Queer Theology

Last week we talked all about harm reduction. But we don’t want you to just go from hurting to numb- we want you to get you all the way to thriving! And for this you really gotta lean in and parse out what exactly you want, what exactly you are feeling. Previous faith communities might have made you feel isolated and alone, but there may also have been moments of joy and love. What are those things? Can you name them and bring them out? It’s so important to recognize the nuance and how the places we came from that might have hurt us, can be complicated and multifaceted. You can reclaim some of that joy while also keeping strong boundaries in place. And, while we are talking about religion or churches that might have caused harm, this can be a really healthy practice you can apply beyond rebuilding a spiritual home. 

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Rituals for Resistance & Resilience

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post Tools For Rebuilding A Spiritual Home appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re getting into our feelings in this episode talking about that sense of homesickness for a place/home/church you can’t go back to. A place that might have caused you harm, a place you are still healing from. And this is a great reminder that no matter how much you are thriving, there might still be some hurt that you are harboring or wounds that need to be healed. Are you healed from the places that hurt you? What ARE those feelings that come up for you when you hear or think about a former faith home or family? We have some tips on how to figure out where you are at in this healing journey and where to start if you are still activated by your former faith life. Because your feelings are valid- but you deserve to thrive! 

Click here for the Feelings List

Join the community at Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy

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One thing we often hear is that people are so overwhelmed they can’t possibly start making changes or living their authentic life right now. But that is often EXACTLY the time to start! We’re not talking about doing something rash or unsafe, but taking one small first step. Sometimes you might not know what the next steps will be until you take that first step! 

In this episode, we talk about how to notice if “not the right time” is “exactly the right time.” We got some questions to help you determine if now is the time to begin the move from surviving to thriving and we’re here to support you in all this. It can be scary to start, but it is SO worth it. We’re encouraging you to take that bold, brave, baby step into growth! 

We put together a checklist of a few different exercises you could try out — that all take less than 5 minutes — and it’s available to Patreon supporters and Sanctuary Collective members. If you’re not already a member, you can sign up at Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

The post Moving From Surviving to Thriving appeared first on Queer Theology.

As we head into the new season we are reflecting and setting intentions for the fall. Maybe it’s the years we spent in school, but September just kinda always feels like the beginning of the year in a way!

This summer we hosted a bunch of amazing guests, we held the Queerness Every Day Challenge, and we kicked off a cohort of Flip Your Faith. One of the things that we continually notice is how often people feel they are alone. Alone in a journey, alone in deconstruction, alone in their questions. And when they find that they are not alone, that there are others going through a similar journey, it is a transformative experience of community building! So we encourage you to set some intentions with us and start something small that will lead to a much bigger goal or practice. 

Add your name to our email list at queertheology.com 

Have a question for us? Send a voicemail or text at (240)200-0922

Add your name to the waitlist for the next cohort of Flip Your Faith: queertheology.com/waitlist 

Send us an email at [email protected]

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Photo by Ece AK from Pexels

The post Start Small… but Start appeared first on Queer Theology.

For the final episode of our Summer Guest Series we are joined by Cindy Wang Brandt. Cindy describes herself as ‘someone who wants to find interesting things and do them’ and, as we found in this interview, she definitely does that and has so much wisdom from her experiences!

Cindy Wang Brandt is an author, podcaster, and speaker. She hosts conferences and communities that help parents heal from religious trauma to raise children with healthy spirituality.

We discuss how religious trauma shows up and how it can be defined. We unpack what it means to go forward with healthy spirituality and parent in a way that is not harmful. Cindy talks about deconstructing and setting boundaries after leaving the evangelical church and how that has made her a more gentle parent to the child within herself, and to her own children. We often get questions about parenting and it is a real pleasure to get some expert advice and wisdom from Cindy. This is for parents, the children of parents, and those who are thinking of the possibility of being a parent- everyone!

Resources:

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post Recovering from Religious Trauma with Cindy Wang Brandt appeared first on Queer Theology.

Candice Marie Benbow is on the podcast this week talking about growing up in the Black Baptist Church, Red Lip Theology, and the beauty of faith in marginalized folks.  

Candice is a multi-genre theologian who situates her work at the intersections of beauty, faith, feminism and culture, giving voice to Black women’s shared experiences of healing and journeying toward wholeness. Reimagining how faith can be a tool of liberation and transformation for women and girls, she challenges Black women to think critically about how they see God, themselves and the world. She is the author of “Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough”.

