🎙️ 6. April Ajoy (Leaving Christian Nationalism, Keeping Jesus) – Star-Spangled Jesus

Alexis Rice speaks with author and commentator April Ajoy (@aprilajoy) about Christian nationalism, deconstruction, and what it costs to leave certainty without leaving faith.

April grew up in white evangelical, Pentecostal spaces where theology, politics, and identity were tightly bound. In this conversation, she describes how Christian nationalism forms people from the inside—how doubt is framed as spiritual failure, how loyalty is enforced, and how questioning can cost you community, family, and belonging.

Together, Alexis and April discuss January 6 as a turning point for many former evangelicals, the pressure Christians face around voting and abortion, and why Christian nationalism is not fringe but structurally embedded in American political and religious life. April also names what comes after deconstruction: uncertainty, grief, and a less coercive faith rooted in the teachings of Jesus rather than fear or power.

This episode is for listeners trying to understand how Christianity became a vehicle for exclusion and control—and for those still inside Christian spaces who sense something is off but don’t yet have language for it.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Why deconstruction is often involuntary and destabilizing
• How Christian nationalism disguises itself as “Biblical truth”
• Why abortion bans fail to reduce abortions, and what does
• The difference between Christianity and Christian nationalism
• What remains when certainty collapses

👤 About Our Guest

April Ajoy is the author of Star-Spangled Jesus, co-host of The Tim & April Show Podcast (@timandaprilshow), and hilarious social media influencer. Her work examines Christian nationalism, evangelical political formation, and what accountability and faith can look like after leaving authoritarian religious systems.

📚 Resources & Mentions

📖 Star-Spangled Jesus – April Ajoy
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1668016284

🎙 The Tim & April Show – @timandaprilshow
🟡 The New Evangelicals – @thenewevangelicals
🗣 Tim Whitaker – @timwhitakerspeaks
📘 The Bible for Normal People – @thebiblefornormalpeople
📖 Pete Enns – @peteenns

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 5. Rev. Katie Nakamura-Rengers (Episcopal) – Standing in Awe: Faith Beyond Certainty

In this deeply grounding episode of The Sacred Slope, Alexis Rice is joined by Reverend Katie Nakamura-Rengers (@katienakamurarengers)—an Episcopal priest, musician, and bridge-builder whose ministry invites us to slow down, release certainty, and rediscover faith rooted in presence and relationship. Reverend Katie was recommended to The Sacred Slope by Reverend Joseph Yoo (@joseph.yoo), and you will know why once you listen. 

In a moment when Christianity is often pressured to be louder, faster, and more confident, this conversation offers a counter-witness: awe. Drawing from Anglican and Anglo-Catholic traditions, Reverend Katie reflects on how liturgy, silence, music, and embodied worship form us not through rigid rules, but through mystery and relational love.

Alexis and Katie explore why Jesus resists moral “protocols,” how God is encountered in the space between people—especially where power shifts—and why faith doesn’t require having all the answers to be deeply alive.

✨ In this conversation, we explore:
• Why faith doesn’t need certainty to be faithful
• How stillness and silence shape us in a distracted age
• Why rules exist for people—not people for rules
• Finding God in the space between us
• What embodied, sensory worship offers deconstructing Christians
• Why awe is a spiritual practice, not an intellectual failure

🕊️ Reverend Katie closes the episode with a prayer for listeners who may not have been prayed over in a long time—especially those who feel spiritually tender, tired, or unseen.

💛 A note to our listeners:
If this episode helped you breathe or loosen your grip on certainty, please share it with someone who may need that permission right now. Following, rating, and reviewing the podcast helps The Sacred Slope continue reaching those seeking faith grounded in love, not fear.

#Christianity #Deconstruction #OpenAndAffirming #ProgressiveChristianity #Exvangelical #FaithAfterEvangelicalism #WomenInMinistry #QueerTheology #MentalHealth #TheSacredSlope

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 4. Dr. Aaron Higashi (Bible Scholar) – Serving Up Scripture: How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself and Others

What if the Bible doesn’t actually present one unified doctrine of hell — and what if the answers you were given weren’t actually grounded in the text itself?

In this rich, accessible conversation, Alexis Rice dives deep with Dr. Aaron Higashi — biblical scholar, teacher, and TikTok theologian — about how Scripture actually works when you take it seriously: historically, linguistically, culturally, and personally.

If you’ve ever wondered why Christians disagree on hell, why pastors sometimes warn about Bible scholars, or how you can read the Bible without letting someone else’s interpretation do your thinking for you — this episode is for you.

