37. Bishop Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir (Church of Iceland) – A Nation Led by Women, and a Bishop Who Says Queer People Should Be Safe in Christianity

When a nation is led by women at the highest levels - the President, the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Reykjavík, the National Police Commissioner, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Bishop of Iceland - something becomes visible: women in power isn’t an exception, it’s normal. Into that context steps Bishop Guðrún - the second woman ever to serve as Bishop of Iceland - who tells LGBTQ+ people that God’s creation is good — and that we are holy creations of God.

Together, Alexis & Bishop Guðrún dive into:

• Iceland’s 1975 Women’s Strike & gender equality milestones
• From harm to repair - why churches MUST affirm LGBTQ+ people
• The Bishop’s civic role - national funerals, ceremonies, moral voice
• Mental health, suicide, and walking with people in suffering
• A prayer in Icelandic for listeners who left church but not God

💡 Key Takeaways

🌈 Safety, dignity, and belonging for queer people is Christian discipleship - not deviation.
 👩‍⚖️ When women lead at every level of national life, equality becomes ordinary - not symbolic.
 🧭 The Bishop’s role is not partisan power - it is moral presence and public courage.
 🕊️ True pastoral leadership walks with people in suffering, not above them.

⛪ About Our Guest

Bishop Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir (@gudrun.biskup_) is the Bishop of Iceland - the spiritual head of the Church of Iceland (@kirkjan.is), a national Lutheran church interwoven into Icelandic cultural life, history, and state ceremonies. The Bishop’s office carries both sacred and civic weight: accompanying presidents and prime ministers at moments of national significance, offering moral clarity in public crises, and serving as a pastoral presence when the country gathers in grief, remembrance, or celebration.

Bishop Guðrún is the second woman ever to serve as Bishop of Iceland. Her pathway includes parish leadership in Sweden and Iceland, and theological formation at the University of Iceland and the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. Known internationally for her clear advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion, Bishop Guðrún represents a model of Christian leadership rooted not in fear or exclusion, but in dignity, equality, and the conviction that God’s creation is good.

📚 Resources Mentioned

Iceland Church Pride clip:
 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNBnMnFMtN8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Bishop Guðrún Trans rights clip:
 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFvNaZ8tKeN/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Suicide-awareness clip:
 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPCd44njMXo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Women’s Strike (BBC):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/articles/cy0ky4e4kzwo

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

Pride Month Series- 🌈 Happy Pride!

36. Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines (Disciples of Christ/UCC) - The Progressive, Open & Affirming Pastor Evangelicals Warned You About

What does a conversation with a progressive, open and affirming pastor actually sound like?

For many people raised in evangelical spaces, progressive pastors were often presented as people who had compromised biblical faith or wandered too far from Christianity. But what happens when you actually listen and decide for yourself?

Alexis sits down with Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines, pastor, author, scholar, Co-Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Christianity, and one of the most visible progressive Christian voices online, for a wide-ranging conversation about faith, deconstruction, LGBTQ+ inclusion, Christian nationalism, biblical interpretation, raising children with a healthy faith, and why so many people are reimagining Christianity today.

Caleb serves an open and affirming church in San Diego. Open and Affirming (ONA) churches fully welcome LGBTQ+ people into the life and leadership of the church. In many ONA churches, this includes marriage, ordination, leadership, and participation at every level.

Together, Alexis and Caleb explore whether progressive Christianity is really as scary as many people were taught, why faith doesn't have to be rooted in certainty, and how Christianity can be a force for justice, compassion, curiosity, and human flourishing.

