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As I say in the introduction to this episode, an article in The Lancet by Jane Davis makes the case that reading literature out loud has potential for healing and wellness. As a part of The Reader Organization, Davis says, “Our hypothesis is that reading literature aloud with others offers something uniquely valuable.” She goes on to say, It “…facilitates the creation of a series of powerful interplays: between the written text and the aural experience; between hearing the text from outside and processing it within; between one’s own experience and that of the author and characters; between the privacy of personal consciousness and the public experience of group…For by reading aloud in a group it may be that readers experience what we might call interpersonality both with the book, and its author and characters, and with other group members…To see oneself in others, to see others in oneself, this is the rich experience going on within the group and with the book (‘Enjoying and Enduring: groups read aloud for wellbeing,’ by Jane Davis, The Lancet Vol. 373, Issue 9665, February 28, 2009, pp. 714-715.).

Jewish and Christian scripture have always ranked among the worlds greatest literature, and both Jews and Christians have known since the time each community was started that the reading aloud of their scripture was something important and profound in multiple ways, not the least of which was for healing and wellbeing.

What I love about the art of Biblical Storytelling is that, as my guest, Dr. Kathy Culmer says, the telling of scripture adds something more that simply the reading of scripture. It enables, as The Lancet article claims, an interplay and interpersonality for people in which they identify with the characters, the story, and others listening to the story. They are enabled to live the story and see themselves in others and others in themselves.

Of course it takes wonderful storytellers to enable such experiences to happen, and my guest is one such storyteller! If anyone can transport you into the story, it is Dr. Culmer!

Dr. Kathy Hood Culmer is an author, storyteller, speaker and teacher and Christian educator. A graduate of Spelman College, the University of South Florida, and United Theological Seminary, Kathy holds a B.A. in English, an M.A. in English, and a D. Min. in Biblical Storytelling. She has taught on the secondary and college levels in a variety of subject areas ranging from English to Speech Communications, to Broadcast Journalism, to Religious Education. As a professional storyteller, she has been a teller and workshop presenter in churches, schools, libraries, at festivals, retreats, on college campuses, in business settings, and a variety of other venues. Kathy has performed at the Exchange Place at the National Storytelling Festival, Georgia State University, Duke University’s Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, the Texas Storytelling Festival, and was the Featured Storyteller at the Network of Biblical Storytellers 2008 Festival Gathering. She was a part of a 2008 Biblical Storytelling Mission Trip to The Gambia in West Africa. Her life’s work is to provide words of encouragement, truth, and inspiration to others through telling, writing, and speaking. She is the editor of a collection of personal narratives called Yes, Jesus Loves Me: 31 Love Stories and is also author of “Big Wheel Cookies: Two For A Penny,” published in The Rolling Stone and Other Read Aloud Stories and “Feasts a Plenty,” published in Holiday Stories All Year Round.

You can learn more about Dr. Culmer here and from her website: kathyculmer.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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The reason I am seeking to keep Steady State Economics as a subject before you, as my audience, is that few other economic options subsume economics under the ecosystem. Rather other economic options subsume the ecosystem under the economy. In addition, most other economic options growth oriented economies and assume that the ecology can be saved while still growing the economy and this does not provide solution enough to address the stress every world economy is putting on our planet. If those monitoring the changes in our planet are correct, our time to make necessary and important changes is getting shorter. Awareness and implementation of a better economic option is vital!

In every field of thought and research there are the visionaries, pioneers, and trailblazers. In Steady State Economics that visionary/pioneer/trailblazer is Herman Daly!

