Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 55:24 — 76.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

This episode is Part 1 of my conversation with Professor Jeffrey Stout about our democracy.

There is a broad conviction that our democracy here in the United States is in crisis. In my mind, Dr. Stout is one of the most important scholars of democracy and also one of the best guides for us learning what we, as citizens, need to understand and do to improve our democracy and maintain its thriving.

Dr. Stout is Professor of Religion, Emeritus at Princeton University. He is a theorist and historian of democratic culture. His work is concerned with ethics, religious thought, political theory, law, and film. The two of his books that I draw upon for these two episodes are Democracy and Tradition, and Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America. His two lectures which I draw from for these interviews are his 2017 Gifford Lectures titled ‘Religion Unbound: Ideals and Powers from Cicero to King’ and his 2022 Frederic R. and Molly S. Kellogg Biennial Lecture on Jurisprudence titled ‘The Tree of Democratic Liberty.’ Both of these lectures can be found on Youtube.

My own commitment to democracy and religious liberty is rooted in my Baptist heritage.

The kind of Baptist community into which I was born and to which I grew up to embrace, articulated its beliefs in a document called The Baptist Faith and Message (TBFaM. The edition I am using is 1971). Principal among those beliefs is ‘soul freedom’ as Baptist historian, Walter Shurden, calls it in his book, The Baptist Identity: Four Fragile Freedoms (TBI), or as Baptist theologian, E. Y. Mullins, calls it in his book, The Axioms of Religion, ‘the competency of the soul in religion (TBFaM p.8).’

For Baptists of my ilk, this soul freedom is rooted in the nature of God and subsequently in the nature of who we are as individuals. God is free and in creating us as individuals, God created us in God’s image. This image in which each of us is created gives to each of us freedom, equality, dignity, and worth. Freedom of thought and choice are essential for true relationships, fellowship, and communion. These freedoms are the basis by which we are able to love. Thus, soul freedom is what empowers us to be able to respond to God, to enter into true relationship with God and to love God. It is also the means by which we can relate to and love one another.

As free and equal individuals before God, we each are thus free and equal before one another–any and all others—before any and all people and any and all organizations. But having this freedom also includes responsibility and accountability. We become responsible and accountable for our thoughts and choices.

Soul freedom is both exclusive and inclusive (TBFaM p.8). As Shurden defines it, Soul Freedom is the affirmation of the inalienable right and responsibility of every person to deal with God without or to the exclusion of the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government (TBI p.23). But, as The Baptist Faith and Message says, it includes all elements of true faith (TBFaM p.9).

Thus Mullins lists six axioms:

The theological axiom: The holy and loving God has the right to be sovereign (and is thus free).

The religious axiom: All souls have an equal right to direct access to God.

The ecclesiastical axiom: All believers have a right to equal privileges in the church.

The moral axiom: To be responsible a person must be free.

The religio-civic axiom: A free Church in a free State.

The social axiom: Love your neighbor as yourself.

As The Baptist Faith and Message says, religious liberty does not rest upon a legal document of a political state…A free state does not create religious liberty. It only recognizes and respects it. But religious freedom is essential in the making of a free state (TBFaM pp 141-142).

It continues to assert that in a free state, religious liberty means the right of every person to worship or not worship as that person’s conscience dictates. It means equality before the law in all matters relating to faith or unbelief (my paraphrase) (p.141). My Baptist ancestors were always equally passionate about defending the freedom of unbelievers as much as believers.

As I and Baptists like me understand it, in a community of equals—any community of equals including any faith organization and any form of civic government, democracy is the rightful and essential means of decision making.

The Baptist Faith and Message states, ‘Religious liberty is not religious toleration. Religious toleration is a privilege granted by people (and I will add, by power). Religious liberty is a right bestowed by God. For liberty involves responsibility and demands inner and personal controls (TBFaM p.141)’. Although others throughout our nations history have not grounded this definition of liberty in the theology I have just outlined, they nevertheless share this definition. This definition becomes important to a better understanding of democracy.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:13 — 113.7MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

This episode is my second interview with John Mabry. In this episode we focus specifically on his music and his newest album, No Stranger. As you will hear in the episode, John has a brain tumor that can be removed, but the result will be that it will make him deaf. So, the airing of this episode of John’s music is especially pertinent and poignant. I am deeply honored and blessed that John reached out to me as one of his last interviews before his surgery. This new album is powerful and has much to teach us about God and our faith in Jesus Christ.

The Reverend Dr. John R. Mabry is a United Church of Christ pastor specializing in interim ministry. But he is also an author, songwriter, spiritual director, and seminary professor. He is the author of more than 40 books, writing on spirituality, spiritual direction, and theology, but he also writes science fiction and fantasy. John is a veteran of two progressive rock bands—Mind Future and Metaphor—but in the last few years has released a string of solo albums. His latest is called “No Stranger,” and it is available on BandCamp and all major streaming services. He lives with his wife and three Boxers in the foothills of the Catskill mountains in New York.