💬 In This Episode

• What progressive Christianity actually is
• What "Open and Affirming" means
• Growing up progressive in the Bible Belt
• Deconstruction, reconstruction, and resilient faith
• Raising children who can ask hard questions
• Christian nationalism and the politics of fear
• LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church
• How to find a safe, affirming church
• Why people are leaving harmful religious spaces
• Why some people are reclaiming Christianity instead of abandoning it
• Interfaith relationships and finding common ground
• Faith, doubt, mystery, and living without certainty

👥 People & Resources Mentioned

• Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines: @revcalebjlines
• The Center for Progressive Christianity: @progressivechristianity
• Church Clarity: @churchclarity | churchclarity.org
• GayChurch.org
• Rev. Dr. Mark Sandlin: @marksandlin
• Marcus Borg
• Barbara Brown Taylor: @barbarabrowntaylor
• Holy Envy
• Phyllis Tickle
• Jerome Berryman / Godly Play
• Imam Taha Hassane
• Petra Costa: @petracostal
• Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix)
• The Moonshine Jesus Show: @moonshinejesusshow

📚 Books by Caleb

• Awakened: A Path to Courageous Faith in an Uncertain World
• The Great Digital Commission: Embracing Social Media for Church Growth and Transformation
Website: calebjlines.com

#ProgressiveChristianity #OpenAndAffirming #PrideMonth #Christianity #Deconstruction #Reconstruction #LGBTQChristianity #ChristianNationalism #Faith #ProgressiveFaith #ChurchHurt #InclusiveChurch #TheSacredSlope #CalebJLines #Pride 🌈

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

HAPPY PRIDE!

🎙️ 35. Rocky Roggio (Director, 1946: The Movie) - 1946: The Year the Word “Homosexual” Entered the Bible (Pride Month Reissue)

One mistranslation changed theology, policy, families, and the lives of millions of LGBTQ people.

Alexis sits down with Rocky Roggio @rockyroggio, director of the award-winning documentary 1946: The Movie @1946themovie, to explore the year the word “homosexual” first appeared in an English Bible and how that translation decision reshaped theology, culture, and public policy for generations.

They unpack the historical research behind the film, including discoveries in the Yale archives surrounding the 1946 Revised Standard Version Bible translation. Rocky explains how one translation decision helped shape decades of church teaching and influence modern debates around LGBTQ Christianity and Bible translation.

Rocky also shares the personal story behind the film, including the decision to include her own father, a minister, in the documentary. Their conversations reveal how theology is never abstract - it shows up in families, churches, and real relationships.

Alexis and Rocky discuss why the film resonates with audiences across the political and theological spectrum and why understanding Bible translation history, queer theology, progressive Christianity, and Christian nationalism matters right now.

This episode is for anyone - Christian or not, queer or not - who cares about truth, history, and how sacred texts are interpreted and sometimes weaponized.

💡 Key Takeaways

• The word “homosexual” first appeared in an English Bible in 1946
• Bible translation decisions can shape theology and culture for generations
• Scripture can inspire justice or be used to justify harm
• Biblical literacy matters in conversations about Christian nationalism and LGBTQ inclusion

About Our Guest

Rocky Roggio is the director of 1946: The Movie, an award-winning documentary investigating how the word “homosexual” first entered the English Bible and how that translation shaped modern debates around LGBTQ Christianity.

🎬 Watch the film

Best way to support the filmmakers (independent streaming platform):
 https://watch.eventive.org/1946themovie

🌍 Projects & Organizations Mentioned

The Living Wall of Love - Jarko’s project featured at World Pride Amsterdam
https://growingwalloflove.com

Making Things Right (LGBTQ Christian reconciliation resource)
https://makingthingsright.org

#Christianity #deconstruction #OpenAndAffirming #1946TheMovie

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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. Science & Faith Part 2 - Pastor Will Rose (ELCA Lutheran) - The False Choice Between Faith and Science 

Alexis Rice sits down with Pastor Will Rose, ELCA Lutheran pastor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, co-host of Systematic Geekology, and creator of the faith and science podcast Your Matter Matters, for a deeply compassionate conversation about curiosity, science, deconstruction, and why asking honest questions should never make someone feel spiritually unsafe.

Together, Alexis and Will unpack the false binary so many Christians were handed between faith and science - and the shame many people carry after being taught that questioning Genesis, evolution, the Big Bang, healthcare, vaccines, or scientific expertise somehow meant they were “falling away from God.”