Herman E. Daly is professor emeritus at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. From 1988 to 1994 he was senior economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank. Prior to 1988 he was alumni professor of economics at Louisiana State University, where he taught economics for twenty years. He holds a BA from Rice University and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University. He has served as Ford Foundation Visiting Professor at the University of Ceará (Brazil), as a Research Associate at Yale University, as a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and as a Senior Fulbright Lecturer in Brazil. He has served on the boards of directors of numerous environmental organizations, and was co-founder and associate editor of the journal Ecological Economics. His interest in economic development, population, resources, and environment has resulted in over a hundred articles in professional journals and anthologies, as well as numerous books, including Toward a Steady-State Economy (1973); Steady-State Economics (1977; 1991); Valuing the Earth(1993);  Beyond Growth (1996); Ecological Economics and the Ecology of Economics (1999); Ecological Economics: Theory and Applications (with J. Farley, 2003, 2011); Ecological Economics and Sustainable Development (2007); and From Uneconomic Growth to a Steady-State Economy (2014).

He is co-author with theologian John B. Cobb, Jr. of For the Common Good (1989 ;1994) which received the 1991 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas for Improving World Order. In 1996 he received Sweden’s Honorary Right Livelihood Award, and the Heineken Prize for Environmental Science awarded by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 1999 he was awarded the Sophie Prize (Norway) for contributions in the area of Environment and Development; in 2001 the Leontief Prize for contributions to economic thought, and in 2002 the Medal of the Presidency of the Italian Republic for his work in steady-state economics. In 2010 the National Council for Science and the Environment (USA) gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2014 he received the Blue Planet Prize awarded by the Asahi Glass Foundation of Japan.

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 Part 3 of my interviews with Meta Commerse. In this episode we bring together the threads of Meta’s writing and aesthetic arts and her healing arts into the tapestry of their use in racial healing. As I say in the interview, if we are going to have a better future, especially together as people broken by prejudice, misperception, understanding, and the terrible history of hate, violence, and oppression that is the legacy of white supremacy, we have to know where we are going–a vision of the future and what it looks like– and have a way to get there–a map or guide.

Meta offers one option both for the vision and guide/mission. On her website, storymedicineworldwide.com, there is a tab called The Race Relations Station. Under that tab is a tab for Community Action Project. On the Community Action Project page there is a Vision and a Mission statement. The Vision is: A Well, Diverse, and Just Community. The Mission is: Racial Healing and Relationship Building through Story.

Under Meta’s wise and practiced guidance and the guidance of other good visionaries like her, it is a realizable journey I am eager to take together with any of you willing to join.

One of my favorite posters that I had on over the desk of my office in the church I pastored is one of Sitting Bull saying, “Let us put our minds together and see what life we will make for our children.” If we follow folks like Meta, it will be a better one!

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 Part 2 of 3 interviews with Meta Commerse. Part 1 focused on Meta’s poetry and novel. In this episode we discuss the story/journey of Meta’s development of Story Medicine and her use of it to facilitate healing.

As Meta said in Part 1, “My work with people, it takes them to those stories, to those places that they had not told and they had not spent time with, and that they had spent a lot of energy not telling. And preparing a way, working with them, somehow, to prepare a way for them to find their language and break their silence and go ahead and tell it.” This is the nature and purpose of story medicine.

You can learn more about Meta, her Story Medicine Wisdom School, and her publications (in addition to how to buy her books) from her website:

storymedicineworldwide.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 Meta Commerse. Meta is a poet, a novelist, and a healer. My initial motivation for this interview was and still is as a continuation of my series on Racial Reconciliation, because Meta offers a class through her Story Medicine Wisdom School titled, ‘Story Medicine for Racial Healing.’ But as I learned that Meta was a poet and novelist and had developed this resource she calls story medicine, I wanted to talk with her about each of those aspects–her art, her development of story medicine, and the use of her art and story medicine is facilitating racial healing. As you will learn, Meta prefers to speak of racial healing rather than racial reconciliation. It is because of her reasoning on this issue that I am changing the name of my ongoing series.

Consequently, this episode is the first of three. In this episode I talk with Meta about her story as it lead to her being poet and novelist and you will get to hear Meta read some of her poems and a selection from her novel.

Meta is the author of six books: Landscapes of Abuse (2001), Rainsongs: Poems of a Woman’s Life (2012), The Mending Time, a novel (2014), Blues Doula, poems by Meta Commerse (2019), Womaning, a memoir (forthcoming), and Diamonds and Pyramids: Story Medicine for Racial Healing (forthcoming).

