Queer Theology

We are on the 3rd episode in our series on Matthew and here is where we get a long sermon followed by some healing stories! These are well known and well used passages, there is so much to uncover here. We have the Sermon on the Mount, one of the longest recorded speeches by Jesus, and it is so rich in nuance when you look at the carefully composed discourse and deliberate structure that will become the core of Jesus’ teachings. We look at what that meant for that early Christian community, how the themes of healing were exposing the sickness caused by the Roman Empire, and what it looks like in our world today to put your faith into action. 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. Photo by Patricia McCarty Episode Transcript There is a technical issue with plugin we used to display transcripts. An update is coming soon! The post Jesus Changes Everything. Or Does He?: Matthew Chapters 5-9 appeared first on Queer Theology.

In the second episode of our series on Matthew we cover chapters 3 and 4 and there is so much richness and goodness here. We really see Jesus as intentionally political and there is a theme of politics throughout these texts. We dig into what it means to follow the Kingdom of Heaven/God when you are living under empire, what discipleship and following the teachings of Jesus looked like in the time of Matthew and what it means to us now. Reading the Bible doesn’t have to be boring when you start to tease out some of the interesting bits here like the political implications of the word “worship” and how the temptations of Jesus by Satan were directly connected to the view a marginalized group had of the Roman Empire at the time!  Links mentioned: Rituals For Resistance & Resilience: https://www.queertheology.com/rituals/ Scary Things Podcast Series: Scary Things: The Great Snatch and the End of the World Scary Things: The Devil and His Many Names Scary Things: The Fiery Pit Scary Things: Will You End Up In Hell? Growing up Suburban Jewish & Finding Your Faith With Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg What’s The Deal With The Pigs?: Mark Week 2 Here are the synoptic gospel images side-by-side in columns for your reference. 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 There is a technical issue with plugin we used to display transcripts. An update is coming soon! The post Jesus is Political: Matthew Chapters 3 & 4 appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re back in the studio and recording an 8 week series on the Gospel of Matthew! Prepping for this series reminded both of us how much we love diving into scripture and pulling out those beautiful, sacred nuances that make it so wholly (holy?) fascinating across generations. In this episode, we start with chapters 1 and 2. Yes, that genealogy that you might have skipped over in anticipation of the more meaty bits has so. much. depth. Follow us as we go deep into this sacred scripture, what it means for us, and what it meant for people during the time of Jesus, the Magi and the birth of Jesus and how this was a threat to religious and political power.    Matthew and the Margins: A Sociopolitical And Religious Reading By: Warren Carter 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. Photo by Jeswin Thomas Episode Transcript There is a technical issue with plugin we used to display transcripts. An update is coming soon! The post The Meaning of the Beginning: Matthew Chapters 1 & 2 appeared first on Queer Theology.

We close out this guest series with the incredibly talented Mary Lambert. She is not your typical triple-platinum-selling artist. She had never recorded music formally when she received a call from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis to collaborate on their marriage equality anthem, “Same Love.” Lambert has a successful solo career, stars in an animated series, co-hosts a podcast, is an author, and facilitates a virtual workshop on body image. We talk with her about her tough childhood, her relationship with faith and the church, and how all this has influenced her work as an artist and her journey to healing. She is lovely; she is relatable, and she is just so talented! Trigger warnings apply for sexual abuse and suicidality.   Find more of Mary Lambert here: Web: https://marylambertsings.com/ Arlo the Alligator Boy Everybody is a Babe Workshop Podcast: The Manic Episodes 1946 Documentary Book: Shame is an Ocean I Swim Across Spoken Word Artists mentioned: Shira Erlichman, Andrea Gibson, Buddy Wakefield, Anis Mojgani   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 Healing Is Joy with Mary Lambert appeared first on Queer Theology.

Cole Arthur-Riley joins us on the podcast for an inspiring and insightful conversation about her work as a writer and poet. Cole is the creator and writer of Black Liturgies, a project that integrates spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black literature, and the Black body. She is also the author of the NYT bestseller, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us. As a storyteller, Cole takes us on a journey of liberation to heed our calling and connection to the Divine by staying true to who we are. Amen!   Book: This here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us Black Liturgies @colearthurriley @blackliturgies    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 Liturgies of Silence and Speech with Cole Arthur-Riley appeared first on Queer Theology.

