Reclaiming the Garden

In this episode, we have a conversation with author, Youtuber and friend of the pod Damon Garcia! He discusses his new book, You Don't Need a Calling: An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto for a Life of Purpose , and the experiences that led him to write it. We discuss how capitalism impacts our theologies about purpose/vocation and how we can break free of those frameworks. If you have a trad wife or...

In this episode, Anna and April talk about artificial intelligence from a progressive Christian standpoint, asking the question, "Does this contribute to human flourishing?" The answer, the majority of the time, is no. There are some ethical uses of AI in the science and medical fields (earlier diagnosis for disease, data sorting and analysis), but that is not what billionaires and governments are...

In this episode, Anna and April wrestle with the theological ideas of loving one's enemy and believing that all people will one day be reconciled to one another and to God. Not believing in eternal conscious torment is good news for the folks who have felt condemned by the church, but what about the people whose deeds are so evil? How is reconciliation possible? We don't whitewash what our...

In this episode, we talk about the performative phenomenon taking over social media: trad wives. If you search the term on Instagram, you'll find hundreds of women promoting a false fantasy of a 1950s housewife in an attempt to make money from other women who desire this lifestyle. It's a way for fundamentalist Christian/LDS women to make an income in this capitalist hellscape while keeping up the...

In this episode, we have a conversation with queer filmmaker and writer Brianna da Silva! Brianna shares how her political views have gone even more to the left in the past few years, and she discusses the inspirations and vision behind the short film she is crowdfunding for, Guardian.  You can find Brianna on Instagram @curiousstoryteller and on Bluesky and TikTok by searching her name. You can s...

In this episode, we have a conversation about how we’ve been doing the past few months (sometimes not so great but we’re doing our best), we share our reactions to the absolute bullshit going on in the federal government (do something Dems!!! And fuck the white man billionaires running everything), and we also share stories about our respective work in youth development and therapy as a way to end...

To celebrate four (!) years of the pod and April’s 27th birthday, we had a conversation with April’s Mama Beth Little! Beth shares about her upbringing at a Methodist church in Maryland, and how she ended up choosing to bring her family to “nondenominational” churches (was not the politics or theology, but the more casual atmosphere and contemporary music) in the early 2000s. April and Beth reflec...

In this episode, we get down and dirty and nerdy with the Hebrew Bible text known as Ruth. What seems like a heterosexual love story to evangelicals (between Ruth and Boaz) actually has a lot of queerness in it–two women, Ruth and Naomi, who profess their commitment to one another, and Boaz, who never expresses desire for Ruth or any other woman, only a duty to his family line. We explore the ways...

In this episode, we have a conversation with writer and Anabaptist radical Billie Hoard! Billie talks about her faith journey growing up evangelical in the 80s, how she learned to ask questions without needing to reach a certain conclusion, and how she realized she was a trans woman. Billie also discusses her experience in the Vineyard Church movement and how the church where “everyone gets to pla...

In this episode, we have a chat with our friends Andy and Briana about what happened this year in the worlds of religion, faith, and politics . In the midst of the daunting rise of christofascism and other forms of oppression, we find strength in how our communities are stepping up to care for one another. We also share personal important moments that happened in each of our lives this year.  Want...

In this episode, we discuss the theological concept of the Trinity–God as Creator of the universe, Jesus of Nazareth, and the Holy Spirit. April gives the historical context for how the early church wrestled to explain their experiences with God within their own cultural context, and how folks argued over words in the creeds–some of it was about conviction, but it was also a power struggle. Ultima...

In this episode, April and Anna pour out our anger and grief over the 2024 election in which the majority of voters chose a fascist rapist to lead the country. We talk about how we’ve been checking in with our queer kin and other loved ones this past week, and how we are balancing our well-founded fears about the future with our hopes that our communities will fight for each other’s safety and wel...

In this episode, we have a conversation with PhD student, progressive Christian, and April’s token straight best friend, Reagan Page! Reagan talks about her upbringing in liberal Christianity, her time in Seattle as a UMC service fellow, and her thoughts on the state of our country and the upcoming presidential election. Just like us, she has a lot of concerns going into November, especially aroun...

