This week’s Exodus reading is the culmination of the Ten Plagues, the escalating contestation of power between The Divine One and Pharaoh. Join Collective member Rev. Anne Dunlap and special guest Graie Hagans as they talk about this grim final plague in which all the firstborn of Egypt not protected by the passing-over preparations are to die. What is the role of ritual as abolition practice? What does it mean that the instructions for liberation are for everyone?

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

In our text for today (Exodus 3:1-15), Moses gets curious about a bush that burns, but is somehow not consumed. In this wilderness space, God calls Moses into the work of helping his enslaved Hebrew siblings get free from slavery in Egypt. Join Rev. Liz Kearny and special guest contributors Candice Baughman and Rev. Dexter Kearny of the One Parish One Prisoner program at Underground Ministries for a conversation about God’s call on each of our lives to participate in the movement to abolish the prison industrial complex - a journey that begins with a bit of curiosity.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

We begin our "Exodus and Abolition" series in Exodus 1, setting the context for the unfolding of the rest of the the story by showing us the contours of what enslavement means for the Hebrew people. Into this this context of oppression, enter three stories of women resisting unjust laws and acting to preserve life. Join Dr. Sharon Fennema as she brings womanist theologian and beloved ancestor Dr. Delores Williams into the room as a co-conspirator for interpreting this text.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

In our text this week, Jesus is really going through a rough time, and he manages to offend just about everyone around him with his sharp-edged words and actions. Join Rev. Anne Dunlap, Dr. Sharon Fennema, and Rev. Liz Kearny as they listen to the outcry of the Canaanite woman in the story, and wonder together about how her actions changed Jesus from that moment on.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

This "miracle" story of Jesus walking on water comes on the heels of Jesus feeding over 5,000 people. And they are all still in the raw trauma of learning John the Baptist has been executed. Join Rev. Liz Kearny, Dr. Sharon Fennema, and Rev. Anne Dunlap as they ponder miracles, tormenting storms, heartbreak, needing a minute alone, and Jesus reaching for us.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

Join our contributors Dr. Sharon Fennema, Rev. Liz Kearny, and Rev. Anne Dunlap as they talk (and cry) about the famous story of Jesus feeding over 5,000 people. The story follows after the series of parables imagining the kingdom of heaven together in community in chapter 13. And here, we encounter Jesus after having heard the news that John the Baptist had been murdered by Herod. With this violence on his heart, Jesus takes himself to a deserted place, where the community joins him after hearing the news themselves. What do we do when we are grieving and hungry?

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

This week, Jesus continues his lakeside parable teaching with a string of mini-parables: a mustard seed is sown and becomes a massive tree-home for the birds, a woman mixes yeast into her flour, a man buys the field where he was digging around and found treasure, a merchant sells all they have to buy a single pearl, and a net pulls in all kinds of fish which are later sorted into “good” and “bad.” Join Rev. Anne Dunlap, Rev. Liz Kearny, and Dr. Sharon Fennema as they talk about what these small, outcast thing have to do with overthrowing empire.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

In this week's text, Jesus entrusts the treasure of another land-based parable to the gathered community. Here, instead of exploring the interconnection between seeds and the soil they are planted in like last week’s parable, the story revolves around the complex interconnection between the growth and fruition of good seeds planted in good soil and so-called weeds maliciously planted and growing among them. And Rev. Liz Kearny, Rev. Anne Dunlap, and Dr. Sharon Fennema have a LOT of questions.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

"The sower went out to sow." So begins one of Jesus' most famous parables. What could he be saying to this crowd of people at the lakeside? Join Dr. Sharon Fennema, Rev. Anne Dunlap, and Rev. Liz Kearny as they talk about seeds, soil, belonging, underground secrets, and more!

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes

As summer weather draws so many of us outside to dance with a whole host of sky, water, and plant relatives, the Revised Common Lectionary journeys with Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew as he shares stories and works wonders rooted in his relationship with the natural world. Join Rev. Liz Kearny, Rev. Anne Dunlap, and Dr. Sharon Fennema of the Liberating Lineages Collective as they offer a "teaser" of themes and context for the Gospel of Matthew texts from July 12 - August 16, to help us explore what Jesus’ land-based parables and miracles have to teach us about building an alternative world of abundance and care in the midst of the daily realities of living under empire.

Transcript available here: https://bit.ly/TWARepisodes