In this episode, we have a conversation with YouTuber Mary Clare Kunkel, whose channel “Faith Evolving” (not to be confused with the Evolving Faith Conference!) has A+ content for Christians seeking faith in their evolving contexts. Mary Clare talks about her ecumenical faith background in the United Methodist, Catholic, and Lutheran churches, and what she’s learned about spirituality through them (she also touches on the few times she’s had brushes with evangelical culture), and how she came to terms with her queerness. We nerd out about the Bible, talk about how faith is found in the asking of questions, not in the certainty of answers, and we discuss how Tumblr actually introduced all of us to a lot of things re: gender, sexuality, and social justice! Mary Clare also shares about her seminary experience, particularly from her perspective as someone who doesn’t feel called to ordained/pastor ministry.

You can find Mary Clare on her YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/c/FaithEvolving and her merch here: https://www.bonfire.com/store/faith-evolving-store/. You can also find her on Instagram @faithevolvingproject and on Twitter @maryclarekunkel.

The book April mentions on church history is A Nearly Infallible History of Christianity by Nick Page.

If you want to learn more about Mary Clare's fave nun, here's a Britannica article on St. Hildegard of Bingen: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saint-Hildegard

We have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, because Jan. 6th marked one year since the violent insurrection at the Capitol building, we discuss the systems of oppression that were on full display at the event, as well as other parts of history where that same “Christian” violence, white supremacy, and nationalism were in full force, and how these systems are embedded into every aspect of our society. We talk about the Puritans and the myth that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation,” the real origins of the “pro-life” movement (really, it was a cover for opposition to racial integration in schools), and the various groups of people involved in the Jan. 6th insurrection, the religious symbols they donned and the prayers they prayed. We also discuss the ways that we can resist these unjust systems, starting with our interpersonal relationships and our vote. There are a loooot of resources we mention in this episode (and some we found in our research that we forgot to mention!), so be sure to check out the links below to learn more!

Resources:

Book: Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

Christian fascism wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fascism 

https://www.christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org/ 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/opinion/christian-nationalists-capitol-attack.html 

Post by Lisa Sharon Harper on Rachel Held Evans' blog: https://rachelheldevans.com/blog/the-other-lie-lisa-sharon-harper-ferguson# 

https://uncivilreligion.org/home/index 

https://religionnews.com/2022/01/05/violence-isnt-the-only-way-christian-nationalism-endangers-democracy/ 

Literally any episode of the Straight White American Jesus podcast–look for episode titles that mention Christian Nationalism or the series this month, Jan. 6th One Year Later

The Exvangelical Podcast interview with Anthea Butler, author of “White Evangelical Racism” (https://bookshop.org/books/white-evangelical-racism-the-politics-of-morality-in-america/9781469661179), would also recommend his interview with Pastor Lenny Duncan. Interview with Anthea Butler here: https://www.exvangelicalpodcast.com/white-evangelical-racism-with-dr-anthea-butler/

https://religionnews.com/2022/01/06/jan-6-a-timeline-in-prayers/ 

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/religious-right-real-origins-107133/ 

https://religionnews.com/2021/09/16/survey-white-evangelicals-to-falsely-blame-left-wing-activists-for-insurrection/ 

https://religionnews.com/2021/02/25/the-insurrectionists-senate-floor-prayer-highlights-a-curious-trumpian-ecumenism/ 

https://religionnews.com/2021/01/12/the-faith-of-the-insurrectionists/ 

https://time.com/6132591/january-6th-christian-nationalism/ 

Book: Forgive Us: Confessions of a Compromised Faith by Troy Jackson, Lisa Sharon Harper, Mae Elise Cannon, Soong-Chan Rah. https://bookshop.org/books/forgive-us-confessions-of-a-compromised-faith/9780310515968

Jo Luehmann on social media @JoLuehmann

We have merch! Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

We’re ending this year with a lovely conversation with our pals from the Couch Communion Podcast, Sara Kaufmann and Jordyn Manczyk! We also have an episode we did with them over on their podcast where we played Bible and Christmas Jeopardy, so go check that out!

In this episode, we reflect on what happened in the Christian faith/religion and the exvangelical/deconstruction spheres this year. We actually start off by discussing how those two words–exvangelical and deconstruction–are becoming more mainstream, how the stories of exvangelicals are gaining attention from media outlets and more prevalence on social media, and in turn are receiving more backlash from the evangelical establishment (The Gospel Coalition, John Piper, Christianity Today), which in turn creates some lovely clapbacks from exvies. We also discuss some of the worst showings of the rotten fruit of evangelicalism this year–the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6th and its connection with white evangelical movements (theocracy and white supremacy has always been the end goal of white evangelical politics), and the sexual abusers Ravi Zacharias and Josh Duggar. Another thread is April talking about some things she learned while reading through Rachel Held Evans’ blog posts this year (she’s trying to read through every single one and has not finished yet). And, of course, we share the origin stories of our podcasts, since we both launched our podcasts this year at around the same time!

You can find Couch Communion anywhere you listen to podcasts, and on Twitter and Instagram @CouchCommunion.