You can learn more about Meta, her Story Medicine Wisdom School, the courses, lectures, and internships she offers in that school, the Community Action Projects offered through The Race Relations Station, and purchase Meta’s books through her website, storymedicineworldwide.com.

I want to offer a special word of thanks to Carol and Tony Asiaghi for letting Meta and I use their beautiful and peaceful West Asheville Garden Retreat and Sanctuary to record these three interviews.

The audio clip of Womanist theologian and ethicist, Dr. Katie Cannon, from the documentary, Journey to Liberation: The Legacy of Womanist Theology and Womanist Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, is used by permission from Union Theological Seminary.

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 Ekklesia Project began as the result of conversations about the works of Catholic political scientist, Mike Budde, and Protestant theologian, Stanley Hauerwas. Both Budde and Hauerwas hold that the primary task of Christian churches is to live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Budde and Hauerwas, each in their on way, go on to claim that churches’ efforts to live faithfully to Christ in the United States have been compromised by their own self-understanding and purpose, and hindered by their accommodation to the culture of the United States. To live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ is to give priority of one’s allegiance and loyalty to God’s Kingdom over any other entity seeking that same allegiance and loyalty. Such a commitment is a political commitment, thus making faithful followers of Jesus Christ a unique politics.

Those involved with the Ekklesia Project agree with Budde and Hauerwas and have believed it useful and helpful to organized in such a way that their shared efforts enable them as individuals, congregations, institutions, and traditions live more faithfully as the Church.

As the Ekklesia Project’s website, ekklesiaproject.org, states, participants share the four core convictions that they are unapologetically God-centered, Church-centered, Shalom-centered, and Political. In order to live more faithfully, participants in the EP do a variety of things to strengthen the church, encourage one another, and seek out new friendships. Among the things they do, they say probably the most important thing they do is to talk with one another about being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. Those conversations, with intention, involve scholars, pastors, and laypeople.

Consequently, my guests for this episode are Kelly Johnson, a scholar/theologian, Kyle Childress, a pastor, and Chi-Ming Chien, a layperson. They help us understand the Ekklesia Project better and its importance.

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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Although I have interviewed Melissa Rogers on her book, Faith in American Public Life, this episode will be the first in an ongoing conversation with The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, now called BJC.

The purpose of this series is to do two things. First it is to keep before you that there have always been certain Baptists who have, since their beginnings, argued for/advocated for/championed religious liberty for all people and the separation of church and state. These Baptists have done so because of their fundamental conviction that ‘soul freedom’ is a gift from God that enables everyone to have an active relationship with God. For these Baptists, for faith to a true faith, it must be embraced without any coercion of any kind. Since governments and religious bodies have often been the source of coerced faith, these Baptists have insisted that there must be a separation from government and institutional religious bodies.

The reason I want to keep before you the awareness of ‘these certain Baptists’ is for two reasons. The first is that many who are Baptist and, of course, most non-Baptists are unaware of the history of Baptist’s contribution to and  advocacy for religious liberty for all and the separation of church and state. The second is that there are a growing number of Baptists who are a part of what is being called Christian Nationalism that have sought and continue to seek to undermine religious liberty for all and the separation of church and state.

The second reason for this series is to make you aware and educate you on specific challenges to religious liberty in government. The BJC is an excellent source for keeping you apprised of these challenges. In addition, the BJC seeks to challenge and thwart these aggression on religious liberty by actions in The Supreme Court and in Congress.

You can find the BJC at:   bjconline.org

An excellent video introducing the BJC can be found on their website and here.

My guest is Amanda Tyler. Amanda is the Executive Director of the BJC. She is a member of the Texas and United States Supreme Court Bar. After graduating with a degree in foreign service from Georgetown University, Amanda worked for the BJC as an assistant to the general counsel. She left the BJC to earn her law degree from the University of Texas. Before returning to the BJC, Amanda has worked in private practice, as a law clerk for a U.S. district court judge in Dallas, and on the staff of U.S. Representative Lloyd Dogget, where she served as his district director and counsel for the Ways and Means Committee.

