Queer Theology

We are talking with Candace Simpson on this episode of our Guest Series about a God who gives a damn with no room for cheap, easy theology!  Candace (she/they) is a sister, educator and preacher. She went to Trinity College and Union Theological Seminary and served as site coordinator for the Concord Freedom School for several years. It is their joy to design immersive participatory experiences where people can “be responsible for their own learning.” She is one of the associate ministers at Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn, New York. Most recently, Minister Simpson served on a team of Faith and Justice Educators at a faith-based non-profit. She’s most interested in the possibilities (and limits) of Christian Education infrastructure as a form of political education. We are loving this conversation about finding queerness in the Bible and using that to connect with faith in really beautiful ways. Candace talks about what keeps them Christian, sleep as spiritual practice, and the existential anxiety that comes with facing a world that can’t seem to recognize how close the possibility is of heaven on Earth. In her words, “Heaven is a revolution that must begin here on Earth.” I mean.. SO MUCH YES!! Resources: Fish Sandwich Heaven website: https://www.fishsandwichheaven.com/  Website: https://faithandleadership.com/authors/candace-simpson Social: Instagram: @candycornball, Twitter: @CandyCornball Rev. Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes: https://www.gabbycudjoewilkes.com/about  Rev. Dr. Prathia Hall: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Eden-Collected-Sermons-Prathia-ebook/dp/B09VJSJTJ7  Rev. Dr. Courtney Pace: https://bwim.info/this-is-what-a-minister-looks-like-courtney-pace/  Dr. James Hal Cone: https://liberationtheology.org/people-organizations/james-hal-cone-2/  Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post A God Who Gives A Damn with Candace Simpson appeared first on Queer Theology.

Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly lesbian bishop in the United Methodist Church, discusses her calling to ministry and the importance of staying vigilant in the face of injustice. She reflects on queer identity and progress, shares insights on love and personal growth, and emphasizes the need for churches to create safe spaces for LGBTQ+ individuals. Additionally, she talks about cultivating joy and nurturing happiness through daily activities.

It. Is. HERE! Y’all, we are at our 500th podcast episode and it just so happens to also coincide with our 10 year anniversary of Queertheology.com! (a whole decade!! ) Over the last couple months we’ve been anticipating this as a pretty incredible milestone and we’re so excited to celebrate 500 episodes of queer joy, queer spirituality, and community! For this episode, we reflect on what life was like a decade ago, what it is like now, and our hopes for the next 10 years. We’ve got some of our friends joining us to share their experiences too, you might recognize some of their voices as past guests on the podcast. We hope you’ll join us in looking back at the progress we’ve made, celebrating where we are at, and joining us in the work that’ll shape the next decade! Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post 10 Years and 500 Episodes appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re so excited to invite y’all to join us for our Queerness Everyday Challenge! It’s a big ol’ celebration of queerness and the sacred, of community and finding more queer joy, of recognizing queerness in yourself whether you are just starting your journey or have been out and proud for a long time. We’re inviting EVERYONE to join in this fun challenge of finding more queerness between your faith life and spirituality. What are you waiting for? Join us!!   Join the Queerness Everyday Challenge: https://www.queertheology.com/challenge/    Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post Bonus Episode: Queerness Everyday Challenge appeared first on Queer Theology.

We have Kate Boyd as our guest this week for a conversation that will really resonate with folks who have seen contradictions between what was in the real world versus what was taught in church.  Kate is the author of “An Untidy Faith” and host of the Happy & Holy podcast. She helps weary and wounded Christians rebuild their relationship with Scripture and community and love God and their neighbors with their whole selves. She is currently pursuing a masters in theological studies with an emphasis in biblical studies at Perkins School of Theology.  We talk about making sense of your faith in light of questions and how important it is to ask questions and make space for questions. Kate, like many of us, were taught that the body doesn’t matter- only the soul matters. But what she has found is that the gospel is good news for our bodies and taking care of them is just as important as taking care of our souls.    Resources: Book: anuntidyfaith.com   Website: kateboyd.co Instagram: @kateboyd.co Twitter: @thekateboyd Untidy Faith Newsletter: kateboyd.co/newsletter Podcast: kateboyd.co/podcast   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post An Untidy Faith with Kate Boyd appeared first on Queer Theology.

One prominent voice in the polyamory community is that of Kevin A. Patterson. Kevin is an active member of the Philadelphia polyamory community. He’s been practicing ethical nonmonogamy since 2002 after opening up a relationship that eventually became his marriage. He was inspired to start Poly Role Models, an interview series for people describing their experiences with polyamory and was part of a drive and a desire to change the way poly lives and communities are viewed. He has written both a non-fiction book, Love’s Not Color Blind, and fiction books that are a sci-fi novel series. Kevin shares how he came to be part of a polyamorous relationship and how that has enriched his life in more ways than he could have imagined. Storytelling is a big part of Kevin’s work and we discuss how it can open up a whole world for people who may feel isolated or marginalized in their experiences. Brian was thrilled to get the chance to sit down with one of HIS poly role models to talk more about the conversations around the polyamory community and the power of sharing those stories. Resources: Books by Kevin A Patterson: Love’s Not Colorblind, For Hire: Operator, For Hire: Audition. Website: https://www.kevinapatterson.com/ Social Media: IG: Poly Role Models, Twitter: @PolyRoleModels, Tumblr: polyrolemodels Dirty Lola: https://www.dirtylola.co/ Multiamory: https://www.multiamory.com/ Alicia Bunyan Sampson: https://www.aliciabunyansampson.com/ Cunning Minx podcast Polyamory Weekly   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective. If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post The Power of Polyamorous Stories with Kevin Patterson appeared first on Queer Theology.

