Where Ya From? Podcast

In this episode of VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast, Dr. A.R. Bernard teaches us that there are no small churches or small impact—just small thinking. Learn how God took A.R.’s four-member, store-front church and expanded it to the Christian Culture Center and understand that we all can make positive change in our communities by being faithful to whatever plan the Lord has in store for us.

Guest Bio:

A graduate of Alliance Theological Seminary, Dr. A.R. Bernard is a visionary whose teachings have lifted his church, the Christian Cultural Center (CCC), to become New York’s largest house of worship. In addition, he has been awarded Honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Wagner College and from Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary. His wife, Karen, left her career with the Queens County Supreme Court to raise seven sons and copastor with her husband. Together, they have successfully experienced 48 years of marriage and 42 years of ministry.

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It is confirmed that Where Ya From? Podcast will be back for a second season on February 1st, 2022. Next season is in the works and believe us, you won’t want to miss the phenomenal guests we have lined up to talk about all things culture and faith, and share their answer to this seemingly simple but meaningful question: Where Ya From?

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When two worlds, cultures, or concepts collide, what happens? Often, there’s a sense of conflict. But what if, instead of facing these collisions with conflict, we met them with a willingness to understand? In this episode of Where Ya From?, Rasool Berry shares his own story of faith, culture, and identity. Listen as we discuss his experience of growing up in Philly and going to boarding school, his feelings of rejection and realizations of forgiveness, and how authors like Harriet Jacobs, Frederick Douglass, and Malcolm X inspired his identity and journey of faith.

Guest Bio

Rasool Berry’s name (meaning “messenger” in Arabic) reflects who he is and what he is passionate about: impacting young adults through translating spiritual truths from Scripture into the language and ethos of our time. Rasool serves as teaching pastor at The Bridge Church in Brooklyn, New York, and he is also the director of partnerships and content development with Our Daily Bread Ministries. Rasool graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies and sociology. He is committed to helping people live out a biblical framework for social justice. He hosted the travel documentary series In Pursuit of Jesus, where he journeyed across five continents exploring what he can learn about Jesus through others. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Tamica, and their daughter Ire’Ana, and he hosts the Where Ya From? podcast.

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Culture change only happens when we change culture. So how do you become a culture maker versus simply a culture consumer? In this episode of Where Ya From?, Andy Crouch discusses the implications and applicable processes of Christians understanding better how to speak to and influence culture versus talk against it. Listen as we discuss culture, being creators, and the implications and influences technology has in our culture today.

Guest Bio 

Andy Crouch is a musician, author, advisor, editor, husband, and father. He currently serves as a partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. He studied classics at Cornell University and received a Master of Divinity summa cum laude from Boston University School of Theology. From 1998 to 2003, Andy was the editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly, a magazine for an emerging generation of culturally creative Christians. In addition, he served as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University for more than ten years. He is the author of The Tech-Wise Family, Strong and Weak, Playing God, and Culture Making. His writings have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine.

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Music is a universally loved language of expressions and melodies. But what if the music you love, create, and share gets mislabeled by your own church and community? In this episode of Where Ya From?, musician Ruth Naomi Floyd shares her story of growing up in Philadelphia and caring for the wounded and alienated and how that, paired with her faith, led her to unapologetically create jazz music that blends theology and justice.

Guest Bio 

Ruth Naomi Floyd is a vocalist and composer who has created a discography that highlights theology and justice with a multi-faceted progressive jazz ensemble sound. She lectures and performs her music internationally and has been a presence and is active in the areas of the arts and justice throughout her career. Ms. Floyd’s recent body of work is the “Frederick Douglass Jazz Works,” and she received a National Endowment of the Arts Project Grant in 2021 for her new body of work, “The Frances Suite.” She is also a music educator who is the first African American woman to establish a university jazz program. She is currently an artist-in-residence with Temple University. Floyd lives in Philadelphia, where she continues her creative work and justice work.

