This week on the podcast we talk with Alden Sproull about contemplative Christianity, spiritual direction, silence and the (often) lost art of spiritual direction. 

Alden Sproull is an experienced retreat leader, and has offered Spiritual Direction for the last 25 years. He has worked for 45 years as a clinical chaplain including serving 24 years on the Chaplaincy Advisory Committee advising the Executive Leadership regarding the Endorsement of Chaplains for all areas of chaplaincy in the US and abroad. Through each of his assignments he has worked with patients, families, staff and physicians dealing with the growing ethical dilemmas in end of life care. He holds an advanced degree in Christian Spirituality with studies in Spiritual Formation, Feminist Spirituality and the Arts. He is also an author and poet having several articles and poems published. 

Connect with Alden: 

https://www.charlottespiritualitycenter.org/spiritual-direction

Email: [email protected]

About What The Faith:

What The Faith is a space to embrace the spiritual misfits. In the time of organized religion's mass exodus and the ever-growing post-religion/deconstruction movement, many are finding themselves somewhere in the middle of all the noise. The misfit might be skeptical of religion but they aren’t anti-spirituality. They’re looking for more and most importantly, they’re yearning for dialogue that will help them enter into that reconstruction process, wherever it may lead them.

You can connect with us further at:

https://www.whatthefaith.space/

https://www.instagram.com/whatthefaithspace/

https://www.facebook.com/whatthefaithspace/

On today's episode of What the Faith, we talk with Wil Carlos about his background in Christianity, the world of energy healing, what even is energy healing and ways to apply it to everyday life.

Wil is an energy healer who practices with Reiki, Access Consciousness, Vortex Healing, and EFT. He is also trained in guiding NLP, hypnotherapy, and guided meditation. We learned a TON of todays episode and really dove into a realm of spirituality neither of us have thought about or experienced. Today's episode is a fun one. 

Connect with Will: 

https://www.myspiritualclarity.com

https://www.facebook.com/myspiritualclarity

About What The Faith: 

What The Faith is a space to embrace the spiritual misfits. In the time of organized religion's mass exodus and the ever-growing post-religion/deconstruction movement, many are finding themselves somewhere in the middle of all the noise. The misfit might be skeptical of religion but they aren’t anti-spirituality. They’re looking for more and most importantly, they’re yearning for dialogue that will help them enter into that reconstruction process, wherever it may lead them. 

You can connect with us further at: 

https://www.whatthefaith.space/

https://www.instagram.com/whatthefaithspace/

https://www.facebook.com/whatthefaithspace/

And liked what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review, or send us an email with your topic/guest suggestions at: [email protected]

On today’s episode of What The Faith, we talk to Jarin Oda about pastoring Generation Z, spiritual growth and the deep importance of inner work along the spiritual journey. 

Jarin is a friend of the podcast, someone who both of us admire and it's an honor to have him on the show today. Currently, Jarin is serving as the Youth Pastor for Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR. He has a real heart for helping youth explore and ask deeper questions about their faith and is truly an example of what it means to live out your values each and every day. 

Connect with Jarin: 

https://bridgetown.church/serve/

https://www.instagram.com/jarin.oda

About What The Faith: 

What The Faith is a space to embrace the spiritual misfits. In the time of organized religion's mass exodus and the ever-growing post-religion/deconstruction movement, many are finding themselves somewhere in the middle of all the noise. The misfit might be skeptical of religion but they aren’t anti-spirituality. They’re looking for more and most importantly, they’re yearning for dialogue that will help them enter into that reconstruction process, wherever it may lead them. 

You can connect with us further at: 

https://whatthefaith.space

https://www.instagram.com/whatthefaithspace

https://www.facebook.com/whatthefaithspace/

And liked what you heard? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave us a review, or send us an email with your topic/guest suggestions at: [email protected]

Is there truly a science to spirituality? In today's episode we talk with Chris Niebauer all about mediation, the ego and how neuroscience is catching up to what Buddhists have taught for thousands of years. 

While in grad school in the early 1990s, Chris began to notice striking parallels between the latest discoveries in psychology, neuroscience, and the teachings of Buddhism, Taoism, and other schools of Eastern thought. When he presented his findings to a professor, his ideas were quickly dismissed as “pure coincidence, nothing more.” 

Fast-forward 20 years later and Niebauer is a PhD and a tenured professor, and the Buddhist-neuroscience connection he found as a student is practically its own genre in the bookstore. But according to Niebauer, we are just beginning to understand the link between Eastern philosophy and the latest findings in psychology and neuroscience and what these assimilated ideas mean for the human experience.

