Andrew Grant-Thomas is the co-founder, along with his partner, Melissa Giraud, of the organization, Embrace Race. Their vision is to help provide parents resources to talk about race with their kids, and their website is chock full of wonderful resources, please be sure to check it out.

Melissa Greene is a musician, most notably a member of the Christian group, Avalon, from the years 2002-2009, bringing us lots of hit songs. She served as a pastor at Grace Pointe in Tennessee, which is known for its progressive positions, including being LGBTQ affirming. And just recently, she has left that position and are now the founder, alongside Anna Skates, of the intentional community Imaginarium. Melissa is married and the mother of two children.

This show addresses some common fears and anxieties of those who are parenting with shifting faith. I am on a mission to convince parents that although it may not be the easy path, parenting with shifting faith actually gives us an advantage in parenting, especially in these unstable times of massive faith changes in the larger climate.

This is a special episode of Parenting Forward where I get to feature my own son, Hayden Brandt, who is 12 years old at this time of recording. I *obviously* love him but I also think you will too because he is articulate and fun and really quite emotionally intelligent. In this episode I ask him to share some light hearted things like what he does for fun as well as serious issues like justice and his struggle with anxiety. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

By far, one of the most damaging doctrines to children is the Original Sin doctrine, and I try to advocate against it as much as possible. Thankfully, I can point people towards Danielle Shroyer’s work on this subject, how to view the Garden story, what Jesus atonement means, etc. if we were to do away with the Original Sin. I learned a ton, and I hope you do too!

Bruce Reyes Chow is someone I have followed for a long time. I have him on today to discuss his parenting book that he co-wrote with his wife, called Rule #2: Don’t be an Asshat. This interview moves along very quickly as we discuss a smattering of the rules in his book, some serious, and some are just fun life hacks! 

I have a special note at the end of this episode about where we land on the faith spectrum, what voices are welcome, and which ones are not so much.

There were so many things I could’ve interviewed Kay about, she is such a treasure trove of wisdom, but I know boundaries, especially for those of us who grew up without them, is so helpful and can literally be life-changing. In this episode, I ask Kay to share about boundaries, how to become aware of them, how to set them with our parents, and how to raise our children with healthy boundaries. 

Links (affiliates included):

Kay Bruner Website

I always learn so much when I talk to Melvin Bray, he’s brilliant and kind and resourceful. I ask him to tell us about the COMPOST acronym which helps us determine whether a story is worth telling:



Confess more than prescribe

Opposing forces in dynamic with each other

Meekness to admit other interpretations

Pose more questions than answers

Others-interestedness

Susceptibility to harm

Tradition as a living word - God is still speaking

In this episode I invite Dr. Daniel Kirk onto the show as my co-host to introduce the five pillars of Parenting Forward. They are:

Fluidity of Faith

Egalitarianism vs. Hierarchy

Activism for equality

Connection over boundaries

Learning to REIMAGINE stories

Links (affiliate links included):

Daniel Kirk Twitter

Jesus have I Loved but Paul

A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels

Captain Fantastic

John Steinbeck books

Faith Forward

Raising Children Unfundamentalist

This is our pilot episode to introduce Parenting Forward, the new podcast exploring the intersection of parenting and progressive faith. I share a little bit of my own story, introduce some of the conversations we’ll host, and say hi to the world in podcast format. 

I’m so excited about this new adventure, and hope you’ll subscribe and follow for thoughtful and helpful conversations to help you parent!