What we cover

• Why the Bible does not contain one settled doctrine of hell
• The original words behind “hell” — Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, Tartarus — and why they matter
• How cultural and linguistic translation shapes theology
• Why people fear biblical scholarship — and how scholarship can actually liberate you
• The role of interpretation, bias, and your own voice in reading Scripture
• The relationship between pastors, scholars, and lay people

Key takeaways

• “The Bible is a multi-vocal text” — written across cultures, times, languages, and perspectives.
• No single biblical language term maps perfectly onto the English idea of “hell.”
• Interpretation always involves the interpreter — no one escapes bias, even if they claim to.
• Biblical scholars aren’t trying to take faith away — they’re trying to give access to tools to read the Bible well.
• You don’t have to accept a received interpretation — you are capable of engaging Scripture thoughtfully.

About our guest

Dr. Aaron Higashi is a biblical scholar and teacher whose work bridges academic theology and accessible real-world faith conversations. He serves as “nerd in residence” at @thebiblefornormalpeople, and brings humor, clarity, and depth to issues people care about most.

Resources & People Mentioned

🔖 Books & Study Materials
📘 Serving Up Scripture: How to Interpret the Bible for Yourself and Others — by Dr. Jennifer Garcia Bashaw & Dr. Aaron Higashi (Out Jan 27, 2026) 

Pre-Order/Order: https://a.co/d/ihDX060

👩‍🏫 Other Voices & Scholars

✨ @thebiblefornormalpeople — community bridging scholarship and everyday readers
✨ @jgbashaw — Dr. Jennifer Garcia Bashaw
✨ @maklelan — Dan McClellan, Biblical Scholar: Data Over Dogma Podcast

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 3. Rev. Dr. Chris Davies (UCC) – When the World Feels Like It’s on Fire: A Raw Conversation with a Pastor for the Soul

In this deeply vulnerable and pastoral episode of The Sacred Slope, Alexis Rice welcomes back Rev. Dr. Chris Davies, a reverend, theologian, and executive minister in the United Church of Christ. What unfolds is not a traditional interview, but a sacred conversation about grief, fear, joy, and faith in a moment when the world feels unbearably heavy.

🌍 The world is so chaotic right now
If you’re scrolling social media looking for catharsis, Rev. Dr. Chris Davies has it for you. This episode offers soul care in a time of collective grief—when outrage cycles, political fear, and spiritual exhaustion have left so many feeling lost and alone.

Alexis and Chris reflect on how their relationship began during the COVID and George Floyd era, when a single act of pastoral care—holding space for a stranger—became a catalyst for The Sacred Slope. Together, they explore what it means to tend the soul when institutions fail and anxiety is high.

✨ In this conversation, we explore:
• What real pastoral care looks like beyond “hot takes”
• Why Christian nationalism is an empire project—not the Gospel
• Why joy is not escapism, but resistance
• How queer communities survive through celebration and belonging
• Why exvangelicals are uniquely equipped for this moment
• How faith can remain rooted in love, not fear or purity tests

Chris reminds us that faith has survived fascism, empire, and collapse before—and God is still found in the cracks.

🕊️ Voices & References
• United Church of Christ – @ucc.coalition
• Rev. Darrell Goodwin – @revdgoodwin 
• The Daily Show – @thedailyshow 
• RuPaul's Drag Race – @rupaulsdragrace 
• Dan Savage – @dansavage 
• Sharon McMahon – @sharonsaysso 
• Find Hope Now – https://findhopenow.org

💛 A note to our listeners:
If this conversation helps you, please share this episode with someone who may need it right now. Please also subscribe, follow, rate, and review the podcast so The Sacred Slope can continue reaching those searching for care, clarity, and community.

#Christianity #Deconstruction #OpenAndAffirming #ProgressiveChristianity #Exvangelical #FaithAfterEvangelicalism #ChristianNationalism #QueerTheology #WomenInMinistry #MentalHealth #TheSacredSlope

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 2. Pastor Kimberly Bulgin (Seventh-day Adventist) – The Sisters Stay Dropping Gems: Reclaiming Women’s Stories in Scripture

Alexis Rice welcomes Pastor Kimberly Bulgin—Seventh-day Adventist trailblazer, global leader, musician, and author of The Sisters Stay Dropping Gems: What Women in the Bible Teach Us About Life, Love, and Relationships. Pastor Kim shares what it actually costs to challenge patriarchy from the inside, why women’s stories in Scripture have been flattened into stereotypes, and how Jesus’ treatment of women dismantles modern purity culture and hierarchy.

