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As I say in the interview, I am always thankful for those who open me to new insights and possibilities, especially as those insights and possibilities relate to my faith and enable me more fully to experience God, even if the terms they/she/he use(s) are not the same as mine. Judaism and Christianity have always been influenced/shaped by and borrowed concepts, ideas, and practices from other peoples, creatively adopting and adapting those things, sometimes even transforming them into something new.

Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:45 says that God makes God’s sun to rise and gives rain to us all. For me that is one of the ways of God expressing God’s love for us all. In loving us all, God has given us each and all something to share with each other and together. So, part of what this podcast seeks to do is to build caring and opened bridges between those of us who are Christians and others to listen and find ways to share together ideas, practices, and experiences that make the world better and edify us all. Doing so seems to be a very Christian practice to me, although Christians are not the only ones who do such practices, as you will learn from this interview.

A person in my life who has opened me to new insights and possibilities in a loving and caring way is Michael Moses. I came to know Michael during my efforts at initiating the Institute for Christianity and the Arts at Palm Beach Atlantic College. In exploring the art form of liturgical dance, I developed a relationship with one of the dance instructors at the college. She was working with Michael in having him play percussion for rehearsals and performances. Realizing the connection with my interests, she introduced me to Michael. After getting to know him, he became a regular guest in both my Christianity and the Arts  and Worship courses that I offered.

Michael’s heritage is Jewish and he lives in and through that heritage, but his own spiritual journey and experiences have led him to seek a broader, more inclusive spirituality. He says that he is guided by his personal trinity of an inclusive spirituality, the love of the arts, and the love of and care for the planet and its environment.

One of the opening things for me is that Michael has chosen to explore his spirituality especially through sound and rhythm. His concepts of the limitation of music, the importance of silence following a performance, the use of words with no meaning, and the ability of instrumental music to allow people to bring and connect with their own spirituality are wonderful insights that provide new possibilities for worship and communication.

Below are links to learn more about Michael and his work:

For those that want to hear more of the music from KABU.
https://www.musicartdesign.com/kabu.html
(feel free to download music if you would like)

To hear Carolyn Forche’s piece in full (16 minutes).
https://www.musicartdesign.com/media/Angel.mp3

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The challenge of Christianity and Christian churches in the United States and Europe is that traditional churches and denominational organizations are struggling. The gap between growth of the population as a whole and the number of those identifying themselves as Christians is increasing. In addition, attendance in ‘traditional’ denominational churches has been on the decline for over two decades. Hundreds of churches each year are closing. The result of the decline has created strain on denominational agencies. Since individual church budgets have declined because of the decline in attendance, denominational organizations, dependent upon church budgets, greatly have had to reduce their own staff, ministry, and budgets. These declines and closings are happening across the denominational and theological spectrum. As the other-than-Christian population continues to outdistance the Christian population, there is a rise in the numbers of those identifying themselves as the ‘nones,’ meaning that they do not identify with any organized religious group. ‘Spiritual’ but not ‘religious’ is a common expression of identity.

What does all of this mean for Christianity and for churches and denominations in the United States? How is God moving and leading during this time? What are we as Christians and churches supposed to do and to be in the context of these challenges? These are the sorts of questions to which we all, as Christians, are seeking to find answers. Consequently, there is, in an ironic way, or maybe even in a divinely providential way, a shared (dare I say ‘united’) conversation going on among us across the Christian spectrum.

Some, like Stanley Hauerwas, make the case that as Christianity and the Church become less connected to, disentangled from, and disassociated with the dominant culture and politics of the nation, the better able they are to be more truly Christian the church, since the dominant culture and politics of a nation is always corrupting.

Others, in seeing every problem and challenge as also an opportunity, envision, with eagerness, the possibility of the flourishing of new creativity within and from churches and Christian organizations. There is great deal of experimentation taking place. One such effort is Fresh Expressions. It is an effort that began in England, but has also taken root here in the United States.

My guest is Dr. Chris Backert, who is the National Director of Fresh Expressions US. In addition to his role as National Director of Fresh Expressions US, he serves with the Baptist General Association of Virginia in the area of growth and venture development. He also serves as National Director for both Ecclesia, a US network of missional churches, as well as Missio Alliance. Previously, he served as pastor of New Life Christian Fellowship, a large university congregation in Blacksburg, Virginia and has been involved in the planting of three new congregations. Chris holds a D.Min. in Missional Church Leadership from Fuller Theological Seminary.

You can learn more about Fresh Expressions, Chris, and his work at the Fresh Expressions’ website:  freshexpressionus.org.

