In the final episode of season four, Dr. Patrick Reyes answers questions from staff and previous guests that help him reflect on his past and present. He shares his thoughts on theological education, advancing technology, and the things in his life that contribute to his thriving and bring him joy. In typical Patrick fashion, his reflections are braided with deep gratitude for the people and places that continue to shape him.

Dr. Patrick B. Reyes is the bestselling and award-winning author of The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive, and Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. A Chicano educator, writer, futurist, and cultural change strategist, he is the dean at Auburn Seminary. He was the Senior Director of Learning Design at the Forum for Theological Exploration and former host of the Sound of the Genuine podcast. He is the current board President of the Religious Education Association and co-dean of the Children's Defense Fund Dale Andrews Freedom Seminary. He serves on several boards in higher education and the non-profit sector, supporting the next generation of Black, Indigenous, and Chicano leaders and educators. Patrick lives in New Mexico with his family, loving and belonging to the land and his people.  

 
You can learn more about Patrick and his work at thepurposegap.com.  

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This week, Dr. Patrick Reyes talks to FTE’s own Allison Arsenault. The two discuss her nomadic childhood and how she found deep affirmation and a welcoming community within the walls of Presbyterian churches. Allison has spent a lot of her life discerning her own vocation and now uses her experiences to help others do the same. 

Allison is an experience design manager at FTE, where she works with programs supporting young adults in discernment and grantee partners. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and is currently a candidate for ordination in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She also serves on the alumni board of her alma mater, Millsaps College, and on the board of Memorial Drive Ministries. Allison and her husband live with their daughter and two corgis in Atlanta, Georgia.

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This week Dr. Reyes talks to Rev. Sandhya Jha about their multiracial, interfaith upbringing, which is deeply rooted in both a love of Jesus and the fight against injustice. Their work in politics, the church, and non-profits is where they find community, inextricably tied up with the sacred. 

Sandhya Jha (they/them) is an anti-oppression consultant who particularly loves helping organizations get diversity, equity, and inclusion teams off the ground. Sandhya is the founder and former executive director of the Oakland Peace Center, a collective of 40 organizations working to create equity, access, and dignity as the means of creating peace in Oakland and the Bay Area. An ordained pastor with a master’s in public policy, Sandhya is comfortable in the pulpit, on the picket line, or hanging out with friends and friends-to-be over a good cup of tea and a good story. Sandhya’s fifth book with Chalice Press, Rebels, Despots, and Saints, is now available where books are sold.

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week, Dr. Patrick Reyes talks with Rev. Dr. Montague Williams. He recounts his early life navigating Chicago and serving as a cultural translator for his immigrant family. Steeped in church life as the child of a pastor, he didn’t always think ministry was in his future but always felt a deep sense of who God is and what is possible through prayer and connecting theology with people's lived experience.   

Montague Williams is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene and has served in congregational, non-profit, and educational ministry over the past 15 years. His doctoral research offers an ecclesiological proposal that takes seriously the experiences and pastoral needs of youth and young adults in multiracial and multicultural ministry contexts. He has written articles and chapters for several publications and regularly speaks at conferences and retreats about the church's presence and engagement with society. His latest book, Church in Color: Youth Ministry, Race, and the Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. is available wherever books are sold. 

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week Dr. Patrick Reyes sits down for a conversation with Ched Myers and Elaine Enns. Each talks about their radically different upbringings and how their peacemaking and restorative justice work led to their chance meeting. Ched and Elaine have spent the past 25 years at the helm of the Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries, whose motto is “Revisioning the intersection of Word and world. Animating communities of discipleship and justice.” 

Ched, an ecumenical activist theologian, is a well-known educator, writer, teacher, and organizer committed to animating and nurturing church renewal and radical discipleship and supporting faith-based movements for peace and justice.

Elaine, a Canadian Mennonite, is an educator, writer, facilitator, and trainer in conflict transformation. She focuses on how restorative justice applies to historical violations, including intergenerational trauma and healing. 

Their latest book, Healing Haunted Histories: A Settler Discipleship of Decolonization, and other publications are available at Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries.

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week Dr. Reyes talks to Belle Liang about the transition from her early years, feeling the drive to succeed in order to meet the expectations of her family and community, to pushing past those expectations to reshape how she defined success for herself. The strong mentoring she received as a graduate student led to her own desire to study the positive outcomes of mentoring that lead young people to discover their sense of purpose.  

Dr. Belle Liang is a professor of counseling, developmental, and educational psychology in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, and an expert in mentoring and youth purpose. She founded the Purpose Lab, and has published nearly dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters to advance the science and practice of mentoring and cultivating purpose in schools and workplaces. She co-authored, "How to Navigate Life: The New Science of Finding Your Way in School, Career, & Beyond" (St. Martin's Press, 2022).

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week, Dr. Reyes talks to Rev. Tuhina Rasche about growing up in an American context as the child of devout Hindus. Her experiences in college and after, forming deep community with friends and then finding the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), led her to seminary. She credits foundational mentor experiences as core to her development as a leader who is exploring her vocation through writing and research. 

Tuhina is the Senior Research Associate of the Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute. Prior to joining the Religion & Society Program, she served as the Digital Campus Pastor at University African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in Palo Alto, CA and as the Young Adult Coordinator for Arts, Religion Culture: A Society for Theopoetics in Boston, MA. Tuhina comes to the Religion & Society Program with the lived experience of being raised in a devout Hindu household and ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Tuhina has a Master of Divinity degree from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and a BA in French Language and International Trade with an emphasis on Applied Economics from Clemson University.

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week Dr. Reyes talks to Rev. Dr. Angela Gorrell about her struggles in early childhood as she sought spaces to belong and the supportive family and community that cultivated her early gifts in writing and public speaking. She is passionate about creating collaborative communities where people can prevent illnesses of the soul, unlamented pain, and uncultivated belonging.

Angela Williams Gorrell is an author and consultant, working  with people and teams to help them thrive. She is an ordained pastor in the Mennonite Church USA. Her most recent work includes the book Always On: Practicing Faith in a New Media Landscape and she co-hosts The Grief Sisters podcast. You can find out more about Angela at angelagorrell.com.

Content Warning: There is brief talk of suicide in this episode. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, please reach out for help. Call 988 to get connected to the National Suicide Prevention Line.

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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This week, Dr. Reyes has a conversation with Kaitlin Curtice. She recalls the destabilizing effects of moving around a lot in childhood, her early experiences with conservative theology, and how she found refuge in expressing her love for people and stories through writing. 

Kaitlin Curtice is an award-winning author, poet-storyteller, and public speaker. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi Nation, Kaitlin writes on the intersections of spirituality and identity and how that shifts throughout our lives. In her new book, Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day, she examines the journey of resisting the status quo of hate by caring for ourselves, one another, and Mother Earth.

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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In this week’s episode, Rev. Dr. Stephen Ray shares his journey from growing up in Jamaica Queens, New York, to serving as president of Chicago Theological Seminary. In his role as an educator and administrator, Dr. Ray has always sought ways to contribute to shaping the future of teachers and students in the academy. 

Dr. Ray recently retired as president of the Chicago Theological Seminary and is the immediate past president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion. 

Portrait Illustration by: Triyas
Music by: @siryalibeats

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