The Vicars' Crossing

In this episode, we welcome back to the podcast author, Pastor, hiker, and pilgrim Brian Zahnd. In this episode, we discussed his latest book… “When Everything is on fire; Faith Forged From
The Ashes.” Sit back and enjoy the delightful conversation about Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, Derita, the Camino, and the Kansas City Chiefs.

This podcast was recorded on December 14th, 2021.

Welcome to this BONUS EPISODE of the Vicars’ Crossing. This episode is being released on The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe - December 12. 

Mary is the Patron Saint of Mexico and Patroness of the Americas. Every year, thousands of people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City. The day commemorates the apparition of our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac in 1531. She appeared as an Indian maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language She asked him to go to the bishop and tell him that the Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God, sent him to ask for a church to be built atop Tepeyac hill.

Mary’s appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary—and the God who sent her—accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for the indigenous population. Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God’s love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.

In celebration of today's feast, we welcome The Rev. Dr. Robert Chao Romero. Dr. Chao is "Asian-Latino," and has been a professor of Chicana/o Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA since 2005.  Robert is also an attorney having studied at Berkeley.  Romero has published 15 academic books and articles on issues of race, immigration, history, education, and religion, and received the Latina/o Studies book award from the international Latin American Studies Association. Robert is an ordained pastor.  Together with his wife Erica, he is the co-founder of Jesus 4 Revolutionaries, a Christian ministry to activists, as well as the co-chair of the Matthew 25 Movement in Southern California.


This podcast was recorded on November 16th, 2021.

In this episode, we welcome Womanist biblical scholar, the Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, Texas. She is the author of Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to Women of the Torah and of the Throne, numerous commentaries and co-editor of The Peoples’ Bible and The Peoples’ Companion to the Bible. She is also the author of a Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church and translator of its biblical selections; the first two volumes, Year A and W were published in August 2021. Volumes B and C are due in 2023 and 2024. She is currently writing the second volume of Womanist Midrash focusing on women in the Prophets. Dr. Gafney is an Episcopal priest canonically resident in the Diocese of Pennsylvania and licensed in the Diocese of North Texas. She is a former Army chaplain and congregational pastor in the AME Zion Church. Dr Gafney has co-taught courses with and for the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Seminary in Wyncote, PA.

This podcast was recorded on December 7th, 2021.

In this episode, we welcome associate professor of social ethics at Iliff School of Theology, Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre. A religious scholar, author, and ordained minister, De Le Torre was born in Cuba months before the Castro Revolution. He and his family migrated to the United States as refugees when he was an infant. He had a successful real estate business and at one point ran for state legislature under the Republican banner. Dr. De La Torre walked away from that life to study theology. He is an ordained minister with a Ph.D. in social ethics from Temple University his writing focuses on ethics within contemporary U.S. thought, specifically how religion affects race, class, and gender oppression.

Dr De La Torre has authored numerous articles and over 40 books,. He’s released six this year alone. 

Today we discuss DECOLONIZING CHRISTIANITY: BECOMING BADASS CHRISTIANS. 
This manifesto is an evangelical book reaching out to and seeking the salvation of people of colour who carry the weight of indignity, whose very humanity has been denied by whiteness. It’s a call to those who are wary of racism and heavily burdened by ethnic discrimination. And if by chance those who are melanin-challenged, those who have also lost their own humanity by depriving humanness to those on their margins, were to discover their own salvation, then fine. De la Torre says he will celebrate this unintended consequence.

This podcast was recorded on November 30th, 2021

Today we are excited to release this advent special. 

We welcome friends of the Vicars’ Crossing, Bestselling authors Diana Butler Bass, and Michael Coren. Diana and Michael have both written books about Jesus this year. Dianna’s book FREEING JESUS - challenges the idea that Jesus can only be understood in static, one-dimensional ways and asks us to instead consider a life where Jesus grows with us and helps us through life’s challenges in several capacities: as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. 

Michael’s book THE REBEL CHRIST reminds us of Jesus who was a rebel, a radical, and a revolutionary who called for the poor and marginalized to be protected, criticized the wealthy and complacent, and condemned those who exploited others while turning their eyes away from those in need. 