In addition, an excellent book that gives a thorough understanding of this creative effort and how it is done is: From the Steeple to the Street: Innovating Mission and Ministry through Fresh Expressions of the Church by Dr. Travis Collins who is Fresh Expressions’ Director of Mission Advancement and Southeast Regional Coordinator.

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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Even though great progress has been made addressing the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus and in treating those who have been infected with it, thousands are still being infected each year and people are still dying from it. To bring us up to date on this disease and issues related to it, such as Hepatitis C and Opioid addiction, and to learn how we, as Christians, can join with those who have or are effected in some way by the disease to do ministry, I have turned to Wayne Smith. Wayne is the founder of Samaritan Ministry, which is a ministry out of Central Baptist Bearden in Knoxville, TN.

You can learn more about Wayne and Samaritan Ministry at the excellent resource: samaritancentral.org.

Other important resources Wayne mentions in the interview are:

aidsvu.org

hiv.gov

Burden of a Secret: The Story of Truth and Mercy in the Face of AIDS by Jimmy Allen

Breaking the Conspiracy of Silence: Christian Churches and the Global AIDS Crisis by Donald E. Messer

This I Know: A Simple Biblical Defense for LGBTQ Christians by Jim Dant

Changing Our Mind: Definitive 3rd of the Landmark Call for Inclusion of LGBTQ Christians with Response to Critics by David P. Gushee

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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My guest for this episode is Dr. Melissa Rogers. Dr. Rogers was Associate General Counsel then General Counsel for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Following this, she became Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships during the Obama administration and Special Assistant to President Obama.

Questions about the place of religion in American public life are continuously being raised and debated. Confusion and misconceptions abound. A significant part of what divides us in the political and cultural situation in our nation at this time revolves around religious liberty and plurality.

Dr. Rogers has provided an excellent resource to guide us on the confusing and complex issues relating to government and religion, religious liberty, and the separation of church and state in her recently published book, Faith in American Public Life (Baylor University Press, 2019). This book is the subject of my discussion with Dr. Rogers.

My kind of Baptists have, since the time before the American Revolution, been advocates for and active in issues of religious liberty (I use the phrase, ‘My kind of Baptists’ because there are many different kinds of Baptists and not all support religious liberty, plurality, and the separation of church and state). The existence of the Baptist Joint Committee is a key example of that advocacy and activity. Even though Dr. Rogers is no longer with the BJC, this episode serves as the first in an ongoing series I will have with the BJC about religious liberty and the policies and laws constantly arising concerning it.

Dr. Rogers is presently Visiting Professor at Wake Forest University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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This episode is the first in my series, ‘Christian Music not Played on Christian Radio.’ Since the series was inspired in part by my guest, I thought it appropriate to have him begin the series.

My guest is Adam Whipple. I learned about and was able to connect with Adam through his pastor and my former board chair, Dr. Wade Bibb. Wade is presently pastor of Central Baptist Bearden, in Knoxville, TN. As so many churches are doing, Central Baptist Bearden is seeking to navigate the challenges that have come about with the rise of ‘contemporary’ Christian music and its ‘conflict’ with ‘traditional’ Christian music. Because Central Baptist Bearden is large enough and has the resources, it has services devoted to each style. Consequently, Wade is in conversation with musicians from each style.

Wade and I were discussing this challenge and he told of an occasion when he asked one of the ‘contemporary’ musicians where the laments and the contemplative/reflective songs were in ‘contemporary’ Christian music. The answer given was that those songs are there, but they are not heard on Christian radio. The musician/composer Wade was speaking to and talking about was Adam.

As you will hear in this episode, Adam offers important insights into the nature and breadth of ‘contemporary’ Christian music and into a Christian perspective on the interpretation of all art.

As you will also hear, Adam blends an eclectic, highly literate brand of folk rock with a more traditional Appalachian sound. His music has been described as equal parts Rich Mullins and Garrison Keillor and compared to Andrew Peterson, Paul Simon, and Counting Crows.

Adam’s latest record is The Broken Season, released in 2018 to critical acclaim.

In addition to being a musician and composer, Adam is also an artist, photographer, poet, and writer. He has written for The Rabbit Room, Analogue, and Curator magazine.

Adam is one of the editors for the arts journal and growing creative community, Foundling House, base in Knoxville, TN.

You can learn more about Adam, how to book a performance, and how to purchase his albums at his website:  adamwhipple.com

You can learn more about Foundling House and experience the art provided there by going to its website:  foundlinghouse.com

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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My guest for this episode is The Reverend Doctor Mae Elise Cannon. Dr. Cannon is an author of six books, a speaker, advocate, and the Executive Director of Churches for Middle East Peace.