Connect with Chris: 

https://chrisniebauerphd.com/

https://chrisniebauerphd.com/the-book/

Like what you've heard? Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and leave a review! 

On today's episode we talk with Justin Brierley all about navigating Christianity in a secular leaning UK, embracing spiritual questions and the importance of critical thinking.  

Justin is the host of the Unbelievable? radio show and podcast on Premier Christian Radio, as well as the Ask NT Wright Anything podcast. He is passionate about creating conversations around faith, science, theology and culture and has interviewed some of the greatest minds of our time - including Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson and Richard Dawkins. Through the Unbelievable? show and his book Unbelievable? Why After Ten Years of Talking with Atheists, I'm Still a Christian - Justin promotes healthy religious dialogue, challenging Christians to ask hard questions about their faith. 

On today's episode we talk with Susan Katz Miller, an interfaith child and an interfaith parent. 

Susan is considered the top expert on interfaith families celebrating more than one religion, and has spoken across the country and abroad. In 2013, Beacon Press published her book Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family. In addition, she founded the first blog devoted to interfaith family communities and interfaith identity, onbeingboth.com, and also blogged at Huffington Post Religion. 

Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Time, Slate, Utne Reader, Discover, Science, National Wildlife, Health, Moment, Jewcy.com, interfaithfamily.com, and many other publications. Her work on interfaith families has been featured on The Today Show (NBC), CBS, NPR (All Things Considered, Here & Now, and The Diane Rehm Show), on the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, on HuffPost Live, and in dozens of other media outlets. 

On today's episode we dive into the topic of embracing doubt and finding grace with Katie Langston. 

We learn more about her journey as Katie converted to orthodox (little “o”) Christianity after spending several years trying to make Mormon teaching fit a grace-based worldview, only to discover they weren’t particularly compatible. 

Now, Katie is a writer, preacher, evangelist, and digital communications specialist. She’s the Director of Digital Strategy for Luther Seminary’s innovation department, where she oversees digital projects aimed a cultivating vibrant Christian spirituality in a post-modern, post-Christian cultural context. She writes and speaks to Christian audiences about Mormonism and to Mormon audiences about Christianity, and is a popular blogger, podcast guest, and presenter. She is a pastoral intern at a redevelopment congregation in the greater Twin Cities metro and is preparing for ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

How did a Christian Minister end up marrying a Hindu Monk? How do we address the question of unequally yoked? How does a multi faith marriage challenge our beliefs? Can this type of relationship provide space for spiritual growth? We explore those questions and all things multi faith marriage on today's episode with Dana Trent!

J. Dana Trent is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and professor of World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Tech Community College. An ordained Baptist minister and former hospital chaplain, her work has appeared on Time.com, and in Religion News Service, Sojourners, Religion Dispatches, and The Christian Century. She is also the award-winning author of One Breath At a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation, For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest, Worship, and Community, and Saffron Cross: The Unlikely Story of How a Christian Minister Married a Hindu Monk. 

On today's episode, we talk with Lodro Rinzler about the power of mediation, how to establish a strong meditation routine and his latest book "Take Back Your Mind: Buddhist Advice for Anxious Times" and how the book can play a positive role for those that are feeling anxious and alone after the last 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Named one of 50 Innovators Shaping the Future of Wellness by SONIMA, Lodro's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Good Morning America, CBS, and NBC. He is the author of seven meditation books including The Buddha Walks into a Bar and the brand-new Take Back Your Mind: Buddhist Advice for Anxious Times and the co-founder of MNDFL meditation studios in New York City.

Lodro has taught meditation for 20 years in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and travels frequently for his books, having spoken across the world at conferences, universities, and businesses as diverse as Google, Harvard University and the White House.

In part 2 of our conversation with Geoffrey Wallis we dive into the topic of captive organizations and mental illness within captive organizations. 

Geoffrey shares more about his personal experience with depression as a P.I.M.O within the Jehovah's Witness Organization, why the process of "disfellowshipping" is so emotionally, mentally and spiritually damaging and how we can better understand Religious Trauma Syndrome, PTSD and many other symptoms those currently in the organization and ex-JW's are facing. Be sure to check out Geoffrey's new book "A Voice From Inside - Notes on Religious Trauma In a Captive Organization" at the links below:

https://www.wallisbooks.com/a-voice-from-inside-religious-trauma-in-a-captive-organization

https://www.amazon.com/Voice-Inside-Religious-Captive-Organization/dp/B097XFM94Z