gcr's Podcast
A weekly Progressive Christian podcast from co-hosts Carol Howard Merritt and Derrick Weston.

We are talking about taboo topics in this special episode. American Christian women get frank about faith and life as Erin Lane and Enuma Okoro, editors of Talking Taboo, join Derrick and Carol for a conversation. This latest book in the I Speak For Myself series addresses the experiences of faith, gender, and identity that remain taboo for American Christian women under 40.  For women and their partners, faith leaders and their members, historians and their students, this book documents the voices of young Christian women and their refusal to be silent any longer.

Direct download: Erin_Lane_Enuma_Okoro.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:10am CDT

Ever feel like ministry makes your spiritual life tougher?  Keeping busy can so easily become our most common spiritual practice.  Join Derrick and Carol as they talk with Lauren Winner, author of StillStill offers reflections on how murky and gray the spiritual life can be while, at the same time, shows us how to see the light we do encounter more clearly. The former book editor for Beliefnet, Lauren teaches at Duke Divinity School, and lives in Durham, North Carolina. Lauren travels extensively to lecture and teach.  Her other books include Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath.


Direct download: Lauren_Winner.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:16pm CDT

The new season opens with zombies!  How awesome is that?!?!  We have a lot to learn about our society from zombies as we chat with Dr. Kelly J Baker. Kelly is the author of Gospel According to the Klan: The KKK’s Appeal to Protestant America, 1915-1930, The Zombies Are Coming!: The Realities of the Zombie Apocalypse in American Culture, and a forthcoming cultural history of zombies from the University of Washington Press.

She received a PhD from Florida State University in Religion in 2008, particularly American religious history. She edits the Religion in American History blog, http://usreligion.blogspot.com, and blogs at www.kellyjbaker.com.

Direct download: KellyJBaker.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:49am CDT

This week we talk with Meredith Gould who has written nine books since 1998 including her latest The Social Media Gospel: Sharing the Good News in New Ways.  She is a sociologist and digital strategist with decades of strategic communications experience. In July 2011, she founded the weekly Twitter-based ecumenical Church Social Media Chat (#ChSocM) and serves as its lead moderator.


Direct download: Meredith_Gould_2013.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:55pm CDT

Why are we still so terrible at having conversations about race in our culture?  Join Derrick as he speaks with Bruce Reyes-Chow, former God Complex Radio host, former moderator of the Presbyterian Church USA, and author of the new book "But I Don't See You As Asian: Curating Conversations About Race."  In this extended interview, Derrick and Bruce explore issues around race in our culture and the church.  

Direct download: Bruce_Reyes_Chow.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:41pm CDT

Carol goes on a pilgrimage to Thistle Farms for an on-site interview with Becca Stevens.  The Reverend Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest serving as Chaplain at St Augustine's at Vanderbilt University, and founder of Magdalene & Thistle Farms. Magdalene, the residential model, serves women for two years at no cost to residents. Thistle Farms employs 40 residents and graduates who manufacture, market and sell all natural bath and beauty products in over 200 retail stores across the globe. Her latest book is Snake Oil: The Art of Healing and Truth-Telling. Her blog is available at beccastevens.org.

Direct download: Becca_Stevens.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 5:56pm CDT

Derrick has an inspiring and energizing conversation with Rev. Cameron Trimble about the future of renewal in the Church.  Cameron is the Executive Director of the Center for Progressive Renewal (www.progressiverenewal.org). She most recently served as an advisor to the Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Team of Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ and as Associate Conference Minister of Church Development in the Southeast Conference of the UCC. In her ministry in the national setting, Cameron was responsible for the development of national strategy for birthing new churches. In her conference setting, she directly oversaw the birthing of churches throughout the Southeast Conference. Each setting has given her a unique perspective on the challenges of cultivating leaders equipped to meet the needs of the future of mainline Protestantism.

Cameron is an adjunct professor teaching church planting and renewal with the Pacific School of Religion and Chicago Theological Seminary. She has co-authored the book "Liberating Hope" with Michael Piazza in 2011. 

With this wide experience and exposure, Cameron is convinced that the future of the progressive mainline Church is dependent upon our ability to cultivate the highest quality of leadership in both ordained and lay leadership.


Direct download: Cameron_Trimble.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:24pm CDT

This episode features Rick Ufford-Chase.  Rick worked as a mission worker for twenty years on the U.S./Mexico border, supporting migrants and refugees and developing educational programs for people of faith who are interested in the complexities and challenges of the border region. Rick served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the PCUSA from 2004 to 2006. He is currently the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, and the Co-Director (with his wife, Kitty) of Stony Point Conference Center. Rick has been deeply interested in the intersection between our faith, the challenge of responding to violence in our time, and the work of partnering with those from other religious traditions to protect and extend basic human rights to all people.

Rick is leading the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship delegation to Israel/Palestine next January 3-17. There is a grant that will subsidize more than half the cost of the trip for every participant, so the total, out-of-pocket expense should be under $2,000 including airfare. More information for anyone who would like to join this trip can be found at http://presbypeacefellowship.org/content/january-2014-middle-east-witness-delegation#.UYBWOqUQ_0A

Direct download: Rick_Ufford-Chase.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:44pm CDT

Carol speaks with David H. Jensen, author of God, Desire, and a Theology of Human Sexuality.  David desires to connect the basic Christian beliefs to the day-to-day living of individuals. His book examines human sexuality in light of Christian faith and doctrine. Jensen moves beyond the hot-button social debate about sexual orientation and sexual practices to look for healing. You are invited to explore human sexuality from a new biblical perspective.