Jonathan Merker joins us for this episode of our guest series to offer his thoughtful insight on some pretty heavy topics. Jonathan is not only one of Brian’s good friends but a licensed therapist whose counseling style is rooted in relationally analytic psychodynamic psychotherapy. This style of counseling is indicated for issues around relationships, families, identity, sexuality, grief, trauma, and depression. He talks with us about his experience as an ex-gay experience survivor, feelings of shame, abuse, and how recovery involves radical self acceptance. Trigger warnings for this episode apply: conversion therapy and childhood sexual abuse.    Web: https://www.gaymenscounselingalliance.com/jonathanmerker IG: https://www.instagram.com/gaymenscounselingalliance/   Book mentioned: Out of the Shadows by Walt Odets   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 Surviving & Thriving After Ex-Gay Experiences with Jonathan Merker, LMHC appeared first on Queer Theology.

We’re so excited to bring you a joyously enthusiastic interview with Rev. Micah Bucey for this episode of our guest series. Micah is a radically progressive faith leader who writes, speaks, and extravagantly celebrates the intersections between expansive spirituality, radical social justice, and unfettered creativity. He currently serves as Minister at Judson Memorial Church and has a book available, The Tiny Book of Prayer. Tune in as Micah talks prophets and performance art, inviting in weird queer storytellers, and wandering in the wilderness.    Grab a copy of The Book Of Tiny Prayer: https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823299225/the-book-of-tiny-prayer/   Web: https://www.micahbucey.com/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/micah.bucey IG: https://www.instagram.com/revmicahb/   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 Church Is Performance Art with Rev. Micah Bucey appeared first on Queer Theology.

For this episode, we had the pleasure of talking with Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams about her work as an organizer, the overarching importance of Reproductive Justice, and a little history of how we even came to this place of arguing for or against the morality of abortion. Angela is Co-Director for Movement Building at SACRED, an alliance of religious leaders, organizers, academics, and congregations. She is a queer pastor ordained by the Presbyterian Church into her call to engage people of faith to speak publicly and politically in support of reproductive health, rights, and justice and LGBTQIA+ equality. She inspires us to use our power to create positive social change!⁠   IG and Twitter @revangelatw TikTok @queerladychurch https://www.sacreddignity.org/  @sacred_repro   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.   <div id=”podscribe-embed-root”></div> <script> var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 84477562, backgroundColor: ‘white’, height: ‘600px’, showSpeakers: true }; </script> <script src=”https://app.podscribe.ai/static/js/embed.js”></script> The post Bodily Autonomy Is Sacred with Rev. Angela Tyler-Williams appeared first on Queer Theology.

We have the authors of You Mean It Or Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge, Jamie McGhee and Adam Hollowell on for our guest series this week. Jamie is a novelist, playwright, and essayist and Adam is an author, ethicist, and facilitator whose work addresses social inequality and promotes collective efforts for a more just world. We talk with them about their inspiration for this project during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, how they came to work together as student and professor, and the radical challenge from Baldwin in the 60s and 70s that is still relevant today.   Resources: PrayingwithJamesBaldwin.com @prayingbaldwin social platforms   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 You Mean It Or You Don’t with Jamie McGhee & Adam Hollowell appeared first on Queer Theology.

For this episode in our guest series, we have a fantastic conversation with Rev. Nikia Smith Robert Ph.D about her transformative work as an abolitionist. Dr. Robert founded Abolitionist Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization and faith-based abolitionist movement committed to helping churches use public policy and transformative justice strategies to advocate for a more just and equitable society beyond prisons, policing, and punishment. We get into liberation theology, the importance of working together as a community, abolition as religion and also an ethic, and lots of alliteration! Dr. Robert is inspiring, invigorating, and absolutely committed to rethinking the indoctrination of a carceral system.    Resources: Emilie Townes: Womanist Ethic and the Cultural  Production of Evil (book) Traci C. West: Disruptive Christian Ethics: Where Racism and Women’s Lives Matter (book) Penitence, Plantation and the Penitentiary Harvard Divinity School Journal article https://nikiasrobert.com/    If you enjoyed our interview with Rev. Dr. Nikia Smith Robert and want to support the work of Abolitionist Sanctuary, you can do so with a donation below. We’re collecting donations from podcast listeners to pass along to her to support her work. Donate   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.   <div id=”podscribe-embed-root”></div> <script> var podscribeEmbedVars = { epId: 84392447, backgroundColor: ‘white’, height: ‘600px’, showSpeakers: true }; </script> <script src=”https://app.podscribe.ai/static/js/embed.js”></script> The post Abolition as Spiritual Practice with Rev. Nikia Smith Robert Phd appeared first on Queer Theology.