Will shares how many progressive and mainline Christian spaces approach scripture, theology, and science very differently than fundamentalist environments, and why intellectual humility, wonder, and curiosity can actually deepen faith instead of destroy it.

At the center of this conversation is one powerful idea:

“If that’s how the universe operates - growing, evolving, shifting - I think our faith can be like that too.”

This episode is an invitation for anyone who has ever felt spiritually trapped, intellectually unsafe, or afraid that asking honest questions could cost them belonging.

💬 In This Episode

• Why many Christians were taught faith and science cannot coexist
• Curiosity vs “doubt culture” in evangelical spaces
• Why asking questions should not be treated as rebellion against God
• The danger of certainty culture in Christianity
• Genesis, evolution, Adam & Eve, and biblical interpretation
• “God of the gaps” theology and why it creates fear
• Why many pastors feel pressure to have all the answers
• The importance of intellectual humility in faith communities
• How science and theology ask different kinds of questions
• COVID, vaccines, healthcare, and anti-science narratives in churches
• Christian nationalism and the weaponization of faith
• The erosion of trust in institutions, experts, and scientists
• Why progressive pastors and churches need more visibility
• Theology Beer Camp and creating safe spaces for spiritual exploration
• Why people do not need to abandon science in order to love God
• The healing power of realizing “I’m not the only one asking this”

📚 Books & Resources Mentioned

• Pastor Will Rose: @willnrose
• Your Matter Matters Podcast: @yourmattermatters
• Fish with Feet: Human Evolution and the Image of God - Dr. Janet Kellogg Ray @janetkelloggray from @eerdmans
• The Sin of Certainty - Pete Enns @thebiblefornormalpeople
• The Great Emergence - Phyllis Tickle
• Systematic Geekology @systematicgeekology
• Theology Beer Camp @theologybeercamp
• Homebrewed Christianity with Tripp Fulelr @theologynerd @trippfuller
• Dr. Janet Kellogg Ray: @janetkelloggray
• Tripp Fuller: @trippfuller
• Pete Enns: @thebiblefornormalpeople
• Ted Peters
• Joshua Noel
• Francis Collins
• Neil deGrasse Tyson: @neildegrassetyson

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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. Science & Faith Part 1 - Dr. Janet Kellogg Ray (Science Educator & Christian) - Science Asks How & When. Faith Asks Who & Why

Alexis Rice sits down with Dr. Janet Kellogg Ray, science educator, university lecturer, Christian, and author of Fish with Feet: Human Evolution and the Image of God, for a deeply honest conversation about evolution, evangelicalism, scientific literacy, and the false choice so many Christians were handed between faith and science.

Raised in conservative Christianity and young earth creationist culture herself, Janet shares how studying biology transformed her understanding of both science and God - not by destroying her faith, but by expanding it.

Together, Alexis and Janet unpack the deep distrust of science embedded in many American evangelical spaces, why evolution was framed as spiritually dangerous, and how generations of Christians were taught that accepting evolution, climate science, vaccines, or scientific expertise itself could somehow threaten their relationship with God.

At the center of this conversation is one of Janet’s most powerful insights:

“Science asks questions of how and when. Faith asks questions of who and why.”

Science cannot answer every meaningful question in human life. And faith and science are not enemies competing for the same territory - they are often answering entirely different kinds of questions.

💬 In This Episode

• Growing up in young earth creationism
• Why evolution became linked to “moral decline” in evangelical culture
• The rise of anti-evolution apologetics in America
• How churches built alternative Christian media and education ecosystems
• Why many Christians distrust scientists and experts
• COVID, vaccines, public health, and evangelical fear of science
• What scientists actually mean by “theory”
• Adam and Eve, Genesis, and the tension between theology and biology
• The Big Bang, the Cambrian explosion, and misconceptions about evolution
• Why curiosity should not be treated as rebellion against God
• Galileo, science denial, and refusing to “look through the telescope”
• Authority vs expertise and the danger of scientific illiteracy
• Why science and faith can coexist without conflict
• How asking questions can actually deepen faith rather than destroy it

Janet offers a compassionate invitation for Christians who feel trapped between intellectual honesty and spiritual belonging: 
you do not have to reject science to love God.