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In this episode with Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty, we explore the educational systems in place that hold back so many and her work to challenge the system as part of her God-given purpose, the difference in experiences of growing up in Mexico and Los Angeles, and the pivotal moments in her faith-filled journey.

Guest Bio

Dr. Alma Zaragoza-Petty was born in Los Angeles and raised in Acapulco, Mexico, for most of her early childhood. She earned her Master's in Counseling and her Doctoral degree in Education. For over 20 years, she has worked in higher education, both in and outside of academic institutions. She is currently working for a nonprofit with a concentration in research and evaluation. Co-host of The Red Couch Podcast, where she and her partner offer "brown-eyed social and political commentary with a hood twist." She is also the co-founder of the Prickly Pear Collective, a faith-based, trauma-informed collective at the intersections of community, church, and therapy, bringing people together to move toward healing. In addition, she is working on writing her first book about social justice, mental health, and identity.

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This episode with Daniel Hill tackles the uncomfortable but necessary conversations about the intersections of race, culture, and faith that the church has often ignored. It's time to stop ignoring the blind spots that exist and instead acknowledge them and take action to erase them.

Guest Bio

Daniel Hill is the founding and senior pastor of River City Community Church located in the West Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago. The church members long to see increased spiritual renewal as well as social and economic justice in the neighborhood and city, demonstrating compassion and alleviating poverty as tangible expressions of the kingdom of God. Daniel has a business degree from Purdue University, a master of arts in theology, and a doctor of ministry from Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of White Awake and White Lies. Daniel is married to Elizabeth, and they are the proud parents of Xander and Gabriella.

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In this episode with Lecrae, we discuss the challenging but enlightening moments of healing from past trauma, reconciling with perceptions people have of us and realizing we don’t have to fit that mold, and finding the power of restoration.

Guest Bio

Lecrae is a leading figure in the gospel-rap movement, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, actor, and entrepreneur. 

He is the president, co-owner, and co-founder of Reach Records and co-founder of the film production studio 3 Strand Films. 

Lecrae’s debut album, Real Talk, was released in 2004 via Reach Records. He has since released multiple award-winning albums and mixtapes, including Rebel, Gravity, Church Clothes, and Anomaly. His most recent album, Restoration, was released in 2020. 

His albums and mixtapes have nearly reached the two million mark in sales, and he has received numerous awards, including a Billboard Music Award, multiple BET, Soul Train, and Dove awards. In addition, he has an honorary doctorate of music to go along with his two Grammy wins.

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This week’s episode with Mark Charles shows the need for us as a society to face the truths even when uncomfortable, describes the steps he is taking to help decolonize the gospel for the Navajo Nation, and demonstrates how our own trauma can lead to understanding and reconciliation.

Guest Bio

Mark Charles is a dual citizen of the United States and Navajo Nation. He is an activist, public speaker, consultant, author and Reformed pastor. Mark is the coauthor of Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery and regularly contributes as a correspondent for Native News Online and journalist for the Wirelesshogan: Reflections from the Hogan. The son of an American woman and a Navajo man, he teaches and speaks to the complexities of American history regarding race, culture, and Christianity.

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Today's episode with Dr. Soong-Chan Rah explores the need to listen to the voices of the disenfranchised in our society and our church, his experience of growing up as part of an immigrant family, and why we need to go beyond one culture's assumptions and biases of the way "things are done."

Guest Bio

Dr. Soong-Chan Rah is currently serving as the Robert Boyd Munger Professor of Evangelism at Fuller Seminary. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Rah served as the Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary.

Rah has authored or co-authored several books, including Prophetic Lament, The Next Evangelicalism, Many Colors, Unsettling Truths, Forgive Us and Return to Justice. 

He holds a ThD from Duke Divinity School, an MDiv and DMin with a concentration in urban ministry leadership from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a ThM from Harvard University, with a thesis on the immigrant church.

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