This week we have an inspiring interview with Madison Morrigan as part of our continuing Summer Guest Series.  Madison is an international award winning life coach, speaker, creative consultant and creator of Awaken Her Soul, a 14 week mentorship program designed to help womxn embody their worth, power and fullness. Centered on self-responsibility and full expression, Madison coaches ambitious and creative women as they shed the layers of old programming keeping them small and finally come home to their true selves.  Madison was a spiritual kid who didn’t grow up in a religious home and she talks about what led her into Christianity – and to what eventually led her out. She is passionate about listening to what our bodies are trying to tell us (often loudly if we would listen!) and living into our own liberation. We’re totally here for her conversation on centering joy, queer aliveness, and liberation as opposed to the abusive evangelical Christian theology that has been the focus of the last decade.   Resources: Madison Morrigan website: https://www.madisonmorrigan.com/  Podcast: Everything Belongs Social: IG https://www.instagram.com/madisonmorrigan/ , TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@madisonmorrigan  Book: Already Free by Bruce Tift Tara Brach: https://www.tarabrach.com/   Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT     The post Living Your Liberation with Madison Morrigan appeared first on Queer Theology.

If you’ve been here with us for a while, you’ll know how much we like to highlight context and historical perspective when reading the Bible. You’ll also know we often reference and recommend reading the work of scholar, John Dominic Crossan. We’re so honored to have the opportunity to chat with him about the historical Jesus and what that means for Christians today.  John Dominic Crossan is an Irish-American biblical scholar with two-year post-doctoral diplomas in exegesis from Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute and in archeology from Jerusalem’s École Biblique. He has been a mendicant friar and a catholic priest, a Co-Chair of the Jesus Seminar, and a President of the Society of Biblical Literature. His focus, whether scholarly or popular, whether in books, videos, or lectures, is on the historical Jesus as the norm and criterion for the entire Christian Bible. Crossan’s method is to situate biblical texts within the reconstructed matrix of their own their own genre and purpose, their own time and place, and to hear them accurately for then before accepting or rejecting them for now.  Crossan explains how interpretation of translation can make a big difference in understanding the meaning behind biblical texts. ‘Gospel,’ for example, means ‘good news.’ But we can totally see how different people can interpret what would be good news to them! Crossan is excellent at showing how learning more and reading these texts as a scholar can be a faith building exercise as opposed to taking everything literally from an evangelical lens.   Resources: How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian by John Dominic Crossan Other books by John Dominic Crossan: https://www.harpercollins.com/collections/books-by-john-dominic-crossan  Does classes with Trip Fuller of Home Brewed Christianity https://trippfuller.com/2023/01/23/resource-page-easter-stories-w-john-dominic-crossan/  Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post The Heart Of A Scholar with John Dominic Crossan appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re so excited to bring this discussion with former colleague and activist comrade, J Mase III for this episode of our Summer Guest Series! We get into the intersections of faith, transness, and queerness and his impactful work as a creative and public theologian.  J Mase III is an award winning Black Trans poet, author, educator, and filmmaker. He was raised in a Christian and Muslim home and coined the term ‘Black Trans Liberation Theology’ alongside his creative partner, Lady Dane Figueroa Edidi. His recent book, Josephine: a trans story of biblical proportions is available now and he talks with us about his love of this familiar story. He is winner of a Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Non-Fiction and a Creative Capital Award, he is co-director of the forthcoming documentary, the Black Trans Prayer Book and is finishing his latest solo work, Is Your God a Violent God? Finding a Theology for Survivors.   We discuss with J Mase his work and healing from the trauma of a violent religion, the importance of centering arts to center activism, poetry as prayer, and moving resources as impactful justice work.    Resources: Josephine by J Mase III, illustrated by Wriply Bennet Website: https://jmaseiii.com/  Follow on Social: IG:https://www.instagram.com/jmaseiii/ , TikTok: @jmaseiii The Black Trans Prayer Book Wit López, artist: https://witlopez.com/  Virginia Theological Seminary Reparations work https://vts.edu/reparations-faq/  Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.  If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT The post Centering Black Trans Experience with J Mase III appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re breaking into our Guest Series to give you an update on what we’ve got going on behind the scenes and what you can expect over the next couple months. It’s incredible to think we’re celebrating 10 years of QueerTheology.com and almost our 500th podcast episode ( !!). We’re so excited to share this journey with you and are really excited to bring you the next chapter of QueerTheology!   Join the QueerTheolgy email list: https://www.queertheology.com/    Join the online community Sanctuary Collective.    If you want to support the Patreon and help keep the podcast up and running, you can learn more and pledge your support at patreon.com/queertheology. The post BONUS Episode: Special Update! appeared first on Queer Theology.