Direct download: David_Jensen.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:53am CDT

Join Carol and Derrick as they are talking to D. Mark Davis author of “Left Behind and Loving It: A Cheeky Look At the End Times." This podcast interview was recorded just days after the Boston Marathon Bombing. Reflections on how we process tragic events are interwoven with a unique perspective on end times theology.

Direct download: D_Mark_Davis.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:42pm CDT

Join Carol and Derrick as they speak with Lia Scholl, author of I Heart Sex Workers.  Lia brings her years of experience to help us see the sex worker industry through new eyes.  Issues of choice, agency, and human trafficking are explored along with real talk on how Christians can minister to this unique population.  This may not be an episode that you want to listen with your kids... just sayin'.

Direct download: Lia_Scholl.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:45pm CDT

Host Derrick Weston takes us on a trip down memory lane with a look back at the very first episode of God Complex Radio.  The charter co-hosts Bruce and Carol have a lot to say about the state of the church in 2009 and a lot of unique music to share as well!  Enjoy!

Direct download: VintageGCR-Episode_1.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 10:42pm CDT

Break out the confetti.... It's the 75th episode! In this episode, we are talking about authentic ministry for the needs and concerns of veterans and their families. Derrick and Carol are talking with Amy Blumenshine, one of the authors of "Welcome Them Home, Help Them Heal: Pastoral Care and Ministry With Service Members Returning From War." You can also access resources for veterans' ministry, including healing rituals from this book at http://www.mpls-synod.org/programs/vets.


Direct download: Amy_Blumenshine.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 9:18am CDT

Ruth Everhart is our guest. She has been a pilgrim in Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Ruth served as a pastor 22 years and she’s also the author of the book Chasing the Divine in the Holy Land. You can read more about her at RuthEverhart.com. One of her amazon reviews says that her book is like Eat, Pray, Love for people who go to church.

 

In this episode, we talk about the value of pilgrimage.  We also spend some time reflecting on the experience of other types of shared journeys.

Direct download: Ruth_Everhart.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:57pm CDT

Mark Linsenmayer is the founder and co-host of  The Partially Examined Life philosophy podcast and blog. He is a writer and musician who attended graduate school in philosophy at the University of Texas in the 90's but quit academia for several years before coming back to re-explore classic philosophy texts through the podcast. His areas of specialty in his graduate work were in continental philosophy and philosophy of mind.

The Partially Examined Life has recorded several discussions on topics in the philosophy of religion, including on arguments for the existence of Godthe New Atheists, the liberal Protestantism of Friedrich Schleiermacher, and the psychology of the the self and faith of Soren Kierkegaard.

Direct download: Mark_Linsenmayer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 11:32am CDT

How have images of Christ formed our faith and the ways in which we understand one another? How have pictures been used in our racial history? Why are images of Jesus so important? We invited Edward J. Blum to talk about some of these questions.

Dr. Blum is an associate professor of history at San Diego State University and the author of several award-winning books on religion and race in the United States. His latest book, co-authored with Paul Harvey, is The Color of Christ: The Son of God and the Saga of Race in America


Direct download: Ed_Blum.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 2:17pm CDT

Ben Crawford is a founding partner of Epipheo. Epipheo uses video and social media to translate meaning and communicate the stories behind companies and their products. His vision for Epipheo is to reveal truth in a way that changes people’s lives. Clients include Facebook, Google and Visa. Prior to Epipheo, Ben launched a blackjack team that notoriously took millions from casinos over the course of seven years and was featured in the documentary Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card Counting Christians.  Join Carol and Derrick as they explore issues of vocation, call, and of course... gambling!

Direct download: Ben_Crawford.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 1:26pm CDT

Mihee Kim-Kort talks with Carol Howard Merritt and Derrick Weston about her book, Making Paper Cranes: Toward an Asian-American Feminist Theology. How has the myth of the model minority affected her life and work? How should we claim our context in our work? Should white male theologians claim their context in the same way women and racial/ethnic minorities have?  Is there an intellectual segregation in the marketing of theology? We talk about these questions and more with Rev. Kim-Kort.

 

Mihee Kim-Kort is a PC(USA) pastor and author who blogs regularly at miheekimkort.com.

Direct download: Mihee_Kim-Kort.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:20am CDT

After the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, people of faith yearned to respond. The horror highlighted that many children live with fear of guns every day. How can we understand the impact that gun violence has on our country? What can we do to change this culture of violence? What are the greater political and systemic issues that we ought to be aware of?

Derrick and Carol invited J. Herbert Nelson to discuss these issues. J. Herbert started the Liberation Community Presbyterian Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Now he serves as Director of the Office of Public Witness for the Presbyterian Church (USA). And while you're listening, we invite you to check out this petition, sign it, and distribute it.

Direct download: J_Herbert_Nelson_II.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 6:14am CDT

Derrick and Carol talked with Hugh Hollowell about Love Wins, a ministry of presence and pastoral care with homeless men and women in Raleigh, North Carolina. Hugh tells us about his approach to ministry and explains that homelessness is, basically, a relationship issue.

Direct download: Hugh_Hollowell.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:19pm CDT

Derrick Weston will be talking to MaryAnn McKibben Dana about her book, Sabbath in the Suburbs. How do you practice Sabbath in this busy, stressed-out world? Is Sabbath just a luxury for those who don't have kids? What if both parents are working? Does Sabbath make sense in our modern life? How does Sabbath help us to become more human?

Direct download: MaryAnn_McKibben_Dana.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 4:44pm CDT