Dr.Cannon is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC). Her ministry and professional background includes serving as the Senior Director of Advocacy and Outreach for World Vision-US, the executive pastor of Hillside Covenant Church (Walnut Creek, California), Director of Development and Transformation for Extension Ministries at Willow Creek Community Church (Barrington, Illinois), and as a consultant to the Middle East for child advocacy issues for Compassion International.

She earned doctorates in History (Ph.D) and Spiritual Formation (D. Min). Her Ph.D focused on American History with the minor in Middle Eastern studies from the University of California – Davis, focusing her dissertation on the history of the American Protestant church in Israel and Palestine. Cannon’s Doctorate of Ministry in Spiritual Formation is from Northern Theological Seminary. Cannon holds an M.Div. From North Park Theological Seminary, an M.B.A. from North Park University’s School of Business and Nonprofit Management, and an M.A. in bioethics from Trinity International University. Cannon completed her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Chicago in History, Philosophy, Social Studies, of Science and Medicine.

I will have more interviews with Dr. Cannon about some of her books and her work with peacebuilding, especially in the Middle East. However, I wanted to begin with a conversation about her first book, Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World.

Most of us who are caring people want to live our lives is ways that help make our world a better place. We want to participate in and advance the causes of justice, compassion, and caring so that there are less of such things as poverty, homelessness, hunger, injustice, crime, violence, and war. Often, however, the daily demands of life absorb our energies and hinder us from being involved. In addition, so many of the issues that we care about are so complex we are uncertain about how we can be involved and whether our efforts will matter.

What Dr. Cannon does in Social Justice Handbook: Small Steps for a Better World is to provide us with a resource so that we can know how to become involved in something that matters to us which we believe will help make the world more just, compassionate, and caring. As the subtitle indicates, small steps do matter and make a difference. Even though this work is now ten years old, I wanted you, as my audience, to know of this resource because of its continued usefulness in helping us learn about issues that concern us and becoming aware of specific initial steps we can take to get involved.

In the first part of the book, Dr. Cannon gives us an orientation about what social justice is and involves. My interview with her focuses on this part.

In the second part of the book (which is especially why I wanted you to know of this resource), she provides an encyclopedic list of social issues. For each issue she gives an introduction to the issue; resources, such as books and websites, for learning more about the issue; and then specific steps one can take to become involved with that issue.

You can learn more about Dr. Cannon, her books, how to contact her, and how to arrange for her come and speak for your organization from her website:

maecannon.com

You can learn more about the work of Churches for Middle East Peace from its website:

cmep.org

Other books by Dr. Cannon on to which she contributed are:

Forgive Us: Confessions of a Complicated Faith

A Land Full of God: Christian Perspectives on The Holy Land

Just Spirituality: How Faith Practices Fuel Social Action

Evangelical Theologies of Liberation and Justice

Beyond Hashtag Activism: Comprehensive Justice in a Complicated Age

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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You may notice that I have changed the title of this series slightly. Formerly, I called it Peacemaking. However, I have learned from Rabbi Amy Eilberg‘s wonderful book, From Enemy to Friend: Jewish Wisdom and the Pursuit of Peace, that many extensively involved in peace efforts make a distinction in those efforts between three terms. ‘Peacekeeping’ is used to refer to military intervention for the purpose of ending violence and keeping it in check. ‘Peacemaking’ is used primarily to refer to large-group, national, and international efforts at diplomacy. ‘Peacebuilding’ however, refers to efforts on any level, but especially on the personal level of developing habits, relationship skills, and relationships that work to prevent violence coming about. This last definition fits more closely what I am seeking to explore in the conversations I am having with peace activists from the different world religions and humanist perspectives. I am wanting to enable you to be aware that there are peace activists in all of the world’s different faiths and worldviews. I am also wanting us all to become aware of the peacebuilding resources that come from each of the world’s faiths and worldviews.

In this episode I look at peacebuilding resources from Judaism. On the day this episode was recorded it was Holocaust Remembrance Day. If there ever is a reason for us to be urgently working at peacebuilding, it is the memory of the Holocaust! The wisdom and resources from Judaism that have come in response to that experience are profound and vital for us all in peacebuilding.

My guest for this episode is Rabbi Nancy Fuchs Kreimer. Rabbi Kreimer has been involved in interfaith communication and peacebuilding efforts for nearly four decades. She has been so creative, innovative, and extensively involved in so many important peacebuilding conversations and projects, one simply can Google her name and vast information and resources are available.

Rabbi Kreimer is a part of Reconstructionist Judaism. She received her rabbinical training at Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and is now Associate Professor Emeritus at that College. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Temple University.