You can learn more about John and his recent creative activities from his website, johnrmabry.com

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:10:05 — 97.0MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

This episode is the first of what I hope will be a series of conversations with pastors about how they are leading, guiding, and navigating their churches through current times.

As the Pew Research Center has documented, Christianity in the United States is in decline. Thousands of churches each year are closing. In churches across the nation across the theological and political spectrum, congregations consist of aging members and declining numbers. Sanctuaries are filled to only one fourth to one third of the seating capacity, and much of the entire building space goes unused. The reasons for this decline are complex and comprised of numerous components. We are still in the midst of gaining some understanding and what understanding we have is evolving. Decline is not the only issues churches are facing and some of the other issues are contributors to the decline.

What this series seeks to explore is how churches are navigating these times by listening to the thoughts of pastors as they describe their situations and contexts and what they and their churches are doing. The pastors I am choosing to interview serve historic mainline congregations that have been a part of their communities for over 100 year and the facilities of which are often listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The pastors also began serving their churches prior to, served in the midst of, and are continuing to serve following the Covid Pandemic.

My first guest in this series in my own pastor, The Reverend Dr. Austin McIver Dennis, who is Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Asheville, North Carolina. ‘Mack,’ as he prefers to be called, is a native of Henderson, North Carolina. He came to First Baptist, Asheville in 2016. Prior to that, for five years he was pastor of First Baptist Church, Mt. Gilead, North Carolina, then received his Th.D. from Duke Divinity School with a focus on homiletics and reconciliation. He is the editor of The Luminous Word: Biblical Sermons and Homiletical Essays, which is an anthology of sermons and essays by Old Testament scholar, Ellen F. Davis.

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:04 — 80.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

My guest for this episode is Liz Cooledge Jenkins. In this episode we discuss her book Nice Churchy Patriarchy: Reclaiming Women’s Humanity from Evangelicalism.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:33 — 68.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

In this episode I welcome back Dr. Jonathan “Jay” Augustine to discuss the sequel to his book Called to Reconciliation: How the Church Can Model Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion. You can listen to my interview with Dr. Augustine on that book in episode 89. The sequel is When Prophets Preach: Leadership and the Politics of the Pulpit.

If Called to Reconciliation is about the Church’s responsibility to fulfill its ministry of reconciliation given to it by our God, When Prophets Preach is about the leadership necessary to enable the Church to engage in and seek to achieve its ministry.

Dr. Augustine serves as senior pastor of St. Joseph AME Church in Durham, NC. You can learn more about Dr. Augustine on his website:

https://www.jayaugustine.com/

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:31 — 90.8MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

My guest for this episode is Dr. David Bjorlin. Dr. Bjorlin is a hymn text writer. As an Assistant Professor of Worship at North Park University, David prepares his students for lives of significance and service by guiding and equipping them with practical skills centered around worship. “I believe what and how we worship forms the people we are and the way we interact with the world,” he says. As the assistant chapel coordinator at North Park and the pastor of worship and creative arts at the Resurrection Covenant Church, Bjorlin incorporates his experiences into the classroom by combining theory, practice, and reflection. Framing his classes through a city-centered lens, Bjorlin emphasizes that to understand worship, one must first understand location. He aims to teach students the importance of learning what it means to be a Christian living in a particular city surrounded by different cultures.

David’s YouTube channel can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUXJEzza9ABOLCPKfdXHl_w

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:03:52 — 88.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

One of the things we have gotten wrong for too long has been our understanding of and, consequently, treatment of people with disabilities. Although it is not happening broadly enough or quickly enough, efforts to correct our understanding and our behavior are taking place. One of those efforts is The Penguin Project which is a nation-wide organization and effort to involve people with disabilities in musical theater. My guest for this episode is here to discuss her work with the project.

Lisa Heath Jinkins (Choreographer for Golden Isles Penguin Project in Brunswick, GA) began her career as a professional modern dancer in New York City in 1985. She had the opportunity to perform with many top choreographers and companies, including The Martha Graham Dance Company, and at some of the larger theatres in Manhattan: New York City Center and The Joyce Theater, to name two.

Lisa met and married Jim Jinkins in NY, and they have two children, Rose and Heath. During this time, Lisa had the opportunity to write 5 children’s books for The Disney Company, based on the animated series “PB&J Otter” created by Jim Jinkins. That led to co-creating “JoJo’s Circus” for The Disney Channel, and writing scripts for “Pinky Dinky Doo”, an animated television series created by Jim.

In 2010, the family moved to Brunswick, GA, where they continued to be involved in the arts, performing in various local productions on stage, and working behind the scenes, as well. In 2016 Lisa was asked to be the Choreographer for a new venture: Golden Isles Penguin Project.  The Penguin Project® is a musical theater production that casts children and young adults with disabilities in all roles. All sing, dance and act in the show. Those individuals (Artists) will get assistance from on-stage peers (Mentors). And after a one year break in 2023, Lisa has been asked to return to help with Meredith Wilson’s “The Music Man, Jr.!” She can’t wait!

