In this episode, host Rob Schenck talks with Martin Doblmeier, the leading documentary filmmaker in the world of religion, faith, and spirituality. Having produced more than 30 feature-length documentary films, Martin Doblmeier has many awards, degrees, honors, and recognitions for the work that he has created. In 2003, Doblmeier released a documentary named, “Bonhoeffer.” Join Rob Schenck and Martin Doblmeier as they talk filmmaking, the impact of Bonhoeffer, and Bonhoefferian spirituality.

In this Bonhoeffer in the Arts Series episode, host Rob Schenck talks with composer and librettist Hugh M. McElyea, whose staged oratorio, “Tenebrae - The Passion of Dietrich Bonhoeffer" explores the inner world of our Institute’s namesake.

Hugh grew up in Central Florida in an abjectly racist culture. However, his college experience, later travels in the Air Force, and eventually, his work as a pianist in New York City would help him shed his bigotry.

Having read Bonhoeffer in the late 60s during the height of the civil rights struggle, Bonhoeffer's moral courage made a lasting impression on Hugh. Those memories later inspired him to depict the Nazi resister and martyr in a musical drama, using Bonhoeffer's relationship and prison correspondence with fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer as a device to delve deep into the inner thoughts of both.

Hugh styled Tenebrae along the lines of the ancient candlelight Passiontide service by the same name. Using twenty voices backed by twenty musicians, with two actors portraying Dietrich and Maria writing to each other as he sits in Tegel Prison, Hugh brings out a rarely examined emotional dimension to Dietrich.

In this episode of Schenck Talks Bonhoeffer, TDBI President Rev. Rob Schenck talks with a scientist who writes under the pen name of Glory White. The author explains how her examination of common core questions answered by the world’s religions grew out of discussions with religious colleagues.

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Visit the 50 Questions Website

TDBI President, Rev. Dr. Rob Schenck, talks with an extraordinary advocate of religious freedom and universal human rights, Dr. Aykan Erdemir, about increased anti-Semitism in the U.S. and globally. Rob and Aykan have known each other since they met at a symposium in Oxford, England, seven years ago.

Dr. Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish Parliament, Director of International Affairs Research at Anti-Defamation League, and steering group member of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB). Award winning analyst on Turkish politics, economy, and foreign policy with twenty-five-years of experience in academia, think tanks, and politics. Outspoken advocate for democracy, pluralism, rule of law, minority rights, and freedom of religion or belief in the Middle East and beyond. Frequent contributor to debates in global media outlets on foreign policy, security, illicit finance, sanctions, radical Islam, terrorism, extremism, and hate crimes.

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Visit Dr. Erdemir’s Website 

Learn More about the Anti-Defamation League 

In this episode, Rev. Rob Schenck talks with Michael Hanegan.

TDBI Senior Fellow Michael Hanegan developed our approach to the World Council of Churches, asking for the suspension of Patriarchate Krill. Hanegan is an interdisciplinary thinker, moral theologian, writer, and teacher. He holds Masters Degrees in Religious Education and Theological Studies and works as an Intellectual Property Architect.

Resources:

TDBI on Twitter  [https://twitter.com/tdbidc]

TDBI on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/tdbidc]

TDBI on Instagram  [https://www.instagram.com/tdbidc/]

Visit Michael Hanegan’s Website [https://michaelhanegan.com/]

Listen to Michael Hanegan’s TEDxColumbiaUniversity Talk [https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_hanegan_interruption_as_social_change]

Sign TDBI’s Petition to remove Moscow Patriarchate Krill from the World Council of Churches [https://tdbi.networkforgood.com/projects/158708-hold-corrupt-moscow-church-leaders-accountable]

Epi 74 – Interview with Mike Goldsworthy In this episode, the Rev. Rob Schenck speaks with Mike Goldsworthy, a ministry leader working in the spaces of deconstruction and reconstruction in post-evangelical communities. For 19 years, Mike served on staff with Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach, CA, with the last 11 of those years as the Lead Pastor. When he left that church, he shifted his focus to connecting and mentoring individuals and communities as they walk through transitions of deconstruction and reconstruction of their faith. He is an Adjunct Professor of Ministry and Bible at Hope International University and partners with Slingshot Group as a church staffing and coaching associate. What happens when one’s personal faith begins to theologically shift away from a church’s public stance? How do churches focus on the types of people they are forming? What would happen if Christianity wasn’t about making more Christians but helping humanity live a flourishing life together? Listen in as Rob and Mike discuss Bonhoeffer’s own struggles with church structure and reimagine a way for today’s “ecclesiastical homeless” to connect and build church communities in new forms and landscapes. 

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Read Mike Goldsworthy’s website 

Listen to Mike Goldsworthy’s Podcast 

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Register for the Post-Evangelical Collective: 2022 Gathering

In this episode, the Rev. Rob Schenck discusses the interconnecting network of faith leaders working towards gun violence prevention, the nonviolence of Bonhoeffer, and the importance of depolarization within American society with Mark Beckwith, longtime friend of TDBI and co-chair of Faith Leaders for Ending Gun Violence. Mark has been working in this overlapping space of nonviolence reform throughout his career. He is the retired Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, co-founding the Newark Interfaith Coalition for Hope and Peace, a network of religious leaders committed to reducing gang violence in the city. He also co-founded Bishops United Against Gun Violence in 2012, which has grown to a network of 100 bishops. Now retired, Mark has become part of the leadership team for Braver Angels, a movement that seeks to depolarize America. The organization stands at the intersection of faith and politics, offering a path towards reconciliation and seeing across the divide within our own organizations. In March, he also released the book, “Seeing the Unseen: Beyond Prejudices, Paradigms, and Party Lines” with Morehouse Publishing. How can gun violence prevention advocates and gun rights advocates begin to understand each other? What do we need to do to depolarize our faith communities and reconcile with each other? How does silence offer a holy response and a common language for prayer? Listen in as Rob and Mark grapple with the tensions within our communities and how Bonhoeffer’s experience with the Black church informed his outlook on suffering and nonviolence. -- 

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Learn More About Braver Angels

Read Mark Beckwith’s Blog 

Mark Beckwith on Facebook 

Purchase Seeing the Unseen

In this episode, Rev. Rob Schenck speaks with manager of the Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network, Sam Heath. Sam uses his broad faith background to tell stories of justice and injustice in a holistic, truthful manner. Equal Justice USA works at the intersection of criminal justice, public health, and racial justice to elevate healing over retribution, meet the needs of survivors, advance racial equity, and build community safety. Though EJUSA is not a faith-based organization, Sam is the theological bridge from the organization to faith communities and tells us how he uses his faith as a measure to respond to unjust systems and violence.

Is “an eye for an eye” a biblical response to injustice? What does our faith say about how we address the criminal justice system? How should the church respond when harm is done? What is cheap and costly grace in the criminal justice system? Listen to Rob and Sam discuss these topics in this episode!

This episode is brought to you by The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute 

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Learn More About Equal Justice USA 

Read Sam Heath’s Blog

Sam Heath on Twitter 

In this podcast, Rob talks with Reverend Dr. Katharine about her fascinating family background, which includes visits to her home from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's twin sister, Sabine, and her Jewish husband, Gerhard Leibholz, whom Dietrich helped escape to safety in England. Rob and Katharine also explore where she sees Christians and the church during these turbulent times, and what she thinks about our moral obligations in view of what is happening in Ukraine and so many other places of conflict around the world.

This episode is brought to you by The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute.

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Purchase God’s Troublemakers