Did you know that we launched merch? Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Resources:

Rachel Held Evans' Blog: https://rachelheldevans.com/archives

Exvangelical Wikipedia Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exvangelical

Letter from the International Board of Directors of Ravi Zacharias Ministries: https://rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/board-statement.html

For more information on Josh Duggar and his court case, we recommend watching YouTuber Fundie Fridays' videos on the subject.

Here's a sampling of articles from this year related to exvangelicals/deconstruction, and no I am not sharing the articles from Christianity Today or The Gospel Coalition, they don't need more clicks:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/12/us/abraham-piper-tiktok-exvangelical.html

https://www.yahoo.com/now/exvangelicals-breaking-away-spreading-gospel-110037953.html

https://newrepublic.com/article/161772/can-religion-give-ptsd

https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/syndicated/exvangelicals-growing-movement-rejecting-conservative-faiths-rigid-political-ideology/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/akdbee/what-its-like-to-leave-the-evangelical-community-exvangelicals

https://religionnews.com/2021/08/28/evangelicals-youre-still-not-really-listening-to-what-exvangelicals-are-saying/

https://religiondispatches.org/evangelicals-in-moral-panic-over-exvangelicals/

https://www.axios.com/evangelical-exvangelicals-church-religion-christianity-100fc653-ef8f-4966-9653-6395cd30fb97.html

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

This is part two of two episodes about our church experiences. In this episode, we start by briefly touching on two elements of our church adolescence we didn’t get to in the first episode (and even as April types this, she can think of so many more memories she didn’t get to; but they’re bound to come up in other episodes)--experiences around the themes of missionary and martyrdom aspirations. We then go into how our feelings re: church shifted as we started to doubt the faith we had been taught growing up, our meandering church searches as we tried to find belonging in the midst of pain and disillusionment, and the joy and love we have experienced in the various new ways we’ve found church (baptism, liturgy, confirmation, affirming church ladies, and online community).

I feel like we mention QCF (Q Christian Fellowship) every episode, but here’s their website if you want to check it out. They facilitate online community groups, provide affirming resources, and host conferences (Anna will be at their conference in January!):https://www.qchristian.org/ If you want to search for an affirming church in your area (or find one to stream online) good places to start are https://www.churchclarity.org/ and https://www.gaychurch.org/

Did you know that we launched merch? Get your Bible Dyke Energy Tee or mug here: https://reclaiming-the-garden.creator-spring.com/

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter, and Reclaiming the Garden on Facebook. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, we have a conversation with our wonderfully queer friend Nathan Daniel Cromwell! He discusses his faith background, wild stories from when he served in Australia and Indonesia through the evangelical org Youth with a Mission, his shift towards agnosticism (though he has no doubt in his mind that he’s got some guardian angels), and how he came to terms with being trans.

You can find Nathan on his personal Instagram @naetertot_ and his modeling Instagram @naetertotshots.

Here’s where you can buy the lovely shirt Nathan was wearing during the interview (a tee that says “Bottoms and Tops We All Hate Cops”): https://badnewswares.com/products/bottoms-and-tops-we-all-hate-cops-shirt?fbclid=IwAR3WgCJtbXH3cR3iijGuTNqO1TxNCow7a9hkst7jc0o-t6D2JiIxtiXRplc

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

This is part one of two episodes about our church experiences. In this episode we focus on children’s church, youth group, and church camp, and the next episode will be about church in the midst of the deconstruction and reconstruction of our faith (though in the next episode we’ll still have a few things from youth group and church camp to bring up, there’s so much to talk about!). We talk about the programming in children’s church (Veggie Tales, 3-2-1 Penguins, and the lesser known but honestly weirder set of DVDS called Kidmo), our trying to fit into our youth groups and church camps, and also about some of the shenanigans that went on there (lots of fun games and not-so-fun purity culture and worship leaders trying way too hard). Ultimately, although we had some fun times and we made some friends, our feelings re: our church upbringings are very complicated.

If anyone else in the world, like April, grew up watching Kidmo on Sundays in children's church, let us know! You can find a lot of clips from Kidmo on YouTube (though if you search for that word the first thing to come up are videos in Japanese; scroll down and you’ll get to things like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inNlRKUx0Lk).

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, we have a conversation with the awesome queer couple Angel and Nicole Morris! They discuss their winding journeys of faith, the challenges they faced when coming out at a Christian university, and the spiritual practices that they’ve discovered and found meaningful as they now find themselves no longer identifying as Christians. We also talk about how embodiment is really important, and that listening to your body (look up the work of Jamie Lee Finch, and April also talks in the episode about what this looks like for her) is an important spiritual practice that had been denied to us in the churches we spent our teenage years in.

You can find Angel on Insta, TikTok, and Twitter @canklemorris (which, we found out on the podcast, is a reference to a high school nickname) and you can find Nicole on Instagram @coliejean. You should also check out The Voyage Meetup, @thevoyagemeetup on Insta--it’s an awesome group for LGBTQ+ people of faith, where April has met so many amazing people, including Angel and Nicole! The Voyage meets on Zoom (info in Insta bio) the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 6PM Pacific Time.

