On today’s episode, your hosts, Katie Maxwell and Lauren Paris—two twenty-somethings who very much do not have kids—chat with two of their colleagues who do!
Rev. Brian Sauder—our trusty Executive Director—joins us for the first time on the pod to talk with us about how parenthood has shaped his work on climate justice. He recently wrote an article for Crain’s Chicago Business which you can read here: https://www.chicagobusiness.com/crains-forum-energy/climate-equitable-jobs-act-answer-illinois-energy-needs-minister-writes
Returning guest, Christina Krost, joins us first to break down how the current political climate is affecting her own family.
This week’s episode was produced by Brógan Malloy.
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Christina Krost (long o, rhymes with "most") grew up in suburban Detroit and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Albion College and an MAT from Marygrove College.
She taught in both public and private schools in Illinois and Michigan for 10 years before starting her ministry in creation justice. She joined Faith in Place in March 2015 to organize Houses of Worship around smart energy programs in Central and Southern Illinois. In addition to her work at Faith in Place, she is Vice President of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference United Methodist Women and Chair of her conference's Church & Society board.
She is married to Todd, an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, and has 3 daughters. The family lives in Mattoon, IL.
Rev. Sauder serves Faith in Place out of the Chicago office as the President & Executive Director. The entrepreneurial vision and confident leadership of Rev. Sauder is exponentially growing the impact of Faith in Place’s mission to empower people of all faiths across Illinois to be leaders for cleaner environments and healthier communities.
Rev. Sauder’s passion is empowering faith communities across Illinois to take measurable steps to connect the dots between faith, environmental justice, poverty, mass incarceration, race, violence, class, and health.
His leadership is recognized as an award recipient of the University of Illinois's Business School's Community Scholar and a Central IL Business 40 Under 40 winner as well as a 2019 Midwest Energy News' 40 Under 40.
He grew up in Illinois in rural Tazewell County and received his Bachelor of Science from the University of Illinois in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Master of Arts in Religion from Urbana Theological Seminary, and Master of Business Administration from the University of Illinois. Rev. Sauder is ordained by the Mennonite Church U.S.A. and worships with Chicago Community Mennonite Church in East Garfield Park.
Rev. Sauder also serves as an Adjunct Professor at both McCormick Theological Seminary and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, teaching public ministry courses for future clergy and faith-based leaders on organizing for environmental justice.