📚 Books & Resources Mentioned

• Fish with Feet: Human Evolution and the Image of God (@Eerdmans)
• The God of Monkey Science (@Eerdmans)
• Baby Dinosaurs on the Ark

👥 People & Accounts Mentioned

• Janet Kellogg Ray: @janetkelloggray
 • Neil deGrasse Tyson: @neildegrassetyson
 • Hasan Minhaj - IG: @hasanminhaj @hmdk
 • Francis Collins
 • Kenneth Miller

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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. Sharon McMahon (We Are Mighty) & We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

Alexis Rice sits down with Sharon McMahon, bestselling author, educator, and creator of “@SharonSaysSo,” for a deeply moving conversation about history, democracy, courage, faith, and the ordinary people who shape the world around us.

As Sharon releases her new children’s book, We Are Mighty: 12 Ordinary Americans Who Did the Next Needed Thing, Alexis and Sharon explore figures of American history, some famous, some not, about the power of education, and what it means to continue doing good with no assurance of success. Together, they discuss Martin Luther King Jr., Maria de Lopez, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Septima Clark, Clara Brown, and the everyday people whose unseen acts of courage changed generations.

This episode is a reminder that history is not only shaped by presidents, billionaires, or celebrities - but by teachers, neighbors, parents, organizers, and ordinary people willing to do the next needed thing.

💬 In This Episode

• Why “doing the next needed thing” can change history
• Stories behind We Are Mighty and The Small and the Mighty
• Martin Luther King Jr.’s struggle with depression and self-doubt
• Rosa Parks, Septima Clark, and the unseen roots of the Civil Rights Movement
• Clara Brown, faith, forgiveness, and resistance
• Why education is liberation
• The danger of Christian nationalism and authoritarianism
• The difference between performative religion and living compassionately
• Sharon’s canceled commencement speech, the political backlash, and how she's doing the next needed thing
• Why history gives hope during difficult times
• What teachers and ordinary citizens need to hear right now about the power of community
• Why courage rarely comes with assurance of success

Sharon reminds us that the people who change the world are rarely the loudest or the most powerful. More often, they are ordinary people choosing courage, compassion, education, and hope in moments when success is far from guaranteed.

And maybe that moment is ours now.

We Are Mighty for Kids, illustrated by @susannachapman, from @penguinrandomhouse is out May 19 https://sharonmcmahon.com/book

👥 People Mentioned

• Sarah Bessey: @sarahbessey
• Kate Bowler: @katecbowler
• Nadia Bolz-Weber: @sarcasticlutheran

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

🎙️ 31. Jeremy Steele (United Methodist, Skeptic Pastor) - Stop Ceding Faith: Democrats and Media Need Progressive Pastors Now

Alexis sits down with Jeremy Steele (@skeptic.pastor), a United Methodist pastor, author, and self-described “deep skeptic,” for a bold, unfiltered conversation about faith, politics, and the stories shaping Christianity in America today.

Jeremy returns to The Sacred Slope to challenge some of the most widely held beliefs in evangelical spaces - including the rapture - and to name what’s really happening when extreme voices dominate the narrative. Together, Alexis and Jeremy unpack Christian nationalism, the absence of progressive faith voices in media and politics, and why that silence is creating a dangerous vacuum.

This episode is both a wake-up call and a clear invitation: if Democrats and media want to reach people of faith, they cannot keep ignoring progressive pastors. The voices exist. The audience is there. The moment is now.

