zac Morton grew up hanging out among the blackberry brambles of rural West Virginia and Pennsylvania accompanying his grandparents to bluegrass festivals. While they played, he played among the wild earth. He has since returned to the region, where he pastors First Presbyterian Church of Morgantown in West Virginia. 

In part one of this two part conversation: catching crayfish, the setting of the empty tomb, and the beauty of the garden. 

Rola Al Ashkar is a pastor and New Worshiping Community leader living in Sacramento, California.

In part two of Sara’s conversation with Rola, she shares the profoundly moving sounds of Holy Week of her homeland; and they wonder together about Jesus on that Holy Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Rola Al Ashkar is a pastor and New Worshiping Community leader living in Sacramento, California.

In part one of Sara’s conversation with Rola, she describes the Holy Week atmosphere of her native Lebanon; sings for us the beautiful chant of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb; and together, they discuss the precious mystery of our faith and imagine what might have happened to Jesus and his followers when resurrection was the furthest thing from their minds.

So Jung Kim is a South Korean theologian who has lived and studied many years in the United States. She is an Associate for Theology for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and hosts the vlog God-talk.

In part two of this two-part conversation, Sara Hayden and So Jung Kim reflect on the psychological and communal consequences of toxic positivity in our God Talk, and how we might consider observing Easter differently this year.

So Jung Kim is a South Korean theologian who has lived and studied many years in the United States. She is an Associate for Theology for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and hosts the vlog God-talk.

In part one of this two-part conversation, Sara Hayden and So Jung Kim reflect on the urgency of God Talk; and the sacred mysteries that unfold when a fourteenth-century French Mystic named Marguerite Porete meets her 21st century soul sister, So Jung Kim.

Theologian and pastor Claudio Carvalhaes is the brilliant liturgical artist and professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He is so full of life, creativity, and love for the world. Being around him is profoundly transformative.

In part two, he and host Sara Hayden talk about prayer as a movement, a rhythm, a force that forms and shapes us and, through us, our communities; what it means to develop a holistic view of the world and all the creatures, great and small, within it; and about praying with worms.

Theologian and pastor Claudio Carvalhaes is the brilliant liturgical artist and professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. He is so full of life, creativity, and love for the world. Being around him is profoundly transformative.

In part one, he and host Sara Hayden examine the way the desert maximizes our own current life predicaments, and how all the spaces in the world that might feel like traps could be doorways into our true selves.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Brown is the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. His books include numerous commentaries on the Psalms and other Old Testament literature. He has an abiding interest in the use of scripture in the life of the church and the world, particularly in the context of ecology and justice.

Listen to part two of the conversation, all about Job, where there is so much to unpack: a calamity, a tidy worldview falling apart, Job’s request for God to stand trial as defendant to Job’s complaint, and the strange creatures God introduces back to Job in response.

The Rev. Dr. Bill Brown is the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary. His books include numerous commentaries on the Psalms and other Old Testament literature. He has an abiding interest in the use of scripture in the life of the church and the world, particularly in the context of ecology and justice.

Listen to part one of the conversation, where host Sara Hayden admits all the things she'd rather pay attention to than God; Bill and Sara talk about how long it takes for God's people to live into God's freedom; and Bill reminds us that the real power of the wisdom corpus lies and its capacity to evoke a sense of wonder.