There weren’t really any specific resources mentioned in this episode but I’ll just echo here what Nicole said about looking into witchy spiritual practices: make sure you are not culturally appropriating from anyone, do your research around what is open to be shared (such as tarot cards) and what is not.

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

The beasts in the book of Revelation are scary...but what’s even more terrifying are the oppressive, violent, greedy empires they represent (and in which all of us are complicit). In this episode, we get down and dirty and nerdy with scripture as we break down the misconceptions we were taught about this apocalyptic text; most notably, the supposed order of events of the end of the world (sometimes called the End Times Timeline).

We explore John of Patmos’ vision in his historical, cultural, and literary context and see that his monstrous imagery is often taken from the Hebrew Bible prophets (especially Daniel) that were referring to the empires that had taken them captive in their day; John was showing how Rome was just the most recent iteration of that same pattern of conquest. In this book, John is laying out a clear choice, and no, it’s not whether you prayed the Sinner’s Prayer or not. Will we follow the way of the empire, acting in ways that profit off the blood of our neighbor and destroy God’s good world, or will we follow the way of Jesus, the slain Lamb, who does not achieve victory through conquest but through loving and dying for his enemies?

We also discuss how Revelation actually offers a vision of incredible hope, especially in its final two chapters, which God invites us to take part in making a reality in the here and now: a vision of a river of life and tree of life, and a city where all of God’s people thrive, where the whole of creation is renewed (God is making all things new, not an all-new earth) and heaven is finally reunited with earth. Contrary to what many evangelicals say, the final pages of the Bible testify that this earth that we live on right now is our home and God’s home.

Resources we drew from for this episode:

The work of Dr, Barbara Rossing (she is ordained in the ELCA, which is, for the most part, an LGBTQ affirming denomination):

The Bible Project’s two-part overview of the Book of Revelation (the founder of Bible Proj, Tim Mackie, is not affirming--if anyone can recommend a similar resource from someone who is affirming, please let us know, but for now, this seems to be one of the best overview videos that explains the imagery in its original historical context, and the fact that it’s illustrated is super helpful too):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nvVVcYD-0w

Quote from Sojourner Truth can be found here: https://www.battlefields.org/learn/primary-sources/narrative-sojourner-truth

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, we have a conversation with author and filmmaker (and April’s best friend) Brianna da Silva. We discuss her faith background and her journey to becoming an atheist and coming to terms with her lesbian identity, and how that experience impacted her creative process and what she believes about storytelling (and along with that we do a little shit-talking about Christian movies, of course). We also discuss her debut fantasy novel, City of Reckoning (which features several queer characters, especially bi folks), which is available for purchase in digital or print versions at various places, check Brianna’s socials below for more info and links!

You can follow Brianna on Instagram @curious_storyteller and Twitter @Brianna_daSilva, and her website is http://briannadasilva.blog/ (she has some really cool creative nonfiction on there that we didn’t get to talking about in the interview).

Videos Anna mentioned on God’s Not Dead:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSMJiWmLQyw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQuMcr8pqnk

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!

In this episode, we talk about women all across the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament—from badass skull-breaking ladies like Jael to the too-many-Marys to the unnamed women that Jesus encountered, and everyone else in-between. We discuss the nuances of their stories that often aren’t brought up in church (if the women are even mentioned at all), and we talk about the “Proverbs 31 woman” and why evangelicals have taken it out of its original context—it’s a celebration of women for who they already are, not a checklist for what a perfect wife should be!

We also talk about Paul’s view of women when taking account of all his epistles and not just a few hand-picked verses—he worked alongside women in his missionary work, naming women in his letters as co-workers (or even with Phoebe’s case, calling her a deacon) and telling the recipients to thank them; there’s also the fact that some of the misogynistic-seeming verses from Paul’s epistles about women are scorning the behavior of rude, wealthy widows and not all women at all times.

This is by no means an exhaustive overview; if we didn’t talk about your fave “biblical woman,” let us know who she is! We’ll definitely get to her in a future episode (Bible Dyke Deep Dive on Esther, anyone?).

Resources:

Here’s a list of all the named women in the Bible: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Chapter-2-Alphabetical

Here’s a list of all the unnamed women in the Bible, including Paul’s sister. Uh, Paul, that’s so rude to not even mention her name!! https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/all-women-bible/Chapter-3-Nameless-Bible-Women

Episode of VeggieTales that Anna mentioned: King George and the Ducky (based on the story of David and Bathsheba...obviously watered down a whole lot)

To hear about the story of Rizpah in the Bible, listen to episode two of the Evolving Faith Podcast, "Climbing the Mountain of Injustice with Austin Channing Brown." She tells the story better than either of us ever could.

The way that Rachel Held Evans writes about the story of Esther and Queen Vashti is really good, both in her blog posts and in her book Inspired.

Our social media: @reclaimingthegarden on Insta, @RtGardenPodcast on Twitter. Our personal accounts: @thatpunchabletheaternerd, @April_TheWriter (April is on Twitter and Insta). Also, our podcast account follows a bunch of awesome folks + podcasts in the exvangelical/deconstruction world and progressive Christian world, so if you’re looking for more resources, that’s a great place to start!