Each of these books provides followers in the way of Jesus plenty to consider. Sit back grab a coffee, light your Advent wreath and enjoy these two internationally renowned writers discuss Jesus in the public square.

This podcast was recorded on November 22nd, 2021.

In this episode we welcome Dr. Will Willimon -  Bishop Willimon is the Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School. He is former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and is considered by many as one of America's best-known and most influential preachers. Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke Divinity School. He is former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University and is considered by many as one of America's best-known and most influential preachers. He is has been surveyed to one of the two most frequently read writers by pastors in mainline Protestantism alongside the Roman Catholic writer Henri Nouwen. By his estimation, he’s written 100 books. His latest book GOD TURNS TOWARD US: THE ABCs OF CHRISTIAN FAITH is organized by the words the church teaches us to use to talk about ordinary life apprehended by a God who is Jesus Christ. We discuss some of these short, meditative reflections and key concepts that guide new and longstanding Christians. 

this podcast was recorded on November 23rd, 2021.

Today we talk with author, speaker and Lutheran pastor Heidi Neumark. Heidi has served congregations in the South Bronx and presently in Manhattan. Her experiences in congregational and community leadership in the Bronx led to a highly acclaimed book, "Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx" She has chapters and sermons in numerous other books and writes regularly for the Christian Century and other journals. In her present position, Pastor Neumark also serves as the executive director of a shelter for homeless LGBTQ youth. Her newest book "Sanctuary: Being Christian in the Wake of Trump," was released in 2020. Heidi adds her voice to the growing chorus of Christians calling for faith-based resistance to the Trump agenda. Sanctuary is an amplifier for the many voices crying out against policies and rhetoric that are cruel, dehumanizing, and dangerous. We talk about the many ways we can provide sanctuary in a world where many are seeking safety.

This podcast was recorded on November 16th, 2021.

In this episode, we welcome New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books - Frank Schaeffer. 

Frank is a survivor of both polio and an evangelical/fundamentalist childhood. He’s an acclaimed writer who overcame severe dyslexia, a home-schooled and self-taught documentary movie director, a feature film director of four low budget Hollywood features Frank has described as “pretty terrible.” He is also an acclaimed author of fiction and nonfiction and an artist with a loyal following of international collectors who own many of his paintings. Frank has been a frequent guest on the Rachel Maddow Show on NBC, has appeared on Oprah, been interviewed by Terri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the Today Show, BBC News and many other media outlets. He is a much sought after speaker and has lectured at a wide range of venues from Harvard’s Kennedy School to the Hammer Museum/UCLA, Princeton University, Riverside Church Cathedral, DePaul University and the Kansas City Public Library.

Today we discuss his just-released book  - Fall in Love, Have Children, Stay Put, Save the Planet, Be Happy.

This podcast was recorded on November 9th, 2021.

We welcome internationally renowned scholar and teacher, Amy-Jill Levine. Dr Levine is the author of numerous books including “The Difficult Words of Jesus: A Beginner's Guide to His Most Perplexing Teachings,”
“Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi,” 
She is also the coeditor of the Jewish Annotated New Testament.  She has recently co-authored “The a Bible with and Without Jesus,” - which we discuss on this episode. 
AJ is the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. In 2021 she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. AJ describes herself as an unorthodox member of an Orthodox synagogue and a Yankee Jewish feminist who until 2021 taught New Testament in a Christian divinity school in the buckle of the Bible Belt.

This podcast was recorded on October 27th, 2021.

Dr. Beth Allison Barr is professor of history and associate dean of the Graduate School at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where she specializes in medieval history, women's history, and church history. 

Her current best selling book THE MAKING OF BIBLICAL WOMANHOOD 
moves the conversation about biblical womanhood beyond Greek grammar and into the realm of church history to show that this belief is not divinely ordained but a product of human civilization that continues to creep into the church. Barr's historical insights provide context for contemporary teachings about women's roles in the church and help move the conversation forward.

Dr. Barr is the president of the Conference on Faith and History and is a member of Christians for Biblical Equality. Barr has written for Christianity Today, the Washington Post, and Religion News Service, and is a regular contributor to The Anxious Bench, the popular Patheos website on Christian history.

This podcast was recorded on October 26th, 2021.