I drew my questions for Rabbi Kreimer from three sources: The book she co-authored with Kelly James Clark and Aziz Abu Sarah, titled, Strangers, Neighbors, Friends: Muslim-Christian-Jewish Reflections on Compassion and Peace; Her delightful book, Parenting as a Spiritual Journey: Deepening Ordinary and Extraordinary Events into Sacred Occasions; and the Reconstructing Judaism website ( reconstructingjudaism.org ) where you can learn more about Rabbi Kreimer, the projects in which she is involved, and the resource from Judaism that are vital for peacebuilding.

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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This episode is the second part of a conversation I have with Dr. Marc Mullinax, who is Professor of Religion at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina and who is also a charter member of the creative and progressive church, Circle of Mercy.

In Part I Marc and I explored and discussed our awareness that Christians across the theological spectrum in the United States are experiencing a deep sense of anxiety. Marc proposed that we each have a worldview that gives order and guidance to our experiences, even to what we anticipate for the future. It is when our worldview is interrupted for by something significant that we experience anxiety. In my mind this worldview interruption comes with the awareness that Christianity is losing its place as the dominant culture of our nation. For progressive Christians, our anxiety was heightened by the election of President Trump and has the possibility of continuing to increase with the possibility of his re-election.

In response, Marc offers a second kind of interruption–an intentional interruption provided by the spiritual resources in all religions and faiths. This second, intentional interruption comes in the form of prayer, meditation, and practices. For the Christian, these practices arise out of our beliefs in the resurrection and are ways of practicing that resurrection in our lives and congregations. As Marc says, progressive churches have a golden moment to develop the kind of intentional interruption and resilience helpful for addressing our anxiety and the situation of our times.

Marc provides sixteen insights and practices to guide our actions and thoughts and uses the congregation he attends, Circle of Mercy . These sixteen insights and practices can be reviewed on YouTube by searching for the title, ‘Being the Church in Anxious Times.’  youtu.be/UNR804DIG-s

To have a conversation with Marc, you can reach him at mmullinax@mhu.edu.

Again, on a separate note, to repeat the promo given in Part 1, Marc has a new book coming out entitled,Tao te Ching: Power for the Peaceful to be published by Fortress Press. In The Atlantic’s September 2018 issue, editors reported out results of “The Big Question” they had asked a couple months earlier on Twitter: “What book or article would you make required reading for everyone on Earth?” Tao te Ching was the fourth most-popular text of the responses, after Fahrenheit 451, Silent Spring and The Brothers Karamazov. About the book, Marc says, ‘This English translation of Tao te Ching is for modern readers, one that poses questions and answers about how to live in peace and intentionally in chaotic times. I have made it my quest to provide a scholarly translation, but to render it in a vernacular that can also surprise as it liberates the intents of the Chinese text.’ You can anticipate a future conversation with Marc about this work!

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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This episode is the first of a two part conversation I have with Dr. Marc Mullinax who is Professor of Religion at Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina and who is also a charter member of the creative and progressive church, Circle of Mercy, in Asheville, North Carolina.

Even before, but now enhanced by, the experiences with the Coronavirus, Christians across the theological spectrum have been experiencing a deep sense of anxiety. In this episode, we explore and discuss the reasons for that anxiety. Marc roots the anxiety in the interruption of our worldview.

In Part 2, Marc offers sixteen insights and practices, that are ways of practicing the resurrection in which we believe, to address that anxiety, especially for progressive churches. He draws on his own experiences with the congregation he attends, Circle of Mercy.

For those who wish to have further conversation with Marc, he can be reached at mmullinax@mhu.edu.

On a separate note, Marc has a new book coming out entitledTao te Ching: Power for the Peaceful to be published by Fortress Press late this year or early next year. As the title shows, the book relates to my series on peacemaking/peacebuilding, so expect a future conversation with Marc about his new work.

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.

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The Coronavirus has played havoc with my interviewing schedule. Melissa Rogers was to be my next episode, and she may be my next guest, but I had to cancel her interview due to the travel restrictions caused by the virus. So, while I am regrouping and rescheduling and had the ideas in this episode on my mind, I decided to present them now.

Solving the pandemic and ending the deaths of people caused by the coronavirus is the major problem facing our globe at the present, but this problem has created a second dire problem, which is the threat of the collapse of national economies. These two problems have created a division within the United States over which is the primary problem to solve. Some fear that the collapse of the economy could be worse than the effects of the virus.

We need a way forward that helps us solve both problems. In this episode I offer my thoughts on two sets of resources that I believe can help us more forward more productively. They are Glen Stassen’s seven steps to peacemaking in his book, Just Peacemaking: A New Paradigm for the Ethics of Peace and War, and the creative thinking tools of such people as Edward de Bono, Michael Michalko, and the ideas of William McDonough and Michael Braungart.

The 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. You can learn more about the album and the Worship Project at theportersgate.com.