Pastor Kim also opens up about being among the first women ordained in her region—celebration and pain held together—and offers language that will set many listeners free: “When you break glass ceilings, the glass can cut you.”

✨ In this episode, we talk about:
 • The resistance (and real-world backlash) women face in ordination
 • Why congregations need spiritual preparation to receive women pastors
 • What Seventh-day Adventists are known for: Sabbath, second Advent, health, and service
 • “Modern-day Rahabs” and why the church must stop treating women as problems to solve
 • Re-reading the Woman at the Well with complexity, dignity, and liberation
 • What Jesus’ public, unashamed posture toward women reveals about God
 • Stick around until the end for a closing prayer for anyone who hasn’t been prayed over in a long time

📖 Featured Book
 The Sisters Stay Dropping Gems — www.kimberlybulgin.com/shop.

Exclusive promo code for listeners/viewers of The Sacred Slope.  Those that enter the promo code SACREDPOD will get a 10% discount off physical copies of Pastor Kim's book.

🎵 Music
 Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin, and Sean Spence

💌 Nominate a guest (pastor, priest, artist, or everyday person anywhere in the world):
 Alexis @ thesacredslope.com

#Christianity #deconstruction #MentalHealth #womeninministry #womenintheBible #SeventhdayAdventist #purityculture #churchhurt #faith #Jesus #womenleadership

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

ITS THE SEASON TWO PREMIERE!

🎙️ 1. Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin (Presbyterian) – ProgressiveChristianity.org & The Christian Left: Busting Myths About Progressive Christianity

In this episode of The Sacred Slope, Alexis Rice is joined by Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin (@marksandlin), Presbyterian minister, writer, and co-founder of ProgressiveChristianity.org (@progressivechristianity) and The Christian Left (@the_christian_left). Mark has spent decades helping people recover a Christ-centered faith rooted in love rather than fear, shame, or authoritarian control.

Together, Alexis and Mark dismantle the biggest misconceptions that keep so many people trapped—or pushed out—of Christianity altogether, especially those raised in conservative or fundamentalist spaces.

✨ In this conversation, we myth-bust 6 common beliefs:

1. Progressive Christians don’t believe the Bible
Why taking Scripture seriously is not the same as taking it literally—and how historical and literary tools deepen faith.

2. Progressive Christianity isn’t “real” Christianity
How white American evangelicalism came to dominate the narrative—and why Christianity has always been bigger, older, and more diverse.

3. Progressive Christians ignore sin and holiness
How fear, shame, and hell were weaponized—and what sin looks like when understood as anything that separates us from love and community.

4. Faith and science can’t coexist
Why evolution, the Big Bang, and the cosmos don’t threaten belief in God—and can actually reveal deeper beauty and connection.

5. Progressive Christianity is just politics in disguise
Why justice, care for the vulnerable, and love of neighbor were never apolitical—and why calling them “political” protects power.

6. There’s no salvation or afterlife in progressive faith
What salvation looks like without fear-based evangelism—and what Jesus was actually saving people from.

📚 Resources Mentioned
• The Bible for Normal People – @thebiblefornormalpeople. Podcast: https://thebiblefornormalpeople.com/podcast/

 • Jared Byas – @jaredbyas
 • Pete Enns – @peteenns
 • Richard Rohr – Podcast: Another Name For Everything https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/another-name-for-every-thing-with-richard-rohr/id1452609613
 • Brian McLaren – @brianmclaren Podcast: Learning How to See: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/learning-how-to-see-with-brian-mclaren/id1532685433
 • Diana Butler Bass – @dianabutlerbass
 • Barbara Brown Taylor – @barbarabrowntaylor
 • Dan McClellan – @maklelan Podcast: Data Over Dogma: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/data-over-dogma/id1681418502
 • Bart Ehrman – @bartdehrman
 • Moonshine Jesus Show Podcast: https://moonshinejesus.podbean.com/

#christianity #progressivechristianity #deconstructing #deconstruction #exvangelical #faithandscience #preysbyterian #thechristianleft #liberal #progressive #democrat

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️  35. Ike Ndolo (Catholic, Singer-Songwriter) - God in the Rubble, Honest Hymns & Freedom Songs

Alexis Rice welcomes Ike Ndolo @ikendolo, a Nigerian-American Catholic worship leader and singer-songwriter whose voice refuses silence in the face of suffering. This episode is a powerful, honest conversation about faith with legs—faith that tells the truth, stands with the oppressed, and sings even when the world is on fire. Ike reflects on global Christianity, Catholic tradition, liberation theology, and the cost of speaking out—especially in this season.