In addition to the resources provided by the BJC about the history of Baptists’ contribution to religious liberty and the separation of church and state, numerous links can be found by Googling ‘Baptists and Religious Liberty.’ An excellent link is Middle Tennessee State University’s The Free Speech Center: First Amendment News and Insights from MTSU. One of the resources of The Free Speech Center is The First Amendment Encyclopedia that has an article on Baptist contributions to the first amendment. That article is found here.

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 Revised Common Lectionary came about ultimately as the product of the Ecumenical Movement and the conviction that it is God’s will that the Church be united–one body–the body of Christ. Specifically, it was the product of The Consultation on Common Texts which was formed by Catholic and Protestant liturgical scholars in response to the reforms in the liturgy mandated by the Second Vatican Council, especially in the area of English texts for the liturgy and then in the dissemination of the 1969 Roman Lectionary (Ordo Lectionum Missae). In 1983, The Common Lectionary was published as the outcome of the CCT’s work on the lectionary. In 1992, The Revised Common Lectionary was published in light of several years of comment and use of The Common Lectionary.

Because The Revised Common Lectionary was embraced so broadly across denominations, it moved the Ecumenical Movement forward by enabling the movement to go beyond focus on doctrine to lived and shared worship experiences. That achievement, in addition to significant improvements the RCL made over other historical lectionaries, made the RCL momentous and important.

However, since the RCL has been used/lived with/experienced now for nearly 30 years, reassessment has been occurring for some time, especially in the form of alternative lectionaries.

An article by Steve Thorngate in the October 30, 2013 issue of The Christian Century discusses some of these alternatives to the RCL.

I used the RCL during my nearly 13 years as a full-time pastor, which meant that I went through its three year cycle four times. While I found the RCL very useful and suited to my preaching abilities, I also found limitations similar to those mentioned in Thorngate’s article, so the article sparked my interest. However, since the article was published just as I was leaving my pastorate, I did not get the chance to explore the alternatives it lists and discusses.

In his book, Ecclesial Reflection, Edward Farley argues that many of the problems with which theology was struggling were, in part, due to theologies dependence on a type of foundationalism Farley calls ‘The House of Authority.’ In light of his understanding of the Gospel, Farley critiques the House of Authority, demonstrates its necessary collapse, and offers suggestions for doing theology in a post-House of Authority ecclesia. In his book, Practicing Gospel (This is the book that inspired the name of this podcast. I named this podcast, in part, in Farley’s memory since he is one of my favorite theologians.), in his three chapters on preaching, Farley argues that the lectionary is a remnant of the House of Authority and is thus, unwittingly, continuing some of the problems created by the House of Authority. Consequently, Farley urges an alternative approach to preaching.

While Farley doesn’t advise an alternative lectionary, his argument rekindled my interest and curiosity about alternative lectionaries.

Each of my guests have created an alternative lectionary and are here to discuss why they each did so and what their respective lectionaries seek to do.

Dr. Rolf Jacobson is Professor of Old Testament and the Alvin N. Rogness Chair of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry at Luther Seminary. He is known for his humor and faithful biblical interpretation.  With Craig Koester, he developed and supports the Narrative Lectionary.  He enjoys collaborating with other teachers and pastors.  His collaborative projects include The Book of Psalms (NICOT; with Beth Tanner and Nancy deClaissé-Walford), Invitation to the Psalms (with Karl Jacobson), Crazy Talk: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Theological Terms (with five fellow Luther Seminary graduates), and Crazy Book: A Not-So-Stuffy Dictionary of Biblical Terms(with Hans Wiersma and Karl Jacobon). He is also the author of The Homebrewed Christianity Guide to the Old Testament: Israel’s In-Your-Face, Holy God. His voice can be heard on two weekly preaching podcasts, “Sermon Brainwave” and “The Narrative Lectionary,” as well as singing the high lonesome with a Lutheran bluegrass band, “The Fleshpots of Egypt.”  A survivor of childhood cancer, he is a double, above-the-knee amputee, who generally wears a bicycle and a smile.  He lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his beloved wife Amy, their children Ingrid and Gunnar, and a cat who thinks he is a dog. He is a loyal friend, lifelong sufferer of Minnesota sports, and committed board-game geek.