Candice is all about seeing God as so much bigger than the small God we were taught. How some churches need better doctrine, need better theology, and to stop preaching a faith that continues divisions. Her messages about inclusivity and critical questions are inspiring and beautiful!

Resources:

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post Red Lip Theology with Candice Benbow appeared first on Queer Theology.

We are talking with Candace Simpson on this episode of our Guest Series about a God who gives a damn with no room for cheap, easy theology! 

Candace (she/they) is a sister, educator and preacher. She went to Trinity College and Union Theological Seminary and served as site coordinator for the Concord Freedom School for several years. It is their joy to design immersive participatory experiences where people can “be responsible for their own learning.” She is one of the associate ministers at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. Most recently, Minister Simpson served on a team of Faith and Justice Educators at a faith-based non-profit. She’s most interested in the possibilities (and limits) of Christian Education infrastructure as a form of political education.

We are loving this conversation about finding queerness in the Bible and using that to connect with faith in really beautiful ways. Candace talks about what keeps them Christian, sleep as spiritual practice, and the existential anxiety that comes with facing a world that can’t seem to recognize how close the possibility is of heaven on Earth. In her words, “Heaven is a revolution that must begin here on Earth.” I mean.. SO MUCH YES!!

Resources:

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post A God Who Gives A Damn with Candace Simpson appeared first on Queer Theology.

It is such a privilege to have Bishop Karen Oliveto on the podcast for this guest series episode. She describes herself as a pastor, preacher, teacher, and activist who works with diverse communities to change the world through her work as a Bishop in the United Methodist Church and we think adding ‘cultivator of joy’ to that list is also appropriate!

Bishop Oliveto was consecrated as a bishop of The United Methodist Church and assigned to the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area, which includes 355 congregations in Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and a small section of Idaho. She is the first woman to serve as senior pastor of one of The United Methodist Church’s 100 largest congregations. Bishop Oliveto has the distinction of being the first openly lesbian bishop in The United Methodist Church and is the co-author of Talking About Homosexuality: A Congregational Resource, as well as the author of Our Strangely Warmed Hearts: Coming Out into God’s Call and Together at the Table: Diversity without Division in The United Methodist Church. 

Bishop Oliveto talks about how she was called to ministry at a young age, despite growing up in a home with an atheist father. She reminds us how far we’ve come, but how important it is to stay vigilant in the face of injustice. We are so here for her words of wisdom on love, community, queer sacred spirituality, and – that common theme in this episode!- JOY!  

Resources:

Social: Twitter: @BishopOliveto Facebook: facebook.com/BishopOliveto/ Instagram: bishopkarenoliveto

Bishop Karen Oliveto at the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

Books: Our Strangely Warmed Hearts, Together at the Table, by Karen P. Oliveto. Talking About Homosexuality: A Congregational Resource by Karen Oliveto, Traci C. West, and Kelly D. Turney

Somebody Somewhere podcast episode with Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen 

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post Cultivating Joy with Bishop Karen Oliveto appeared first on Queer Theology.

It. Is. HERE! Y’all, we are at our 500th podcast episode and it just so happens to also coincide with our 10 year anniversary of Queertheology.com! (a whole decade!! ) Over the last couple months we’ve been anticipating this as a pretty incredible milestone and we’re so excited to celebrate 500 episodes of queer joy, queer spirituality, and community!

For this episode, we reflect on what life was like a decade ago, what it is like now, and our hopes for the next 10 years. We’ve got some of our friends joining us to share their experiences too, you might recognize some of their voices as past guests on the podcast. We hope you’ll join us in looking back at the progress we’ve made, celebrating where we are at, and joining us in the work that’ll shape the next decade!

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post 10 Years and 500 Episodes appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re so excited to invite y’all to join us for our Queerness Everyday Challenge! It’s a big ol’ celebration of queerness and the sacred, of community and finding more queer joy, of recognizing queerness in yourself whether you are just starting your journey or have been out and proud for a long time. We’re inviting EVERYONE to join in this fun challenge of finding more queerness between your faith life and spirituality. What are you waiting for? Join us!!

Join the Queerness Everyday Challenge: https://www.queertheology.com/challenge/ 

Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. 

If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The post Bonus Episode: Queerness Everyday Challenge appeared first on Queer Theology.