💬 In This Episode

• Why the rapture isn’t supported by serious biblical scholarship
• How fear-based theology stays in our bodies even after deconstruction
• Christian nationalism and the “shock jock” effect in media
• Why Democrats and progressive media have ceded the language of faith
• A direct call: put progressive pastors and faith leaders on stage
• The gap between evangelical narratives and global Christianity
• Letting go of all-or-nothing faith frameworks
• Reclaiming spiritual practices and rituals after church hurt
• Why compassion is central to the teachings of Jesus

👥 People/Resources Mentioned

• Jeremy Steele: @skepticpastor | https://skepticpastor.com
• Rituals for Heretics: https://skepticpastor.com/rituals
• How to Not Suck as a Christian https://jeremy-steele.com/suck-book

• Dan McClellan: @maklelan
• Jennifer Garcia Bashaw: @jgbashaw
• The Bible for Normal People: @thebiblefornormalpeople
• Senator Raphael Warnock: @raphaelwarnock

• Jimmy Kimmel: @jimmykimmel
• Stephen Colbert: @stephenathome

• MSNow: @msnbc
• CNN: @cnn 

• Don Lemon Show: @donlemonofficial

From calling out harmful theology to naming the silence in progressive spaces, Jeremy makes a compelling case: the rapture isn’t real, but the consequences of bad theology are. And if we don’t elevate better voices, we leave the loudest ones unchecked.

#Christianity #deconstruction #progressiveChristianity #ChristianNationalism #faithandpolitics #exvangelical #OpenAndAffirming #MentalHealth

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

🎙️ 30. Christina Zini (United Methodist/Lutheran) -  This Is What Christianity Looks Like When It’s Not About Control & The Sacred Slope Turns 1!!!!! With music by Derek Webb!

Alexis Rice sits down with Christina Zini, a friend of 20+ years, a leadership coach, Christian woman, global citizen, for a deeply personal and reflective conversation marking one year of The Sacred Slope.

Christina shares her journey of faith from growing up Lutheran in a small town in the US to living across the world and discovering a Christianity rooted not in control or coercion, but in love, openness, and deep respect for others. Together, Alexis and Christina explore what it actually looks like to follow Jesus in a complex and divided world.

They reflect on friendship, church, and culture, and what this past year of The Sacred Slope has revealed: that faith is far more expansive than many were taught, that people across religions are not enemies but neighbors, and that people are drawn to Jesus not by force, but by how we show up.

At the heart of this conversation is a powerful message: they are to know us by our love.

💬 In This Episode

• Celebrating one year of The Sacred Slope
• Growing up in Lutheran and Methodist traditions
• Faith shaped by global experiences and travel
• Church shopping and finding aligned community
• Why love matters more than conversion
• Respecting other religions while following Jesus
• Women’s leadership and agency in faith and life
• IVF, health decisions, and bodily autonomy
• Letting go of control and learning to trust God
• Navigating faith in a time of division
• Friendship as a spiritual anchor
• What it means to live out the fruit of the Spirit

💛 Thank you Derek Webb

 A special thank you to Derek Webb @DerekWebb and his team for allowing me to use his music in this anniversary episode from his album, Survival Songs: https://www.derekwebb.com/dwdwdw/p/survival-songs-cd-digital-download

Derek was one of my first interviews and it was so healing: https://youtu.be/Gr-lWvMLj9A?si=GQR4mlKygpRMMf3U

💛 Support The Sacred Slope

If this podcast has meant something to you and you want to see more conversations like this:

☕ Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/thesacredslope
 💛 Linktree to Venmo: https://linktr.ee/TheSacredSlope

Your support helps amplify voices, expand this community, and continue these conversations around the world.

#Christianity #deconstruction #OpenAndAffirming #MentalHealth

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

🎙️ 29. Part 2. Reproductive Rights - Rev. jessica young chang (UCC): Faith, Freedom, and Who Gets to Decide

A note:
 This is so hard to talk about.

I was raised to believe this was the issue.
The line you could never cross.

And if you did… you were wrong.
 You were evil.

So I get it. I really do.

But after listening to real stories…
 and sitting with real people…
 I realized this isn’t simple. It never was.

