The SHE team watches the Barbie movie! We're are super excited to talk about the fun and glitter of Barbie Land, our take on various scenes, our most favorite lines, and of course we bring it home with some application between the church, Barbies and Kens, and the patriarchy represented by Ken being patriarchalized when he visits the Real World.

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

Are there signs that we hang on the metaphorical front door of our churches or our denominations, that unwittingly, subtly, in the most gentlest of fonts communicate “Go Away” to certain individuals that don't fit comfortably into our communities or our theology, or certain kinds of people that are different than us–in gender, ethnicity, or sexuality?”

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

The SHE Team is talking about Mother’s Day and the annual celebration we hold at our churches and how it has become–or has always been–problematic for some women and maybe for some men as well. Before the four of us settled on doing a Mother’s Day episode, we agreed that it would definitely fall in the category or genre of disruption–meaning, our conversation will intentionally seek to disrupt the accepted norms and behaviors of how the church celebrates Mother’s Day. This is #anti-donut ministry at its finest. However, while in the spirit of deconstructing the current state of Mother’s Day, we want to finish up the episode with a bit of re-construction and talk about how the church can honor the vocation of motherhood first, as partnering with God in God’s work in the world and also, motherhood as a journey to holiness that sanctifies through sacrificial and selfless service to the little people entrusted to them.

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

The SHE team picks up where we left off in the last episode on Women in Seasons of Vocation. Cathleen Cahalan in her book, Calling All Years Good, suggests that "callings are discerned through relationships... they are mutually influencing and responsive to others." For sure, the influence of those we are in relationships with and their spoken and unspoken responses are essential for young women in early emergent periods of vocational ministry. Jen and myself share how faith communities and individuals have played a significant role in our discerning and affirming seasons of vocation. The SHE-Team finishes up with discussing ideas on what pastors and church leaders can do to acknowledge the gifts and callings of women in congregations.

The first 10 listeners to share their story get a free SHEcclesiology “Anti-donut ministry” t-shirt! Find us on facebook at SHEcclesiology Listening Community or on Instagram!

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

The SHE-Team rethinks concepts of vocation as it aligns with the seasons of women’s lives. Author Kathleen Cahalan challenges thinking about vocation in terms of discovering my “lifelong vocation” and proposes the idea that women’s experiences of vocation change through different seasons of our lives.

The first 10 listeners to share their story get a free SHEcclesiology “Anti-donut ministry” t-shirt! Find us on facebook at SHEcclesiology Listening Community or on Instagram!

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

Is the Church responding well to the declines of religious participation in the Church or are our responses not much more than rearranging decks chairs on the Titanic? In this episode we take a moment to take stock of the Church and what we invest our time, energy, and ourselves into every week. It is December 2022 and we thought it would be a good time to discuss the State of the Church as we head into a new year. The SHE-Team tackles two questions: how our churches and denominations are responding to the post-religious changes we are experiencing in the US (church attendance, pastoral credibility, the end of Christendom and its institutional form), and second, what we each consider the most pressing question facing the church for 2023. Also if you are a regular listener, join our fB page called the SHEcclesiology Listener Community for updates and other conversations. If Instagram is more your thing, follow us at SHEcclesiology. See you there!

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

In episode 11, the SHE-Team picks up where we left off in Part 1 of the Great Pastoral Resignation, offering advice and wisdom on how to do triage to provide care for your pastor. We get super practical with suggestions for church boards and congregants in how they might fulfill their responsibility to care for their pastor. And then we draw on our own ministry experiences and drop a few gems of wisdom for pastors who long to build a life of resilience and longevity in congregational ministry. One more thing: if you are a regular listener, join our fB page called the SHEcclesiology Listener Community for updates and other conversations. If Instagram is more your thing, follow us at SHEcclesiology. Ok, let’s get started!

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode and copyright info for the theme song, “Play Like A Girl” by June and Jean Millington from the band, Fanny, “the first, and all-time best, all girl rock band,” here.

In today’s episode the SHE-Team explores the social, mental, and political fallout facing pastors in church ministry today as they’ve led congregations through a pandemic, social and political unrest, and disunity in their churches. We start with the Barna Research data that reveals the sobering reality of how many Protestant pastors in the US have considered leaving church ministry in the past year. The team talks through options and strategies that church elders and board members might consider employing to tend to the health and well being of their pastors during what is a trying period for those called to lead God’s people.

Find the Episode Show Notes on our website with links to our sources referenced in the episode here.

In today’s episode we continue our discussion around Felicia Wu Song’s concept of Church as Counter-Liturgy found in her latest book, Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age. She calls us to consider how the church can be a community whose collective practices of resistance shapes us to be the kind of kingdom people we long to become. We take up Dr Song’s challenge found in the section of her book called “Experiments in Praxis.” The SHE-Team commits together to a four day, counter-liturgy experiment of resistance. We invite our listeners to also engage in one of the counter-liturgy options discussed in the episode, and then suggest you share about the experience on our SHEcclesiology Community fB page. You’ll find the SHE-Team’s update there as well.

Find the Episode Show Notes Here on our website.

In today’s episode the SHE-Team explores Felicia Wu Song’s concept of Church as Counter-Liturgy. Dr. Song is a cultural sociologist and professor at Westmont College and a scholar at the intersection of faith and digital technologies. Her latest book is Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age. I admire Dr. Song’s determination to push back on the creeping of handheld technology that has become ill-formational in our lives. She calls us to consider how the church can be a community whose collective practices of resistance shapes us to be the kind of kingdom people we long to become. Can the Church be a place of Counter-Liturgies so that we resist the lure of the ever-present, always-on technology in our every-day lives? Can we do it?

Find the Episode Show Notes Here on our website.