Rev. Dr. Thomas Bandy is the author of over 20 professional and academic books and numerous articles related to theology of culture, contemporary spiritualities, church development, leadership, and organizational change. He is an international consultant for local and regional church bodies across cultures and traditions, and for faith-based non-profits. Today his focus is on demographic research and lifestyle diversity related to existential needs and spiritual expectations. His most recent book is Sideline Church: Bridging the Chasms between Churches and Culture (Abingdon Press). Tom’s lectionaries come from his book, Introducing the Uncommon Lectionary: Opening the Bible to Seekers and Disciples.

“Ben Christian” is the shared name of the creators of A Game for Good Christians—the only theological game not afraid of the Bible— and the writer of The Revised Uncommon Lectionary which is a companion to the game.

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 of what will be an ongoing series on Steady State Economics. In my mind, this approach to the economy provides the best option moving forward in light of the environmental crises developing due to approaches to the economy focused upon economic growth.

One of the things that appeals to me about this approach is that it is compatible with both capitalism and socialism, so that it is adaptable and adoptable to most of the worlds existing economies. A country does not have to switch to capitalism or socialism or deal with the struggle that would be the result of debating and seeking such a switch.

My guest for this episode is Dr. Brian Czech. Brian is the founder and present Executive Director of Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy (CASSE). Brian’s books are listed below, but the one this interview is based upon is his Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution.

Although Brian does not get beyond the understanding of those of us who are not economists, he provides us with a thorough and excellent understanding of the development of growth economies and why those approaches to the economy not only are not sustainable, but are the cause of the crises we are beginning to experience. Such an understanding is necessary to recognize why a Steady State Economy is an essential solution for our future.

In addition to Supply Shock, Brian’s other works include:

The Endangered Species Act: History, Conservation, Biology, and Public Policy

Shoveling Fuel for a Runaway Train: Errant Economists, Shameful Spenders, and a Plan to Stop Them All

Best of the Daly News: Selected Essays from the Leading Blog in Steady State Economics, 2010-2018

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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As long as Biblical Storytellers are willing to be guests for this podcast, I want to have an ongoing series that enables you to enjoy this art form. There are multiple reasons why I enjoy this art form, but one of the main reasons is that it combines two ancient practices–storytelling and the public reading of scripture.

Throughout human history storytelling has played a fundamental role in human culture. It is one of humanity’s oldest art forms. There has always been an entertainment dimension in story telling, but story has used to do so much more. Stories have been used to give people their sense of identity, their understanding of reality, the notion of their place in the world. Stories been used to teach, guide, enlighten, reveal, change minds, and motivate. This is only a small list of the ways story has been used.

For the Jewish and Christian heritage, story is the primary dimension of scripture. As such it is understood to be a primary means by which Jews and Christians claim to understand and experience God. Both Jews and Christians see as a central to their obligation to God the task of bearing witness to God and God’s deeds. In order to fulfill that task, storytelling is necessary.

Since story makes up the primary dimension of Jewish and Christian scripture, it is not surprising that the public reading of scripture has been integral to both traditions. From the time of Moses forward, the public reading of scripture has been a part of Jewish worship, and since Christianity was birthed within Judaism, that tradition carried over has continued.

For Christian’s the biblical story has an interplay of two components relating to the task of witness–the prophetic and the Gospel. In light of God’s holiness and justice, the prophetic holds up a standard that calls us into question and accountability for the sinfulness, brokenness, and evil we choose to create. In light of God’s loving nature, the Gospel gives reveals to us the good news that God reaches out to us for reconciliation, healing, and redemption. Christian witness to God is thus an interplay of being prophetic and proclaiming the Gospel.

To give us an example of how biblical storytelling is a means of the interplay of these two components, especially as the biblical story relates to present circumstances and events is my guest, Drew Willard.