In this episode, we have a conversation with author Brandon Flanery! He shares his journey of going from being a YWAM evangelist in Germany yelling on street corners about how he “escaped homosexuality” to accepting his queerness as a blessing and exploring his spirituality. You can find Brandon on Instagram @flanbran. You can find links to purchase his book, Stumbling: A Sassy Memoir about Coming...

In this episode, we go through one of April’s papers she wrote in grad school. We explore perspectives on Jesus’ death and on corresponding atonement theories (or lack thereof) from Black, feminist, and womanist theologians to work towards a non-violent, liberative Christology of the cross. April wrote this for all the people who have been harmed by the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement...

In this episode, we have a conversation with our wonderful friend the Rev. Mel K! Mel talks about their denominationally promiscuous upbringing, their studies in social work and life as a foster parent, and her recent ordination in the Progressive Christian Alliance. We also talk about the importance of comprehensive sex ed, and Anna and Mel talk about some of their experiences as social workers,...

A note on content for this ep: CSA and other abuse There are many cults or high-control groups that are rooted in Christianity or are Christian-adjacent (and some groups toe the line of being one…*coughHillsongcough*). In this episode, we give an overview of just a handful of them: Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the FLDS, Twin Flames Universe, and self-help scammers like Jodi Hildebrandt....

In this episode, we share our thoughts on the 1946 documentary, which tells the story of how the word “homosexuality” did not appear in an English Bible until the 1946 Revised Standard Version. With the help of researchers Kathy Baldock (incredible ally!!!) and Ed Oxford, director Rocky Roggio shows how the translation team took two words in Greek and mistakenly translated them to “homosexuality,”...

We are back y’all! And now our podcast has TWO Master’s degrees behind it, bringing theology and social work knowledge to you to help you on your journey of deconstructing faith and living into who God made you to be. In this episode April shares about getting her Master of Arts in Theology and Culture: Community Development, Anna talks about her new doggo, and we chat a bit about some of the majo...

In this episode, we have a conversation with theologian, podcaster, YouTuber, and King of #Exvangelical Twitter, Mason Mennenga!! Mason shares about listening to VeggieTales CDs and other typical evangelical kid/teen experiences (conferences, youth group, all the ccm!) he had as the Good Christian Boy. In college, he started researching what the Bible actually said about sexual ethics and orientat...

In this episode (despite some technical difficulties on April’s end) we have a conversation with the Co-Executive Director of Operations for Transmission Ministry Collective, Dr. Miche van Essen! Miche shares about her faith journey of growing up Jewish and how she ended up meeting Jesus and became a pastor in an evangelical church. As she was coming into her identity as a transgender woman, she f...

In this episode, we have a conversation with Myles Markham, a queer and transgender advocate who currently works for Trans Lifeline and serves on the board of directors for Transmission Ministry Collective! Myles shares his journey of growing up in the deep South and how he has expanded his faith over time. We get into some nerdy theological conversations as well. You can find Myles on Instagram @...

In this episode, we have a conversation with one of the principal actresses in the Broadway musical How to Dance in Ohio , Ashley Wool! She also happens to be an autistic progressive Christian and a theology nerd, so of course us neurodivergent theater nerds had to invite her to the pod. Ashley shares about becoming a Christian as a young adult and resonating with Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels,...

Note: the dolphin noises that come up in a section of this episode are to take out some identifying information about April’s old church that she doesn’t want made public In this episode, we have a conversation with Tim Whitaker, founder of the non-profit The New Evangelicals, an inclusive, Jesus-centered community that holds space for those marginalized by the evangelical church. Tim talks about...

In this episode, we have a conversation with LGBTQ+ Mindset Coach and host of the Queer Consciousness Podcast, Kit Sargent! They reflect on their experience of this year’s QCF Conference and talk about their “fundie lite” upbringing (they had a True Love Waits Ring!). We discuss the sexualization of prepubescent girls’ bodies and all the things that are wrong with that. They talk about their exper...