Sandbox Cooperative Podcast

We’re excited to share our conversation with Melissa Rogers. Melissa recently served as special assistant to the president and executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, during the Obama administration, and is currently a nonresident senior fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. She has also served as executive director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and is an expert on things like the First Amendment’s religion clauses, religion in American public life, and the interplay of religion, policy, and politics.

We caught up with her by phone a few months back and had a great conversation about religion and politics. Yes, it is possible to do! More than that, it’s probably more important than ever to have conversations like these as we seek to build stronger, more connected communities.

Learn more about Melissa and her current work at The Brookings Institution.

Our guest for today’s episode is Jason Storbakken. Jason spent nearly ten years as the Director of Compassionate Care at The Bowery Mission where he oversaw programs and provided pastoral care to the poorest and most vulnerable New Yorkers. As minister to the homeless, he learned what it means to truly be part of a beloved community.

Since we talked with Jason last summer, he has taken a position as pastor at Manhattan Mennonite Fellowship in New York City. The church is part of the historic peace church movement, oriented toward peace and social justice, non-violent resistance, and faith formation as key themes of Christian witness.

Learn more about Jason and his current work at ManhattanMennonite.org or find Jason’s book, Radical Spirituality: Repentance, Resistance, Revolution at OrbisBooks.com

From preparing for a test to cheering on your favorite sports team, superstitions are all around us. Why do we believe them? Can they be helpful? And at the end of the day, what do we do with them?

More information about Sandbox Cooperative at SandboxCooperative.com, Facebook/Twitter, subscribe on iTunes.

From preparing for a test to cheering on your favorite sports team, superstitions are all around us. Why do we believe them? Can they be helpful? And at the end of the day, what do we do with them?

Steve Wiens is a pastor, host of the podcast This Good Word, and an author. Steve talked with us about his latest book, Whole: Restoring What is Broken in Me, You and the Rest of the World, how stories can help bring meaning to our experience, and the idea that everything in the world is moving toward wholeness and restoration.

Learn more about Steve at SteveWiens.com.

Every Monday Night for decades the Reverend Vince Anderson and his Love Choir have had a standing gig, currently at the Union Pool in Brooklyn, New York. He shares a brand of music he calls “Dirty Gospel” – a raw, earthy style of gospel music.

Over the years he’s grown community with this gig, being asked to perform weddings, funerals and baptisms for the people who gather at the bar. Vince has been featured on NPR, he’s collaborated with the 9 Beats Collective that we featured in Episode 38 and Episode 39, and he also shares his music with other faith communities in New York City.

In today’s episode, we talk about thankfulness. What does it mean to be thankful? Should we be thankful for everything? And is thankfulness something we can learn and practice?

In today’s episode, we talk with Regina Mustafa, founder of Center for Interfaith Dialogue on Islam, and previous Sandbox Live Event guest. Regina talks with us about having difficult conversations, and why these conversations are especially valuable today.

Learn more about Regina’s work with CIDI at CIDImn.org

In today’s episode, we talk with Christopher King, founder of We Are Marcus, a virtual character development program designed to nurture students of all backgrounds. Based on his own experience and positive role models, Chris wanted to give kids the same kind of experience he had, using technology and other tools at his disposal.

Learn more about We Are Marcus at WeAreMarcus.com

If you’re a teacher, school leader, or work for a church or community organization, consider trying out the program. Sign up for a three month trial at WeAreMarcus.com/signup.

On today’s episode, we talk with John Creasy who is the Associate Pastor at The Open Door Church in Pittsburgh, PA. John also serves as the director of Garfield Community Farm, and has worked to create an ecologically diverse neighborhood farm on nearly three acres of land at the top of the Garfield neighborhood. This farm serves to educate the local church on our call as Christians toward environmental sustainability and to provide healthy organic produce to those of lower income in the Garfield neighborhood.