There’s more nuance here than we were told.

Alexis Rice sits down with rev. jessica young chang, a UCC minister and reproductive chaplain, for a compassionate conversation about faith, reproductive justice, and what it means to follow Jesus in complex, real-world situations.

Following Part 1 with Alexis’s childhood friend Valerie - a story of pregnancy, cancer, and survival - this episode moves into the pastoral and theological realities behind reproductive decisions.

This is a deeply emotional topic. For many Christians in the United States, this has been the defining political issue for over 40 years. Many have been taught that to think differently is to be wrong, sinful, or beyond redemption.

If you feel tension, grief, or resistance as you listen, you are not alone.

This episode does not tell you what to think.
 It invites you to listen.

Together, they explore how faith, power, and the body intersect - and create space for those who have felt judged, silenced, or pushed out of the conversation.

At the heart of this episode is a grounding truth: nothing separates you from the love of God.

💬 In This Episode

• Reproductive chaplaincy & spiritual care
• Why this issue is not simple or binary
• What the Bible does/doesn't say about abortion
• Life begins at breath & personhood
• Power, politics, & Christian nationalism
• Pro-life vs anti-choice
• Why access reduces abortion rates
• Real-world consequences when care is restricted
• Grief, relief, & lived experiences
• Deconstructing faith while holding onto Jesus
• Navigating shame & inherited beliefs
• A prayer for healing & freedom

👥 THANK YOU to the following folks who allowed me to include their social media clips in this episode:

• Dan McClellan: @maklelan
• Tim Whitaker: @timwhitakerspeaks / @thenewevangelicals
• Mark Sandlin: @marksandlin / @progressivechristianity / @the_christian_left
• John Fugelsang: @johnfugelsang
• Jeremy Steele: @skeptic.pastor
• Heather Gardner: @heathergtv

📚 Organizations
Faith Aloud | Faith Choice Ohio @faithchoiceohio
Planned Parenthood @plannedparenthood

#Christianity #deconstruction #reproductiverights

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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

28. Part 1. Reproductive Rights: Valerie's Story - Pregnancy, Cancer, and a Life-or-Death Choice

Alexis sits down with her childhood friend Valerie Ruschke for a deeply personal and emotional conversation about reproductive rights, faith, and medical reality.

At 16 weeks pregnant, Valerie was diagnosed with aggressive Stage 3 HER2-positive breast cancer. Doctors told her she had less than a 10% chance of survival unless she terminated the pregnancy immediately to begin life-saving treatment.

This is Part 1 of a two-part series exploring reproductive rights, faith, and nuance.

Valerie shares what it was like to face that decision in real time - the physical pain, the emotional weight, and the lasting impact. She opens up about what followed: chemotherapy, loss, survival, recurrence, and ultimately building her family through surrogacy.

This episode moves beyond political talking points and into lived experience. It challenges assumptions about abortion, highlights the realities of maternal health, and reminds us that these decisions are not theoretical - they are deeply human.

💬 In This Episode

• How Judaism teaches that the life and well-being of the mother takes precedence in pregnancy

• A real story of abortion and cancer during pregnancy
• What happens when treatment cannot wait
• The physical and emotional reality of termination
• How faith and personal values shape complex decisions
• The medical realities often missing from public conversations
• Why this issue is not simple within Christianity or any faith
• How policy decisions impact real families and outcomes

@valroosh

🎧 Coming in Part 2

In Part 2, Alexis speaks with Reverend jessica young chang and shares perspectives from clergy, theologians, and leaders wrestling with reproductive rights, faith, and care in their communities.

Support the show

About The Sacred Slope
Where the slippery slope becomes sacred ground.
For the spiritually tender—raised in or rooted in Christianity.
Come explore our global, diverse, inclusive Christian faith, deconstruction, and spiritual identity in a rapidly changing world. Through conversations with clergy, scholars, and cultural voices, the show creates space for people navigating faith after certainty, church harm, or political co-option of religion.

🎧 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