We talk about God in the Rubble—a lament, protest, and prayer written in response to Gaza—and how worship can hold grief, rage, and hope at the same time. Ike also shares the stories behind Won’t He Do It, Sons and Daughters, City of God, and the heart of his forthcoming work Honest Hymns & Freedom Songs. Along the way, we explore music as resistance, salvation history as a living drama, and why collective liberation matters.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Why scripture read in full tells a story of liberation, not domination
• How Catholic liturgy resists cherry-picked theology
• Music as protest, prayer, and communal healing

👤 About Our Guest
Ike Ndolo has spent his entire adult life in ministry, leading worship across continents while writing songs rooted in justice, dignity, and radical welcome. His sound blends Americana, folk, and rock, influenced by Bob Marley, Ben Harper, Bob Dylan, and Marvin Gaye. His work invites listeners into faith that is honest, embodied, and alive.

🎶 Songs & Music Featured

• God in the Rubble — Ike Ndolo
• Won’t He Do It — Ike Ndolo
• Sons and Daughters — Ike Ndolo (co-written with Matt Maher @mattmahermusic) Featuring Emoni Wilkens @emoniwilkins
• City of God — Ike Ndolo
• Honest Hymns & Freedom Songs — upcoming record

🎙 Mentions & Influences

• James Talarico @jamestalarico on God’s cry for justice
• Inspirational singer-songwriters: Sara Groves @grovesroad, Derek Webb @derekwebb, Semler @gracebaldridge, Jon Guerra @iamjonguerra
  
  

🔗 Follow & Support Ike

• Music & videos (watch, listen, share): YouTube / Spotify / Apple Music — Ike Ndolo: https://www.youtube.com/@IkeNdolo
• Music lessons & creative mentorship: https://www.ikesmusicmakers.com/

#IkeNdolo #Catholic #LiberationTheology #WorshipMusic #Christianity #deconstructio

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 34. David Hayward (The Naked Pastor) – Challenging Power, Holding Grief, and Sharing the Gospel Through Art

Highly encourage you to watch this episode on YouTube or Spotify to see art from The Naked Pastor we talk about! https://youtu.be/U2okGOpqGrA?si=_vb3UU346wydnpcV

Alexis Rice welcomes David Hayward, the Canadian artist known globally as The Naked Pastor @nakedpastor, for a courageous, deeply human conversation about faith, power, grief, art, and what it actually means to follow Jesus right now.

A former pastor of nearly 30 years, David’s minimalist cartoons have become lifelines for millions navigating deconstruction, church harm, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, political theology, and spiritual independence. In this episode, he reflects on leaving institutional ministry, the grief of losing both parents, and why art can sometimes tell the truth faster — and more honestly — than sermons ever could.

Together, Alexis and David explore where Jesus consistently shows up: not in the center of power, but on the margins — among the excluded, the grieving, and those still brave enough to love indiscriminately.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Why “indiscriminate love” is at the heart of Jesus’ teachings — and why it’s never been popular
 • The difference between church style and spiritual substance (high church vs. low church)
• How charismatic religious leadership bleeds into politics — and why that matters
• Why 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion exposes the deepest fears of patriarchy
• Art as a spiritual practice that bypasses defenses and speaks directly to the heart
• Grief, loss, and why David painted a man “floating in his own tears”
• Why de-centering ourselves may be the most faithful work we can do

👤 About Our Guest

David Hayward is a Canadian artist, former pastor, author, and visual theologian. Known as The Naked Pastor, his daily cartoons challenge religious harm, patriarchy, and exclusion while re-centering faith around dignity, compassion, and love. His work is shared globally and has helped countless people reclaim faith — or heal from it — beyond institutional walls.

🎨 The Naked Pastor Art & Prints (Shop)
https://nakedpastor.com/collections/all

🌐 Website (Home Base)
https://nakedpastor.com

📖 Books by David Hayward
Available wherever books are sold

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 33. BONUS: If You Haven’t Been Prayed Over in a Long Time

This labor of love is my Christmas gift to you. I wasn’t planning to make this episode, but if it helps even one person this Christmas season, it was worth it.