To learn more about The Penguin Project and efforts like these go to the following links:

Golden Isles Penguin Project: https://goldenislesarts.org/programs/penguin-project/

The Penguin Project:  https://penguinproject.org/

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:02 — 39.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

This episode is a continuation of my series on palliative care and end of life issues. My guest is Dr. Aditi Sethi. Dr. Sethi is a hospice and palliative care physician, end-of-life doula, and musician. Featured in the forthcoming film The Last Ecstatic Days, Aditi is an emerging and important voice for shifting our culture’s understanding and approach to dying, death, and bereavement care. Dr. Sethi is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Conscious Living and Dying which will formally launch in the near future. The mission of Center for Conscious Living and Dying is to create a community that embodies living a meaningful life through inner exploration and growth, service, and community-supported end-of-life care.

Aditi is here to share with us her journey into establishing and developing the Center and to help us understand more fully its vision and work.

To learn more, go to the website for the Center at ccld.community.

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 53:14 — 73.9MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

The reason I feature storytelling as often as I do in this show is because of its capacity as an art form to build bridges between people and connect them, existentially and emotionally to experience the ‘world’ within the story, and thereby existentially and emotionally to experience the lives of others and The Other. Storytelling is a therapy and, as you know from my interviews with Meta Commerce and Mark Yaconelli, a medicine. And it can also be a joyful means of entertainment, fellowship, and communion. It is a way we make sense and meaning of our lives and realities.

This episode focuses again on the importance of storytelling in African American culture. My guest is Gloria Elder.

Gloria “Glo Glow” Elder has been telling stories for as long as she can remember. She enjoys writing and telling stories of her many adventures of growing up around her loving grandparents, who told her many family stories. If fact, Gloria credits her grandparents as the reason she developed a love for storytelling. 

When she became an Early Childhood Educator and Director, she told stories to children and adults in the day care center every Friday morning. Upon changing careers and missing the children at the day care center, she became a clown and created her act called, “The Magic of Clowning Around”. Her performances included, mime, singing, face painting and magic tricks.  

The themes of Gloria’s stories are family history, saving our planet and transforming our life.  She performs at birthday parties, in schools, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, and at festivals. She also loves telling African Folktales.

Her first book titled, I Walked a Mile in Her Shoes: A Story of Unconditional Love, is a story about an adventure she had with her maternal grandmother. Gloria is a member of Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia and the National Association of Black Storytellers.

To buy a copy of Gloria’s book, contact her at gloriaelder@comcast.net.

To learn more about Kuumba Storytellers of Georgia go here:

kuumbastorytellers.org

To learn more about The National Association of Black Storytellers to here:

https://www.nabsinc.org/

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 59:10 — 82.1MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | RSS | More

There is an increasing awareness of a several things related to aging. One is the fact that modern medicine and health practices are making it possible for people to live longer so that more people are able to live to being senior adults and to do so for a long time. Another is that members of the Baby Boom generation are retiring. A third is that for many people the experience if aging is not a good experience. So, efforts are being made and practices developed to address the present circumstances related to aging. This episode will focus on the ideas, practices, and events connected with the concept of Sage-ing.

Sage-ing was developed by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Schalomi. The fruit of his experiences and efforts from addressing his own aging have produced many things, but the two in particular that are discussed in this episode are his book that he co-wrote with Ronald S. Miller titled From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older, and the organization, Sage-ing International.

My guests to help us understand more fully this movement called Sage-ing are Jeanne Marsh and The Reverend David Blackmon.

After retiring from the corporate world in 2005, Jeanne received an MA from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology where she was first introduced to Sage-ing through Reb Zalman’s book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing . Jeanne brings twenty-seven years experience in corporate Human Resources and Management Training and Development. She currently serves as Coordinator for the Sage-ing Leader Certification Program. Jeanne is also certified to administer and consult using theMyers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and facilitates “Connecting With Self” and Sage-ing workshops in the Asheville area as well as partnering with other Sage-ing Leaders throughout the country.

David Blackmon serves as a chaplain in health care facilities in Western North Carolina. David’s training includes masters degrees from Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. David completed a year’s internship in clinical pastoral education in 1989 before beginning a 20-year stent at Mission Hospitals in Asheville, North Carolina. He served as Coordinating pastor for First Baptist Church of Asheville for a dozen years before entering semi-retirement in 2021. During a sabbatical, he completed the Spiritual Guidance Program at the Shalem Institute in 20014-2015. David rejoices in the sacred experiences and creative callings of people from all faiths and backgrounds and welcomes this diversity as a crucial resource in the growing community of sage-ing.

The intro and outro music for this episode is from a clip of a song called ‘Father Let Your Kingdom Come’ which is found on The Porter’s Gate Worship Project Work Songs album and is used by permission by The Porter’s Gate Worship Project.