Since the birth of the church, there has been a branch of mysticism that has invited believers into deep and complex experiences with the divine. On this episode of the Red Church Door Podcast, Colin shares his recent exploration with the Christian mystics and welcomes this week's guest, Robert A. Jonas, M.T.S.

Jonas (as is he called by those who know him) is the founder and director of The Empty Bell, a contemplative sanctuary in Northampton, MA, with a special emphasis on Buddhist-Christian dialogue, and on the arts. Colin talks to Jonas about the intersection of Christianity and Eastern religious traditions meet, the impact of the Empty Bell in Christian and Buddhist dialogue, and the role Jonas's deep friendship with Henri Nouwen has had on his own faith journey.

 

Show Notes:

The Empty Bell: http://www.emptybell.org/

World Community for Christian Meditation: https://wccm.org/

Contemplative Outreach Center: https://www.contemplativeoutreach.org

On the third season premiere of the Red Church Door podcast, our host Colin Chapman sits down (on Zoom) with Polly Ingraham (https://www.pastorswifeblog.com), author, high school teacher, and wife to an Episcopal Bishop (the Rt. A. Robert Hirschfeld, Episcopal Church of New Hampshire).

Polly shares stories of how she and Bp. Rob met, what it is like to be married to a member of the Clergy when one was not raised in that faith, and what the Church might be able to learn from her experience.

After spending a year in the Memoir Incubator program at Grub Street in Boston, Polly recently completed a book manuscript about her life as a clergy spouse and the evolution of their unusual marriage and is actively seeking representation. (Note: In the episode, Colin mentions the manuscript as if it had a title and release date - this was an error.)

At the top of the show, Colin welcomes his own clergy partner, Christie Everett Chapman, as she reflects on how growing up as a pastor’s kid made the idea of marrying a clergy person unappealing.

Do Millennials and Baby Boomers view God differently? Does it matter? This week, Colin speaks with the Rev. Celeste Hemingson and the Rev. Greg Baker about the Baby Boomer and Millennial viewpoints and experiences of God, Jesus, and religion. What are the consequences of their differences? In what ways are they similar?

The Rev. Celeste Hemingson was ordained in 2003, after a 35 year career in management with the Social Security Administration. Rev. Celeste has lived in Hopkinton since 1987 and specializes in interim ministry. She is currently the Interim Rector of St. George's in Durham, NH. She also serves the Diocese of New Hampshire as Chaplain to retired clergy and spouses.

The Rev. Gregory Baker was ordained in July, 2020. He graduated from Yale Divinity School this past May and is answering his first call as Curate of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Nashua, NH. Greg is also interested in the reform of the prison industrial complex and working with the incarcerated.

Did you know that "Columbus Day" now appears on Google calendars listed as a "regional holiday?" Just after Thanksgiving week -- a week fraught with stereotypes of indigenous peoples -- Colin speaks with Bishop Carol Gallagher about the intersections of our christian faith and indigenous peoples -- and how Bishop Gallagher's advocacy for indigenous peoples has impacted and shaped her own spiritual journey and relationship with God.

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Carol Gallagher is Regional Canon for the Central Region of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Prior to her call in Massachusetts, Gallagher was assistant bishop in the Diocese of Montana, developing relationships with Native leaders and congregations there. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and has served on numerous church and civic committees and boards, including the Episcopal Church Council on Indian Ministries, the Anglican Indigenous Network, Anglican Peace with Justice Concerns, the Committee on the Status of Women, the Episcopal Divinity School Board of Trustees and the United Way of America National Board.

In the midst of a global pandemic and fallout from contentious election-season politics what many seek today is a way to find sabbath to spiritually reset.. Today, Colin is speaking with Joan Bowers to explore what a Sabbath can look like for different people -- what are the options, strategies, and techniques for practicing Sabbath? How might the pandemic itself be viewed as a sabbath?

Joan is a former college English instructor who retired with her husband in March 2020 -- just in time for COVID. This summer she and a fellow Companion from the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross facilitated two week-long, online sessions of spiritual direction training offered by Adelynrood, a retreat center near Newburyport, MA, run by the SCHC.

In addition, Joan has been reading more nonfiction than usual and enjoying daily visits to a nearby pond. She appreciates communing with God, nature, and the fascinatingly diverse people who also find themselves drawn there.

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Where to Find a Spiritual Director:

Episcopal Church (Province 1/New England): https://www.province1.org/spiritual-direction

Spiritual Directors International: https://www.sdicompanions.org/find-a-spiritual-companion/

With one week before the election, Colin talks to Dr. Susannah Heschel, professor of Jewish Studies and daughter of the great Abraham Joshua Heschel, about the troubling intersection of religion and politics in modern day America, and how this relates to the role religion played in Hitler's Germany.

Dr. Heschel is Chair of the Jewish Studies Program and the Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. Her scholarship focuses on Jewish-Christian relations in Germany during the 19th and 20th centuries, the history of biblical scholarship, and the history of anti-Semitism. She is the author of the bookThe Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany. Susannah's father is the internationally recognized scholar and theologian, Abraham Joshua Heschel, author of such seminal works as The Sabbath and The Prophets.

This is the second half of our conversation with Jerusalem Greer. Jerusalem is the Staff Officer for Evangelism in the Episcopal Church. On this episode we talk about how the Church is starting to plant seeds in this uncertain soil for the future, and how you can do the same at home.

Coming back from our summer hiatus, this it the first of two episodes with the wonderful Jerusalem Greer. Jerusalem is the Staff Officer for Evangelism in the Episcopal Church and her joy and energy about where the church is heading, even in these uncertain times, is a breath of fresh air. We talk about how the quarantine has impacted her work the Episcopal Church and what it's like to look to the future in the middle of disruption.

The ways in which we are called by Jesus are as varied and unique as we are. In this episode of the Red Church Door Colin explores the many approaches to discerning our relationship with Jesus and our response to God's call. What are the paths to becoming more deeply involved, whether that be lay leadership, a deacon, or an emerging trend -- bi-vocational clergy. Colin's guests this week are:

The Rev. Lydia Kelsey Bucklin, Canon to the Ordinary for Discipleship & Vitality, Episcopal Diocese Northern Michigan. upepiscopal.orgSarah Stonesifer Boylan, Manager of Operations and Digital Missioner, Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary. vtslifelong.org (http://www.vtslifelong.org/)

June is PRIDE month and in this episode of the Red Church Door Podcast, Colin talks to our very special guest R. Eric Thomas about his experience growing up in, and leaving, the Church, only to find religion again after meeting and marrying his husband, a Presbyterian minister. Eric shares his perspective on what the christian faith has to offer today; the apocalypse that is 2020; and how comedy can be a bridge between opposing points of view.

R. Eric Thomas (he/him/his) is a playwright and a Senior Staff Writer for Elle.com where he writes "Eric Reads the News," a daily current events and culture column. His writing has appeared in The New York Times multiple times as well as Man Repeller, Philadelphia Magazine, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is also the long-running host of The Moth StorySlam in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia and has appeared multiple times on The Moth Radio Hour. For his playwriting, Eric won the 2016 Barrymore Award for Best New Play and the 2018 Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award; his work has been seen on stages around the country.

Show notes:

Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays: Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/Here-Save-Your-America-Essays-ebook/dp/B07RNGV7VH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MESXZRW7JVYZ&dchild=1&keywords=r.+eric+thomas+here+for+it&qid=1591819780&sprefix=R.+Eric+Tho%2Caps%2C160&sr=8-1)

Eric's Newsletter: https://rericthomas.substack.com/ (https://rericthomas.substack.com/)