Over the past 7 months, I invited pastors, priests, and reverends from around the world to pray for those who haven’t been prayed over in a long time. This episode is a compilation of those prayers, woven together with music from singer-songwriters featured in Season One. There are some guests sprinkled in that will be in Season Two!

Beloveds, you are loved just as you are. You matter to God. You have infinite worth, and you are needed. My hope is that this prayerful meditation offers healing, peace, and clarity—and invites you to listen for the Holy Spirit as you reflect, remember, and rest.

May you leave with a little more courage, a little more clarity, and a peace that surpasses understanding.

 Merry Christmas.

 - Alexis Rice

Clergy and Artists Featured
Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (Episcopal) @bishopbudde
Pastor Josh Scott (Progressive Baptist/Post-Evangelical) @josh_a_scott
Rev. Helen (Anglican, Church of England) @revhelenpt
Pastor Paul Drees (Lutheran) @pastorpauldrees
Rev. Darrell Goodwin (UCC) @revdgoodwin
Father Lizzie (Episcopal) @rev.lizzie
Rev. Gerlyn (Anglican) @gerlynhenry
Rev. Joseph Yoo (Episcopal) @joseph.yoo 
Rev. Joash P. Thomas (St. Thomas/Anglican) @joashpthomas
Bishop Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir (Lutheran, Iceland) @gudrun.biskup_

Music - Jon Guerra — Citizens @iamjonguerra

Rev. Dr. Chris Davies (UCC) @jesuslovesdinos
Pastor Joe Smith (Non-denominational) @therealjoe.smith
Rev. Elizabeth Ashman Riley (Episcopal) @therevriley
Pastor Jeremy Steele (United Methodist) @skeptic.pastor

Music - Sara Groves — Hello, Lord @grovesroad

Rev. Joe Graves (United Methodist) @josephdavidgraves
Pastor Kim (Seventh-day Adventist) @_kimberlybulgin

Music-  Semler — Faith @gracebaldridge

Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin (Presbyterian) @marksandlin
Pastor Seth Cain (Non-denominational) @sethandrewcain

Music- Derek Webb — I Was There Too, It Won't Be This Way Forever @derekwebb

Rev. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD (Baptist) @drrobertoche
Pastor Zach Lambert (Post-Evangelical) @zachwlambert
Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel (UCC)
Rev. Katie (Episcopal)

Music - Malynda Hale — God and His Gun @malyndahale

Rev. Amber Evans (Episcopal)
Rev. Dr. Chris Davies (UCC) 

Music - The Sacred Slope Theme - Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin, Sean Spence

Support the show

Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity, exploring its many expressions.

🎧 WATCH: YouTube / Spotify
LISTEN: Apple Podcasts + everywhere
FOLLOW: @thesacredslope (IG, FB, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, Bluesky)

🔗 Connect
🎧 Explore episodes & community: linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope
🎙 Hosted by Alexis Rice
🎵 Music by Brett Rutledge, Eddie Irvin & Sean Spence
📬 Nominate a guest: [email protected]

🌿 Community Guidelines 🌿
Fruit of the Spirit: ❤️ love • 💫 joy • ☮️ peace • 🕊 patience • 💝 kindness • 🌿 goodness • 🙏 faithfulness • 🤲 gentleness • 💪 self-control

🎙️ 32. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde (Episcopal) – We Can Be Brave

It’s not every day you get to sit down with one of your heroes. Bishop Budde has shaped my spiritual life - and my willingness to be brave - in these uncertain times. I hope this episode, my Christmas gift to you, fills you up with the same.
 - Alexis Rice

What does Christian courage look like when fear dominates public life - and love still calls us to show up with dignity?

In this episode of The Sacred Slope, Alexis is joined by Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C., and author of the New York Times bestselling book We Can Be Brave, now adapted for young readers and out now from Penguin Young Readers.

Many first encountered Bishop Budde during the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral, when she looked directly at President Trump and made a plea for mercy. In this conversation - and through her book - she places that moment in context, showing how bravery is not a single act, but a lifelong practice shaped by faith, humility, and love.

✨ In this conversation, we explore:

• Why affirming another person’s humanity is moral work
• Mercy, forgiveness, and accountability - without bypassing harm
• How bravery is practiced over a lifetime

✨ An excerpt from Bishop Budde’s sermon at the National Prayer Service at Washington National Cathedral:

“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you.
 And as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and Independent families - some who fear for their lives. And the people - the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals - they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and to walk humbly with each other and our God - for the good of all people. The good of all people in this nation and the world.

Amen.”

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